Documentaries

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• Average duration:
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Recent episodes (10)

• The Crescent and The Cross: Part Three

  Mon, 23 Nov 09

  Duration:
  27 mins

  In the third instalment of The Crescent and the Cross, Owen Bennett Jones examines one of the most important Muslim empires in history - the Ottoman Empire. In particular, it focuses on the time of Suleiman The Magnificent, a towering figure in the rivalry between Christianity and Islam, and a crucial battle - the 1565 Seige of Malta.

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• John Simpson Returns to 1989 - Part Two

  Thu, 19 Nov 09

  Duration:
  24 mins

  The BBC's World Affairs Editor John Simpson tells the story of 20 years of post-communist life. Through personal stories, he traces the different roads that East Germany, the Czech Republic and Romania have taken since 1989. In part two John returns to Prague to speak to those who lived through the Velvet Revolution.

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• A Dollar A Day - Part Three

  Wed, 18 Nov 09

  Duration:
  23 mins

  In Nepal, severe drought and unreliable monsoon rains have led to acute food shortages. The impact is felt most by people like Charuri who is struggling to feed three children and cannot afford the medical help she needs.

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• The Crescent and The Cross: Part Two

  Mon, 16 Nov 09

  Duration:
  25 mins

  Owen Bennett Jones explores five crucial battles in the relationship between Christianity and Islam. This episode looks at the Crusades.

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• Africa's Forgotten Soldiers

  Thu, 12 Nov 09

  Duration:
  24 mins

  Seventy years after the start of the Second World War the overwhelming impression is of a conflict fought on the battlefields of Europe by white troops. Britain’s war effort was bolstered by soldiers from the white Commonwealth – Australia, Canada and New Zealand and later by the United States. The war in the Far East is often overlooked, as is the fighting that took place in Africa. Yet one million African troops participated in the conflict, fighting their way through the jungles of Burma, across the Libyan deserts and in the skies over London. In this documentary we hear first hand from the African troops who participated in the war – and who played a critical part in freeing the world from the threat of fascism. Martin Plaut reports.

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• Assignment: Better Banking

  Thu, 12 Nov 09

  Duration:
  23 mins

  As governments struggle to curb the so-called “casino-banking” practices which some blame for the global financial meltdown, Michael Robinson now reports on growing concerns over super-fast, computerised share-dealing systems which are earning massive new profits for banks.

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• A Dollar a Day - Part 2

  Wed, 11 Nov 09

  Duration:
  24 mins

  Thrown off nearby farms at the time of Namibia’s independence, the squatters of Otjivero lived a hand-to-mouth existence. Last year a scheme was established to give every inhabitant a basic cash grant of US$10 a month, to spend as they wanted. School enrolment has shot up, small businesses are springing up, and the nurse at the local clinic says malnutrition rates amongst the children have dropped.

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• The Crescent and the Cross - Part One

  Mon, 9 Nov 09

  Duration:
  24 mins

  The Crescent and the Cross, a four-part series, presented by Owen Bennett-Jones, examines several turning points in the relationship between Christianity and Islam covering Muslim Spain, the Crusades, the Ottoman Empire and the struggle for Africa. Part One starts by look going back over 1,000 years ago, in what we now call Spain, but was then known as al-Andalus.

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• Youssou N’Dour at 50

  Thu, 5 Nov 09

  Duration:
  20 mins

  To mark the 50th birthday of Youssou N'Dour, Robin Denselow travels to Senegal to profile the best known African musician of recent times.

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• Assignment - Guinea on the Brink

  Thu, 5 Nov 09

  Duration:
  23 mins

  Mark Doyle reports from Guinea in West Africa on the harrowing events of 28 September when government troops crushed an opposition rally in the centre of the capital, Conakry. This programme contains some graphic description of sexual violence.

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