Shortlisted TV programmes

1. Ministry of Hope TX: 12/10/2017 Dur: 52’00” Broadcaster: RTÉ Production Company: RTÉ Religious Department

Ministry of Hope is an uplifting and compelling three part series, sharing moments of joy, exhilaration and crisis with the men and women whose job it is to bring faith, hope and love to strangers in three very different Irish institutions. This powerful and inspiring observational series follows three Irish chaplains over a whole year, as they reach out to people at their moments of greatest vulnerability, to counsel, inspire and care for them.

Margaret Sleator was one of the first lay chaplains in Dublin’s Mater Misericordiae University Hospital when she started 15 years ago. Catherine Black is the new chaplain in Shelton Abbey Open Prison in Arklow, Co. Wicklow. And Philip McKinley is the Church of Ireland member of a new multi- denominational chaplaincy team, serving 17,000 students from all over the world at Dublin City University.

Their jobs are to give guidance, support and inspiration: to patients facing illness and death; to prisoners seeking redemption; and to students struggling with campus life. Their vocations are all steeped in deep faith. But, in an increasingly secular Ireland, why do we still rely on religious chaplains to shepherd us through life’s challenges? In the third and final episode of Ministry of Hope, having set up the DCU Gospel Choir as a way of bringing students together, Philip McKinley prepares them for the performance of a life time – in front of former President Mary McAleese at Dublin’s Helix venue. In Shelton Abbey Open Prison, Catherine Black helps an inmate who’s about to become a father. And in the Mater Hospital, Margaret Sleator supports a mother of two young children, diagnosed with cancer and clinging hard to her Christian faith.

2. Ross Kemp: Libya’s Migrant Hell TX: 02/02/2017 Dur: 54’46” Broadcaster: Sky 1 HD Production Company: Freshwater Films

BAFTA winning filmmaker Ross Kemp investigates the world’s most dangerous migrant journey, hearing stories of men and women risking everything to get to Europe. The film also explores how Libya’s collapse into anarchy in the years following Gaddafi’s removal has contributed to the European migrant crisis.

Freshwater Films gained unprecedented access to places where migrants fleeing war, poverty and famine were being held as slaves along their route. The team also spoke to female migrants in a brothel where women had been trafficked by smugglers. They were allowed to film tribal leaders debating the migrant situation in a town still fiercely loyal to the old Gadaffi regime. They also persuaded a smuggler to let them travel and film on the pickup trucks that take up to Tripoli and the Mediterranean coast. None of this had been previously seen on television.

In Tripoli the team interviewed men and women in squalid and dangerous detention. A convicted people smuggler also revealed the economics of what has now become one of Libya’s biggest sources of income At sea with the Libyan Coastguard, they witnessed the rescue of 750 migrants in five separate boats.

3. Dangerous Borders: A Journey Across India & Pakistan TX: 14/08/2017 Dur: 60’00” (Series 3 x 60 mins. Submission – Ep 3) Broadcaster: BBC Two Production Company: October Films

On the final leg of their journey, journalists Adnan Sarwar and Babita Sharma travel along the most contested section of the border – and the most dangerous.

Adnan begins by meeting a 22 year old woman, Rabia, challenging tradition by training as a fighter pilot in Pakistan’s Air Force. It plays a key role in defending the country’s borders and Rabia is proud to have been chosen to perhaps one day fight on the frontline. He then travels along the Karakoram highway, an 800 mile stretch of motorway that links China and Pakistan and forms part of the CPEC, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, an ambitious project between the two countries that brings huge amounts of Chinese investment into Pakistan. Adnan’s route then sees him high into the mountains where recent terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists on tourists and Shia Muslims mean that the Pakistani authorities are on high alert in the area.

On the other side of the border, Babita’s journey takes her into the state of Jammu and Kashmir, a region which is still being fought over by India and Pakistan who both claimed it at Partition. She gets as close to the border as she can and hears stories of Indians who have been affected by cross- border attacks. Travelling through the lower Himalayas to Katra, Babita follows in her mother’s footsteps, and 8 million other pilgrims a year, on a trek up the Trikuta Mountains to one of the holiest Hindu sites in the world, Sri Mata Vaishno Devi. Babita’s journey concludes at Kargil, the site of a 1999 conflict between India & Pakistan where even to this day, there has been no agreement between India and Pakistan about the border here.

4. Would You Take in a Stranger? TX: 11/07/2017 Dur: 60’00” Broadcaster: Channel 4 Production Company: Drummer TV

Arguing with parents is commonplace for most teenagers but it’s also the number one reason they run away from home. If they can’t find a place to stay they’re at high risk of long-term homelessness so the first 24 hours are crucial.

With all the recent cuts to services sleeping rough is becoming a reality for more and more people. Over 83,000 young people were identified as homeless last year. Around a quarter of these manage to find some kind of accommodation. But for those who don’t Nightstop, an emergency accommodation service, has enlisted the help of over 700 families who act as a host for a night until a longer-term solution can be found. These people put risks aside voluntarily take in the young and homeless for that one crucial night.

This programme follows three young people in very different circumstances who have come to Nightstop in need of emergency accommodation:

Kieran, 17, has argued with his stepdad. With GCSEs to contend with and no experience of sleeping away from home, the Nightstop workers know he wouldn’t survive even one night on the street.

Dandi has been using Nightstop on and off for three years due to a tricky relationship with her mum. She is so smiley and well-presented that it’s hard to believe she’s homeless.

Paul is 25 and nearing the end of the time with Nightstop, so a long-term solution is needed.

For the young people, Nightstop encounters can be anything from life-saving to life affirming. One thing is for sure, small acts of kindness are part of a much bigger picture that turns lives around and helps put people back on track – as well as keeping them out of danger, even if it’s only one night at a time.

