A Hidden Life

An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.

Going for a dramatic approach, this installment takes a look at the changing world of nature, from the sky to the sea to the sun to the insects to volcanic action to the planet itself. It's nature's strange and intricate designs for survival and her many methods of perpetuating life in this spectacular story. It takes a lot to make nature footage dramatic but here we are and it's quite a sight. It's exciting, beautifully shot and photographed, sometimes a little suspenseful, though it might not look like it at the start of it.

The Giant Panda has long been famous as a symbol of conservation and wildlife protection. China is now the only country where pandas still live in the wild. The government has worked hard to prevent its national pride, this adorable bamboo eating bear, from becoming extinct. It has put extensive resources into restoring the pandas’ forest habitat and reintroducing rescued animals to the wild. The panda breeding centre in Chengdu employs highly qualified Chinese and international specialists. The pandas live safely here and are provided with conditions conducive to successful procreation and cubs are taken care of to ensure they survive.

John Eliot Gardiner goes in search of Bach the man and the musician. The famous portrait of Bach portrays a grumpy 62-year-old man in a wig and formal coat, yet his greatest works were composed 20 years earlier in an almost unrivalled blaze of creativity. We reveal a complex and passionate artist; a warm and convivial family man at the same time a rebellious spirit struggling with the hierarchies of state and church who wrote timeless music that is today known world-wide. Gardiner undertakes a 'Bach Tour' of Germany, and sifts the relatively few clues we have - some newly-found. Most of all, he uses the music to reveal the real Bach.

The extraordinary life of cricket commentator, pigeon racing champion, and test captain Bill Lawry, whose infectious commentary became the sound of summer for many.

Historian Michael Wood presents a portrait of ordinary people living through extraordinary times, tracing the story of a real-life peasant of 14th-century Hertfordshire. She wasn't a famous person, or of noble blood, yet Christina Cok's story is important in understanding our own roots. In this time of war, famine, floods, climate change and the Black Death are the beginnings of the end of serfdom, the growth of individual freedom and the start of a market economy.

Japan's population continues to gravitate to the Tokyo area, but some people long to move from the capital to different corners of the nation. A consultation center in Tokyo's Yurakucho district is a magnet for anyone considering such a shift. At the center, consultants from 39 prefectures offer free advice, information, and handy tips about housing, employment, and any other aspect of daily life that awaits new residents. About 70% of people who come seeking for advice are aged 40 or younger. Among the visitors we met over 3 days was a man in his 60's looking for a new place to live after a recent divorce, and a man who took early retirement so he could return to Kyushu and spend more time with his children.

Brunhilde Pomsel describes herself as an "apolitical girl" and a "figure on the margins," but she got closer to one of the worst criminals in world history than anyone else left alive. Pomsel served as Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels' stenographer. Brunhilde Pomsel's life mirrors all the major breaks and continuities of the 20th century. Many people think that the dangers of war and fascism have been overcome. Brunhilde Pomsel makes it clear that this is not case. "A German Life" makes the viewer automatically ask: How would I have acted? What principles might I have betrayed to advance my career?

Aluminum is simple to process, slow to rust, and non-magnetic, leading to its use in a wide variety of items in our daily lives, such as electronics and packaging. Toyo Aluminium was founded in 1931, and is one of the world’s top-class aluminum manufacturers, producing foils, powders and pastes made with aluminum. Ever since, they have used their years of expertise to create numerous high-performance materials that are unique in the world. These materials are used in the products of food product makers, paint makers, and more, finally ending up in the hands of everyday consumers. As a result, these consumers do not normally see the advances behind these materials.

Set in Osaka, during the devastated time of post-war Japan, this is a tale of the yakuza who set about rebuilding after the death of their Oyabun (big boss). Battles erupt as tempers explode as someone seeks to fill the …