Bbc Cilvilisation

Affectionately comic drama about the British home computer boom of the early 1980s. Legendary inventor Clive Sinclair battles it out with ex-employee Chris Curry, founder of Acorn Computers, for dominance in the fledgling market.

Former Conservative MP, Michael Portillo pushes his body to the brink of death in an investigation into the science of execution. As the American Supreme Court examines whether the lethal injection is causing prisoners to die in unnecessary pain Michael sets out to find a solution which is fundamentally humane. To do so he examines the key methods of execution available today: he discovers why convicts can catch on fire in the electric chair, learns how easy it is to botch a hanging and inhales a noxious gas to experience first hand the terror of the gas chamber.

From the makers of Walking With Dinosaurs comes an epic and entertaining new exploration of early life on Earth, revealing that before the age dinosaurs, a succession of fantastical animals and plants ruled the planet.

Many people know the basic rules of chess, but few can play really well. This programme offers some essential tips on how to raise our game. British grandmasters Dan King and Ray Keene go through a special demonstration game from opening gambit to checkmate, revealing the key moves that can lead to victory. They explain the opening, middle and end games, and how to outwit an opponent with techniques such as forks, pins and skewers.

Highly-charged documentary following London's elite trauma team, Medic One. The team are deployed by helicopter and high-performance cars to major accidents across the capital, and they deal with major traumas at the scene. Every day they are called to deal with car and motorbike accidents, stabbings and shootings.

When Orson Welles went into self-imposed exile in Europe, he first found stardom with The Third Man and then immersed himself in challenging films, television, theatre and bullfighting. Simon Callow trails the complex actor-director.

Episode 1
Tim Samuels explores how in the 21st century, pornography has never been more profitable or more pervasive. Tim sees how pornography is now piped into people's lives via new technologies and how this is creating powerful new revenue streams for supposedly 'family friendly' mobile phone and credit card companies.

Earthquakes are among the most devastating natural disasters on the planet. In the last hundred years they have claimed the lives of over one million people. Earthquakes are destructive mainly because of their unpredictable nature. It is impossible to say accurately when a quake will strike but a new theory could help save lives by preparing cities long in advance for an earthquake.

“It all began in 1971 as a game of speculation – a bit of light relief from the rigours of tectonic and oceanographic investigation in the Mediterranean basin.” American oceanographer Bill Ryan was on the scientific team which showed that the Mediterranean had been a vast desert basin until, 5 million years ago, the world’s oceans rose and burst through the Straits of Gibraltar to create the Mediterranean Sea.