Inside Chernobyl Sarcophagus (1996). Deep inside the sarcophagus, a remarkable group of Soviet physicists is at work in levels of radiation that would be considered almost suicidal in the West. [more inside]
posted by Monsters on Oct 4, 2009 - 42 comments

The Human Animal - a brilliant BBC mini-series documentary by zoologist Desmond Morris that takes an extended look at the curious creatures known as Homo sapiens. Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 on Google videos. Beautiful and fascinating.
posted by grillcover on Sep 19, 2009 - 38 comments

As many as 40 new species may have been discovered near the crater of a volcano in New Guinea. Not to alarm anyone but Fearless Giant Rats, Caterpillars that look like Snakes and Fanged Frogs have been spotted and are said to be at large. [more inside]
posted by Hardcore Poser on Sep 6, 2009 - 49 comments

In 1999 and 2000, and again from 1995 to 1997, the BBC's Roy Mallard travelled across Britain documenting the everyday lives of ordinary citizens--people like us--for a documentary series with the odd title People Like Us, to show that these everyday peoples' ordinary lives are indeed just like ours, or us, and we, like theirs, or them.
Sample episodes in the series: Actors 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 / a Vicar 1 • 2 • 3 / Freelance Photographer 1 • 2 • 3 / The Pilot Episode, which turned out to be the final episode 1 • 2 • 3 / [Wikipedia] [more inside]
posted by not_on_display on Aug 9, 2009 - 20 comments

Three part BBC documentary analyzes and documents the revolution and the long struggle of Iran and the West to come together ever since the revolution. The documentary shows interviews with a wide range of world leaders who reveal the inner dealings of all governing adminstrations from the past thirty years, both from within Iran’s own adminstration and from the Western counterparts.
posted by semmi on Aug 5, 2009 - 8 comments

'This is the story of how Factory pioneered Briton's independent pop culture, imagined a new Manchester, and blew a shedload of money:

Factory - Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays'
posted by Item on Aug 1, 2009 - 33 comments

The Alchemists of Sound: 2003 documentary on the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. 1::2::3::4::5::6
posted by vronsky on Mar 5, 2009 - 16 comments

Clips from the BBC documentary, The African Rock n' Roll Years - Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3 l Part 4 l Part 5 l Part 6 - a six-part series mixing interviews with key artists, concert footage and news archives, the series examines and explains the "styles that make up the continent's music, and the political and social pressures that led to their development." BBC documentary details. Found in YouTube member, Duncanzibar's, good collection of mostly African music videos. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Dec 30, 2008 - 9 comments

Human, All Too Human
posted by cthuljew on Dec 3, 2008 - 26 comments

Architectural critic and writer Reyner Banham loved Los Angeles. (Last link is a BBC documentary, circa 1972, 52 minutes -- NSFW at 47 minute mark) [more inside]
posted by miss lynnster on Dec 1, 2008 - 2 comments

Flow of Time is a BBC documentary that "tries to explain time and covers the different ways we have used to understand Time, religion, mathematics, relativity, and quantum mechanics." Part 1, 2, 3, 4
posted by nola on Oct 21, 2008 - 10 comments

In 1993, we said goodbye to Frank Zappa, fallen victim to prostate cancer. A 1993 Today Show interview with Frank. A 1993 BBC documentary about Frank. {Parts 2, 3, 4.} "Outrage at Valdez," from 1993's The Yellow Shark. [Zappa mega-post previously on MeFi]
posted by not_on_display on May 17, 2008 - 43 comments

Carlos Castaneda And The Shaman. A BBC documentary on the anthropologist, best-selling author, con-artist, drug guru and cult leader: Carlos Castaneda. (google video, 1 hour)
posted by empath on Apr 12, 2008 - 59 comments

Adam Curtis' "The Trap" is a documentary broadcast in 2007 on BBC exploring the development of modern concepts of individual freedom.
[Google video links] Episode one: F#@^ You, Buddy; Episode two: The Lonely Robot; Episode Three: We Will Force you to be Free [more inside]
posted by Burhanistan on Mar 21, 2008 - 33 comments

Skateboard Kings is a 1978 BBC documentary about the Dogtown skateboarding scene in late 70's Venice Beach and Santa Monica. Featuring a lot of footage of the skaters' daily life as well as an exploration of the business side of skateboarding, the documentary is a time capsule of late 70's Southern California. For more about Dogtown go to z-boys.com. [previously on MetaFilter]
posted by Kattullus on Nov 29, 2007 - 10 comments

Atom. -- The Clash of the Titans -- The Key to the Cosmos -- The Illusion of Reality
posted by empath on Nov 24, 2007 - 20 comments

Co-creator of Spider-Man, Steve Ditko is famous for weird, distinctive art, his 1966 departure from Marvel Comics, and granting very few interviews in the course of his decades-spanning career, preferring to let creations such as The Creeper, the Objectivism-inspired Mr. A, and Squirrel Girl speak for him.
Okay, Squirrel Girl not so much.
Jonathan Ross turns the spotlight on the artist in the BBC4 documentary, In Search of Steve Ditko. Did they find him? Well, that's The Question, isn't it?
posted by Alvy Ampersand on Sep 23, 2007 - 26 comments

