This documentary series examines the stories of people who died, their body parts sliced, diced, put on display in glass jars and how their ultimate sacrifice has helped in the advancement of medicine and related sciences in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries.

Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris PhD, medical historian and author of “The Chirurgeon’s Apprentice”, covers a range of different topics – from criminal dissection and anthropodermic bibliopegy (the process of binding books using human flesh), to medical ‘freaks’ and their continued exploitation today.

Access to private collections, interviews with experts, reconstructions of actual events, examination of remains, letters written by condemned criminals and investigations into malformed skeletons still on display centuries after death, combine to create a series that reveals the truth behind the macabre and disturbing nature of “Medicine’s Dark Secrets”.

*Please be warned, this taster contains flashing images*

All the science, technology and therapies explored in this documentary are being used NOW. Their applications have REAL, solid consequences for the healthy extension of lifespan, including the potential side effect of delaying or postponing death. Everyone knows that death is inevitable, but what if death was not quite so certain? What if death was not the end of life? What if the ultimate illness could be ‘cured’, or at the very least, postponed?

In this 1x59 minute documentary, we investigate the ‘wet science’ of gene therapy and stem cell research-turned-surgery; and the ‘dry science’ of nanotechnology and advancements with bionic limbs.

Fading Trades is a 6x30 minute (or a 3x60 minute) documentary series that chronicles the livelihoods of men and women across the UK and mainland Europe. We document their attempts to preserve their old-world trades and pass on their knowledge to the next generation, before their jobs become footnotes in history. This documentary series focuses on their hopes and fears over what the future may hold for their legacies as well as the plans these ‘Master Craftsmen’ have to survive. Each story is connected through the similar theme of their ‘fading’ trade, the apprentices learning their crafts, the use of our camera work and ultimately, the characters.
When the Bubonic Plague struck the village of Eyam in Derbyshire in August 1665, the villagers made the extraordinary decision to isolate themselves in order to prevent the spread of this terrible disease.

Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris tells their story – one of incredible bravery in the midst of such personal loss; and what their sacrifice meant for the surrounding area.

What Charles Darwin is to science, his grandson is to sports writing. When Bernard Darwin began his writing career in 1907, the sports pages were lists of names and numbers. He elevated sports journalism to an art form with his book, “The Golf Courses of the British Isles”.

Using Darwin’s powerful, often poetic, prose as a narrative guide this 4x60 minute documentary series explores a selection of exceptional and stunning golf courses, bringing them to life as only Darwin could. St. Andrews, Carnoustie, Muirfield and Royal Troon are a handful of the courses filmed in Scotland. In Ireland and Wales, we visit Royal Portbrush, Royal County Down, Aberdovey and Royal St. David’s. In England, we complete the courses featured with Royal St. George’s and Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s.

According to Bernard Darwin, golf courses were living and breathing characters. It is time to tell their stories and bring them to life for non-golfers as well as enthusiasts of the game.

“A dreadful accident has happened at the Flannans. The three keepers, Ducat, Marshall and the Occasional, have disappeared from the Island. The clocks were stopped and other signs indicated that the accident must have happened about a week ago…”.

-- Excerpt from a telegram to the Northern Lighthouse Board in Edinburgh, dated 26th December 1900.

The lighthouse was found to be in perfect working order, with everything in its place. The only signs of disturbance were an overturned wooden chair and a bent railing. Eyewitness accounts from the time are as baffling and strange as some of the theories surrounding the disappearances themselves. Not one theory of what REALLY happened has ever been scientifically proven… until now. The Mystery of The Flannan Isles Lighthouse will be Solved!

Daredevil Diaries examines and re-creates some of the greatest motorcycle and car stunts in living memory.

Ex-stuntman (“Streethawk”) and 6 times World Motorcycle Champion, Chris Bromham, journeys across Europe with friends (Chris Barry and John Formstone) in an effort to follow in the footsteps of the greatest daredevils ever known – and unknown. We follow Chris on an adrenaline-fuelled adventure as he embarks on a challenge of a lifetime... to re-enact iconic movie stunts in their original locations, using the authentic models/vehicles.

Interviews with the pioneering stuntmen (and women) who performed the stunts and footage of the stunts themselves will help provide a real narrative alongside the developing relationships between the four riders. History, engineering, endurance and popular culture combine to create a potential long-running series with international scope. (Think “Long Way Round” meets “Mythbusters”).

Our host explores the unusual history and evolution of the fork through its influence on dining etiquette and how the downfall of polite society might be reflected in the invention of the Spork.

This quirky 1x60 minute documentary will show how utensils, such as the fork, have influenced etiquette. Using old school cell animation and retro stock footage of wacky kitchen inventions, we will take a journey through history – from the first Palaeolithic shell-spork, to the powered utensils of the future.

In 2006, chip and PIN technology was introduced in the UK at a cost of over £1billion. In the UK, Chip and PIN fraud has affected 1 person in 10 every year since its inception and 1 in 4 people will be affected by fraud during their lifetime. Each year, an average of £130 million has been ‘lost’ due to fraud since the beginning of chip and PIN. The banks and banking officials know about the problems behind the technology but have no plans to fix them. It is cheaper for them to deal with fraud than it is to repair the system.

Today, more than 99.8% of all chip and PIN card transactions are now PIN-verified. But, when fraudsters take advantage of consumers by ‘hacking’ into their bank accounts using wireless transmitters and cloned cards, what does that mean for the UK’s economic infrastructure? When an archaic banking code blames the consumer, not the criminal, what does the future hold for the chip and PIN method of payment?

We carry around an astonishing amount of data about ourselves everywhere we go. This deeply personal (in some cases potentially damaging) and unabashedly private information is all contained within our smart-phones.

If you were to lose your phone, how much of your personal life would be available for anyone to scrutinize?

Without hacking of any kind, a team of security professionals will be challenged to find out as much information as possible about a random individual, based solely on the information contained on their mobile phone. The owner watches from another room alongside our host while the team has 30 minutes to divulge as much information as possible. The team will also give tips on how to make your phone and personal data more secure.