5. The Boy with the Top Knot TX: 13/11/2017 Dur: 87’00” Broadcaster: BBC Two Production Company: Kudos in association with Parti Productions

Based on the critically acclaimed memoir The Boy with the Topknot by journalist Sathnam Sanghera. Born to traditional Punjabi parents and growing up in Wolverhampton, Sathnam moves to London after graduating from Cambridge. Now a successful columnist for The Times he is planning to reveal to his family that he will defy expectations of an arranged marriage but is side-lined when he discovers a painful family secret which turns his world upside down and forces him to revaluate his priorities and choices. Sathnam realises he must bring his two separate worlds together or risk losing everything. This is a touching, humorous and emotional rites-of-passage story, about a second generation Indian growing up in Britain and how he tries to juggle family, love life and career. It explores the sensitive subject of mental illness with courage and honesty, and by being authentic and specific to Sathnam and his wonderful family, it tells a universal truth about the human heart.

6. Reformation: Europe’s Holy War TX: 03/10/2017 Dur: 60’00” Broadcaster: BBC Two Production Company: BBC Studios: The Documentary Unit

In this one-hour documentary for BBC Two, historian David Starkey reveals how the Protestant Reformation unleashed fundamentalist beliefs, terror and holy war across Europe in a way that is all too familiar to us today. "There was the same literalism," he says, "the same passionate intensity, the same apocalyptic violence as now."

Timed to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the doors of All Saint’s Church in Wittenberg, the programme charts the spread of Luther’s ideas across Europe and into Britain. David Starkey explains how and why Luther’s simple act of defiance would gain such momentum, and will explore the consequences of his actions – both on the Christian faith, and on society at large.

Filmed in Rome, Germany and the UK, the programme concentrates on the early years of the Reformation, looking - in particular - at the impact and legacy of the Reformation on England. It prompted Henry VIII to split with the Catholic Church in Rome and declare himself Supreme Head of the Church of England.

Martin Luther's attack on Rome would transform the western world and Henry VIII's actions would set Britain apart from both Roman Catholic and Lutheran countries. Starkey argues that Henry's break with Rome was a "Tudor Brexit" that laid the foundations of our conflicted attitudes to Europe today.

The Reformation was commissioned by Patrick Holland, Controller BBC Two and Tom McDonald, Head of Commissioning, Natural History and Specialist Factual. The BBC Commissioning Editor is Fatima Salaria and the programme is written and presented by David Starkey. Chris Granlund is the Executive Producer from BBC Studios The Documentary Unit and the Producer/Director is Alex Leith.

7. Isis: The Origins of Violence TX: 17/05/2017 Dur: 72’00” Broadcaster: Channel 4 Production Company: Blakeway Productions

(Please note that some text was blurred for broadcast on material taken from the dark web as there is the risk that it could be inflammatory.)

A metaphysical thriller, a historical detective story, a quest, and an investigation into one of the most toxic and controversial propositions of our time - that the vicious campaign of outrage, butchery and terror staged in the Middle East and across the world by Isis has its origins in the Koran and other arcane writings formulated 1400 years ago by Muhammad and his earliest companions.

Author and commentator Tom Holland is the forensic historian, a detective of the past, who asks the questions and goes in search of origins of Isis savagery – an epic journey spanning three Continents and back 1400 years to the beginnings of Islam. He is prepared to ask any questions and go anywhere to confront the origins of evil.

This unflinching film is an example of the highest production values coupled with an unyielding courage to face down some of the most difficult questions our society faces today. London. Paris. Istanbul. Iraq. It’s a voyage of discovery – not a lecture tour. Tom can be confused, threatened, frightened and deeply moved by the scenes he witnesses and the people he meets. But, as he travels deeper and deeper into the killing fields of the present and the dangerously ambivalent pathways of the Islamic past, he begins to recognize that sources of Isis violence do not all originate in the Middle East. Some have their origins much nearer home.

The viewer is left enlightened and at the same time deeply disturbed at the way a particular perception of the past is seeking to shape our present with violence - and threatening our future.

A film quest spanning three continents and 1400 years to the source Isis violence to reveal what it says about Islam - and what it says about us.

8. Bad Habits, Holy Orders (Episode 1) TX: 19/10/2017 Dur: 45’00” Broadcaster: Channel 5 Production Company: Crackit Productions

This is episode 1 of a 4 part series which saw cameras follow 5 young ‘millennial’ women as they entered convent life for 4 weeks. Access took 9 months of careful negotiations with the Church. The press coverage was astounding and the sisters have been inundated with praise and recognition since.

This was a series not for potential novice nuns but for all of us – it was about self-control, discipline and morality. A format which, with the help of the very special cast of nuns we had unearthed, we believed had the potential to result in real positive change. These 5 women praised the false gods of the smartphone, make-up, selfies, sex, nights out and possessions. There was a feeling of vacuousness about their lives. Every one of the 5 girls we cast admitted they were starting to wonder if there was more to life. Episode 1 saw the girls entering the convent. The producers had told them only that this would be a ‘spiritual journey’ so that they came with no preconceptions or falsities provided by Google. A shock to the system at first but the sisters welcomed them with open arms and quickly showed them what it is to be a ‘nun’. Not what they were expecting at all. By the end of this first episode which was filmed only over their first few days with the sisters we saw a real change in the girls, especially Rebecca who had a rude awakening when asked to re-evaluate what she holds dear to her. This episode was the beginning of the rest of their new lives. The sisters too learned a great deal about modern living and how they might be able to reach out to people they hadn’t thought they could help until now.

