The Ancient Worlds (2004)

Historian Bettany Hughes gives her personal take on the diverse cultures of the ancient world in this 2010 documentary series on More 4. The series begins with an examination of Alexandria, the city founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BC to become the world’s first global centre of culture. The programme explores Alexandria’s role as a powerhouse of science and learning, and focuses on the female mathematician, astronomer and philosopher Hypatia, the subject of the feature film Agora, starring Rachel Weisz.

Alexandria The Greatest City
Three cities dominated the ancient world: Athens, Rome and a third, now almost forgotten. It lies hidden beneath the waters of the Mediterranean and a sprawling modern metropolis. Alexandria was a city built on a dream; a place with a very modern mindset, where - as with the worldwide web - one man had a vision that all knowledge on earth could be stored in one place. Bettany Hughes goes in search of this lost civilisation, revealing the story of a city founded out of the desert by Alexander the Great in 331 BC to become the world's first global centre of culture, into which wealth and knowledge poured from across the world. Until its decline in the fourth and fifth Centuries AD, Alexandria became a crucible of learning; Hughes uncovers the incredible discoveries and the technical achievements of this culture. The film's cast of characters reads like a list of the greatest figures of ancient times: political figures like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, and intellectuals including female mathematician, astronomer and philosopher Hypatia, Euclid, Archimedes, Eratosthenes and Ptolemy. At last, after 1,500 years squashed under a modern metropolis, new clues are emerging from the earth to the real nature of this grand experiment in human civilisation.

Engineering Ancient Egypt
Through their superlative buildings, the legacy of the Egyptian empire continues to enthrall people to this day. Yet these incredible structures were made over 4,000 years ago. Historian Bettany Hughes explores what drove the people of this ancient civilisation to build on such a massive scale. The story is told through the reigns of two pharaohs - Khufu and Ramesses II. Separated by 1,200 years, they both ruled during periods of incredible architectural ambition. Under Khufu, the Great Pyramid of Giza was constructed; while under Ramesses II the temples of Abu Simbel came into being. But what drove this ambition? This documentary attempts to get into the hearts and minds of these early Egyptians in their unstoppable pursuit of immortality via great feats of engineering.

The Minoans
In this fascinating feature-length documentary historian Bettany Hughes continues her history of the Ancient World with a visit to Crete to recount one of the greatest archaeological discoveries ever made. The story of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth is perhaps the most compelling of all Greek myths. Just over 100 years ago, English archaeologist Arthur Evans went to the 'Minotaur's Island' to explore the roots of this myth and discovered instead a sophisticated Bronze Age civilisation that had been lost to history for thousands of years. He called them The Minoans, and the riches of their culture astonished the world, prompting Evans to proclaim them the first civilisation of the Western World. But was this view unduly romantic? In the past decade, new archaeological discoveries have added fascinating layers of complexity to the picture originally painted by Evans.

Helen of Troy
She is 'the face that launched a thousand ships'; the woman blamed for the Trojan War - a conflict that caused countless deaths - but who was the real Helen of Troy? Bettany Hughes travels across the eastern Mediterranean to disentangle myth from reality and find the truth about the most beautiful woman on earth. Helen's story is a dark and very human drama, interweaving pleasure and pain, sex and violence, love and hate: a tale that started with a messy love affair and ended with a bloody and disastrous conflict. Hughes argues that many images of the mythic Helen, from Hollywood movies to romantic paintings, have got her all wrong: Helen was the original sex goddess. And the film reveals just how a pre-historic princess in Bronze Age Greece - a real Helen - would have looked. The feature-length documentary takes in some of the most beautiful scenery of the ancient world, from the magnificent citadel at Mycenae and the spectacular shrine to Helen in Sparta, to the archaeological site in modern Turkey that will be forever linked with the war fought in Helen's name: Troy.

