TV programmes
1. The Ark
TX:30/03/2015 BBC 1 Dur: 88’00”
Production Company: Red Planet Pictures
No additional information supplied.
2. David Suchet: In The Footsteps of St. Peter (Episode 1)
TX: 03/04/2015 BBC 1 Dur: 56’39”
Production Company: CTVC
No additional information supplied.
3. David Suchet: In The Footsteps of St. Peter (Episode 2)
TX: 05/04/2015 BBC 1 Dur: 59’08”
Production Company: CTVC
No additional information supplied.
4. Joan of Arc: God's Holy Warrior
TX: 26/05/2015 BBC 2 Dur: 59’00”
Production Company: Matchlight Limited
Joan of Arc is a saint, revered as one of the most outstanding women of the Middle Ages. But by viewing Joan as a saint, people tend to forget the extraordinary nature of her life: a 17-year-old girl who came from nowhere and seized an exceptional moment, leading an army in a world that believed that women could neither fight nor lead. In a new film, Helen Castor reveals the reasons Joan was able to do what she did, reasons that sprang from the times in which she lived but had nothing to do with her being a saint. This is the story of the real Joan - in part a striking tale of religious and military events, and in part a psychological courtroom drama that has been passed down through history from the records of her trial.
The Guardian 26.05.15 "Dr Helen Castor stripped away the accreted layers of subsequent interpretation, myth and legend to give us the barest, cleanest bones she could of what is, even at its sparest, an astonishing story."
The Times 26.05.15 "God's Warrior was elegant, engaging and rigorous. [Dr Helen] Castor wanted us, as Joan's image becomes appropriated by cause after cause, not to forget the human underneath."
The Independent 26.05.15 "There was a lot of walking round medieval ramparts bathed in beatific light, which might have felt trivial if it was not for [Dr Helen Castor's] access to contemporary documents from the trial. She reconstructed original dialogue and where some historical reconstructions jar, the words were the stars here."
Daily Mail 26.05.15 " Phew! A history show without the usual high-tech histrionics - With such a theatrical story, of a peasant girl inspired by visions of angels to lead armies and treat kings as her equals, the temptation must have been to fill the screen with computer effects and extras. ... It proved far more effective to let Moffett, a former star of The Bill whose husband is David Tennant, tell the story in Joan's own words. We were allowed to picture the scenes ourselves - such as this 17-year- old illiterate girl crossing hundreds of miles of enemy territory, during France's sadistic civil wars in the 1420s."
5. High Street Hijabis
TX: 10/07/2015 Radio 1 iPlayer Dur: 15’23”
Production Company: BBC Radio 1/Wise Buddah
Programme can also be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPxZ9jSwjy8
Original Programme Page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02vk6bj x-Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts and Muslim style vlogger Nabiilabee explore what modest fashion is for young Muslim women who want to be fashionable and follow their faith.
Nicola and Nabiilabee are given a simple challenge. Each has £100 to buy a whole new look for the other around their individual dressing requirements. How will Nicola fare when choosing a fashionable modest outfit? We follow the whole process from their first meet, to the big reveal, speaking to modest high end fashion label "Barjis" and an Islamic scholar along the way to explore the emergence of the modest fashion movement.
6. KKK: The Fight for White Supremacy
TX: 20/10/2015 BBC 3 Dur: 58’00”
Production Company: BBC
I spent the summer hanging out with America's most infamous white supremacist group - the Ku Klux Klan. I wanted to understand their motivation, and their justification for their controversial beliefs and practises. I was surprised to learn that they believe they get their teachings from The Bible.
7. A Primary School Nativity
TX: 22/12/2015 Channel 5 Dur: 59’00”
Production Company: Century Films
No additional information supplied.
8. Sex and the Church TX: 10/04/2015 BBC 2 Dur: 60’00”
Production Company: BBC History
This is the first episode in the critically acclaimed BBC2 series 'Sex and the Church' which was transmitted in April 2015.
9. Who Do You Think You Are: Anita Rani
TX: 01/10/2015 BBC One Dur: 58’50”
Production Company: Wall To Wall
Anita Rani is a radio and television presenter and journalist. She was brought up in Bradford, Yorkshire.
“I’m not a traditional Indian girl – and I think that is because I was aware that boys were able to just do stuff and just get away with it. I think with girls there was always, ‘But you can’t do that’ and, ‘You can’t do this’, and my answer was always ‘Why?’
Anita's questions lead her on an extraordinary journey into her family's past and the devastating role that religious conflict played in that story.
Her unexpected discoveries about the appalling violence that was unleashed against women by men of all religions during Partition (when India was divided to create modern day Pakistan in 1947) leave her shaken. In one of the most compelling editions of Who Do You You Are? in years, Anita unravels a mystery which profoundly changes her understanding of God, man and woman.
