* American Blackout (2013)

What if the Doomsday Preppers were right all along? Hacking into urban infrastructures isn't science fiction anymore — it's in the news every day. In this docudrama, National Geographic asks the question: When the lights go out, what do we do next? American Blackout imagines a nationwide power failure in the United States caused by a cyberattack — told in real time, over 10 days, by those who kept recording using cameras and phones. Gritty, visceral and totally immersive, you'll learn what it means to be absolutely powerless. What would it take to survive from day one, and who would be left standing when the lights come back on?

* The Virtual Revolution (2010)

This is a really great mini series, full of loads of information, especially about the early days of the internet, an area I am a little more familiar with as my Uni admission essay was on the ARPANET.

Though of course this does contain some faces we'd rather not see, but would expect to in a series that covers the World Wide Web. So do be prepared for faces such as Bill 'Depopulation' Gates, Al Gore and a few others. ~ Dunamis

“Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace, the new home of Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty where we gather.”

Twenty years on from the invention of the world wide web, this major new series takes stock of its profound impact – how, for better and for worse, the digital revolution is reshaping our lives.

Over four themed episodes that criss-cross the globe, journalist and academic Dr Aleks Krotoski explores the meaning of a phenomenon that is transforming everything, from how we learn to how we shop, vote and make friends. With a quarter of the planet connected so far, this series examines what is in store for the remaining 75 per cent of the world's population as they come online.

Part 1: The Great Levelling
The wonder and walls of Wikipedia; the blogger media revolution; the price of peer-to-peer piracy... who really has power on the web? Is it the online crowd or the 'gatekeepers'? Is the web a platform for sharing or is it inequality writ large?

In the first in this four-part series, Aleks charts the extraordinary rise of blogs, Wikipedia and YouTube, and traces an ongoing clash between the freedom the technology offers us, and our innate human desire to control and profit. Dr Aleks Krotoski looks at how it is reshaping almost every aspect of our lives. Joined by some of the web's biggest names - including the founders of Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, and the web's inventor - she explores how far the web has lived up to its early promise.

Part 2: Enemy of the State
Is the web indestructable or can censorship, cybercrime or infrastructure attack bring it down? As the web trancends the barriers of the physical world the orthodox view is that the nation state will inevitably wither as the porous web of hyperlinks conquers the globe. But some states are fighting back.

Here, Aleks charts how the Web is forging a new brand of politics, both in democracies and authoritarian regimes. With contributions from Al Gore, Martha Lane Fox, Stephen Fry and Bill Gates, Aleks explores how interactive, unmediated sites like Twitter and YouTube have encouraged direct action and politicised young people in unprecedented numbers. Yet, at the same time, the Web's openness enables hardline states to spy and censor, and extremists to threaten with networks of hate and crippling cyber attacks.

Part 3: The Cost of Free
Free services, limitless information, endless opportunities for the user... the web seems to defy all the laws of economics. But are we trading our privacy for a 'free' web?

In the third programme of the series, Aleks gives the lowdown on how, for better and for worse, commerce has colonised the web - and reveals how web users are paying for what appear to be 'free' sites and services in hidden ways. Joined by some of the most influential business leaders of today's web, including Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon), Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google), Chad Hurley (CEO of YouTube), Bill Gates, Martha Lane Fox and Reed Hastings (CEO of Netflix), Aleks traces how business, with varying degrees of success, has attempted to make money on the web. She tells the inside story of the gold rush years of the dotcom bubble and reveals how retailers such as Amazon learned the lessons. She also charts how, out of the ashes, Google forged the business model that has come to dominate today's web, offering a plethora of highly attractive, overtly free web services, including search, maps and video, that are in fact funded through a sophisticated and highly lucrative advertising system which trades on what we users look for.

Aleks explores how web advertising is evolving further to become more targeted and relevant to individual consumers. Recommendation engines, pioneered by retailers such as Amazon, are also breaking down the barriers between commerce and consumer by marketing future purchases to us based on our previous choices. On the surface, the web appears to have brought about a revolution in convenience. But, as companies start to build up databases on our online habits and preferences, Aleks questions what this may mean for our notions of privacy and personal space in the 21st century.

Part 4: Homo Interneticus
Are we empowered, connected and enlightened with the world's knowledge at our fingertips? Or distracted and addicted with shorter attention spans> Are our skittering brains bombarded and stupified by the 'yuck and wow' of the web? Is the web really changing us - the way we think, the way we behave, the way relate to each other? And is it for better or for worse?

Dr Aleks Krotoski concludes her investigation of how the World Wide Web is transforming almost every aspect of our lives. Joined by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Al Gore and the neuroscientist Susan Greenfield, Aleks examines the popularity of social networks such as Facebook and asks how they are changing our relationships. And, in a ground-breaking test at University College London, Aleks investigates how the Web may be distracting and overloading our brains.

* We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists (2012)

A documentary on the workings and beliefs of the self-described “hacktivist” collective, Anonymous.

* Downloaded (2013)

A documentary that explores the downloading revolution; the kids that created it, the bands and the businesses that were affected by it, and its impact on the world at large.

* Defeating the Hackers (2013)

Exploring the murky and fast-paced world of the hackers out to steal money and identities and wreak havoc with people's online lives, and the scientists who are joining forces to help defeat them. Horizon meets the two men who uncovered the world's first cyber weapon, the pioneers of what is called ultra paranoid computing, and the computer expert who worked out how to hack into cash machines.

* DEFCON: The Documentary (2013)

DEFCON is the world's largest hacking conference, held in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2012 it was held for the 20th time. The conference has strict no-filming policies, but for DEFCON 20, a documentary crew was allowed full access to the event. The film follows the four days of the conference, the events and people (attendees and staff), and covers history and philosophy behind DEFCON's success and unique experience. Written by Jason Scott