Season 7

1974 · 30 episodes

Episodes

1You Want It We've Got ItThe Shetland Islands are in the middle of a bigger oilfield than Texas. So in a world thirsty for oil, the islanders' future has been taken out of their hands. The outside world will come to these far-north islands for Shetland oil. But must it take away Shetland's way of life in the by-going? Magnus Magnusson found people who feared that things would change for the worse. He also found a quiet determination to make oil work for Shetland - a problem that many parts of Britain will have to face in the years ahead.
2KGB - The Soviet Secret PoliceFew initials in modern times have more sinister or frightening connotations than those three letters: KGB. For the KGB is not just the Soviet intelligence service, it is a vast secret police apparatus penetrating every aspect of Soviet life. As a result of its activities there are some 10,000 political and religious prisoners in Russia at the moment. The organisation and inner workings of the KGB are highly secret and little known to the public. To compile this two-part reporter Mischa Scorer spent nine months travelling throughout the world, talking to scores of people with first-hand experience of the KGB -both victims of its attentions and former officers who have defected to the West. What is the history of the KGB? How has it come to be the powerful machine it is today? What can be found out about its structure -how is it organised? What sort of man is today's KGB officer?
3The Fat Of The LandNobody loves a fat man, according to surveys, yet by some estimations- half of Britain is overweight. One baby in two may already have a weight problem by the time he is a year old. The film looks at the phenomenon which infuriates fat people - why should they put on weight while others eat just as much and stay thin? Scientists are looking at the 'miracle pill' that one day may enable us to choose an ideal weight without dieting. But meanwhile society's remedy is still to try and laugh the fat man away.
4Jomo Kenyatta Of Kenya - A Chalfont ProfileBorn in Kikuyuland in the 1890s, President Jomo Kenyatta is one of the great survivors of 20th-century history. He has lived long enough to see the rise and fall of the British Empire in Africa and to steer Kenya through its first ten years of independence. He has survived exile, imprisonment and controversy to become one of the most illustrious and formidable leaders to emerge from the third world. In tonight's film Lord Chalfont tells the story of this man's almost incredible rise to supreme power. He also raises the question : is Kenyatta's beautiful and much-fought-over country really as secure and stable as it seems? And what will happen to Kenya when Kenyatta leaves the scene?
5Children In CrossfireFor five years now, the children of Northern Ireland's most troubled areas have grown up on the battlefield of guerrilla warfare. What is the effect on their growing minds? This is a casebook of children who live in the fear of sudden death, who believe they hate, some of whom are trained and prepared to kill. The story is told through their songs, their games, their paintings. It's told in their words, and the words of adults mostly concerned with children - parents, teachers, doctors and the Army for whom the children are becoming a tragic, insuperable problem. When the Troubles stop, will the troubles end for these children? We don' know the answers, because there has never been a war, never a casebook quite like this one.
6The Raid On St NazaireIt was called ' Operation Chariot' and produced five VCs, 78 other medals and 51 mentions in dispatches, between 611 men. Winston Churchill recognised it as one of the key successes of the war - and an act of almost incredible courage on the part of 600 sailors and commandos. At midnight on 27 March 1942, a combined force of Royal Navy and commandos sailed up the River Loire, under heavy fire from German shore batteries. Their objective: to destroy the giant Normandie dock at St Nazaire, prospective Atlantic base for the dreaded battleship Tirpitz. The story is written and told by one of the survivors, former commando captain Michael Burn, MC, who finished the war in Colditz.
7The Best Of Times.... The Worst Of TimesRose Kennedy , the mother of the most remarkable family of modern times, looks back over the events in her life which affected, and at times stunned, the entire world. Mrs Kennedy, now 83 years old, talks freely and frankly about her personal feelings and memories. Now scarred by unbelievable family tragedies, among them the shocking assassinations of two sons - one the President of the United States - she can still say, ' My life, even with its moments of pain, has been such a happy one.'