“I’ve heard so much that I wasn’t expecting to hear on this journey, so much that’s really shocked me to the core.'
10. Saints and Sinners: Britain’s Millennium of Monasteries Episode 2
TX: BBC Four Dur: 60’00”
Production Company: Oxford Film & TV
We are delighted to submit Episodes 2 and 3 of Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries for your consideration. It's a series made with passion and love. Dr Ramirez is one of the most enthusiastic and engaged presenters working in television today. As well as being a complete delight to work with.
Click here for reviews tbc
11. Saints and Sinners: Britain’s Millennium of Monasteries Episode 3
TX: BBC Four Dur: 60’00”
Production Company: Oxford Film & TV
No additional information supplied.
12. Christmas Celebration
TX: 24/12/2015 BBC ONE Scotland Dur: 44’00”
Production Company: Tern Television Productions
This programme was made for a conventional TV slot - midnight on Christmas Eve. But it is entered on the basis of innovation within a conventional slot, showing what can be done to make it attractive to a wider audience, and technical excellence. It achieved 20% share. Network's offering achieved just 11%. So the audience recognised something special, and we hope you will.
Outstanding were;
- the first performance of a new arrangement of Still the Night. We are encouraging Paul Leddington Wright to build a bank of new arrangements as an alternative to overused Willcocks.
- two brand new songs from Emily Smith, Scotland's most impressive young folk singer (The Guardian)
- Aberdeen University's Chamber Choir, with new compositions by Paul Mealor (of Military Wives fame)
13. ITV Exposure: Charities Behaving Badly
TX: 18/02/2015 ITV1 Dur: 60’00”
Production Company: Hardcash Productions
It took 16-months from conception to broadcast to make ITV Exposure’s Charities Behaving Badly but the concept was classic Investigative Current Affairs. The story was sparked by a series of articles in The Sunday Times looking at charities connected to jihadis fighting in Syria. It seemed especially inappropriate that UK registered charities, on the face of it created to do good, were in fact propagating a hateful ideology that culminated in the death of innocent people.
From early 2014 we consulted widely with extremism experts, keen to discover whether it had become standard practice to use charities as front organisations. Because of the conflict in the Middle East, and the high profile exodus of fighters from The West, the most visible cause was Islamism. But what made us realise that there was a really strong story here was when we discovered, lower profile, Hindutva and Far Right extremist charities.
There was a common theme with the Islamist, Hindutva and Far Right Charities – Fascism. The Islamists’ ideology came from Mawdudi who was inspired by the German fascists. The Hindutva charities displayed portraits of Golwakar who revered Mussolini. Followers of the Far Right charity quoted Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
The idea that the UK government was giving charitable status, and therefore public money via tax benefits, to fascistic causes was unthinkable.
We recruited three Undercover Reporters and started attending charity events. Even though in many ways they fundamentally shared the same values, the three charities from the three movements we picked were quite different from each other organisationally. Global Aid Trust was focused on fundraising, using hate preachers to provoke donations. HSS UK was the biggest of the three, an international organisation arranging weekly indoctrination and physical training sessions for its child recruits. The Steadfast Trust was an amorphous organisation, a new focal point for the disparate factions of the Far Right movement.
This required devising different strategies to infiltrate the organisations. In order to get into Global Aid Trust our Undercover Reporter Kabir volunteered in their office. The already troubling discourse available to attendees of the charity’s events became much darker behind the scenes. Workers expressed support for terrorists like Osama bin Laden and terrorist organisations like Hamas. And our Reporter was offered Islamic justifications for him to take up arms in Syria.
Our Hindutva Reporter Ravi attended weekly shakhas (gatherings) with HSS UK where he was taught martial arts. But it quickly became obvious that we needed to be at the annual 9-day residential leadership camp. We got in and very early on Ravi spotted a portrait of Golwakar on stage. Reading his works it was obvious that his pro-Nazi Germany message was completely inappropriate for children. The at the daily ‘Hindu History’ class the teacher taught that Islam was “the World’s worst religion”.
The Steadfast Trust met less often and there were far fewer key organisers. So Our Reporter Jamie had to establish a rapport with lead Trustee Tim Hawke. Once Jamie was in with Tim it unlocked access to an unseen world reminiscent of Hoxton in the 1970s. We knew they were racists but we didn’t realise quiet how liberally they would use the word “nigger” or that the followers of the charity would toast Hitler and do Nazi salutes.
As a result of our investigation The Steadfast Trust was removed from the register of charities and Global Aid Trust and HSS UK were placed under investigation.
