Every Saturday night in China, millions gather around their televisions to watch Interviews Before Execution, an extraordinary talk show which interviews prisoners on death row. In the weeks, days or even minutes before they are executed, presenter Ding Yu goes into prisons and talks to those condemned to die. Combining clips from the TV show, never before seen footage of China's death row and int
This is the story of someone who got scammed by a fabricated stock broking firm (actually a sophisticated gang of fraudsters in South East Asia). While the back story is fairly typical - a western man answers the phone to a seemingly legitimate American sounding financial adviser who is touting financial investments, and an impressive sounding firm, with returns which are attractive but no so attr
This is the story of a book that could have changed the history of the World. To the untrained eye, it is nothing more than a small and unassuming Byzantine prayer book, yet it sold at Christies for over $2m. For faintly visible beneath the prayers on its pages are other, unique, writings - words that have been lost for nearly two thousand years.The text is the only record of work by one of th
In a Horizon special, naturalist Sir David Attenborough investigates whether the world is heading for a population crisis.In his lengthy career, Sir David has watched the human population more than double from 2.5 billion in 1950 to nearly seven billion. He reflects on the profound effects of this rapid growth, both on humans and the environment.While much of the projected growth in human popu
Robin Barnwell, who directed and produced 'A History of Syria with Dan Snow', explains the challenges of filiming amid the conflict, and describes the spirit of the Syrian people he met.The Syrian Airlines jet performed an alarming dive on its nighttime approach into Damascus airport in an attempt to avoid any hostile fire. The exterior lights on the aircraft were switched off to make it less vi
Michael Jackson's Thriller is an American 13-minute music video for the song of the same name released on December 2, 1983. It was directed by John Landis, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Jackson.It was MTV's first world premiere video. Voted as the most influential pop music video of all time, Thriller proved to have a profound effect on&nbs
We explore the fastest growing sport in America – Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). MMA is now a billion-dollar industry, watched by millions on national TV. But increasingly, amateurs are stepping onto the mat and drawing blood. We meet male and female cage fighters to understand why they love this sport. We also meet Savant Young, a professional fighter and lead trainer at Fight Academy MMA gym in Pasad
Dead Famous lifts the lid on the slaughter that resulted when two underworld tribes went to war over drug profits during Melbourne’s infamous gangland killings.This documentary takes viewers behind the frenzied headlines to put the killings in their true perspective. Leading crime writers John Silvester and Andrew Rule analyse the causes and effects of the decade-long war.The film investigates
On October 1, 1975, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Muhammad Ali was in the ring with his arch rival Joe Frazier for the third time. This fight in the Philippines, which has been nicknamed "Thrilla in Manila," is considered one of the most dramatic boxing matches in history - in the words of the voice-over, "They hated each other." With the help of archive material and eyewitness accounts (inclu