Bettany Hughes chronicles the rise and fall of one of the most extreme civilisations the world has ever seen, one founded on discipline, sacrifice and frugality where the onus was on the collective and the goal was to create the perfect state and the perfect warrior. Hughes reveals the secrets and complexities of everyday Spartan life; homosexuality was compulsory, money was outlawed, equality was enforced, weak boys were put to death and women enjoyed a level of social and sexual freedom that was unheard of in the ancient world. It was a nation of fearsome fighters where a glorious death was treasured. This is aptly demonstrated by the kamikaze last stand at Thermopylae, where King Leonidas and his warriors fought with swords, hands and teeth to fend off the Persians. But there was bitter rivalry between Sparta and Athens, two cities with totally opposed views of the 'good life'. When war finally came, it raged for decades and split the Greek world until, in a brutal and bloody climax, Sparta finally emerged victorious as the most powerful city-state in Greece. But under King Agesilaus, the dreams of the Spartan utopia come crashing down. By setting out to create a perfect society protected by perfect warriors, Sparta made an enemy of change. A collapsing birth rate, too few warriors, rebellious slaves and outdated attitudes to weaponry and warfare combined to sow the seeds of Sparta's destruction, until eventually the once great warrior state was reduced to being a destination for Roman tourists who came to view bizarre sado-masochistic rituals.

Athens the Truth about Democracy
If contemporary views of ancient Athens, Greece emphasize the peaceful and harmonious nature of that polis's democratic system, historian Bettany Hughes begs to differ. Hughes asserts that the West's establishment of Athens as the platonic ideal of democracy is hugely ironic, for that classical society in fact employed rules, regulations and traditions deemed unthinkable, even barbaric, in our modern age - from the widespread practice of black magic; to the view of women as demonic, fourth or fifth-class citizens forced to wear public veils; to the proliferation of slavery. Most incredibly, Athens relied on inner bloodshed, tumult and strife to perpetuate its existence and strength, declaring war every two years or so. Such practices were commonplace, even as the community soared to new intellectual heights and created wondrous sociopolitical ideals for itself that it strove to live up to and that would later form the basis of contemporary political thought.

When the Moors Ruled in Europe
Bettany Hughes traces the story of the mysterious and misunderstood Moors, the Islamic society that ruled in Spain for 700 years, but whose legacy was virtually erased from Western history. In 711 AD, a tribe of newly converted Muslims from North Africa crossed the straits of Gibraltar and invaded Spain. Known as The Moors, they went on to build a rich and powerful society. Its capital, Cordoba, was the largest and most civilised city in Europe, with hospitals, libraries and a public infrastructure light year ahead of anything in England at the time. Amongst the many things that were introduced to Europe by Muslims at this time were: a huge body of classical Greek texts that had been lost to the rest of Europe for centuries (kick-starting the Renaissance); mathematics and the numbers we use today; advanced astronomy and medical practices; fine dining; the concept of romantic love; paper; deodorant; and even erection creams. This wasn't the rigid, fundamentalist Islam of some people's imaginations, but a progressive, sensuous and intellectually curious culture. But when the society collapsed, Spain was fanatically re-Christianised; almost every trace of seven centuries of Islamic rule was ruthlessly removed. It is only now, six centuries later, that The Moors' influences on European life and culture are finally beginning to be fully understood.

Britain's Most Extreme Weather (2014)

Weatherman Alex Beresford investigates why Britain's recent weather has been so severe and asks if we're facing the worst weather ever.

Part 1: Storms
Alex Beresford examines whether we can expect a stormier future. Moving personal accounts and astonishing footage from smart phones and cameras combine to tell the story of Britain's stormy past, including the tidal surges that flooded North Sea coasts and the hurricane force winds that battered western shores. The programme also looks back at the most destructive storm in UK history: the Great Storm of 1703 that killed over 8000 people and destroyed a fifth of the Royal Navy.
Could patterns in the past reveal clues about the future of Britain's weather?