14. Muslim Drag Queen
TX: 24/08/2015 Channel 4 Dur: 60’00” (00’47”)
Production Company: Swan Films
No additional information supplied.
15. Saving the Forgotten Jews
TX: 13/12/2015 BBC One Dur: 30’00”
Production Comapny: BBC Religion and Ethics
Saving the Forgotten Jews
In the 1980s and 1990s the state of Israel performed two undercover, dramatic airlifts. Their aim – to rescue the forgotten Jews of Ethiopia.
After two-thousand years in the remote mountains of East Africa Jews faced persecution, civil war and famine. Many fled only to end up in Sudanese refugee camps rife with disease. In desperation they sent a letter to Israel. When the Israeli authorities heard of their plight they decided to do everything they could to rescue the Ethiopian Jews first from Sudan and then from Ethiopia.
The mission began by creating an elaborate Mossad hoax. Vital to it was a then little-known Manchester businessman. In the late 1970s Lord David Alliance received a mysterious phone call and allotted fifteen minutes of his busy schedule to two Israeli diplomats. Shocked to hear how diplomacy had failed to rescue the Ethiopian Jews he cleared his diary. Over the next few years David created a fake office in Khartoum, Sudan and paved the way for Mossad agents to operate behind enemy lines. They created fake tourist villages and charities and arranged rendezvous in the desert with Israeli Air Force planes, filling them with refugees. When issues arose David himself even ventured out to Sudan, to open the border, and then to war torn Ethiopia to personally negotiate the release of the then captive Jewish community.
Told through the testimony of those involved, using historical archive and narrated by Tracy Ann Oberman this film tells the story of how the forgotten Jews were rescued and fulfilled their ancient dream of one day returning to the Holy Land.
16. A Deadly Warning: Srebrenica Revisited
TX: 06/07/2015 BBC One Dur: 30’00”
Production Company: BBC Religion and Ethics
Journalist Myriam François-Cerrah travels to Bosnia to mark the 20th anniversary of the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
In July 1995, in the midst of war in the former Yugoslavia, around 8,000 Muslim men and teenaged boys were massacred at Srebrenica. Now Myriam, a British Muslim, is visiting the site with a group of young people - all of whom were born in the year of the genocide. In an often emotional trip they learn first-hand how easily prejudice can take hold and why this story has important lessons for us all in multicultural Britain today.
The diverse group of young people include Julie, the daughter of Colonel Bob Stewart, who was United Nations Commander of the British forces in Bosnia in the early 90s; and medical student Abdul, who is astonished that he didn’t hear about the story in school. He wonders why, as he feels that “when Muslim people die you don’t learn about it as much.”
The group are all ‘delegates’ for a British charity called Remembering Srebrenica. It is the organiser of UK events for Srebrenica Memorial Day on the 11 July. The UK is the only EU country to officially designate such a day of remembrance.
On this trip, Myriam observes the British students discovering what the story of Srebrenica means for us in Britain today and why it’s so important to remember
17. You, Me And The Apocalypse (Episode 8)
TX: 18/11/2015 Sky One Dur: 49’29”
Production Company: Working Title Television/Big Balls Films
This episode (episode 8) was chosen as the one with the strongest religious themes, but for context of the series you may be interested in also watching/skimming through episode 1:
https://assets.mediafly.com/l/ZD5euD The password is Apocalypse16
18. Baz The Lost Muslim Part 1
TX: 15/12/2015 RTE2 Dur: 44’00”
Production Company: Brown Bread Films ltd
Hi,
My name is Baz Ashmawy. I'm the executive producer and presenter of the two part Documentary "Baz The Lost Muslim".
The Documentary Went out in December on RTE2 here in Ireland but I understand it is eligible for this UK award because it has a terrestrial footprint in Northern Ireland and a digital one in the UK. I have a certain following in the UK due to a SKY1 show that I also produce and present "50 Ways To Kill Your Mammy"
Our Doc 'Baz The Lost Muslim' was hugely successful and is even shown in schools now to give children a better understanding of islam and the people who follow it. It follows my journey back to rediscover the religion of my father and his fathers and also the misunderstanding with and reasons behind radicalisation.
It comes in two parts. Both different in tone and content but important to the overall narrative. thank you for time and consideration,
Baz Ashmawy
19. Baz The Lost Muslim Part 2
TX: 15/12/2015 RTE2 Dur: 44’00”
Production Company: Brown Bread Films ltd
See part 1 for additional information.
