Documentary which provides a vivid glimpse into a vanishing way of life in the Himalayas, as new technology extends its tentacles even into these remote regions. In 1999, the King of Bhutan made a landmark proclamation approving the use of television and the internet. The film begins at the end of this process as Laya, the last remaining village tucked away within the Himalayan kingdom, becomes enmeshed in roads, electricity and cable television. Through the eyes of Peyangki, an eight-year-old monk impatient with prayer and eager to acquire a TV set, the film documents the seeds of this seismic shift sprouting. During a three-day journey to the thriving capital of Thimphu, the young boy discovers cars and toilets in the search for the perfect television to bring back to the village. The trip enforces the sense that their tranquil village life is about to become extinct. Probably Dzongkha language with English subtitles.
Inheriting a work of art by one of the great Impressionist masters should be a joy, but for Patrick Rice it was a mixed blessing. His small oil painting depicting a ballet dancer on stage has always been thought to be a work by Edgar Hilaire Degas. Unfortunately, since the 1970s, experts have not agreed. The painting, which could be worth around half-a-million pounds if it is a Degas, is currently worth £200. In a last ditch attempt to discover the truth, Patrick and his son Jonathan ask Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould to handle the case. Although bought as a Degas from a reputable London dealer in 1945 by Patrick's father, the painting, titled Danseuse Bleue et Contrebasses, failed to make the official record of Degas, the catalogue raisonne. As far as auction houses and experts are concerned, if it's not in the catalogue then it's not by Degas, and cannot be sold as such.
The unlikely story of how one man with some ex-WWII army equipment eventually turned a muddy field in Cheshire into a key site in the space race. That man was Bernard Lovell, and his telescope at Jodrell Bank would be used at the height of the Cold War by both the Americans and the Russians to track their competing spacecraft. It also put Britain at the forefront of radio astronomy, a new science which transformed our knowledge of space and provided the key to understanding the most mind-bending theory of the beginnings of the universe - the Big Bang.
Timeshift casts off for a colourful voyage of 'high teas on the high seas' in the company of passengers and crew of the vintage steamers which were once a common sight on the rivers and coastal waters around Britain. Far more than a means of transport, these steamers attracted a devoted following, treating their passengers, whatever their pocket, to the adventure and trappings of an ocean voyage whilst actually rarely venturing out of sight of land. A highlight of the great British seaside holiday from the 1820s until the early 1960s - and open to all - they were 'the people's liners'.