8The Day Seemed So GoodWhen four Hertfordshire boys set off into the Snowdonia hills last Easter on their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award Expedition the weather was fine and their spirits high. By nightfall misfortune had overtaken them and there began a series of events which led to four days and nights of lonely fear and discomfort for the boys and to the biggest search operation ever mounted in that area. With the help of the four boys and many of those who took part in their rescue, tonight's film recreates the events of that weekend and looks at some of the lessons which can be learnt from them. This, on the eve of the boys' return to Snowdonia to complete their expedition and hopefully to gain their Gold Award.
9A Rothschild And His Red GoldThe story of Baron Philippe de Rothschild and his extraordinary wine. The Rothschilds are a legend. They rival royalty in their wealth and history. For generations they have dominated a substantial part of what money can buy - whether it be racehorses or palaces, paintings or vineyards. Baron Philippe is perhaps the most extraordinary member today-of that most extraordinary family, but he is no eccentric. The grapes he grows in his vineyards at Chateau Mouton near Bordeaux produce some of the finest and most expensive wine in the world.
10The Right To Know....An Investigation into Secrecy Workers have taken jobs in a London factory without first being told they could be working with a killer substance. Over 100 died in 12 years - the youngest was 32. In law they had no right to know potential risks. Yorkshire's rivers are the worst in the country but the identity of the polluters has been kept secret. ' The law protects the polluter not the public' claims the Yorkshire River Authority. Some local authorities say undue secrecy at the Department of the Environment hinders their efforts to improve the environment. As a recent Royal Commission demands a more open policy this film investigates specific cases of secrecy and asks should there be a ' right to know '?
11The Men In The AmbulanceA film about the men and women who drive Britain's ambulances. In a violent age they will always be in the front line, never knowing just what form of agony they might be dealing with five minutes from now. What kind of people are they who have chosen to make this their daily task? What exactly do they do, how much medical knowledge should they have? As para-medical colleagues of the doctors, should they still earn under £30 a week? It has been estimated that one quarter of the 10,000 annual road deaths could be avoided by advanced, on the spot, medical- aid. In London alone 1,500 emergency 999 calls are answered every day at Ambulance headquarters. To show what happens, for this programme film cameras went with the ambulance crews on some of those calls.
12The Corporation And The PeopleA film about the biggest domestic upheaval of the century, and the conflict between people and local authorities, resulting from the corporation rehousing programmes which are changing almost every city in Britain.
13Cross Your Heart And Hope To LiveNobody actually chooses to have heart disease, but many doctors believe that you can now choose not to. Medical research has turned up three rules for a healthy heart, and doctors are recommending them to people at risk. This programme will tell you whether you're at risk, and what to do about it, and you can compare yourself with five people from all over Britain, including a famous businessman and a London housewife.
14The Matteotti AffairThe story of how the death of one man led to the birth of dictatorship in Europe. On a midsummer afternoon in 1924, an Italian Member of Parliament, Giacomo Matteotti , walked out of his house in Rome and was never seen alive again. This was the beginning of the Matteotti affair. While it lasted, the fate of Italy and indeed of all Europe hung in the balance. Mussolini, on the threshold of his career, came within a hairs-breadth of political extinction, with incalculable consequences for the future of all of us. By the time the Matteotti affair was over the balance had moved the wrong way and the shadow of dictatorship fell across Europe. The story is told by Peter Nichols , The Times Correspondent in Rome for the last 16 years, and holder of the City of Rome Prize for International Journalism for 1973. The film was shot on locations in and around Rome where the events of the story took place.
15The Roots Of YogaPlace the palms of both hands on the ground. Place the navel on both elbows and balancing thus, stretch the body backward like a stick. This position destroys all diseases, removes abdominal disorders, digests unwholesome food, increases the appetite and destroys the most deadly poison.' In this kind of detail an ancient Indian text book, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, spells out the ways of purifying the body by physical and mental effort, in order to reach union with God. But this is only the beginning and the West has little idea of the truth about Yoga. Tonight's film, made in the Yoga training centres and hospitals in India, sets out to explain the intricate techniques, the philosophy and the purpose of Yoga - to escape the suffering and miseries of this world where the spirit is trapped in the flesh and bones of humanity.