Part 2: Cold
Are our winters going to get even colder? To find out, Alex Beresford explores the historical evidence and the latest research. A combination of first-hand testimonies and astonishing homemade footage reveal the dangers of our recent cold snaps. Alex discovers how freezing weather can shut down the transport network, kill livestock and present hazards to anyone caught out in the cold. He experiences the dangers of freezing winds when he endures a wind chill that takes temperatures down to minus 50. Alex examines the severe winter of 1962/ 63: the coldest in over 200 years, when Britain was hit by temperatures below minus 20, and 80mph winds. The snow lay on the ground for a record-breaking 62 consecutive days and January 1963 was the single coldest month of the 20th century.
Travelling further back in time, he examines the Little Ice Age, when temperatures were colder for hundreds of years. Could such an extended period of cold weather happen again? If so, how soon could it affect Britain?

Part 3: Floods
Should we be preparing for more flooding like in early 2014? This episode examines the scientific and historical evidence, as well as using personal testimony and smartphone and camera footage to tell the story of the floods. Alex discovers how dangerous it is to be caught in a flash flood and searches through the history books for great floods of the past to see if they can provide clues to future rainfall patterns and flooding. The programme looks at the extraordinary flooding in Manchester 1872, when coffins were exhumed by rain. In Worcester in 1770 flood levels reached 15 and a half metres: a record that stands to this day. With the Thames and the Severn bursting their banks in 2014's storms, is Britain any more prepared for flooding now than it was in the past?
The programme reveals research demonstrating that floods tend to occur in groups called flood clusters.
With the added complication of climate change, many scientists now believe we are heading towards a much wetter future with heavier rainfall.

Part 4: Heat
Is Britain now hotter than ever? Alex Beresford examines the science and the history of our weather to find out. Alex learns about the dangers of heatwaves, when extreme hot weather can shut down transport, damage crops and give people heat exhaustion. He experiences the dangers of rising temperatures when he endures a simulated heatwave. The programme examines the severe heatwave of 2003, which killed around 2000 people in Britain, when temperatures hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the South East. Alex also examines the famous heatwave of 1976, when two months of prolonged warm temperatures caused a severe drought, and the Edwardian heatwave of 1911, which lasted nearly three months. The Earth's position relative to the sun also makes temperatures go up or down. Alex investigates how the planet's alignment changes over time in a series of orbital cycles called Milankovitch Cycles. When the cycles align the planet can be plunged into an ice age; another one should arrive in around 1500 years.
But right now, a different factor is affecting our temperatures: CO2 emissions. Could hot deadly summers like 2003 soon become the norm in Britain?

My Granny the Escort (2014)

Award-winning filmmaker Charlie Russell offers a frank, intimate and revealing portrait of three of Britain's mature escorts: older women who choose to sell sex from hotel rooms and their homes, all completely legally. As well as topping up their pensions, all of these women seem to be enjoying themselves in their chosen and often new profession, but the film also questions how such a lifestyle can co-exist with their family lives and their roles as mothers and grandparents. Their clients are men of all ages, sometimes as young as 20, but what is the motivation behind some men's desire to have sex with older women?

Tricks of the Junk Food Business (2014)

Do you know when an advert is really an advert? Can you be sure that the game you're playing isn't trying to make you buy something? When it comes to protecting our children from sugary food, the world of online advertising is the new frontier. Harry Wallop investigates and finds big name brands marketing fattening food in the games children play.

Dinner at 11 (2014)

A group of 11-year-olds have a dinner party and discuss everything from family to politics, in this thought-provoking insight into what's important to today's young people.

* Afghanistan's Hunted Women (2013)

Krishnan Guru-Murthy and director Wael Dabbous travel to Afghanistan, gaining rare access to the secret houses that shelter women hiding from violent husbands or from families who have tried to kill them for refusing to take part in arranged marriages. Improving women's rights was supposed to be one of the great legacies of Britain's involvement in Afghanistan, but Unreported World reveals that, as international forces start to pull out, powerful religious hardliners are trying to roll back new laws that protect women.

