Bbc Documentary 2024

A look back through the archive at the extraordinary life of writer and poet Maya Angelou.

A suspenseful, immersive look at the lengths to which people will go to gain freedom. The film follows various individuals as they attempt to flee North Korea, one of the most oppressive places on earth and a land they grew up believing was a paradise.

With the Doomsday Clock the closest it's ever been to midnight, Jane Corbin investigates the proliferation of nuclear weapons across the globe. She visits Los Alamos, home to the United States’ nuclear weapons development facility and the historic home of Oppenheimer’s Manhattan Project.

Gareth Malone presents Handel's 18th-century masterpiece infused with gospel, jazz and R&B, creating an uplifting reinterpretation of this seasonal favourite. Written in London in 1741, Handel's Messiah has been performed at London's Royal Albert Hall more than 500 times. It's regularly sung by amateur choral societies, specialist early music groups and spectacular massed choirs.

Facing danger, risking persecution. Witnesses and survivors reveal the truth about anti-government protests in Iran, from 2009's contested election to the fight for women's rights.

Marking the 30th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death, this documentary uses powerful and unseen archive footage to demystify the tragic moment when the Nirvana frontman took his own life.

Justina, an indigenous Argentinian, has been rewarded by her former employer for her lifelong work as her maid with an enormous crumbling mansion deep in the Argentine Pampas. The only condition is that she can never sell it. Justina, aged 60, and her lesbian daughter Alexia, aged 20, move from the city to this desolate paradise where they eke out a living.

A documentary on assisted suicide, authored by actor and disability rights activist Liz Carr.

In 1972, the IRA allowed an unusual documentary crew to film its members carrying out attacks, with most of its underground leadership appeared on camera. The film looked like a propaganda coup - then it disappeared, largely unseen for almost 50 years, and the IRA never allowed anything like it to happen again. The unearthing of the film sets Darragh MacIntyre off in search of the men who made it, the bombers who willingly showed their faces on camera, and the reason for the film's disappearance.

The murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan Police officer who abducted her as she walked to her home in south London in March 2021 was a watershed moment for the nation. It brought to the fore the devastating issue of male predators within the country's police forces and highlighted the extent of violence against women and girls in British society - an issue recently declared a national priority alongside terrorism and organised crime.