BBC - The Conspiracy Files 911. A look at the conspiracy culture, internet movie makers, many unresolved questions and some politics. Finally the truth? [Google Video]
posted by homodigitalis on Sep 2, 2007 - 59 comments

Guess who's censoring references to evolution out of David Attenborough documentaries? That's right, the Dutch. See the differences; here's a detailed write-up by a Dutch biologist and documentary enthusiast comparing the two versions side-by-side (in Dutch).
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Aug 28, 2007 - 41 comments

Nazi Pop Twins is an eerie documentary that debuted this year on BBC's Channel Four about the neo-Nazi teen folk musicians, Prussian Blue. The girls are managed by a neo-Nazi stage mom from hell, and the girls already seem to be more interested in shopping at the mall than singing white power lyrics. One of the creepiest scenes includes the twin girls on a phone call with their prison "pen pal," David Lane, the Neo-Nazi convicted of the murder of radio talk show host, Alan Berg. Lane refers to the twin girls as his "fantasy sweethearts," raising issues about whether an obsession with genetic "purity" leads to pedophilia on the Racist Right. Watch the documentary on YouTube (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) (Warning: may be exposed to YouTube comments from racist asshats.)
posted by jonp72 on Aug 11, 2007 - 165 comments

A Brief History of Disbelief -- 2, 3, 4. An excellent documentary on the history of Atheism from the ancient Greeks to today. Wonderful food for thought whether you are a believer or not.
posted by empath on Aug 6, 2007 - 62 comments

Slaughterhouse. A brutally honest look behind the scenes. Loads of blood, dead pigs and people inbetween. Recommended for the whole family for sunday dinner - if you like your sausages! [Google Video, NSFW, Not safe for veggies or PETA]
posted by homodigitalis on Jul 28, 2007 - 76 comments

David Bowie: Cracked Actor – a BBC documentary circa 1974. One|Two|Three|Four|Five (53 minutes)
posted by miss lynnster on May 4, 2007 - 16 comments

An Islamic History of Europe: (90 minute BBC documentary on Google video.) Rageh Omaar uncovers the hidden story of Europe's Islamic past and looks back to a golden age when European civilisation was enriched by Islamic learning. When the Moors Ruled in Europe:(102 minute BBC documentary on Google video.) A look at the Islamic past of Spain and the influence it has on the present.
posted by Burhanistan on Mar 3, 2007 - 15 comments

Watch BBC's documentary: Iran, the least understood country (Google video | Torrent) Rageh Omaar discovers that Iran is a country that bans women from riding motorcycles but where 60 per cent of the student population is female. There are stories of taxi drivers, wrestlers, business women, people working with drug addicts and the country's leading pop star and his manager - the 'Simon Cowell' of Iran. Read his article in the Sunday Times.
posted by hoder on Feb 19, 2007 - 30 comments

Fear and Loathing in Gonzovision 1978 BBC Omnibus documentary (Google Video)
posted by Elmore on Feb 14, 2007 - 10 comments

Hiroshima re-enacted with CGI. Done by the BBC as part of the documentary "Hiroshima". Part 2
posted by empath on Dec 26, 2006 - 206 comments

CDX: great Flash adventure by BBC History (in association with Preloaded) for their "Ancient Rome" series.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Sep 24, 2006 - 9 comments

Japanese professor Kenji Sugimoto has a long-standing fascination with the brain of Albert Einstein. In the early nineties he travelled to the United States in search of it. This bizarre 1994 documentary (YouTube, multiple parts) by Kevin Hull (UK) chronicles his quest. Fake or real? [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Sep 1, 2006 - 12 comments

Why We Fight, the BBC documentary from Eugene Jarecki about the American military-industrial complex and its origins (trailer@apple). For some reason its up in full at Google Video, so if you didn't get a chance to see it in the theaters, well, here it is! 1hr,40m - save it for later, perhaps. It's named after a series of war propaganda newsreels, directed by Frank Capra, demonstrating the need to enter WWII. These too are available on GV, as well as archive.org - to your surprise and delight. And for your convenience: Reels One, Two, Three, Four, Five parts 1 and 2, Six, and Seven
posted by BlackLeotardFront on May 6, 2006 - 54 comments

Will this comedy ever cross the atlantic? The Office, now half way through its second series, must be the sharpest, funniest and most tragic t.v. comedy the BBC have made in a long time. A spoof documentary set in the office of a paper wholesaler whose manager, David Brent, is obsessed with his motivational bon homie and oblivious to the fact the rest of the world thinks he is a bumptious idiot. The clips give some idea of the style but maybe the humour is too British to travel far.
posted by rolo on Oct 20, 2002 - 22 comments

SmallPox 2002 - Silent Weapon...
It is April 2002, and a smallpox outbreak occures in New York. 4 and a half months later and 60 million people across the planet are dead. Tonight, The BBC broadcast a fictional documentary as if it were filmed in 2005, looking back at the smallpox pandemic that swept the world in 2002 and killed 60 million people. Heavily rooted in fact, it was disturbing viewing, to put it mildly. Did anyone else in Europe see this?
posted by tomcosgrave on Feb 5, 2002 - 22 comments