* Love for Sale with Rupert Everett (2014)

Prostitutes are often seen as either immoral individuals or exploited victims. Rupert Everett uncovers the real story of the sex industry, going behind the stereotypes to hear the unvarnished truth from sex workers and their clients.

Part 1: Why People Sell Sex
Rupert explores the motivations of sex workers, from the Exeter housewife who claims she loves her work, to the Liverpool street-walker, and from the Mayfair escort who charges £700 an hour, to the young rent boy on the backstreets of Tel Aviv. Rupert offers a passionate defence of the dignity and rights of a group of people who he feels have been unjustly stigmatised for thousands of years. This is an unusually truthful and honest insight into the sex trade, and a funny and sometimes angry attack on the hypocrisy that surrounds the subject.

Part 2: Why People Buy Sex
Ten percent of British men admit to having used a prostitute. What does that tell us about male desire? Rupert Everett explores the motivations of the men who use prostitutes, meeting self-confessed sex addicts, as well as a married man who enjoys sexual role-play with a dominatrix, and a divorced transgender father whose experiences with his 'straight' male clients cast a fascinating light on the sexuality of some British men. He also encounters a successful businessman who claims to have spent £150,000 on massage parlour prostitutes in two years, and a happily married man who says his prostitute use enhances rather than damages his marriage. Finally, he talks to comedian and actor Russell Brand, who talks frankly about his own experiences. This is the conclusion to an unusually truthful and honest insight into the sex trade, and a funny and sometimes angry attack on the hypocrisy that surrounds the subject.

* Don't Blame Facebook: 2 (2013)

The second of the programmes about the perils of social media. What happens when a troll goes too far, when private photos end up where they shouldn't, or when one young boy finds himself in a truck load of trouble? Social media sites have become an integral part of our online existence. Many of us have multiple accounts over a variety of networks, and this documentary was aimed at those who don't realise that the world is watching. Far from the fails of brands and big labels that we covered in our 2012 round up, this show concentrated on individuals and how their lives had been changed (for the worse) by the way they used sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

* Don't Blame Facebook (2013)

This enlightening film tracks down people across the UK who have made some of the most extraordinary faux-pas on Facebook and other social media in the past few years. The programme discovers how sharing too much information online can have disastrous consequences, and reveals how these people's lives have been affected in the aftermath of their online 'fails'. From the friends arrested on terror charges at a US airport after a joke tweet, to the McDonald's employee who went to jail after hacking an international superstar's Facebook page, and the model arrested in her pyjamas when police burst into her home investigating a suspicion that she was harassing a celebrity, the film demonstrates why everyone should be aware that you can never be sure who is watching, reading and sharing your social media timeline.

* Edward VIII: The Lion King (2013)

Edward VIII is a maligned figure in recent British history, widely seen as the playboy prince who refused to conform to establishment rules, and remembered as the King who threw away the throne and turned his back on his country, all for the love of a twice-divorced American woman. But newly released home movies shot in 1928 and 1930 by Edward himself tell an extraordinary story and show him in a new light. The films reveal the untold story of his safaris in East Africa with the real life cast of Out of Africa, and his role in changing the future of African wildlife. In the early part of the 20th century, safari meant hunting. When he arrived in the bush, Edward was shocked by the scale of the uncontrolled slaughter he encountered: elephants, rhinos, lions and leopards were being killed in their thousands. He put down his gun, picked up a movie camera instead and led the first celebrity conservation campaign to protect African wildlife. His legacy is the creation of the iconic Serengeti National Park – the jewel in the conservation crown, and the start of a royal tradition of supporting wildlife causes.

* Carjack City (2014)

At least 30 vehicles are carjacked every day in South Africa. The country's cars are routinely fitted with satellite trackers, so that if they're carjacked by thieves an armed response unit can track them. Reporter Marcel Theroux and director James Brabazon visit the country's capital, Pretoria, where this type of crime is acute. They go on patrol with Andries Hlongwane - who works for a private security firm - as he chases the gunmen and recovers stolen cars.

