The Truth About Vitamins

In this documentary BBC Horizon investigates the now billion dollar business of Vitamin supplements. More and more people are turning to Vitamins with the promise they can prevent and even cure viruses and disease but are they doing more harm than good.

Watch the full documentary now on Documentary Fans Release Date: 2004 Duration: 49 Minutes.

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MI6: Secrets Of Her Majesty's Secret Service

The British secret service are perhaps the most famous intelligence agency in the world thanks to the books and films of Ian Fleming on the charismatic spy James Bond. But just how similar is the real Military Intelligence, Section 6 (MI6) to the fictionalized one we see in movie theatres ?

In the documentary we learn the history of MI6 formed in the years leading up to the First World War, predating the American CIA by over 40 years. We meet two men who can shed light on MI6 covert operations Sir John Scarlett a former chief of MI6 and Matthew Dunn a former MI6 Spy. The film tells of the daring missions undertaking by it's operatives for over 100 years and how some of what we see in The 007 films may not be as unrealistic as you think.

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Amish: A Secret Life

For the first time we get to go inside the life of an Amish family.The Amish life is like something lost in time with their simple dress and refusal to use even basic technology, filming is also against the churches rules so the family were taking a risk participating a documentary. The focus is on the family of David and Miriam Lapp who as old order Amish adhere to the strictest rules of the church and as the film progresses the making of the documentary or their involvement in it becomes in many ways the story.

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The World's Most Expensive Paintings

It could cost you hundreds of millions of dollars to get your hand on a painting from one of the masters, whether from a classic like Di Vinci or modern like Picasso. In this documentary Alister Stooke from BBC sets out to list the most expensive paintings ever sold. Remember many of the best paintings will never be sold they may be for example owned by Museums, the Mona Lisa will never be in Sotheby's or Christies going to the highest bidder. But for the love of the art or simply as investments the richest people in the world bid and out bid each other to own The World's Most Expensive Paintings. Also don't miss The World's Most Expensive Stolen Paintings from Alister Stooke.

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Raising The Mary Rose: A Timewatch Guide

The Mary Rose was an English war ship in the 16th century said to have been the favorite of British Tudor King Henry VIII. The ship was built at the start of the century and Launched in 1511, with restoration needed 35 years later in 1536 after plenty of action. The ship was finally sunk on 19 July 1545 near the Isle Of Wight and there it stayed for over 400 years. Then in 1971 the ship was rediscovered and efforts were made to salvage what could be saved from the wreckage, at the start by a small number of archaeologists, historians and divers then later a Trust dedicated to recovering the ship. Eventually it became clear not only could the salvage artifacts from the ship they may be able to raise the entire Mary Rose from the sea bed.

BBC Programme Timewatch tracked the work on the Mary Rose from early on and so has extensive footage from over 30 years. Together with the latest findings right up to 2015 this documentary covers one of the most important and ground breaking maritime archaeology projects ever.

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Where Is Malaysia Flight MH370 ?

On the 8th of March 2014 a Malaysian flight numbered MH370 vanished into thin air. Flying from Malaysia to Beijing everything seemed normal; the plane was being tracked on radar and the pilot had been in contact with air traffic controllers. Then when leaving Malaysian airspace and entering Vietnamese airspace the flight for all intents and purposes disappeared. Officials feared the worst and a search began for what they presumed would be a crash site, with flight paths pre-established it should not be a long search before they discover wreckage. What actually happened is altogether more strange and mystifying, they found no crash site not in the following days, or weeks or even months.

This documentary with the help of experts charts the flight until the point it vanished, looks at the plane a Boeing 777-200ER, assesses the pilots, ponders the possible explanations and tracks the search.In modern times it seems impossible to think a large passenger plane could vanish but even with the involvement of 26 nations not a trace has been found months later.

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The Fake Trade : Business Of Counterfeits And Knock-Offs

We have become slaves to brand name products and more than ever people think it vital to have the right logo on everything they own. From Apple phones and computers to Armani clothes and bags we want the status associated with owning these products. But most people can't afford to have brand names on everything they own and wear and that's were counterfeits or fakes come in. But counterfeiting has gone further than electronics, clothes and buying copied DVDs and Cd's down the pub. The criminals behind counterfeiting are now turning their focus to other things such as medicine. High cost Heart medicine or Cancer treating medicine being sold has been found to be counterfeit.

In this documentary BBC reporters look at the boom in the fake trade and the very dark future that could be in store. How Companies like Apple may complain about it but they dare not point the finger at China the country were the vast majority of the fakes are made. The reason behind this is their real products are also made in China at extremely low cost, they don't want to bite the hand that feeds.

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World War I: The Necessary War

In this BBC documentary Max Hastings attempts to debunk the idea that the First World War or Great war was an avoidable waste of life. On the 100 anniversary of the war Hastings looks at the history starting with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand heir to the throne in Austria-Hungary in June 1914. Many historians have suggested Britain should have stayed out of the war, unlike World War Two Germany was not looking for world power. Should Britain have got involved, had they stayed out would for example World War Two have been avoided.

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The World's Most Expensive Stolen Paintings

A 2013 BBC Documentary The World's Most Expensive Stolen Paintings is an interesting look at art crime and some of the high end art thefts. Presented by Alastair Sooke the moral at the heart of the documentary is how art crime or at least those involved have been made out as daring hero's on film and TV. But art theft is not a victimless crime as some of the best paintings ever created vanish forever and can not be enjoyed by future generations. Also check out The World's Most Expensive Paintings also from Alastair Sooke.

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How Many People Can Live On Planet Earth ?

An interesting film by legendary British documentary maker David Attenborough the title How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth ? explains the basic premise. I guess the most striking stat in the film is the jump in population from two and half billion in 1950 to almost seven billion when the film was made in 2009 (It's now 7.22 Billion at the start of 2015). Attenborough travels worldwide looking at population growth and the effect this has had on the earths resources thus the effect for future generations.

Watch the full documentary now on Documentary Fans Release Date: 2009 Duration: 48 Minutes.

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John Constable : A Country Rebel

John Constable while known as England's best painter of landscapes is an intriguing character as most of the great artists seem to be.A Country Rebel is therefore a fitting title for the documentary; and I quiet like the fact the presenter Alastair Sooke has a "Take him or leave him" attitude to Constable at the start of this BBC film.So often the biggest fans of an individual are brought in to present their Biography leaving the viewer with a totally biased view.

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The Great Euro Financial Crisis

The Great Euro Crisis is a BBC documentary looking at how the European economy crashed leading to bail outs in Greece, Portugal and Ireland. Wild banking and no effort by politicians to reign them in saw billions lost around Europe when the bubble burst.

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