16The Million Pound MarathonRaymond Baxter reports on the 1974 World Cup Rally . The morning after the Cup Final, ANDREW COWAN , INNES IRELAND, ERIC JACKSON and STIRLING MOSS were among the drivers of 70 cars which set out from Wembley Stadium to drive 10,000 miles through 14 countries of Europe, Africa and Asia, in a race to reach Munich in time for the World Cup kick-off this week. The route crossed the Sahara twice. The cars included Jeeps, Range Rovers, a 1957 Hillman Minx and a 1930 Bentley Tourer. This shows what happened to the starters and survivors of a great motoring adventure with a million pounds at stake in cars, crews, and prizes.
17Jolly Boating WeatherNext week is Henley Week. Of all the events which use sport as an excuse to ease out the champagne corks and have a social junket-Ascot, Wimbledon, Lord's, Cowes-the most exquisitely English is Henley Royal Regatta. The course is English to the point of idiosyncrasy: it doesn't conform to international standards for one inch of its beautiful length. Yet every oarsman in the world wants to row on it. Even the Russians send their best men to heave and sweat past the Stewards' enclosure, where the English upper classes relax in deck-chairs, wear dazzling boat-club blazers, sip champagne, gossip with pretty women, and clap politely. Jack Pizzey was at Henley last summer, mingling with the crowds and looking behind the scenes of this most English occasion.
18The Broken BridgeIn 1968 three mentally ill children began a course of therapeutic treatment with the psychologist Irene Kassorla. Film cameras followed their improvement over six months and the results were shown in a documentary on 24 October 1968. The main sequences from this film are shown in tonight's programme. But for the children, the crucial question remains: was the improvement and the promise of the treatment sustained? The second part of the documentary looks at the work of Irene Kassorla today, at the children's families five years on - and at the prospects for the children in the life ahead of them.
19The Japanese WayThe Japanese provoke strong reactions. We admire their industrial skill, we envy their commercial success. But some of us remember the Burma Campaign; others simply feel suspicious of 'oriental cunning' of strange minds and strange ways of doing things. What happens then when a Japanese firm sets up a factory in Britain with Japanese bosses and a British workforce? Do the Japanese find our workers lazy and inefficient? Can they adjust and how in fact, does a group of English natives react to the Japanese way of doing things?
20Sadat: President Of Egypt - A Chalfont ProfileAnwar el-Sadat, third President of the United Arab Republic, is one of the most important figures in the world today. Born in an obscure village in the Nile Delta, he grew up with a strong grudge against Britain. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Nasser in the Egyptian revolution of 1952. When Nasser died in 1970, he took over as a stop-gap President. Now, following last year's brief but savage war with Israel, he is the incontrovertible master of Egypt and arguably the most influential and significant Arab leader currently in power. In tonight's Chalfont Profile he talks frankly about his personal life, achievements, his attitude to Britain and Israel, and his ambitions for himself and his country.
211945 - The Year That Shaped Our World1945 was a crucial year for Britain and the World. The war ended but left behind difficulties and problems without parallel. Central Europe was in ruins, peopled by a generation of displaced persons; Britain was tired, ready for change, political and social; the Iron Curtain was ready to be lowered. Civil war was starting in Greece. While on the side lines Russia and America were ready to take advantage of every opportunity that might be offered. Yet it was a year of hope. An election and a chance to change Britain. The return to civilian enjoyments: Ascot, motor car racing, sport, the first time for five years without the threat of bombs. Entertainment by big established stars like Bing Crosby and Bob Hope ; the discovery of new ones like Frank Sinatra. All these events are reflected by library film of the time.
22The Dracula BusinessThe world-wide obsession with the Dracula myth seems to be on the increase. The book which started it all, Dracula, was published in 1897 and has never been out of print. The stage play is always in production. More than 200 films have been made on the subject. Dracula has become a household name which can sell anything from ice lollies to package tours to Romania. In tonight's film Dan Farson investigates the weird obsession of his great-uncle Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, and discovers that behind the Dracula Business is something more than a fascination with horror- something that goes deeper in today's society than was ever dreamt of by its original creator.