9. Bad Habits, Holy Orders (Episode 3) TX: 02/11/2017 Dur: 45’00” Broadcaster: Channel 5 Production Company: Crackit Productions

This is episode 3 of a 4 part series which saw cameras follow 5 young ‘millennial’ women as they continued their journey in convent life for 4 weeks. In this third week the women were sent out on a ‘mission’ by the sisters in Swaffham to spend time in three other orders to gain more understanding about what different types of sisters do and to witness first hand other people in less fortunate situations than themselves. It was the most eye opening and thought provoking week for the women. This is the week Rebecca decided she wanted to work in care and Tyler wanted to seek work experience with the homeless in her hometown. Gabbi and Sarah understood the importance of silence and Paige discovered what empathy feels like. A remarkable transformation from the 5 women who entered the convent just 3 weeks previously with a very different attitude.

This was a series not for potential novice nuns but for all of us – it was about self-control, discipline and morality. A format which, with the help of the very special cast of nuns we had unearthed, we believed had the potential to result in real positive change. These 5 women praised the false gods of the smartphone, make-up, selfies, sex, nights out and possessions. There was a feeling of vacuousness about their lives. Every one of the 5 girls we cast admitted they were starting to wonder if there was more to life.

Access took 9 months of careful negotiations with the Catholic Church. The press coverage was astounding and the sisters have been inundated with praise and recognition since.

10. The Hotel for Refugees TX: 07/11/2017 Dur: 40’00” Broadcaster: BBC One Production Company: Films of Record

Two worlds collide when a small Catholic town in the West of Ireland becomes the new home for hundreds of Muslim Syrian asylum seekers from refugee camps in Greece. Under an EU relocation scheme, they will be put up in the Abbeyfield, a former luxury hotel in the small rural community of Ballaghadereen which fell victim to the financial crash and has been converted into an emergency reception and orientation centre. These plans have divided the town. Some townsfolk believe it is their Catholic duty to extend a charitable hand, while others are anxious about the impact of the strangers.

We follow Ghassan (20) who - forced to leave his parents behind - left Syria two years ago with his great-aunt, aunt and cousins. They made the dangerous boat journey across the Mediterranean from Turkey to Greece. Now Ghassan waits at the Abbeyfield for his asylum status to be approved. Running the Abbeyfield with a network of volunteers is hotel manager and committed Catholic Jackie, new to working with refugees. As they're shown around the town, Ghassan is introduced to townsfolk including Mary, a devout Catholic who runs a clothes shop and feels that the Irish should help because of their own history of emigration, and Saj the local barber, who came from Pakistan 15 years ago and knows what it feels like to be an immigrant arriving in a small town.

But not everyone is as welcoming. A local couple explain that seeing groups of Syrian men walking about the town makes them anxious, and Saj shows an anti-Islam leaflet that was posted through town letterboxes.

During Easter week, parish priest Father Joseph delivers chocolate eggs to the refugee children and invites Ghassan’s family to the cathedral, where they pray for the return of missing family members.

11. The Ganges With Sue Perkins (S1, Ep. 1) TX: 12/10/2017 Dur: 60’00” Broadcaster: BBC One Production Company: Folk Films Ltd

The Ganges is like no other river on Earth. It brings life to hundreds of millions of people across India. For a billion Hindus, it's the immortal Mother Goddess who will wash away a lifetime of sins. But India is changing, taking its place as one of the world's great superpowers and the future of the Ganges hangs in the balance. Sue travels through some of the most extraordinary, chaotic and exciting places on earth exploring the lives and landscapes of modern India at this crucial point in its history. For the story of the Ganges is the story of modern India.

Sue begins her epic journey in the highest mountains on earth. She treks to the source of the Ganges River, and pokes her nose into the lives of hermits, AND OF THE wise and wandering holy people that call this sacred landscape home. It's been a tough year for Sue since her father died, and walking where millions of pilgrims have walked before has a profound effect on her.

One Hundred and sixty miles downstream Sue arrives in Rishikesh. A town that has long been the gateway to the land of the gods and drawn holy men and seekers of truth since time immemorial. Now it's an all-you-can-eat buffet of eastern mysticism. Sue goes shopping and discovers what is India's best selling God, before heading to the Mahesh Maharishi Yogi Ashram.

To complete this first leg of her journey Sue attends the nightly Ganga Aarti ceremony on the banks of the Ganges in Haridwar. There are no tourists here, just normal, everyday people, who come to praise a sacred river and the Goddess that lives in her. The sense of love and devotion here is utterly overwhelming. For this is how the Ganges is worshipped.

12. Linvoy Primus: My Story TX: 23/03/2018 Dur: 04’05” Broadcaster: christiansinsport.org.uk Production Company: Christians in Sport

Linvoy Primus played professional football for 16 years at Charlton Athletic, Barnet, Reading and Portsmouth. Here is his fascinating story of how he started in football and eventually came to know Jesus as his saviour. 13. Murder on Campus TX: 01/07/2017 Dur: 23’00” Broadcaster: BBC World News Production Company: BBC (Series: Our World)

The documentary is an in-depth investigation into the brutal lynching and murder of a talented university student by his classmates.

Mashal Khan was an outspoken and highly intelligent journalism student in northern Pakistan who was well known on campus for his liberal views on politics and religion.

In a case that shocked the country he was beaten to death in his student hostel by an angry mob that accused him of having committed blasphemy.

The killing was captured in graphic videos filmed by onlookers on their mobile phones, and shared across the world.

The documentary features new information about the motivations and mindset of the killers, with exclusive interviews of their supporters and families. It also traces the links between this particular horrific incident and wider attitudes to blasphemy in Pakistan - where it is a criminal offence legally punishable by death.

