[Submitted via press release]
Bomb Squad PREMIERE – (2 Episodes)From Tuesday 1 May at 21:00 on BBC Knowledge (channel 251 on DStv)Concludes Tuesday 8 May at 21:00
What does it take to walk into danger while everyone else is taking cover, and to know that one wrong move could mean certain death?
This landmark two-part film from the team behind the Bafta-winning documentary Wounded is an intimate portrayal of the work of specialist bomb disposal teams, including pre-deployment training, a tense tour of duty in Afghanistan and the return home. It goes to the heart of the action with the men and women whose job is to find and diffuse the Taliban’s devastating homemade bombs and booby traps; the IED devices responsible for 80% of the casualties in the long-running conflict.
The first episode follows a young soldier called Adam, who is halfway through his tour in Afghanistan. Captured on helmet camera, the footage reveals what Adam sees as he stands over the bomb which could kill him if he makes one wrong move.
Episode two follows Search Team 9, who have already taken casualties just three months into their tour. After a missile strike kills an insurgent laying an IED, bomb disposal operator Rod and his team are dropped into the area by helicopter to investigate.
Bomb Squad is an insightful series revealing everything from what it’s like to be a bomb disposal operator working in Afghanistan for the first time, to searching for IEDs after witnessing friends getting killed or injured by them.
Concordes’s Last Flight PREMIERE – (1 Episode)Thursday 3 May at 21:00 on BBC Knowledge (channel 251 on DStv)
Concorde’s Last Flight tells the story of the rise and fall of the world’s first supersonic passenger airliner, from its first flight in 1969 to the catastrophic accident just outside Paris in July 2000 which killed 113 people; its first and last fatal accident.
Concorde embodied a design dream. Technically unrivalled and more aesthetically impressive than any other jet, its construction was a painstaking affair far from traditional production line assembly. With elite travellers such as Lord Heseltine, Phil Collins and Sir Terence Conran, travelling faster than the speed of sound quickly became the ultimate symbol of power, wealth and style.
But on July 25th 2000, a series of freak events lead to Air France Flight 4590 crashing seconds after take-off, despite the captain and crew’s desperate struggle to land the jet safely. The accident killed all passengers and crew onboard and four people on the ground, and was poignant confirmation that the fleet needed a dramatic overhaul. All 14 planes were grounded, and millions were spent on additional safety features and technical upgrades. Three years later, Concorde took to the skies again, but in the wake of the tragic events of September 11, the aviation climate had changed forever. The fleet was grounded for the final time in 2003, and the supersonic dream was over.
Life in the Undergrowth PREMIERE – (5 Episodes)From Wednesday 2 May at 21:00 on BBC Knowledge (channel 251 on DStv)Series continues every Wednesday at 21:00
David Attenborough ventures into the bizarre, ferocious and surprisingly beautiful world of the invertebrates, embarking on a ground-breaking exploration into a spectacular miniature universe never normally seen, but teeming all around us.
Not just bugs and beetles, but exotic cicadas, neon glow worms, intricate silk-weaving spiders and iridescent dragonflies – not to mention a whole host of other incredible life-forms with their own forms of intimate, startling behaviour. Thanks to technical innovations in lighting, optics and computerised motion control, this super-organised world is finally revealed from the perspective of its extraordinary inhabitants.
These beasts may be miniscule, but they live life on a truly grand scale.
The Spice Trail PREMIERE – (3 Episodes)From Thursday 10 May at 22:00 on BBC Knowledge (channel 251 on DStv)Series continues every Thursday at 22:00
Kate Humble embarks on a journey of discovery as she goes in search of some of the world’s most coveted spices. It’s a tale of epic voyages, bloody wars, the birth of multinational companies and contemporary cultures, as she travels around the globe to reveal how spices are grown, used and traded in the 21st Century.
In Medieval times spices were a symbol of wealth and power, and were thought to have medicinal properties that could even cure diseases. With immense fortunes to be made, explorers set forth in search of these tastes of paradise in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Kate follows in these explorers’ footsteps, travelling to India to uncover the story of the most heavily traded spice in the world – pepper – before heading south to the cinnamon islands of Sri Lanka; a place shrouded in mystery for Europeans until the Portuguese landed on its shores. Then it’s on to Indonesia; an archipelago of tiny islands which drew European explorers in search of nutmeg and clove. Kate then takes the spice trail from the Atlas mountains in Morocco to Spain, to reveal the story behind the world’s most expensive spice – saffron – before heading across the Atlantic to Mexico in search of vanilla.
