Brides

Brides to Be is an existential supernatural drama about love and the struggle to conquer hate.

Stacey Dooley travels to Kurdish-controlled northern Syria to holding camps where she meets western women who left their countries to join the so-called Islamic State. For now, the Kurds are containing these women. Some of them are still fervent IS supporters, while others say they just want to come home and face whatever consequences the courts decide. Stacey also finds the camps filled with European children. The Kurds who are in control of this part of Syria are still fighting Russia and Assad’s forces to the south. They say the western powers should not expect the Kurds to be gaolers on their behalf indefinitely. Panorama explores the question of what to do with the IS women and children left behind.

The phenomenon of weddings conducted inside prisons, following four women who have decided to marry men serving long jail sentences, and examining the motives of those trying to build serious relationships against the odds. The women include Jenn, a young mother-of-two who met Brandon, currently serving a stretch for armed robbery, while corresponding with another inmate.

An investigation into the US laws letting older men marry girls under the age of 16. Ellie Flynn travels to the USA to visit states poised to reconsider their child marriage laws. South Carolina is considering closing its 'marry-your-rapist' loophole that allows girls under 16 to marry if they are pregnant and have a parent’s consent. Visiting the record office in Spartanburg County, Ellie finds 16 child marriages in the county in the last decade. In ten of those cases, the groom could have been prosecuted under statutory rape laws. One of these marriages was between teenager Keri, then 15, and Paul, then 24. When Keri became pregnant, Paul agreed to marry her and help look after the baby in order to avoid prison.

A young teacher on her way to a position in Transylvania helps a young man escape the shackles his mother has put on him.

It will hardly surprise anyone that bride-snatching is illegal in Kyrgyzstan, but when you look at sentencing, the reality paints a far different picture. A sheep's life is worth four times more than a young woman's. The custom – in which single young men kidnap their bride of choice and pressure them to agree to marriage – is very common in this country. But as RTD's team has found out, this centuries-old tradition surprisingly has its passionate proponents as well as harsh critics.

From the sea horse that mates in an hypnotic underwater ballet to the rodent who copulates until he literally drops dead, THE NATURE OF SEX spans the globe to illustrate how an astonishing diversity of life forms find their mates and conceive, raise, and protect their offspring. This Web companion to the four-part series takes a close look at the primal instinct that causes animals to come together in order to pass along their genes to the next generation.

Rick Gassko is about to marry Debbie Thompson. Her parents hate him. Her old boyfriend hates him. They all have money and he gets a cut of the crap games on the Catholic school bus that he drives.