It's dangerous work in a private security industry that now accounts for seven per cent of all jobs in South Africa. Theroux and Brabazon begin the film in hot pursuit of a carjacked vehicle. Andries and his partner find it abandoned, but they keep their guns drawn: there's a good chance the carjackers are still watching to see if anyone has followed the car's satellite tracker.

The team waits for police officers to arrive to help out, but suddenly they hear the cries of a woman being robbed across the road. Andries races to help her, his gun drawn, and chases of the robbers. A few minutes later a passing driver warns the team he's just driven through a gang of armed carjackers at a junction less than 100 yards away. The police arrive and almost immediately there's a fusillade of shots. Just five minutes from the South African parliament, the carjackers have no compunction about firing automatic weapons to make good their escape. Next Andries scrambles into action to track down a hijacked delivery van. He finds it abandoned in a poor township. The shocked driver says he's convinced the gunmen were going to murder him. The hijackers eventually fled with the equivalent of around £30 in cash and a few loaves of bread. The police turn up to investigate, but locals say it's rare to see the police in this township.

The lack of police protection in many areas is one reason that explains the 400,000 private security guards in South Africa: more than the whole of the country's police and armed forces combined. Andries has a young family and, with a quarter of the population out of work, he risks his life for £1.25 an hour.

He's concerned that criminals he grew up with, who still live in the same township as him, may target his family, so he makes the difficult decision to move his family into a tiny garden outhouse in a safer suburb.

The team arranges to meet a gang of carjackers who steal vehicles in the area Andries patrols. They say that they steal to order and export the cars to other African countries. They tell Theroux that they carry guns, baseball bats and knives, and if anyone tries to stop them, they often disable them with two shots to the stomach

* The First World War (2014)

The First World War is a 10-part 2003 Channel 4 TV series based on the book of the same name by Oxford Professor Hew Strachan. The series was narrated and produced by Jonathan Lewis, and was directed by Corina Sturmer, Marcus Kiggell, and Simon Rockell.

This is the high definition version republished in 2014 by the BBC.

Episode 1: To Arms
The war's pattern was set early by Austro-Hungarian atrocities against Serbian civilians.

Episode 2: Under the Eagle
The first months of the war on the Western Front were mobile, fast and dangerous.

Episode 3: Global War
A look at the global implications of the war, particularly on the African continent.

Episode 4: Jihad
The Ottoman Empire summoned Muslims to Jihad to overthrow Allied power in the Middle East.

Episode 5: Shackled to a Corpse
The war on the Eastern Front initiated many horrors of 20th-century warfare.

Episode 6: Breaking the Deadlock
This part covers the battle on the Western Front from 1915-17.

Episode 7: Blockade
The British responded to German submarines in the North Sea with a blockade of Europe.

Episode 8: Revolution
How governments, fearing unrest at home, set about fomenting revolution among the enemy.

Episode 9: Germany's Last Gamble
In March 1918, the Germans launched a massive offensive on the Western Front.

Episode 10: War without End
The final part explores the war's last months, the armistice and the Treaty of Versailles.

* Food Unwrapped (Series)

Season 1
Episode:

Season 2
Episode:

Season 3

Jimmy Doherty, Kate Quilton and Matt Tebbut present the food and science series that travels the world to lift the lid on what's really in the food we eat

Part 1:
Jimmy learns that there's more to traditionally-matured cheese than he imagined thanks to a microorganism that helps give the likes of pecorino their distinctive hard rinds. Matt talks to some researchers to learn why re-heating rice can make you ill. Kate is in Malaysia to learn how vanilla is grown and how vanilla extract is then made. Matt meets a team of researchers to examine why re-heating rice can make you ill, and discovers what makes the pre-cooked rice stocked in supermarkets safe to eat.

Part 2:
Jimmy travels to Iceland to find out why they supply most of the cod in our supermarkets, instead of our own British cod. Kate takes a look at why, unlike other popular fruits, British supermarkets seem to only stock one variety of bananas. Matt learns more about the methods used to make popcorn. Plus, Matt examines the methods used to make popcorn and discovers why eating bucketloads of popcorn might not satisfy your appetite, encouraging you to eat more than you should.