The documentary also profiles Mashal Khan’s father, a leftwing part time poet who has become a national hero in Pakistan as a result of the dignity he has shown in the face of the tragedy and his determination to get justice.

The film is a powerful insight into the brutal extremism some fear is growing in Pakistani society, whilst at the same time highlighting the resilience and intellectual bravery of those trying to fight against it.

14. Lucy Worsley: Elizabeth I's Battle for God's Music TX: 17/10/2017 Dur: 59’00” Broadcaster: BBC 4 Production Company: Matchlight / BBC

Made for the BBC’s Reformation Season in autumn 2017 Lucy Worsley investigates the story of the most remarkable creation from that tumultuous and violent era: Choral Evensong.

Henry VIII loved religious music, but he loved power more - when he instigated his English Reformation he dramatically split from the ancient Catholic Church that controlled much of his country. But in doing so set into motion changes that would fundamentally transform the religious music he loved.

Following Elizabeth Ist’s personal story Lucy recounts how she and her two siblings were shaped by the changes their father instigated. Elizabeth witnessed both her radically puritan brother Edward bring Church music to the very brink of destruction and the terrifying reversals made by her sister Mary - which saw her thrown in the tower of London forced to beg for her life.

When Elizabeth finally took power she was determined to find a religious compromise - she resurrected the protestant religion of her brother but kept the music of her beloved father - music that she too adored. And it was in the evocative service of choral Evensong that her ideas about religious music found their ultimate expression.

15. Abortion on Trial TX: 16/10/2017 Dur: 60’00” Broadcaster: BBC Two Production Company: Raw TV

Fifty years after the Abortion Act was passed, Anne Robinson brings together a group of nine people with conflicting views on abortion, to ask if the law is fit for purpose in 2017.

One in three women will have an abortion in their lifetime, yet it’s rarely talked about and continues to be a taboo subject. Anne’s guests all have strong views: some are resolutely anti-abortion, some firmly pro-choice while others are more conflicted. In every case, their personal experience of abortion has directly informed their view.

Filmed over one weekend in Anne’s own home in Gloucestershire, the group will share their stories and grapple with some of the most contentious aspects of the law: What should the time limit be on when you can have an abortion? Should the man have a legal right to be part of the decision? Should abortions be allowed at home? Should abortion be completely decriminalised or should the restrictions on abortions be increased?

Underpinning their often impassioned discussions will be the results of one of the most comprehensive opinion polls ever conducted into our attitudes towards abortion in the UK. For every key issue her guests discuss, Anne will examine how their views compare to those of the wider public. The group will also hear testimony from experts, campaigners and medical professionals who all offer their own unique insight on the subject.

Despite their differences, can this group reach a consensus: DOES Britain’s fifty-year old law truly reflect what we really think about abortion in 2017?

16. Panorama: Undercover Britain's Immigration Secrets TX: 04/09/2017 Dur: 60’00” Broadcaster: BBC One Production Company: BBC Current Affairs

Fronted by a 21 year old whistle-blower turned undercover reporter Callum Tulley, this investigation at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre near Gatwick Airport exposed staff mocking, abusing and even assaulting detainees as they awaited deportation. The programme captured secret footage of asylum seekers and visa over-stayers held here being terrorised by foreign criminals. One fourteen year old boy was allegedly forced to test a batch of the drug spice by his drug dealer cell mate. The film also revealed widespread self-harm and suicide attempts amongst detainees, many of whom had been detained for months, even years.

Since broadcast Parliamentary select committee hearings have begun, the Home Office is investigating allegations G4S made excessive profits at the centre and its director has resigned. G4S has dismissed three staff members and suspended others. A criminal investigation is under way and the Equality and Human Rights Commission has called for an independent inquiry.

17. Broken – Episode 1 TX: 30/05/2017 Dur: 60’00” Broadcaster: BBC One Production Company: LA Productions Ltd

An unfortunate series of events leads to single mother-of-three, Christina Fitzsimmons, losing her job at a betting shop. Finding that she will not be able to claim benefits for a number of weeks, she struggles to find the money she needs to feed her family and keep the roof over her head, not to mention paying for her little girl's First Communion coming up - how is she going to afford the dress young Lisa has her heart set on?

Father Michael Kerrigan recognises that Christina is in trouble but she turns away his help. But when Christina’s mother dies suddenly at home one day, Christina sees a terrible, but necessary, means of temporarily alleviating her family's situation; a decision which could have devastating consequences. Meanwhile Father Michael is plagued by emotional memories of his poor childhood and attending a strict, Catholic grammar school. As he struggles to maintain the mental and spiritual balance needed to serve parishioners like Christina, Father Michael also has to cope with his own dying mother, sixty miles away in Sheffield. Not the most loving of mothers, Mrs Kerrigan has left an indelible mark on each of her seven children and on Michael, especially. As she lies at home, now completely dependent on others for her care, Father Michael must reconcile the hard, sometimes cruel, matriarch who brought him into the world with the frail, weak and remorseful woman about to depart it.

With a widening caseload of personal problems, community conflicts and society's suspicions of the church at large, Father Michael begins to question just how much of an effect he can really have in the ever-evolving spiritual landscape of modern-day Britain.

18. Broken – Episode 5 TX: 27/06/2017 Dur: 60’00” Broadcaster: BBC One Production Company: LA Productions Ltd

Helen Oyenusi’s brother, Daniel Martin, arrives from Trinidad to support his sister as she waits for the coroner to release Vernon’s body for burial. But Daniel immediately ruffles feathers when he gets into an argument with Helen’s neighbour, Carl, whose overt campness offends Daniel’s religious sensibilities. When the confrontation turns violent, Father Michael attempts to mediate but, as a witness to Daniel's assault on Carl, he also has to consider whether or not to lie to the police about what happened.