20. Kill The Christians
TX: 15/04/2015 BBC 2 Dur: 59’15”
Production Company: BBC (Current Affairs London) - part of the This World strand
Christianity is facing the greatest threat to its existence in the very place where it was born. Jane Corbin travels across the Middle East to some of the holiest places in
Christendom and finds that hundreds of thousands of Christians are fleeing Islamic extremists, conflict and persecution. From the Nineveh plains in Iraq to the ancient city of
Maaloula in Syria, Kill The Christians reveals the story of how the religion that shaped Western culture and history is in danger of disappearing in large parts of its ancient heartland.
21. World's Richest Terror Army
TX: 22/04/2015 BBC Two Dur: 59’00”
Production Company: BBC (Current Affairs London) - part of the This World strand
The inside story of how a small band of fanatical jihadi fighters became the world's richest terror army ever. Featuring the first major TV interview with an imprisoned senior leader of the so-called Islamic State, Peter Taylor looks behind its medieval savagery and investigates how it became so fabulously rich and resilient. Part of a season of films on BBC
Two about the Islamic State.
22. Britain's Jihadi Brides
TX: 04/08/2015 BBC Two Dur: 58’37”
Production Company: BBC (Current Affairs London) - part of the This World strand
More than sixty young British women have travelled to join the so-called Islamic State in
Syria, lured by a combination of slick marketing, social media and religious fervour. With access to the friends and family of the some of the girls, Britain's Jihadi Brides reveals how the sophisticated recruiting tactics of IS have shattered so many lives.
23. Welcome to the Mosque
TX: 30/09/2015 BBC Two Dur: 60’00”
Production Company: GRACE Productions and Vagabond Films
WELCOME TO THE MOSQUE is Dorset filmmaker Robb Leech’s third documentary charting a personal journey through Islam. Robb, a former tree surgeon from Weymouth, first followed his stepbrother Richard Dart in My Brother the Islamist for BBC3 in 2011. When in 2013, Dart was convicted of preparing terrorist acts and jailed, Robb made a sequel film, My Brother the Terrorist.
In Welcome to the Mosque (for BBC TWO), Robb returns to East London Mosque, where he’d first gone with his stepbrother. With two million people using it every year, East London Mosque is the largest Muslim community in Britain. Its leaders have invited Robb to see for himself what draws people here.
“After years of trying to make sense of extremism, I want to understand the lives of ordinary Muslims, to go behind the walls and dispel the mystery and suspicion felt by non-Muslims on the outside.” Robb gains unique access to areas of the Mosque previously hidden from public view, and meets many of the characters who make up its diverse community. Whilst filming, Robb’s camera is on hand to capture the unfolding story of three Bethnal Green schoolgirls who fled to Syria to become “jihadi brides”, making news headlines around the world. Robb’s camera secures other key moments: from the rituals of washing before Friday prayers, to preparing Muslim couples for marriage at the Centre’s very own match-making service. He meets young Muslims at the Mosque’s school who discuss ‘British values.’
Welcome to the Mosque prompted considerable national press and broadcast news coverage, and extensive social media traffic before, during and after its first broadcast TX. A series of Vine online video clips were used to tease the programme in the 24 hours leading up to TX.
The BBC’s head of documentaries, Patrick Holland commented: “reaction has been really strong. We are all really proud of the film, and delighted that it was on BBC2”. The film has since been picked up for international distribution through BBC Worldwide.
Some additional links (press reviews, etc) for the judges’ information, as follows:
Daily Telegraph: Welcome to the Mosque - “complex and layered" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/tv-and-radio-reviews/11901723/Welcome-to-the- Mosque-review-complex-and-layered.html
The Independent: “a valuable watch for our decision-makers” http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/welcome-to-the-mosque-tv-review-robb- leechs-film-was-a-valuable-watch-for-our-decision-makers-a6674486.html
Vice UK: "Inside Britain’s Largest Mosque” https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/welcome-to-the-mosque-talking-to-robb-leech-about-his-new- documentary-139
The Times: Desperately Seeking the Bethnal Green Girls (pdf attached) http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/article4561734.ece
24. Where Am I Sleeping Tonight?
TX: 01/06/2015 BBC Three Dur: 56'52"
Production Company: Drummer Television
At 16 years old. Martin Read found himself living on the streets. Since then, he’s spent time in prison and suffered from mental health issues, but he has picked himself up and is now a film director. His first film, “Where Am I Sleeping Tonight?” is made in and around Bristol and tells the stories of the young people he meets who are not registered anywhere as homeless, but are forced to sleep on friends’ sofas, in tents, in caves, under bridges and on the streets. Since the introduction of the bedroom tax, benefit sanctions and the privatisation of many hostels, the under 25s have been hit hard. Charities estimate that the real number of “hidden homeless" is three times as high as the official homeless figure, so that almost half a million people are now sleeping rough or being supported by friends. Martin’s past experiences have enabled him to gain unrivalled access into the worlds of those he meets, and the result is an honest and revealing look at what homelessness for young people really looks like today.
