Season 15

1994 · 7 episodes

Episodes

1Is Love Enough?As part of the BBC season marking the Year of the Family, QED returns to the Webbers, subject of last year's "A Family Game". Amanda and Clive Webber 's lives were dominated by the constant temper tantrums of their 5-year-old son, and the film followed the family through a pioneering course of therapy at the Maudsley Psychiatric Hospital in London. Psychological disturbances in Amanda's own life were discovered, and so one concern of this follow-up programme is to discover whether she has come to terms with her past, as well as to report on the progress of the Maudsley experiment. The film also considers the implications for families who may well be less capable than the Webbers of taking steps to tackle the problem of overbearingly disruptive children.
2TraumaNew methods designed to help accident victims make quick and full recoveries from their injuries are being pioneered in Stoke-on-Trent. The Staffordshire Royal Infirmary is conducting a unique experiment by running a trauma unit in the casualty department. This means that when an injured patient is admitted, at whatever time of day or night, a specialist consultant is on hand to assess the damage and immediately decide on a course of action. This expertise, when combined with facilities one would normally expect to find in other hospital departments, has proved effective in saving lives and shortening in-patient time. QED returns with an extended edition following the work of the trauma unit. Says Tony Redmond , one of the trauma team leaders: "We're saving more lives and the quality of the ones we save is improved."
3Craig's BootAlthough the football boot has evolved over the years, becoming lighter and more streamlined, the first radical re-think had to wait for former Liverpool player Craig Johnston and a rainy day in his native Australia. It has always been accepted that a football boot is made of leather, but is this the best material to provide control of the ball? Many experiments and prototypes later, Johnston's moulded rubber boot is undergoing trials and is arousing huge interest throughout the football-playing world. Leeds veteran Gordon Strachan says: "You've never seen anything like it - it's got a sweet spot like a golf club." And after testing the boot Liverpool and England under-21 player Jamie Redknapp confessed: "I could not hit those shots with my normal boot." Although Johnston has no training in technology he has always been an 'ideas man', and this film traces the story of what could prove to be his most lucrative idea to date.
4Fishman of Saughton JailAlex Torbet is Britain's equivalent of the Birdman of Alcatraz. After a distinguished RAF career he murdered his wife and father-in-law in an uncontrollable fit of anger, and in 1979 was sentenced to life imprisonment. In Saughton Prison, Edinburgh, Torbet became interested in the fish in the prison's aquaculture unit, attached to Stirling University, and was soon saving the university a huge amount of money thanks to his skill in breeding both fish and shellfish for their experiments. He was particularly drawn to a species called tilapia, whose ability to provide high-protein food from a diet of rubbish gave it great potential as a source of food for poor countries. He developed a golden strain, attractive as well as nutritious, which is now helping to feed the Third World.
5Lifeline ExpressAt the age of 12 Sir John Wilson was blinded in a school laboratory accident, and has dedicated his working life to the prevention and treatment of disability. Thirty years ago the Prime Minister of India, Pandit Nehru , told him that India's greatest asset was its railway system, and many years later Sir John has persuaded the Indian government to provide a train fitted out as a mobile hospital, travelling from village to village throughout India. Bismilia is 7. Since contracting polio as a baby she has never been able to stand, gettingaround her village by crawling in the dirt. Then her mother heard about the " magic train", the Lifeline Express. QED follows the train into Bismilla's village to treat those suffering from polio, blindness and deafness. The film also covers Sir John's first visit to the train, and the first steps Bismilla takes after her operation.
6Plastic FantasticMaurice Ward is a Hartlepool hairdresser. He is also the inventor of a substance that can withstand any amount of heat, while remaining cool. The implications for science and industry are limitless. Ward, his wife and his daughter know the formula, and he is well aware of the value of his invention, which has been christened Starlite. This means that he is also extremely cagey about revealing anything that might compromise his control over it. In turn, this makes it impossible for Starlite to be independently tested, patented or exploited. QED follows Ward on a trip to talk to scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the USA, who realise the implications of Starlite for space travel. Ward is willing to wait for the right deal - how many millions should tempt him to sign away the secret?
7Casualities of the Wild"Every time we lose an animal we're haunted by doubts, "says RSPCA vet Ian Robinson , who is on call seven days a week at the high-tech East Winch animal hospital in Norfolk. "The vast majority of animals we come across are suffering because of man.Wherever there's an interaction between man and wildlife, wildlife suffers. Here we have an opportunity to redress that balance." In the last of this series, QED records life at East Winch over four months, in particular following the story of Grouper the grey seal and his fight for survival. Grouper was found stranded on a Humberside beach with an infected gash on his neck, near to death. The film also looks at a wounded badger, a sick kestrel and a hedgehog with no spines. "We're in a situation where there is so much unknown," says Robinson, "but I think we're getting better."