Part 3:
Kate is in France to learn if a glass of red wine a day keeps the doctor away. Venison is traditionally the meat of kings. This lean, healthy meat has become hugely popular over the last decade. Jimmy investigates why we seem to be importing some of it from New Zealand and discovers how to keep UK venison on our supermarket shelves. Matt finds out more about skimmed milk and learns how dairy farmers get exactly the right amount of fat in every pint of milk.

Part 4:
Jimmy attempts to find out whether manuka honey has any medicinal properties. Kate finds out how some varieties of caviar are sold with a low price tag. Matt pays a visit to a Scottish distillery to find out the surprising truth about what gives whisky its distinctive flavour.

Part 5:
Jimmy takes a look at supermarket fish to find out how fresh the stock really is. Kate learns how asparagus can be grown all year round in one of the driest places on earth. Matt makes his way to a secret location to track down the only wasabi plants grown in the United Kingdom.

Part 6:
The presenters take a look back at some of their favourite food discoveries from the series.

Part 7: (Easter Special)
Is dark chocolate good for you? Could daffodils help treat Alzheimer's disease? Jimmy, Kate and Matt uncover remarkable secrets about the nation's favourite springtime produce. Chocoholic Kate heads on a pilgrimage to a cocoa farm in Ghana to find out if there's any scientific truth behind the widespread belief that chemicals in dark chocolate have health benefits. Jimmy investigates why rabbit is stocked in supermarkets on the continent, but not in the UK. Does our association with pet bunnies dampen demand from British shoppers? He gets rare access to a rabbit farm in Spain to learn more about the industry. Matt goes on a real-life egg hunt to find out more about double yolks. But with 1.5 million hens eggs laid every day at just one UK farm, he may need to use some special techniques to find the rare 'double-yolkers'. Jimmy also heads to Hampshire and discovers that the tender spring lamb served at Easter may be older than you think.

* The Last Emperor of China (2008)

Living through one of the most tumultuous periods of Chinese and world history, Puyi, the last Emperor of China, was both a participant in, and victim of, his times. In 1908, aged only two, Puyi ascended the throne at the Forbidden City in Beijing as Qing Emperor of China. At six, rebellions forced his abdication but he continued to live at the palace surrounded by women and eunuchs. At 13 he started to learn of the wider world from his British teacher Reginald Johnston. Soon afterwards Puyi was evicted from the Palace and embarked on an amazing personal quest to recover his throne. He became a puppet Emperor controlled by the Japanese, a prisoner of the Soviet Union, an inmate of a Communist Chinese re-education camp and finally an ordinary citizen living in Beijing through the brutal upheavals of the Cultural Revolution. Featuring never-before-seen archive footage and photographs, as well as extracts from his writing and interviews with eyewitness relatives.

* Dirty Weekenders in France (2014)

Self-confessed curio hunter Richard E. Grant takes a trip to the continent to reveal the world of the people who spend their time rifling through the barns, cowsheds and French farm attics, looking for pre-war treasures to bring back home. The show explores the world of professional antique hunters and dealers who seek out hidden treasures at flea markets and antique shops all over France; hoping to find curios like absinthe glasses, horse linen and vintage traffic lights that will sell like wildfire in the UK. Richard and two dealers storm the continent to plunder its treasures and discover the stories behind their amazing vintage finds, as well as the history and culture of the areas they visit. But can they recover their outlay in a weekend? And as Richard revels in the land of dusty cafes, beautiful B&Bs and the perfect citron press窠can these dealers actually make a living from their weekend of treasure hunting?