25. Mary McAleese & The Man Who Saved Europe
TX: 24/11/2015 RTE 1 /BBC One NI Dur: 60'00"
Production Company: Clean Slate Television
MARY McALEESE & THE MAN WHO SAVED EUROPE
A 60 minute television documentary
Professor Mary McAleese presents the only film project she has undertaken since leaving the Irish presidential office.
In 590, Irish monk Columbanus landed on a divided and troubled European continent.
The Roman Empire had collapsed. Barbarian tribes were at war over territory. People were split over religious beliefs. Moral authority had crumbled.
From what was seen as a pagan, isolated and illiterate land, Columbanus brought this continent in crisis a deep knowledge of both the Bible and Greek and Roman literature. His legacy would be a monastic system that preserved and transmitted this core of western civilization throughout Europe during the dark ages.
Columbanus was the product of a social and cultural revolution. His native Ireland was never conquered by the Empire and presumed to be isolated. We now know it was open to a mix of ideas not only from Rome but also from northern Africa. The result was ‘the first non-Roman Christianity’ and a sophisticated scholarship. Young Irish rejected power and materialism and sought out remote wildernesses to find God. They invented punctuation, developed the skills to artfully craft and illustrate manuscripts and were the first to work out how to write their own indigenous language.
Columbanus spread the fruits of this Irish revolution. Travelling through France, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, he established monastic foundations that became major European centres of spirituality and culture during the dark ages. As well as the lifestyle and scholarship of Irish monasticism, he also spread the Irish practise of regular forgiveness through personal confession - a radical replacement for the harsh penance of sack-cloth and ashes.
Compared to his own demanding philosophy of self-sacrifice, European leaders seemed self-serving to Columbanus. He risked his life challenging bishops, royalty and even popes. He was forcibly removed from France by the king and fled Austria in fear of his life.
Columbanus was a ‘barbarian outsider’ on the continent. Some attacked him because of his distinctive Irish customs and not only did he experience intolerance himself, but as he traveled through Europe he observed how Christians had become bitterly divided. Columbanus felt a solution could be found if people respected the diversity in their midst and created a unity that would benefit all. He was one of the first to speak of the sense of being European. After the horror of the Second World War, with the continent in ruins, European leaders met to honour Columbanus’s memory and message at his monastery of Luxeuil, France. They celebrated his vision of a united continent. The meeting is believed to have laid the seeds for what has become the European Union.
Through his disciples, this often difficult and contradictory figure, Columbanus, left a physical legacy of up to 100 monasteries throughout the continent. These monasteries preserved and transmitted not only Christianity but the classics of the Greek and Roman world during the dark ages. Visited by Irish and British monks for centuries to come, they earned Ireland the title of the ‘land of saints and scholars.” For the first time, the commentators of continental Europe recognized that learning and wisdom could come from somewhere beyond what had been seen as the ‘known and civilized world.’
Coinciding with a series of European events marking the 1400th anniversary of Columbanus’s death in November 2015, this landmark documentary shows former Irish President, Mary McAleese, as she embarks on a personal journey following the path of Columbanus from Bangor Co Down, down the Rhine and over the Alps, through spectacular locations in Ireland, France, Austria and Switzerland to Bobbio in Italy.
Mary will uncover the story of the Bangor monk’s achievements, uncover new archaeological evidence in Ireland and France, assess his legacy and argue that his message of unity, diversity and respect has much to teach us today in a world once again in political, religious and now also ecological crisis.
Professor Mary McAleese, is renowned as a skilled communicator. She has worked as a journalist and television presenter, but her skills are most evidenced by her two terms as President of Ireland when she was so popular that she stood unopposed for her second term.
Mary McAleese has a passionate and personal interest in Columbanus and will communicate her belief that his achievements and philosophies are as relevant today as when he embarked on his radical mission to transform Europe.
As former President of Ireland, her presence also brings contemporary resonances to the subject matter. Like Columbanus, Mary has engaged with royalty, political leaders and popes.
Like him, she has displayed a life-long dedication to education and scholarship, having been the first female pro-vice Chancelor of Queens University Belfast, the youngest Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin and currently Chair of the EU’s Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education.
A practising Catholic and currently studying for a doctorate in Canon Law in Rome, like Columbanus, Mary has controversially disagreed with the leadership of the Church, in her case over gay rights, women’s role in the church and governance.
Mary’s own core philosophy is about the need to accept the ‘other’ and be open to diversity and respect difference. She has been inspired by the beliefs of the same Egyptian desert monks that influenced the unique spirituality that Columbanus spread to the European continent.
