It invades our homes, dropping onto our doormats in its millions and costs the taxpayer a fortune to get rid of. It might be a menace in our mailbox but without junk mail, would our postal service survive? Panorama reporter Tom Heap asks whether junk mail is only good for one thing, burning it to heat his home, and investigates whether Royal Mail is addicted to the darker side of the letters busin
The KKK has had a surge in popularity, mostly because of the US’s first black president. The Klan claim to have softened, but can an organisation racist to its core really be as benign as they make out?For those of you who think burning crosses and hooded rallies are relative of the civil rights era, think again. Hate groups in america have doubled in the past decade and it may surprise you who
We look at why the debate over gun control is so polarized and travel to West Virginia – a place where shooting guns is a sport that has been passed down over generations – to find out what fuels the love for guns in this country.Are American people as divided as their politicians? The Newtown shooting, which left 20 school children and six teachers dead, has dragged the issue of gun control b
In this documentary vice travelled to the front lines of the Vodka Wars and discovered that the tortured history of Russian-Polish relations can be saved in a bottle.Vodka is a distilled beverage composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavourings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits and/or sugar.
Through stories from nine community access (C@P) sites in the Halifax region, this documentary explores digital divides and the value and ever-changing potential of community access to the Internet and information technology. A video I produced last year. All footage is creative commons and I have the rights to publish this movie online
Both funny and illuminating, this documentary short gives a voice to people who feel that they are at the sharp end of modern Britain.Take a trip to the seaside town of Southsea, an area steeped in both history and tradition. There we meet life-long residents and attraction owners who battle against the erosion of Britain’s traditions in a community staring into an economic abyss.The Last
In 1977, Roman Polanski was arrested in Los Angeles on charges he gave drugs and had sex with a 13-year-old girl he was photographing for Vogue. Eleven months later, having pled guilty to one count, he fled to Europe before sentencing.This film examines that year-long period, using archival footage of the media frenzy and of Polanski's life before the charges, clips from his films, and contempor
American Firefighters, originally released in 1990 provides us with a unique raw glimpse into the average days of a firefighter. We see first hand how they spend their time off with family, how they sleep and above all how they operate once that alarm starts ringing.Right from the get go we quickly see how taxing it must be for these men who put their lives on the line daily to save others in
With the cost of car insurance in the United Kingdom up nearly 40% this year, BBC's Panorama decide to go undercover, delving straight into the murky world of insurance fraud and speaking directly with the gangs who are ripping off insurance companies to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds. These criminals are faking road accidents at an alarming rate, all in an attempt to cash in on