For his part, Carl cannot understand why Father Michael would even consider supporting such an intolerant man as Daniel Martin. Having recently lost his mother, Brenda, who was very close to Helen, Carl feels betrayed on all sides - by his mother for dying, by God for rejecting him and by Father Michael for what Carl perceives as the priest’s tolerance of bigotry.

Eager to avoid any more pain landing at Helen's door, Father Michael tries to make the two men see reason, but neither are for turning. Daniel thinks homosexuality is a sin and cannot bear to have himself or his children anywhere near Carl, but Carl maintains that God should love all men. Eventually, however, it is left up to Helen to end the fighting with some home truths and tough love, as she receives the news that Vernon is finally coming home.

At the funeral of Roz Demichelis, Father Michael tries to console her daughter, Chloe, but she doesn't want sympathy, she wants answers, blaming Father Michael for not doing more to save her mother. Roz's boss, Jamie, also carries his own guilt, convinced that his intention to have her arrested was the tipping point for her fatal decision.

19. Utopia: In Search of the Dream – Episode 1 TX: 08/08/2017 Dur: 59’00” Broadcaster: BBC 4 Production Company: ClearStory

Art historian Professor Richard Clay explores how the idea of ‘utopia’ has been re-invented by generations of writers and artists. He examines what five hundred years of utopian visions reveal about our deepest hopes, dreams and fears.

In the first programme of the series, making bold connections between exploration and science fiction, radical 18th Century politics and online communities like Wikipedia, Richard explores how utopian ideas begin as blueprints for better worlds. He delves into colourful stories of some of the world’s greatest utopian dreamers, including Thomas More, who coined the term ‘utopia’, Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels, and Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek.

Richard builds a compelling argument that utopian visions have been a powerful way of criticising of the present and he identifies key values he believes the imagined better futures tend to idealise. He shows how the concept of shared ownership, a ‘commons’ of both land and digital space online, has fired utopian thinking and he explores the dream of equality through the campaign for civil rights in the 1960s and through a feminist theatrical production in today’s America.

Immersing himself in a terrifying ‘1984’ survival drama in Vilnius. Lithuania, Richard also looks at the flip side, asking why dystopias are so popular today in film, TV and comic book culture. He explores whether dystopian visions have been a way to remind ourselves that hard-won gains can be lost, that we must beware humanity’s darker side, if we are ever to reach a better place.

In location sequences in Britain, Germany, Lithuania and America, Richard talks about the meaning of utopia with a rich range of interviewees, including Katherine Maher, Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, Star Trek actress Nichelle Nichols, explorer Belinda Kirk, football commentator John Motson and Hollywood screen writer Frank Spotnitz.

20. Utopia: In Search of the Dream – Episode 2 TX: 15/08/2017 Dur: 59’00” Broadcaster: BBC 4 Production Company: ClearStory

Utopia has been imagined in a thousand different ways. Yet when people try to build utopia, they struggle and very often fail. In the second episode of this series, art historian Richard Clay ask whether utopian visions for living can ever reconcile the tension between the group and the individual, the rules and the desire to break free.

Travelling to America, he encounters experimental communities, searching for greater meaning in life. Richard visits a former Shaker village in New Hampshire and immerses himself for a day at the Twin Oaks eco-commune in Virginia, where residents share everything, even clothes. He looks back at the grand urban plans for the masses of the 20th Century utopian ideologies, from New Deal housing projects of downtown Chicago to the concrete sprawl of a Soviet-era housing estate in Vilnius, Lithuania. He also meets utopian architects with a continuing faith that humanity’s lot can be improved by better design.

Interviewees include the world-renowned architect Norman Foster and designer Shoji Sadao, a long- term collaborator of Richard Buckminster Fuller, the visionary engineer behind the revolutionary geodesic dome.

21. The Truth About Muslim Marriage TX: 21/11/2017 Dur: 48’00” Broadcaster: Channel 4 Production Company: True Vision Yorkshire

The Truth About Muslim Marriage was broadcast in November 2017 at 10pm on Channel 4 as a one- hour current affairs special. We commissioned a ground-breaking survey of nearly 1000 Muslim women who were interviewed by female Muslim community researchers trained to ask probing questions about their marital status. The results were staggering: 60% of them were not legally married; 28% of them thought that they were. In this highly contentious film presented by Dr Myriam Francois, Muslim women from across the worlds of academia and law came together to explore whether a change in the 1949 Marriage Act is needed to make marriage fairer in today's multi-cultural society. Muslim women who were born and brought up in this country spoke out on camera to call for change because the marriage act does not take into account the way that most Muslims want to get married - at home - not in a place of worship in a mosque. The survey also established that 89% of our participants were against polygamy. The film was well received by the Muslim community, trending 2nd on Twitter through the hour of broadcast. "Children suffer, women suffer, men get away scot free - says one Imam. Britain, it seems, lags behind most of the world on this matter" Pick of the Day, Radio Times.

22. The Cult Next Door TX: 26/01/2017 Dur: 60’00” Broadcaster: BBC Two Production Company: BBC Studios - The Documentary Unit

This documentary by acclaimed director Vanessa Engle tells the extraordinary story of a strange cult, which came to light in 2013 when a sensational news story broke about three women emerging from a small flat in Brixton in south London after decades in captivity. Tracing the group back to its roots in the 1970s, the film describes how its leader Aravindan Balakrishnan, a student of Indian origin, believed in an international communist revolution and created a tiny political sect that followed the teachings of China's Chairman Mao. The film features exclusive interviews with two of the women who escaped - Aisha Wahab, a 72-year-old Malaysian woman who was part of Balakrishnan's group for 40 years, and Katy Morgan-Davies, Balakrishnan's daughter, who was born and raised in captivity. The film documents how this left-wing collective evolved into a bizarre pseudo-religious cult, where members were controlled, threatened and brainwashed so that they were too terrified to leave.