In each episode Kate reveals the history of each of the spices she encounters – nutmeg, clove, pepper, cinnamon, vanilla and saffron – including the folklore and superstition surrounding them, the processing methods, and how one of the greatest periods of discovery helped shape the world today.
Frontline Medicine PREMIERE – (2 Episodes)From Tuesday 15 May at 21:00 on BBC Knowledge (channel 251 on DStv)Concludes Tuesday 22 May at 21:00
From the frontline of war to the frontline of research, this documentary meets the inspirational men and women behind the latest medical breakthroughs that will save thousands of lives – both on and off the battlefield.
These medical pioneers have introduced procedures that have seen the survival rate of injured servicemen and women rise to 90%. Designed for the warzone, these developments range from spray-on skin cells to rebuilding damaged hands using rib bones.
Frontline Medicine also reveals the innovators in medical research; those who are revolutionising healthcare for both civilian and military patients. These ground-breaking developments include mind-controlled prosthetics for amputees, and electrodes to allow blind casualties to “see” again.
Offering a fascinating insight into the lives of medical professionals who are working in some of the most extraordinary and difficult circumstances, the programme reveals how today’s warfare is helping to create tomorrow’s treatments.
James May’s Toy Stories: The Great Train Race PREMIERE – (1 Episode)Friday 18 May at 22:00 on BBC Knowledge (channel 251 on DStv)
After he conceded a bitter defeat in 2009, James May returns to Devon for a second attempt at joining the towns of Bideford and Barnstaple with a Hornby model railway.
His last effort faced shoddy engineering, vandalism, defective trains, leaves on the line and appalling weather conditions which left the attempt in tatters. The disaster culminated in the last of the five trains seizing up barely 7 miles into the 10 mile journey – having left just 14 hours earlier.
But now, two years on, James is piqued by the sense of unfinished business and spurred on by a fresh challenge. In Hamburg, some of the greatest model train experts in the world are planning to snatch victory from the plucky Brits. They will be running their trains on their own track in the opposite direction – and their secret cutting-edge technology could see James’ amateur tinkering pale in comparison.
Armed with a crack team of engineers, a fresh approach, and a revolutionary but temperamental track laying machine, James’ attempt with his trusty Flying Scotsman includes crashes, a battle of wits, and a dramatic, emotional conclusion.
Targeting Bin Laden PREMIERE – (1 Episode)Tuesday 22 May at 22:00 on BBC Knowledge (channel 251 on DStv)
Featuring an exclusive interview with President Barack Obama, this drama-documentary reveals the detail behind the US mission that successfully found and killed Osama Bin Laden.
On 1 May 2011, the White House announced that Osama Bin Laden had been shot dead by US Navy SEALS in a house in the town of Abbottabad, Pakistan. The man who had eluded US forces for so long, the man responsible for masterminding the September 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, had finally been found.
Finding Bin Laden was one of Barack Obama’s key election promises, and the success or failure of the operation would define his presidency. In Targeting Bin Laden, President Obama and key players in the US Government, including America’s National Security Advisor and the White House Chief Counter Terrorism Advisor, discuss the mission in vivid detail, revealing what really happened along the corridors of power in the nerve-wracking days and hours leading up to the event.
Diamond Queen PREMIERE – (3 Episodes)From Tuesday 29 May at 21:00 on BBC Knowledge (channel 251 on DStv)Series continues every day at 21:00
Political journalist Andrew Marr looks at the defining moments in the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II in this three-part series in the year of her diamond jubilee.
Looking closely at the influence of her grandfather, father and mother, and the impact of the abdication of her uncle, Andrew reveals the story of the little girl who never expected to reign – and hears from the Queen’s grandchildren about what it must have been like to become queen at the age of twenty-five.
Andrew travels with the Queen to the Middle East and the USA to discover what the role of “Head of State” actually entails, examines how she coped with decades of changing and sometimes tense relations with the media, and charts her trip to Australia to look at what some perceive to be her most enduring achievement; the Commonwealth.
He also takes a look at the many challenges the Queen has faced over the years, from her attempts to modernise the monarchy to the Royal tragedies of 1992 - the year which the Queen herself termed an ‘annus horribilis’.
Including special interviews with Princes William and Harry, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips, the Earl of Wessex, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal, David Cameron, Tony Blair, Sir John Major, and President Obama, Diamond Queen reveals a personal account not only of the Queen’s reign, but her role as a mother and grandmother.