26. My Son the Jihadi
TX: 22/10/2015 Channel 4 Dur: 48'00"
Production Company: True Vision Productions
How do Islamist extremists recruit your children? This is a question Sally Evans, a white, British mother from High Wycombe never imagined she’d have to consider. But since her 21-year-old son Thomas disappeared to fight jihad in Somalia, it’s ruled her life. Filmed over a year, we see from the inside what it’s like being the mother of a terrorist. With the help of de-radicalisation expert Mike Jervis, Sally tries to unpick how Thomas was recruited and attempts to persuade him home during their intermittent phone calls. But as time goes on we see Sally fighting an emotional battle between the boy she remembers and the man he’s become. Talking with Thomas’ child bride on the phone, Sally is confronted with reality. In June 2015 Sally receives the phone call she’s been dreading. Thomas has been killed, and revelations in the wake of his death expose a shocking truth. Please visit the True Vision webpage for this film, which has newspaper reviews, television interviews and other articles for you to peruse: http://truevisiontv.com/films/details/283/my-son-the-jihadi
27. Dispatches - Hunted: Gay and Afraid
TX: 23/07/2015 Channel 4 Dur: 47’00”
Production Company: BLAKEWAY
This Dispatches special exposes a secret network of Christian right organisations that are supporting anti-gay laws around the world.
When the Russian parliament was debating the introduction of anti-gay laws, there was an American at the table. The man behind the scenes, supporting the anti-gay legislation, is Brian Brown and he is part of a network of Christian Right group called the World Congress of Families, with influence in 80 countries around the world.
This extraordinary investigation sees reporter Liz MacKean piece together the mysterious elements of this network and establishes the influence it has around the world. Her investigation sees Liz criss- crossing four continents uncovering their influence and impact. Research reveals that when anti-gay legislation is introduced, then the number of violent attacks on gays also increases. Liz meets the victims in African and Europe.
Liz travels to Slovakia where she discovers that a group linked to the World Congress of Families is interfering in a referendum on gay marriage, to Uganda where another member of the group tried to influence the introduction of gay legislation and back to America and the network is losing the battle in their home country.
MacKean also interviews the key men at the top of their organisations. She challenges them on whether they believe they have a right to interfere in the affairs of other countries and on whether they take any responsibility for the spike in attacks on gays in countries where they have supported anti- gay laws.
This Dispatches special is investigative journalism at its best. The team spent a year painstakingly following the money, piecing together the connections between the groups and tracking them to various events around the world, revealing the influence of this network.
28. Blood and Gold: The Making Of Spain With Simon Sebag Montefiore
TX: 08/12/2015 BBC Four Dur: 60’00”
Production Company: BBC Religion and Ethics
In this rich and thrilling three part series for BBC Four, Simon Sebag Montefiore embarks on a fascinating journey to unlock 2,000 years of Spain’s history.
In the first episode Simon explores the early years of the country, when Iberia was a minor province of Carthage - then the most coveted of Rome’s colonies - through to the glories of Spain's Moslem age and the Córdoba Caliphate.
Simon travels to Cadiz with Spain’s first invaders and visits a sacred island where the Carthaginian warrior Hannibal received the blessing of the Gods. We learn how early Spain was a battleground for empires and visit Italica - a perfectly preserved Roman city with one of the finest amphitheatres outside Rome. From there this episode covers the early, brazen Christian Martyrs; the Visigoths and the Moslem conquest.
29. The Murder Detectives - Programme 3
TX: 02/12/2015 Channel 4 Dur: 48’00”
Production Company: Films of Record
This dramatic new documentary series follows every twist and turn of a police investigation into the horrific murder of a teenager. The series was filmed over 18 months with intimate and unprecedented access to a police major crime unit in Bristol. Unlike previous crime documentaries, it is shot as a drama. But with the heart-wrenching story of a young man's senseless death, his family's pain and the police's determination to achieve justice for them at its heart, viewers are watching real life. It's mid- April 2014, and fugitive Luchiano Barnes is under arrest for the murder of 19-year-old Nicholas Robinson. The custody clock is now ticking as detectives question him about the killing of Nicholas. With CCTV, phone records and local information painting a rough picture of the day in question, it looks as though everything points towards Luchiano as the killer. But the police are yet to uncover any concrete evidence connecting him to the crime scene. Forensic scientists sample his DNA, and fingerprints are taken as the police search for the elusive smoking gun. As Nicholas's family anxiously prepare for a murder trial, have the police really got the right man? And as the far-reaching consequences become apparent, the full impact of knife crime in the UK is revealed.