23. Angry, White and American TX: 07/11/2017 Dur: 60’00” Broadcaster: Channel 4 Production Company: Sugar Films

Last summer, the world was shocked as white nationalists, neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan took to the streets in Charlottesville, Virginia to protest against the removal of a statue of confederate General Robert E. Lee.

Just weeks before the violence there erupts, journalist Gary Younge meets one of the speakers from the Charlottesville rallies, the self -styled leader of the “alt right” Richard Spencer, and in an explosive exchange, attempts to get under the skin of his controversial views.

It’s one of a series of telling encounters in Gary Younge’s journey across the United States a year after Donald Trump was elected. He explores how falling living standards, decreasing life expectancy and a demographic time-bomb that could see them become a minority within a generation, has sent some white Americans into angry retreat.

Younge, an award-winning journalist, who spent 12 years living in and reporting on America, has a love-hate relationship with the country. For decades, understanding race in America meant commentators focussed on black people. This time, Gary Younge flips the script and talks only to white Americans, as he drives from the whitest state in the union, Maine - to the blackest, Mississippi.

He visits the northern communities of Johnstown, Pennsylvania and Portland, Maine - both cities left behind by disappearing jobs and epidemic levels of drug abuse – and hears how Trump’s emotional appeal to white people helped him secure victory in former democratic heartlands. In New Orleans, 200 years after the civil war that ended slavery, Gary finds Southern supporters of the Confederate leader, Robert E Lee, interrogates their attitudes to the confederate flag and learns why Trump resonates with them.

24. Should I Marry My Cousin? TX: 04/07/2017 Dur: 34’00” Broadcaster: BBC 3 Production Company: Sugar Films

Eighteen year-old Bradford-born Hiba Maroof faces a genuine moral dilemma: should she marry one of her cousins or go her own independent way?

First-cousin marriage has gone on within Hiba’s Pakistani family for generations. Is it a cultural norm, a religious decree or simply a choice couples make?

In this informative, authentic and deeply personal film, the BBC Three audience will get an insight into one person’s complex dilemma, as Hiba finds out if it is possible and even sensible for her to desire such a close relative. We will follow Hiba as far as Pakistan where there are eligible cousins as she finally makes her decision - could she marry one of the family.

25. My Big Gay Jewish Conversion TX: 23/05/2017 Dur: 46’00” Broadcaster: BBC 3 Production Company: 40 Partners

Is Israel really the best place in the world to be gay? And is Judaism the one mainstream religion that accepts homosexuality? Meet Simon, a gay Catholic man from the west of Ireland on a quest to find out.

Simon has never truly felt accepted by his own church, a problem that Matthew, his Jewish boyfriend from north London, has not had to face. Simon begins to wonder if the grass may be greener, and considers converting.

He starts with a trip to the local rabbi where they chat, among other things, about getting 'snipped', but Simon is itching to get to Judaism's homeland: Israel. He hops on a plane and first hits the streets of Tel Aviv, 'the gayest city on Earth', where he meets gay people from all walks of life, including gay soldiers in the IDF. Then he heads to Jerusalem, but the story here is very different. Extreme views towards homosexuality are rife and Simon encounters this in uncomfortably close proximity.

Then, it's crunch time. Faced with the facts, will Simon jump ship and become Jewish?

26. Francis Bacon: A Brush with Violence TX: 28/01/2017 Dur: 80’00” Broadcaster: BBC Two Production Company: IWC

Francis Bacon was the loudest, rudest, drunkest, most sought-after British artist of the 20th century. Twenty-five years after his death, his canvases regularly exceed £40million at auction. Bacon's appeal is rooted in his notoriety - a candid image he presented of himself as Roaring Boy, Lord of Misrule and Conveyor of Artistic Violence. This was true enough, but only part of the truth. He carefully cultivated the facade, protecting the complex and haunted man behind the myth. In this unique, compelling film, those who knew him speak freely, some for the first time, to reveal the many mysteries of Francis Bacon.

27. Beards, Bails and Boundaries: England's Muslim Cricketers TX: 23/11/2017 Dur: 23’00” Broadcaster: BBC iPlayer Production Company: BBC Asian Network

Moeen Ali and others reveal what it takes to be British, Muslim and playing for England. This programme was made in the run up to the Ashes series and stars the "beard that's feared", Moeen Ali, who discusses being made a "poster boy" for Islam. Presenter Ankur Desai visited Moeen back in his local area of Sparkhill in Birmingham and also went to see fellow Muslim England cricketers Adil Rashid, Haseeb Hameed and Zafar Ansari in their home towns, to discuss their journeys to the top of the game, as well as what it means to be Muslim and represent their country at the highest level.

Back in November 2016, these four British Muslims played in the England Test Cricket team to take on India in Rajkot - a first. Those who run cricket have become increasingly concerned about how few Muslims and South Asians in particular, are making the transition from grassroots to a professional career. This film explores some of the reasons why and asks how England's Muslim cricketers balance their faith with their love of the game. 28. What Is More TX: 29/10/2017 Dur: 06’19” Broadcaster: BBC News Website Production Company: BBC Radio Berkshire

Paul Coia was given exclusive access on behalf of the BBC network to an event organised by Lord Sandy Leitch who invited other peers from the House Of Lords, plus others, to debate What Is More? They all have successful, influential careers but feel something is missing. Is that gap God?