* Dead Famous DNA (2014)

Dead Famous DNA Mark Evans sets out to track down the remains of some of history's most famous figures. With eminent scientists applying the latest advances in DNA testing to the samples he obtains, he attempts to solve some of the mysteries that have persisted around them and raise awareness of what this fast-evolving science is now capable of. Evans tracks down body parts and human relics claimed to belong to high-profile figures including Adolf Hitler, Elvis Presley, Charles Darwin, John F Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Napoleon, Marlon Brando and King George III. He works with scientists to extract their DNA and analyse their genome: the genetic blueprint of life. The results provide some astounding discoveries about these historical figures.

Part 1

Mark Evans discovers that Elvis Presley could have suffered from a genetic heart muscle disease, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which may have led to his tragically early death. 

Part 2

Mark Evans tries to learn more about John F Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe from samples of their hair, and travels to New Jersey to come face-to-face with Napoleon's penis.

Experts analyse two of Charles Darwin's beard hairs to try to solve a 130-year-old riddle by identifying the debilitating mystery illness the 'Father of Evolution' suffered from for most of his life. 

Part 3

Mark Evans follows the extraordinary trail of relics claimed to come from Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun: bones sold by a KGB defector and hair apparently found on a hairbrush at Hitler's mountain retreat by a US Army intelligence officer at the end of the Second World War. As Mark checks out the provenance, the scientists extract the DNA and reveal an extraordinary result.

Mark also meets a Canadian dentist who owns one of John Lennon's teeth and wants to clone the Beatles legend, and tests what's claimed to be a tiny part of Marlon Brando.

* The Fried Chicken Shop (Series)

Channel 4 returns to Rooster Spot for a series delving deeper into the world of fried chicken, the staff who serve it and the customers who buy it.

All walks of life cross in the Fried Chicken Shop as people tell their life stories, friendships are formed, and love and laughter spill out into the early hours.

Episode 1

In this episode Rooster Spot is a hub for love and relationships. Shop workers Imran and Harris talk about their bigger ambitions and the friendship they have formed since they both moved from Pakistan, and Harris declares his budding love for an Italian waitress.

On the other side of the counter, cross dresser Jessie treats customers to her interesting and sexy style of dress.

After an afternoon drinking on the Common, fine art students CeeCee and Lulu discuss being lonely and single and how fast food over home cooked is frowned upon in Arabic culture.

And Tyrone and Leah talk babies and love over chips and whether they are ready to take the next step.

As well as the fixed cameras inside the shop, the programme follows take-away customers. Local recording artist Ray must remember a big order to take back to the studio; does he pay attention or just get want he wants?

Back in the shop, Tyrone and Leah return with some exciting news; Jonny attempts some far-fetched chat-up lines on some unsuspecting girls; and Marco the busker sings a chicken shop ditty... it's just another day in South London's busiest chicken shop.

Episode 2

Rayon is an absent father out for lunch with his best mate's children, while, on the other side of the counter, Chicken Shop manager Zahid has left his family behind in Pakistan to fulfil his dreams and provide for his family's future: similar issues in different lives with different perspectives come together in the same place.

Love is captured and played out in The Chicken Shop, from three girls on the pull flirting with boys over cheesy chips to a new couple snogging and declaring undying love over a tub of mayonnaise.

Race and opportunity are explored over a takeaway in Brixton. Hopeful rapper Paul from the first episode returns, showing off his French rhyming skills.

And Rayon defends the honour of Captain Jack Sparrow when trouble kicks off.

Episode 3 (Missing)

This episode meets students Hassan and Syed, who aspire to run their own business. As they tuck in to their burgers they discuss the benefits of being self-employed and the aspirations of this generation's next entrepreneurs.

Falling into a conversation with a mum and her young daughter, they discuss society, the difficulties the youth of today face and why a good home life is the answer - all triggered by Jessie walking past the shop in another daring outfit.

Shop manager Ali faces difficult customers, copes with flirtatious female customers and juggles the needs of his eight staff members, all while trying to make the shop as welcoming as possible for customers.

Later, office party-goers Hayley, Kat and Portia are joined by Jessie as they talk about life, fashion and boob size over chips and delve into Jessie's life more than she might like.

* The Dark Side of Porn (2005)

A series of documentaries exploring the dark reality of the adult film industry.