Series Dir: Dave Nath; Prod: Bart Corpe; Exec Prod: Neil Grant; Prod Co: Films of Record.
30. Secret Life of Children at Christmas
TX: 17/12/2015 Channel 4 Dur: 48’00”
Production Company: RDF Media
Secret Life of Kids at Christmas
The children from the original Secret Life of 4 Year Olds reunite to put on their own nativity play, along with some of the five and six-year-olds from the more recent series. Home-schooled Cuba struggles to work with the others, while Elvin lands the important role of narrator, but soon finds the responsibility too much. Emily and Alife rekindle their friendship, so when she suffers a serious bout of stage fright, he promises to stay by her side as they prepare to play sheep.
Cast and crew
Executive Producer Teresa Watkins
Series Director Nicola Brown
Series Producer Emily Lawson
31. Richard III: The Burial of the King – Prog 2
TX: 26/03/2015 Channel 4 Dur: 120 mins Production Company: Darlow Smithson
On 26th March 2015, Richard III – the king found under a council car park in Leicester in 2012 – will be buried in the city’s cathedral. The Archbishop of Canterbury will reinter King Richard at the service which will be held in the presence of members of the Royal Family and will be the first ceremonial burial of a British monarch since 1952.
The channel, which captured the discovery and subsequent identification of Richard’s remains in the award-winning documentary ‘Richard III: The King in the Car Park’, will be the only broadcaster to film the burial and key services live.
Thursday’s service will be the culmination of a week of extraordinary ceremonial events that begins on Sunday 22nd March with the procession of the King’s mortal remains from the University of Leicester where the remains were scientifically analysed, to the battlefield where he died, then back to Leicester Cathedral to lie ‘in repose’ while visitors from around the world pay their respects.
Channel 4 will broadcast these events live and exclusively from Leicester in three special programmes presented by Jon Snow with Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Arthur Williams and Sonali Shah.
Chief Creative Officer Jay Hunt says: “The discovery of the remains of Richard III was an extraordinary event which gripped the whole world. I am incredibly proud that Channel 4 was the only broadcaster to follow the story so closely from the very beginning and that we can be here as this remarkable story comes to its fitting conclusion
The channel will also be showing a new drama-documentary: ‘Who Killed the Princes in the Tower?’ in which key figures including David Starkey and Philippa Gregory debate one of English history’s darkest murder mysteries" and creating extensive online coverage.
The programmes will also explore the life, legacy and reputation of our most controversial King. For most of the five centuries that he remained lost, the predominant image of Richard was Shakespeare’s evil hunchback and child-murderer. But since his discovery – at odds described by the dig’s lead archaeologist Richard Buckley as “a million to one” – scientific scrutiny of his bones has rewritten his story and reawakened the debate around his place in history. The argument over where to bury him went as far as the High Court. Visitors to the weeks’ events are expected from around the world – 58 international media organisations have already signed up to be there. Come March, they will witness an unprecedented service, in which a Catholic King is laid to rest in an Anglican Cathedral in the presence of members of a Royal Family that still describes him on its official website as “the usurper”.
Richard III: The Burial of the King
Live coverage of Richard III's formal reburial at Leicester Cathedral, attended by members of the royal family. Plus a look at preparations for this unique event, and at the debates surrounding it.
32. The Killing of Farkhunda
TX: 07/08/2015 BBC World Dur: 23’00”
Production Company: BBC TV Current Affairs
The Killing of Farkhunda tells the truly shocking story of a young Afghan woman who was brutally murdered by a mob for allegedly burning the Qu'ran, The victim’s name was Farkhunda. The film showed who she was, how her last day began, whether religion motivated ordinary men to kill in such a disturbing explosion of rage, and how the murder was handled by the religious establishment, police and judiciary. The story was told from the perspective of two families, without judgement. Farkhunda’s mother gave us her first and only foreign television interview. We also spoke exclusively to the family of one of the four men convicted for Farkhunda’s killing, about their son, Yaqoob. It was the closest we could get to understanding what made an ordinary Afghan man join a murderous mob, in the name of Islam.
The programme shows an unexceptional start to the day for two young people in Kabul: Farkhunda and Yaqoob. The terrible events that follow are captured on mobile phone footage. Using social media posts from the time, the film pieces together, in meticulous detail, what actually happened.
The response to the film here, in Afghanistan and around the world was phenomenal. It provoked a huge reaction on social media, where Farkhunda's name was trending. The story was also told on radio, online, Newsnight, as well as by the BBC’s languages services.
33. Ireland with Simon Reeve
TX: 22/11/2015 BBC Two Dur: 60’00”
Production Company: BBC Religion and Ethics
Ireland with Simon Reeve explores the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in a new two-part series for BBC Two. Both form one of the most beautiful islands in the world: a place steeped in history, culture and belief, but one with a complex and troubled past.