Paul interviewed peers plus faith leaders at the event, and this piece was broadcast on his BBC Berkshire Sunday Breakfast show, then made available as video on the BBC news website.

29. Halala: The Men who Sell Divorce TX: 05/04/2017 Dur: 16’01” Broadcaster: BBC News Channel / BBC 2 Production Company: BBC Asian Network

‘Halala: The Men Who Sell Divorce’ is a unique undercover documentary, showcasing original investigative journalism at its finest. The BBC Asian Network’s Athar Ahmad produced and presented the programme, exploring the little known issue of halala – a custom believed by a small minority of Muslim women to be the only way they are able to reconcile with their husbands after a divorce.

Athar’s investigation shed light on a practice which can result in the sexual abuse, financial exploitation and blackmailing of women by men charging thousands of pounds to take part in sham halala marriages. As part of the practice, women are charged thousands of pounds to marry, have sex with and then divorce a stranger, so they can get back with their first husbands.

The documentary also shed light on another controversial practice, ‘triple talaq’, which some Muslims believe enables a man to separate from his wife instantly by saying ‘talaq’ or divorce three times in a row. ‘Halala: The Men Who Sell Divorce’, uncovered evidence of triple talaq being performed in Britain regularly, including a woman who was divorced via text message.

Athar’s investigation spanned six months, during which time he discovered Facebook accounts offering the service in the UK. Posing as a divorced Muslim woman, Athar engaged with those behind the accounts, establishing relationships with men offering to marry and have sex with women for a fee and the capturing for the first time ever, substantial evidence of halala being carried out in the UK.

The investigation was extremely well received, being the most read news article on the BBC News homepage on the day of transmission. The documentary was also picked up by a number of other outlets both within the BBC and beyond, including the BBC World Service, Victoria Derbyshire programme and The Sun newspaper.

30. Retreat: Mediations from a monastery Ep 1 Downside Abbey TX: 24/10/2017 Dur: 60’00” Broadcaster: BBC 4 Production Company: Tigerlily Productions

Retreat: Meditations from a Monastery goes in search of inner peace in three monasteries around Britain, and provides a welcome retreat from the hectic pace of our daily lives. The monks live largely in silence and in the tradition of Slow TV, the programmes have no commentary or background music to interfere with the peace.

EP 1 The first film is set in Downside, a spectacular neo-gothic monastery set in the beautiful valleys of Somerset. It is home to 14 Benedictine monks who live according to the 6th century Rule of St Benedict. In this episode, we follow two of the monks over the course of a typical, quiet monastic day, as they engage with carpentry and baking, religious services and moments of private prayer in the monastery gardens. ‘One who never stops talking cannot avoid falling into sin.’ (The Rule of St. Benedict.)

31. Retreat: Mediations from a monastery Ep 2 Pluscarden Abbey TX: 25/10/2017 Dur: 60’00” Broadcaster: BBC 4 Production Company: Tigerlily Productions

EP2 Pluscarden Abbey is a remote Benedictine monastery on the edge of the Scottish Highlands in Moray and is home to 21 monks. It is the oldest practising monastery in the United Kingdom, dating back to the medieval era. The monks live by the 6th century Rule of St. Benedict and life has changed little in hundreds of years.

Given its isolated and weather-beaten position, the Abbey is almost entirely self-sufficient. The monks grow their own crops, make their own clothes and have little contact with the outside world. Unlike most Benedictine monks who wear a black habit, the monks at Pluscarden Abbey wear white, a symbol of their austerity and strict interpretation of monastic life.

32. Exodus: Our Journey Continues TX: 16/01/2017 Dur: 59’09” Broadcaster: Channel 4 Production Company: KEO films

Shot over 3 years, and in 31 countries, the multi-award winning EXODUS series continues to document the journeys of migrants and refugees attempting to start a new life in Europe. This last episode of the series follows the fate of Nazifa and her family as she makes a final attempt to reach Germany. It also re-introduces us to Sadiq from the first series. It took him just 45 days to travel from Afghanistan to his dream destination of Finland but in the 11 months since he arrived, the welcome he experienced has not sustained. In Finland, as across the whole of Europe, the rhetoric of the right is increasingly influential, and if Sadiq’s asylum claim fails, he could face forced deportation. Meanwhile, in the USA, President Trump’s executive orders have far reaching consequences for those on the verge of emigrating to join family members already in the USA. We meet Saed and his family in Iraq, who are Yezidis, and one of Daesh’s main targets. They are living in a refugee camp waiting for their papers to be processed, with an equally uncertain future.

33. Partition: Legacy of the Line TX: 13/08/2017 Dur: 59’00” Broadcaster: BBC Scotland Production Company: Tumeric Media

Friends, Radio 4 broadcaster Aasmah Mir and actor Sanjeev Kohli, go in search of their fathers' and their peers' experiences of the Partition of India in 1947. They come from different religious backgrounds - Muslim and Sikh - but in the process they uncover painful stories of death, misery, mistrust and hatred between different religions, as well as instances of humanity and love - on both sides of the divide. Fifteen million people were displaced and at least one million died in a frenzy of violence that marked the rushed exit of the British from India. Aasmah and Sanjeev retrace the reasons for the British withdrawal and find out how the speeded-up pull out exacerbated religious differences that had been held below the surface in the struggle against Imperial rule. They speak with those who saw and experienced first hand the results of a botched plan to leave the subcontinent. At the conclusion of the film they take DNA tests to discover just how different they are.

34. Songs of Praise: Love, Light and Unity TX: 30/07/2017 Dur: 35’00” Broadcaster: BBC One Production Company: Avanti & Nine Lives Media

Aled Jones presented this special programme from Southwark Cathedral in London on 30th July 2017 to capture how people in the capital pulled together in a spirit of love, light and unity following the terrorist attack on London Bridge and the Grenfell Tower fire, which both happened within the first fortnight of June 2017.

