The mother-load of BBC documentaries.

July 1, 2007 3:16 AM

Have a lazy sunday ahead of you? Feed your head with a few hundred downloadable and streamable BBC Documentaries, uploaded by a single usenet user. I've only watched the majestic and sometimes depressing The Planets and can't wait to go watch more.
posted by empath (22 comments total)

Whoa ... okay, thanks! Now I'll have a response when my dad says "there was this documentary a while back on the BBC ...."
posted by jamesonandwater at 6:06 AM on July 1, 2007

This is tremendous. I've been looking for Alistair Cooke's video for ages. Thanks for the terrific link!
posted by scblackman at 6:08 AM on July 1, 2007

This would be brilliant but I can't stream Guba movies properly. I've found MVGroup.org (more info) as the best way to get BBC documentaries..
posted by Deconstruct Now! at 6:23 AM on July 1, 2007 [1 favorite]

This is wonderful, thank you! I hear great things about BBC documentaries all the time and I always feel deprived by not having a chance to watch them. Now I can remedy that.
posted by amyms at 6:23 AM on July 1, 2007

oh here's the correct 'more info' link..
posted by Deconstruct Now! at 6:27 AM on July 1, 2007

Behold - the wonders of the intranets:

Kenneth Clark's Civilisation [BT]

James Burke's Connections I-III [BT]


Light Fantastic [BT]


James Burke's The Day the Universe Changed [BT]


Seven Wonders of the Industrial World [BT]

Or simply BUY the stuff:

BBC Shop America

BBC Shop UK



posted by homodigitalis at 6:28 AM on July 1, 2007

Great post, though I'm rather disappointed I still can't find thesetwo.

But still a great post.
posted by champthom at 7:24 AM on July 1, 2007

The streaming sucks for me, too, but thankfully there is a download link on the top left corner of each of them that will download them in ipod or avi format.
posted by empath at 8:05 AM on July 1, 2007

FWIW, that's "motherlode." Sorry for the nitpicking.
posted by etoile at 8:12 AM on July 1, 2007

Awesome-plus-plus. I can cancel netflix for the next 2 months now. By the way, with streaming, you can just hit the pause and let it all download and then play it without waiting.
posted by rainy at 8:41 AM on July 1, 2007

Why can't BBC America be more like that, and less like this?
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:22 AM on July 1, 2007

Because yer actual BBC is more like "this" and less like that.
posted by vbfg at 9:45 AM on July 1, 2007

Yeah, keep in mind, these were made over a period of about 40 years or so.
posted by empath at 10:09 AM on July 1, 2007

Come live in the UK. We pay out every year but go to BBC 1 or 2 and you get none of this classic TV. Just rating chasing garbage.

Tonight we have 'A Concert for Diana' - sob.
posted by surfdad at 10:12 AM on July 1, 2007

thank you etoile. i was going to point it out too. nit-picking, but constructively so.
posted by davidmsc at 10:44 AM on July 1, 2007

Best of the Internet indeed!
posted by waxbanks at 12:39 PM on July 1, 2007

Absoilutely none of this makes over onto BBC America, BTW. We get Footballers Wives and endless home makeover shows instead.
posted by Artw at 4:01 PM on July 1, 2007

And so a friend has made a trip out here, and we're catching up and talking about the future.

And she talks about seeking homeopathic help for her slipped disc.

But it's one of those things I've got nothing to gain by going to war about. I grit my teeth and pray that her kids grow up to be sensible. Sigh.
posted by five fresh fish at 4:06 PM on July 1, 2007

Whoa. I'm not sure why I thought this thread was the right one...
posted by five fresh fish at 4:09 PM on July 1, 2007

Ethay irstfay uleray ofway ethay usenetway isway ouyay oday otnay alktay aboutway ethay usenetway.
posted by sisquoc15 at 4:44 PM on July 1, 2007

wow. Goldmine.
posted by nickyskye at 5:53 AM on July 2, 2007

Week's all full, thanks to this link.
posted by saguaro at 9:18 AM on July 30, 2007