Pieces (2013)

For centuries the West has been enthralled by flamboyant blue and white ceramics from China, but was unaware that all the time the Chinese were making porcelains for themselves that were completely different - subtle monochromes for the Imperial court, beautiful objects for the scholar's table and delicate domestic wares. Ceramics expert Lars Tharp, Antiques Roadshow resident and presenter of Treasures of Chinese Porcelain, has picked his six favourite pieces representing Chinese taste.

In How Sherlock Changed The World forensic scientists, crime historians and Sherlockian experts reveal the surprising impact Arthur Conan Doyles fictional character had on the development of real-life crime investigations and forensic science A crime fighter before his time, Holmes popularised techniques, instruments and a special method of reasoning that went on to solve many crimes.

LEVITATED MASS is the story of a rock star; the artist behind the sensation; a $10 million, 22-city tour; and the international media storm that ensued–but not in the way you might expect.

Sir David Attenborough has captured a new species of pink iguana on film for the first time. In his new series about the Galapagos Islands, the veteran broadcaster was thrilled to come face to face with a creature missed by Charles Darwin. Now he will give viewers their first glimpse of the rare, pink iguana – which lives on top of a volcano “It’s a remarkable thing in this day and age when you think about the number of scientists per square metre in the Galapagos, and yet suddenly we have discovered a new species,” Sir David said.

Johannes Vermeer is a fascinating painter whose life and works are explored here in amazing detail. Filmed in London's National Gallery, New York's Met and other galleries in the USA and the Netherlands, this film delves into a breath-taking collection of Vermeer's finest pieces and delivers a detailed biography of the artist, his life and times. An exposition of period musical pursuits is blended with the art of Vermeer and his contemporaries. Live music from the Academy of Ancient Music serves as a beautiful soundtrack to the wonderful sight of Vermeer's paintings.

In the quest for world domination, the Nazis built some of the biggest and deadliest pieces of military hardware and malevolent technology in history.

A telescope with a mirror that measures six feet across and that was once the largest in the world can be found in the mountains of the Republic of Karachaeva-Cherkessia. This altazimuth telescope is positioned at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres - a good point from which to research the astrological climate of outer space. The area’s almost perfect atmosphere, the high number of clear nights and the large distance from manufacturing plants are what make it so ideal. It is thanks to these factors that Russian astronomers and scientists from abroad are able to look at and examine the starry sky. What is so special about the six-metre telescope is its Alt-azimuth mount. This mount allows the telescope to move along the horizontal and vertical axes, giving scientists the opportunity to focus more closely on a specific area of the sky to study the galaxies and stars. The telescope is one of the pieces of equipment at the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Science, which is also home to the RATAN-600 radio telescope. These tools that are used to study outer space are also called the eyes and ears of the planet Earth.

The world's most enormous machines are stripped down and torn apart to discover their hidden secrets and to reveal out how each one has changed our world in its own unique way.

An Iowa drugstore owner (Don Ameche) becomes embittered when his son is killed in World War II. The druggist believes that the boy's life was cut short before he had an opportunity to truly appreciate his existence. The grieving father is shown the error of his assumption by the ghost of his grandfather (Harry Carey), who through flashbacks details the good things about the son's short term on Earth, and the wonderful life that the druggist himself has enjoyed. Frances Dee plays Don Ameche's wife, while Ann Rutherford portrays his son's girl (who in turn is played in a flashback sequence by former Little Rascal Darla Hood).