The music capture at Southwark Cathedral was organised in record time and we ensured a wide range of people from the local community whose lives were touched by the tragedies were invited to be part of the 700 strong congregation. It was difficult to gain the trust of the interviewee who survived the Grenfell Tower fire, but our production team worked hard with to ensure we did this.

We wanted to ensure the programme wasn’t retrospective, but forward looking and positive. To ensure we achieved this, Josie d’Arby presented a feature revealing how the Salvation Army trains to support the emergency services when national incidents happen and she also met Britain’s youngest black vicar, as he gave his first service. The Songs of Praise production team feels this episode represents how we are reaching out to a younger audience, whilst retaining all the important aspects of this long running, year-round Christian series. We try to ensure the series always has a clear, strong and accessible Christian message at its heart.

35. Songs of Praise: Celebration of Space TX: 01/10/2017 Dur: 35’00” Broadcaster: BBC One Production Company: Avanti & Nine Lives Media

On 1st October 2017, Sean Fletcher presented Songs of Praise from the National Space Centre in Leicester to celebrates the 60th anniversary of the start of the Space Race. The Reverend Kate Bottley interviewed Charles Duke, a Christian astronaut who walked on the moon but after his return to earth, became a Christian. Charles says in the programme that walking with Jesus has fulfilled him far more than being one of the world’s most successful astronauts. All the programme’s hymns and musical performances fitted in with the theme of space and included Cornerstone and Christ Whose Glory Fills the Skies. Making an episode of Songs of Praise about space was a departure from the more usual subjects, but one the production team really believe worked and it a good example of the way we are trying to modernise the series to attract a younger audience

36. Beyond Belief - Khadijah TX: 11/09/2017 Dur: 27’30” Broadcaster: BBC Radio 4 Production Company: BBC Radio Religion & Ethics Radio

It is said that behind every great man there is a great woman. The Prophet Muhammad was married many times; but for 25 formative years, he remained faithful to one woman, Khadijah. She is widely recognised as the First Muslim. But we know very little about her. We know she was a successful business woman, she was considerably older than Muhammad and it was she who proposed to him. In this edition of Beyond Belief we brought 3 Muslim women and an Iman together who are fascinated by the figure of Khadijah in different ways to disentangle the facts from the myths surrounding her life and to discuss why she can be a powerful role model for women today.

Beyond Belief is unique to Radio 4. Each week it explores the nature and place of religion in today's world through a discussion on a single topic. It encourages challenging, stimulating and entertaining debate between people of faith. Its aim is to increase religious literacy and understanding among a general, largely non-religious, audience. It broadcasts 24 episodes a year. The presenter is Ernie Rea.

This episode was a way of bringing an important figure in the history of Islam to a non-religious audience who might have not even heard of her. It also brought some new voices to the network

Joining Ernie Rea to discuss Khadijah were: Fatima Barkatulla an Islamic scholar who has recently written a children’s book about Khadijah Rania Hafaz, Senior Lecturer in Education at Greenwich College and Fellow of the Muslim Institute Asad Zaman, a Manchester based Imam Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic and Inter Religious Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Producer: Amanda Hancox Researcher: Beena Khetan

37. Extremely British Muslims Episode 2 Boys to Men TX: 09/03/2017 Dur: 60’00” Broadcaster: Channel 4 Production Company: The Garden Productions

BOYS TO MEN

Thrust under the spotlight in recent years, Britain’s growing Muslim population has been a section of society more scrutinised than any other. “Boys To Men”, episode 2 of the documentary series “Extremely British Muslims”, is about young British Muslim men trying to find their way in the shadow of the news headlines. This eye-opening series explores the experiences of some British Muslims, through privileged access to one of Britain’s biggest mosques - Birmingham Central Mosque - and the community it serves.

Boys To Men centres on stories, Waz and Nav. They’ve not long re-embraced Islam after a life on the wrong side of the law. Now they navigate the risks of going paintballing: ‘They probably think you look more likely to blow yourself up than me, see I could get away with the hipster…” laughs Nav. But when fresh terror attacks take place, conducted by Muslim men born and raised in Europe, they reflect on being part of a ‘lost generation’ of young men who feel outsiders in the UK. "Everything about me is British,” says Waz, “And it’s dangerous if other kids don’t feel that way… If you make these kids feel victimized…they’re gonna separate themselves. I know we’ve got to do more too…my community’s got to be more outward looking.”

The Chairman of the Mosque, Mr Afzal, complains, “I mean all the time, [it’s] 'Muslim, radicalisation and extremists'… people are just fed up now… they don’t want to hear this any more…”

From helping refugees on the beaches of Greece to meeting the young men at risk of criminality in their community; from their love of fish and chips, to the reasons people join ISIS… this film is a call for a more understanding between communities.

38. Extremely British Muslims Episode 3 The Rules TX: 16/03/2017 Dur: 60’00” Broadcaster: Channel 4 Production Company: The Garden Productions

The Rules

The Rules is episode 3 of the fresh and eye-opening documentary series “Extremely British Muslims”. Thrust under the spotlight in recent years, Britain’s growing Muslim population has been a section of society more scrutinised than any other. This series set out to explore the experiences of some British Muslims, through privileged access to one of Britain’s biggest mosques - Birmingham Central Mosque - and the community it serves.

There are thousands of guidances and rules originating from the Qur’an and other books, detailing every aspect of daily life. This film follows some of Birmingham’s Muslims trying to live their lives by them. There is such demand from people wanting to check the rules that the Imams at the Mosque run a daily telephone helpline.