Season 12

1991 · 14 episodes

Episodes

1Flying HorsesHow do you fly 63 thoroughbred horses, not to mention an elephant and a couple of giraffes, from one side of the world to the other? What happens when they get 'shipping fever' or if a stallion tries to jump out at 35,000ft? Irish veterinary surgeon Desmond Leadon travels with the flying horses; if these valuable passengers are to get from London to Sydney unscathed, it will need all his skill and foresight.
2Homoeopathy: Medicine or Magic?Taking two tablets with a glass of water is one thing, but diluting two drops of a drug in a bath full of water hardly sounds like potent medicine. Yet homoeopathic doctors prescribe medicines diluted in more than a million, million, million parts of water. Doctors and vets claim spectacular achievements with such remedies, and scientific trials are producing results which are not easy to explain.
3A Slim Chance of SightThirteen-year-old Alejandra lives in poverty in a remote corner of Nicaragua and is almost totally blind. She and her grandmother pray daily for a miracle and at last their prayers could be answered. A 'flying hospital' is on its way to Managua: an old DC8 which is aeroplane, operating theatre and teaching hospital rolled into one. Alejandra decides to travel 250 miles in the hope of a cure but in Managua she finds there are over 500 others seeking a personal miracle and only 25 are going to make it.
4Murphy's LawMurphy's Law says, 'Anything that can go wrong, will.' Nearly all of us feel this is true. But is it? Does bread really fall butter-side downwards? The other queue move faster? Do people with seats in the centre arrive last? QED puts Murphy's Law to the scientific test. Presented by Professor Ian Fells.
5Panic AttackA film director, a young mother and a student have one thing in common. They suffer from panic attacks - feelings of intense anxiety which strike without warning, and for no logical reason. This is the story of how three people have struggled to control the panic before it totally controls them.
6Why Planes Fly - and Other ThingsMost of us are prepared to trust our bodies to tons of metal hurtling into the sky - without knowing why planes don't fall back to earth. Which is why a retired taxi driver, a barmaid and a housewife find themselves challenged to learn how planes fly in only a week - with the help of a Second World War fighter, a bottle of champagne and a lawnmower.
7The Boy Who Draws BuildingsStephen Wiltshire is autistic, but at the age of 6, he could draw buildings in perspective. At 12, when he was first seen by eight million viewers on QED, Sir Hugh Casson called him 'probably the best child artist in Britain'. Four years later, Stephen is now a successful artist, with his own commerical agent and three books of drawings to his name. But what has his success done for him and his handicap?
8Whatever Happened to the Leisure Age?En-route to the airport, a time-pressured business executive listens to a Nick Ross-hosted radio discussion show, asking why we're not living in the age of leisure that we were promised in the 1960s.
9Your Child's Diet on Trial: The VerdictChemists sold out of vitamin pills overnight after QED first reported the sensational results of two scientific trials: vitamin and mineral supplements apparently reduced anti-social behaviour and raised the IQ of children with less than adequate diets. This scandalised some national newspapers and expert nutritionists; but the programme also prompted new trials. Today QED reveals the findings of the latest and largest of those trials - including some surprising new discoveries and the final verdict.
10The Power of SoundWhen Dr John Pond's not in his milkshed, he's in the laboratory at the back of his farmhouse. As a child he was fascinated by sound and played music to the cows to see if it would improve the milk yield. Now he studies the amazing power of ultra sound which can mix mayonnaise and weld heels to shoes. Introduced by Anthony Clare.
11SmokingBack in the 50s, a cigarette with a pint, or during your lunch break, was the obvious way to relax - but no one knew then what it would lead to. For many smoking has now become a pernicious habit, with potentially fatal consequences. On No Smoking Day 1991, QED talks to life-long smokers, and with extraordinary film taken inside a smoker's body, takes a compelling look at how a moment's pleasure leaves its mark on human flesh.
12On His Own Two FeetLast year QED told the story of 12-year-old Emmett, and how an American surgeon used computers to analyse his walking disability caused by cerebral palsy. Then in a massive operation they broke his leg bones to straighten them, repositioned his muscles and tendons and when it was all over he was inches taller. But he still had a long way to go. Now a teenager, Emmett faces all the usual challenges of growing up and gaining independence. For a year QED cameras have followed his progress and this new film tells how he is discovering what it really means to stand on your own two feet - in every sense.
13Granny's Greatest ThrillGranny Muriel Santilli , 79, answered an advertisement in her local paper and found herself entering an extraordinary world where her wildest dreams came true. She was actually inside the brain of a computerised simulator where impossible things happen all the time. Soon millions will be able to follow Granny into strange simulated worlds. Scientists have invented a home simulator that anyone can use; it will be in the shops next year. They say it will be even more popular than television! Narrated by Anthony Clare.
14Cutting a Path Through the HeartIt looked as if the only chance for 13-year-old Tina was a complete heart and lung transplant. But then she was referred to Dr Shakeel Qureshi and Professor Michael Tynan , two remarkable doctors who believed that they could perform surgery from inside the heart, without the need for a chest incision. The only problem was, they had never tried this before. When they got into the operating theatre, things did not go according to plan and they had to improvise solutions with instruments they modified themselves.