Supersonic: The Great Adventure

This is CEEFAX

1975

A look-behind-the-scenes at a television development that could be in everyone's home in just a few years' time. Reporter Angela Rippon tells the story of CEEFAX - the BBC's latest form of broadcasting. She visits Kingswood Warren where BBC Research Department 'boffins' developed it; and looks at some of its uses: News, weather, travel, sports results, farm prices and business information.

National Geographic: Samurai Sword

2006 · ★ 7

A weapon so technologically perfect in structure, so formidable in strength and so beautiful in creation. This high definition one hour special is the inside track on the World's most influential weapon. For over a thousand years this weapon dominated the battlefields of Japan, instilled fear and terror into every enemy it faced, and created a new spiritual way of life that lasts through to the present day. The Samurai sword – a weapon so technologically perfect in structure, so formidable in strength and so beautiful in creation. For the first time unique access has been granted and we travel into the core of the ancient foundries, sword-smiths and fighting schools to reveal what makes the so-called perfect sword. This is a no holds barred look at one of the most iconic man-made objects ever forged. Join us as we take the inside track on the making of the legend that is the Samurai Sword.

Game Changer: AI and You

2023

Advances in artificial intelligence are accelerating at a breakneck pace. A journalist connects these innovations to the changes they bring to our daily lives. A documentary that makes it easy to understand these technological upheavals.

How The Bismarck Sank HMS Hood

2012 · ★ 8

The 'mighty' Hood was the pride of the British Navy for more than 20 years, revered around the world as the largest and most powerful warship afloat. But when it was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck off the coast of Greenland on 24 May 1941, its end was shockingly swift.

9 Days in Summer

1967

A promotional film for the Ford Company detailing the introduction of the Cosworth engine into Formula 1 in conjunction with Lotus.

Stealing the Superfortress

2016 · ★ 7

How the Soviet Union was able to copy the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, and the influence of the resulting Tupolev TU-4 on the Cold War.

Searching for Skylab, America's Forgotten Triumph

2019 · ★ 7

The first American space station Skylab is found in pieces scattered in Western Australia. Putting these pieces back together and re-tracing the Skylab program back to its very conception reveals the cornerstone of human space exploration.

How William Shatner Changed the World

2005 · ★ 5.7

William Shatner presents a light-hearted look at how the "Star Trek" TV series have influenced and inspired today's technologies, including: cell phones, medical imaging, computers and software, SETI, MP3 players and iPods, virtual reality, and spaceship propulsion.

Holy Land: Startup Nations

2017 · ★ 5

With the most tech startups and venture capital per capita in the world, Israel has long been hailed as The Startup Nation. WIRED’s feature-length documentary looks beyond Tel Aviv’s vibrant, liberal tech epicenter to the wider Holy Land region – the Palestinian territories, where a parallel Startup Nation story is emerging in East Jerusalem, Nazareth, Ramallah and other parts of the West Bank, as well as in the Israeli cybersecurity hub of Be’er Sheva. And we will learn how the fertile innovation ecosystem of Silicon Wadi has evolved as a result of its unique political, geographical and cultural situation and explore the future challenges – and solutions – these nations are facing.

Classic Fighter

Classic Fighter – the story of the great piston-engined fighters of World War Two. A tribute to the men who flew them, and to the men and women who guided them and kept them in the air. Made in conjunction with the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, this programme tells the story of these great war planes. Stunning air-to-air flying sequences are intercut with interviews with pilots and aircrew of the British and American air forces. Some of the fighter aircraft featured are the Supermarine Spitfire, the Hawker Hurricane, the Messerschmitt Bf109, the P-47 Thunderbolt and the P-51 Mustang.

Spitfire: The Birth of a Legend

2006

‘Spitfire— Birth of a Legend‘ tells the story of the Spitfire from a radical design on the drawing board to the fighter aircraft that became the symbol of Britain’s determination to fight on to victory. It celebrates the history of this acclaimed aircraft, the men who designed and built it, and those who flew and fought in it. The story, along with dramatic archive and colour film of aerial combat, graphically illustrates the appeal and fascination the Spitfire has maintained since it faced and fought the fighter and bomber formations of the Luftwaffe.

Lotus: A New Dawn

2021 · ★ 6

This short documentary follows the fortunes of iconic car manufacturer Lotus. Once famous for its championship-winning race cars and iconic sports cars, Lotus has struggled to remain in profit. A new investor and managing director set out to build the first new Lotus road cars in over a decade: their final petrol-powered car Emira and their first pure electric British hypercar, the 2000bhp Evija.