In this first episode, Simon arrives by ferry into County Wexford. He looks at the beginnings of the long and turbulent relationship between Britain and Ireland, and takes a paramotor flight up along the coast. From here he heads up to Cork and joins the thousands who make the challenging climb up the sacred mountain of Croagh Patrick.
He travels to the surf town of Lahinch before heading to Northern Ireland, where he visits Crom Castle and moves on to the city of Londonderry. He concludes the first episode by crossing the border again into County Donegal, and ends his journey at Malin Head, the northernmost tip of the island.
34. Songs of Praise
TX: 16/08/2015 BBC One Dur: 30’00”
Production Company: BBC Religion and Ethics
Songs of Praise, BBC One, August 16, 2015
The Songs of Praise broadcast on 16th August 2015 was the most controversial in the 54 year old programme’s history.
It explored the refugee crisis in Calais, at the peak of the international debate about what should happen to the three thousand people living in the makeshift camp known as ‘The Jungle’.
The programme makers found themselves at the centre of a media storm that began even before transmission. Presenter Sally Magnusson had to carry out filming with the press in tow, making front- page news.
The Sun led the way with the one word headline `Hymnigrants’ and The Daily Express carried the splash headline `Songs of Praise EXPOSED. This is how the BBC is spending YOUR CASH’. In response, the Archbishop of Canterbury, novelist JK Rowling and others immediately tweeted their support of Songs of Praise.
In the programme, Sally Magnusson seeks out the temporary church built by and for Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees in the camp. An Ethiopian theology student who has adopted the role of priest explains: “We love this church more than ourselves.”
Sally also meets a group of Christians from Kent who offer aid despite fierce opposition back home and talks to French Christian volunteers about the work they do based on their faith and compassion.
After the show was aired, the mood changed. Under the headline `What Would Jesus Do?’ India Knight, Sunday Times columnist, said it made her “heart-burstingly proud of the BBC”.
The Bishop of Leeds, the Rt. Rev. Nick Baines, said the programme had taken viewers “to a place of worship at the raw end of life” - and the Daily Telegraph said Songs of Praise had challenged ”the widely held perception that religious programmes are quaint and irrelevant”.
35. Genius of The Ancient World Buddha
TX: 05/08/2015 BBC Four Dur: 60’00”
Production Company: BBC Religion and Ethics
Historian Bettany Hughes travels to India, Greece and China, on the trail of three giants of ancient philosophy: The Buddha, Socrates and Confucius. All three lived, between the 6th and 5th century BC, during a period of unprecedented intellectual development: 100 years that changed the way we see ourselves forever.
Buddha
These trailblazers embodied the shift, from a primarily supernatural worldview, to one where rational thought offered new, exciting possibilities.
In this first episode Bettany Hughes investigates the revolutionary ideas of the Buddha. In his 20s the Buddha abandoned his family and homeland in the foothills of the Himalayas to embark on an ambitious philosophical quest to find a solution to human suffering. On the Indian plains he experienced the challenging ideas and extreme methods of wandering 'truth seeks'. But it was only when he found his own middle way that he finally attained enlightenment - Nivana: a state of being where all delusion, desire and suffering were extinguished. The Buddha's philosophy would inspire a diverse belief system which spread across the Far East and beyond, shaping the lives of hundreds of millions to this day. Drawing on archaeology and expert opinion, Bettany investigates this inspiring figure.
36. Dispatches: Escape From ISIS moved to TV category from i/v of year
TX: 15/07/2015 Channel 4 Dur: 48'00"
Production Company: An ITN Productions - Ronachan Films co-production with Evan Williams Productions and Mediadante for Channel 4
Escape from ISIS” exposes the brutal regime suffered by millions of women living under ISIS - and the extraordinary story of a secret underground network trying to save them. The film also features exclusive covert footage shot by an activist cell inside Raqqa. Powerful testimony from women trapped inside the terror state and those who managed to escape reveal the medieval barbarity many are forced to endure. Including lashings, stonings and sexual slavery.
Under ISIS women also enforce the brutal rules too. In an exclusive interview a member of their feared female morality police, the Al-Khansaa Brigade, describes personally administering lashing women for wearing the wrong clothes.
Amid the horror, a group of brave volunteers have organised an underground railroad inside Islamic State territory to free the captives – primarily women and children from the minority Yazidi group. This secret network have never allowed cameras to film their work before. The film shows them secretly plotting rescues from inside the Islamic State, negotiating with ISIS fighters to free their sex slaves, and literally carrying groups of freed women and children out over the frontlines.