Porn Shutdown
Darren James was diagnosed with HIV in early 2004, which led to a two month shutdown of the adult movie industry in Los Angeles. Featuring Sharon Mitchell, founder of the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation and Rob Black, producer of Gonzo pornography.

Diary of a Porn Virgin
This episode gives an insight in the lives of newcomers to the adult entertainment. From the initial approach to a glamour agency and the first sexy photo-shoot to the HIV test, the audition and the first hardcore shoot, it shows the gritty reality of what working in the porn industry means in Britain today.

Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered
Also known as The Curse of Debbie Does Dallas, in the vein of Inside Deep Throat, it examines the history of the production and marketing of the 1978 cult hit, Debbie Does Dallas, and is a study of the porn industry in the 1970s. Interviews with former porn stars also try to uncover the mystery of Bambi Woods, the starlet who disappeared from porn soon after Debbie Does Dallas and was rumored to have connections with the mafia and problems with the FBI. Featuring interviews with Robin Byrd, female actress in the movie and Bill Kelly, a former FBI agent once working on an undercover operation to bust porn producers.

Death of a Porn Star
This episode examines the mystery surrounding the death of Lolo Ferrari. Featuring candid interviews with Lola's mother, her plastic surgeon and her husband.

Amateur Porn
This episode examines what is going on in the British sex industry, where new male actors are lining up to do a job without getting paid.

Me and My Slaves
This episodes is centered around "Rick", a professional BDSM Master who wants to quit the job after doing it for 25 years. Over a period of more than a year, Rick talks intimately about his life.

Hunting Emmanuelle
This episode examines the cultural impact of the movie Emmanuelle. Featuring an interview with Sylvia Kristel.

Does Snuff Exist
This episode investigates the truth behind snuff movies. It features the 1997 German case where Ernst Dieter Korzen and Stefan Michael Mahn kidnapped a prostitute and recorded her torture. It includes an interview with British detective superintendent Michael Hames.

The Real Animal Farm
Looks into the story behind bestiality porn movies, and discusses the notorious Animal Farm video. Several interviewees, including David Kerekes (co-author of Killing For Culture and See No Evil), author Phil Tonge, feminist writer Germaine Greer and British pornographer Ben Dover, all admitted to having seen bootlegs of Animal Farm in the 1980s, but were apparently unaware that there was no such film — the entity referred to as such was merely a number of existing bestiality shorts tacked together. The documentary also told the story of Bodil Joensen, a psychologically traumatized young woman whose brief notoriety as the "Queen of Bestiality" was followed by a downward spiral of alcohol abuse and prostitution before her death of cirrhosis of the liver at the age of forty, and featured an interview with the Danish pornographer Ole Ege.

* The Last Chance School (2014)

Each year, over 5000 children are excluded from mainstream education in the UK, and just under 60 of them study at Muntham House School: a specialist boarding school for boys with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Many of Muntham House's pupils have been excluded because of violent and disruptive behaviour. But the dedicated teachers, led by charismatic headmaster Richard Boyle, are committed to finding out what it is in each boy that will inspire them to want to turn their lives around.

The school is one of the best of its kind and one of its goals is 'to provide a happy experience for the boys'. Muntham House has a high student-teacher ratio, and a combined team of teachers, therapists and care workers.

This documentary follows three of the school's most challenging pupils.

* Secrets of the Scammers (2013)

From the 'three cup trick' to the 'bogus cop' scam, to the sophisticated online computer scams that cost Britons an estimated £3.5 billion a year, it seems scammers are everywhere. This one-off special reveals the tricks of a trade so widespread that it represents a crime epidemic in the UK. Half the population was targeted by would-be scammers last year - on the street, in their homes and online. But not everyone has given up in the face of this scamming crime wave. This film features exclusive access to the police units targeting criminals on the streets of the capital, and to a group of 'scam baiters' - concerned citizens who make it their mission to waste the online scammers' time and resources in order to deter them from targeting others.