23The Rise And Fall Of DDTThis is the adventure story - with just a whiff of espionage - of a wonder chemical which began life helping the Allies win the second world war. Since then it has freed half a planet from the scourge of malaria, and saved ten million lives. But DDT is also attacked as the darkest threat of the Silent Spring. It is accused of dealing indiscriminate death to fish and birds and of being a cause of cancer in man. As a spearhead issue of the environmental revolution it has been judged in the courtrooms of America - and banned. Is it safe to use DDT anywhere in the world? And just how valid is the evidence brought against it?
24One Man's Madness (1)Ramsay Short Douglas, the subject of tonight's programme, suffers from manic-depression, a form of madness. 'It's really an exaggeration of the normal mood swings that we all have,' explains Douglas's psychiatrist. Douglas does not define his madness-he simply tells what it feels like to be mad: ' There's the attraction of madness -I do find that when I'm high I get fascinated by the proximity of a lot of mad people, I find it calming in a way.' Madness is elusive - cameras simply record a manic episode in Douglas's life -his home, his wife, his psychiatrists, the 70 days he spent in a mental hospital and his return to a normal life.
25After The Parcel Exploded (2)The second of two films by RAMSAY SHORT Over 250 civilians in England and at least 1,700 civilians and soldiers in Northern Ireland have been injured by parcel and letter bombs in the last 18 months. Last October Raymond Hazan picked up a parcel which exploded, blowing off his right arm, damaging his ears - and blinding him. Raymond, 28, married, his wife expecting their first child, was a captain in the army stationed in Londonderry when it happened. The parcel was not addressed to me - but I was curious and picked it up - I don't remember any noise - it was as if a cage, a big black cage had been dropped over me.' Film cameras have recorded his attempt to readjust from when he left hospital, chronicling his early steps in a rehabilitation centre, the birth of his child: 'For months afterwards I was saying to myself " Oh God I wish I could see him", 'until two months ago when he felt he had completed the first stage of his new ambition to compete as a blind man in a sighted world.'
26Help Yourself To A HouseTonight's documentary looks at some of the ways that people have helped themselves to cut the cost of a roof over their heads.
27In The Midst Of LifeA film report by Julian Pettifer which looks at the way we deal with death. The programme is about the social attitudes towards death - the 20th century taboo. Undertakers, who are sometimes considered figures of fun, are interviewed about the stigma attached to their work. The programme also looks at an Irish wake-it seems that death is a different matter in a closed community, where the deceased is known to everybody. The main question the programme asks is whether the rituals attached to death are satisfying. In an increasingly secular society, just how satisfying is the funeral service to the bereaved?
28We Never Turn Back - 150 Years of the RNLIThis year the Royal National Lifeboat Institution is 150 years old. The RNLI is fiercely jealous of its independence. It has no grant, no subsidies. Sadly, it is the disasters like the loss of a boat at Fraserburgh and Longhope that most effectively advertise it and bring in money. Lifeboats 150 years ago were powered by sails and oars. Today there are inflatable boats that will do 30 knots; deep sea boats that will do 20 knots. But the future of the RNLI will be very different as helicopters play an increasingly important role in search and rescue operations. Jeremy James looks at the RNLI's past and pays tribute to the lifeboatmen of today.
29The Bomb Disposal MenIt is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Daily we are reminded of the courage and skill shown by the men of the Army's Bomb Disposal Squad, situated in the terrorist front line. The Bomb Squad modestly deny heroic labels and point to coal mining, deep-sea diving or motor racing as truly risky jobs. But everything about those jobs is designed to keep the miners, divers and drivers alive. And everything about bombs is designed to kill the bomb disposal men. Without them all of us could, too easily, become victims of the terrorist suitcase, or the booby-trapped parked car. Jack Pizzey has followed these quiet, self-effacing technicians through their training and into action in Ulster; watched how each man deals with the endless hoaxes and the heart-stopping realities of booby-traps and hair-triggers in the middle of, currently, the most intensive terrorist bomb campaign the world has ever known.
30The Rise Of The Red NavyA report on the Soviet discovery of Sea Power by Ludovic Kennedy. This programme investigates the fastest growing navy in the world from its beginnings under Peter the Great to its present formidable power and shows how it is being used across the globe today. ' The Soviet Union's nuclear submarines, armed with ballistic missiles and long-range torpedoes, and backed by missile-carrying planes and ships, are capable of destroying an enemy in any region of the world's oceans.'