Extraordinary Tales

In Channel 4's The Genius of Britain, Richard Dawkins, James Dyson, Stephen Hawking, David Attenborough and Robert Winston celebrate the great thinkers and moments in British science, from Newton to the present day. The five, who co-present each programme, are joined by Jim Al-Khalili, Kathy Sykes and Olivia Judson, among others.

Paul Murton sets off downstream to explore five rivers over six programmes from source to sea.

Six classic British books are considered with a fresh eye. Returning to the authors' original manuscripts and letters, expert writers and performers bring their personal insights to these great works.

Some of you might have already met this marvelous collection on DVD but for the first time in the web it is uploaded as separate avi's so that each cartoon is just 25 to 120 MB in size - pretty handy to download. An extraordinary collection of Russian most important animated short films by Russia's world renowned directors and artists. Winners of many top prizes in various countries. Old doesn't mean not worth watching. Some animations are still describing problems nowadays. Sometimes you don't even need words to understand meaning of it. If you have any love of animation at all – the artistry, the depth, the impact – the “Masters of Russian Animation” volumes are a must own.

After World War II ended, the United States and the Soviet Union began competing for primacy in a global struggle pitting democracy against communism. As the Soviets seized military and political control in Eastern Europe and the Baltics, turning them into a series of satellite states, the United States and Britain could see that a new Cold War had begun. Tensions between the two superpowers led to such confrontations as the Berlin blockade, the downing of an American U-2 spy plane, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. "Hot" wars erupted in Korea and Vietnam.

Historian Dan Cruickshank is invited through the closed doors of six of Britain’s greatest private houses in an illuminating and surprising journey through our architectural history. hese fascinating buildings remain private homes and closed to the public, but their owners have allowed Dan Cruickshank to roam the corridors, tease out each home’s story – who built them, lived in them and lost them – and uncover tales of excess and profligacy, power and ambition.

Heroes of War Poland 2014 marks the 75th anniversary of the beginning of World War II. This new series takes us back to a time when ordinary people became extraordinary heroes, freedom fighters, spies and code-breakers, often in deadly battles with Nazi forces. Set in Poland, which was home to some of the war's worst atrocities, Heroes of War uncovers tales of heroism and sacrifice from a number of unsung heroes of World War II.

Private Life of a Masterpiece is a BBC award-winning arts documentary series that tells the stories behind great works of art reaching from the Renaissance to modern art.