ClearStory

World War Two

admin — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 20:20:22 +0000

In ‘1941 & the Man of Steel’ and ‘1942 & Hitler’s Soft Underbelly’, Cambridge historian David Reynolds re-examines key turning points of the Second World War, challenging the familiar narrative of how the Allies fought and won the war.

Men of the Thames (Working Title)

admin — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 20:07:46 +0000

On London’s iconic river, boats are handled by a closed community of Watermen – men whose families have worked the Thames for centuries. They were once a powerful working-class tribe, proud of their royal connections and ancient customs. But, today the jobs are drying up and their traditions are under threat. With a unique perspective on big river events from the Jubilee Pageant to the Olympics, this film charts the Watermen’s summer of 2012 and a historic way of life fighting to survive.

Russell Barnes

admin — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 11:19:17 +0000

Russell Barnes has been making award-winning documentaries for fifteen years, often in partnership with intellectual heavyweights such as Niall Ferguson, Richard Dawkins and David Reynolds. Credits include Armistice, a feature-length documentary charting the momentous last month of the First World War, which was short-listed for the Grierson Award, and, in 2011 and 2012, two further BBC documentaries on World War Two – World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel and 1942 and Hitler’s Soft Underbelly, which challenge the familiar narrative of how the Allies won the war. In 2010 he produced The Virtual Revolution for BBC2 and The Open University, a first draft history of the world wide web presented by Aleks Krotoski, which won the 2010 International Digital Emmy Award and the 2010 BAFTA New Media Award. Russell also directed Channel 4’s The Genius of Charles Darwin (winner of the Broadcast Award – best science series 2009), the natural history and CGI-based global hit Extinct and the revisionist landmark history series Empire, presented by the historian Niall Ferguson.

Sex, Death and the Meaning of Life

admin — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 15:54:21 +0000

More and more of us realise there is no God. And yet religion still has a hold over us. Ideas of saints and sinners, heaven and hell still shape our thinking.

In this series, the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins faces up to the big questions of life in a world moving on and leaving religion behind. He explores what reason and science might offer in the place of religion to inspire and guide our lives. How can an atheist find meaning in life? How can we face death without the comfort of the afterlife? How should we think about right and wrong?

In a journey that takes him through visually stunning locations, from the tornado devastation of Joplin Missouri to the funeral pyres of Varanasi in India, from the red light districts of Paris and London to the Buddhist monasteries of the Himalayas, Richard Dawkins builds a powerful argument for facing up to the scientific truth about life and death, however bracing that may be. The series explores the latest science. Richard Dawkins investigates deep emotions like disgust and empathy, the science of ageing and why humans find it so hard to understand chance. The series is also a television first because Richard Dawkins has his genome sequenced and analysed – the first named Briton to have this done and only the tenth worldwide. It’s often a deeply personal journey, featuring sequences with Richard Dawkins’ mother, his dog, his 1960s stamping ground of Berkeley, California and the Dawkins family vault in Chipping Norton. Richard Dawkins develops his ideas through interviews with, amongst others, the geneticist who co-discovered the structure of DNA James Watson, the controversial comedian Ricky Gervais, a 105-year-old New York stock broker who still goes to work every day and scientists including Steven Pinker and Leonard Mlodinow. Richard Dawkins concludes: “We are made by the laws of physics working through four billion years of evolution. We have a brief window of life through which to see the universe and understand how we came to be in it. That truth may not be comforting but it has a majesty of its own”.

Gypsy Blood

admin — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 15:08:48 +0000

Gypsy Blood is an observational documentary which examines the fighting culture that gypsy fathers hand on to their sons. Filmed over two years by award-winning photographer Leo Maguire, Gypsy Blood is an intimate portrait of two gypsy families, their fight for respect and the price they pay in cycles of revenge that can erupt into sudden and terrifying violence. The Doherty’s are Irish Traveller royalty. While Hughie Doherty, 27, becomes embroiled in a fight to defend his family’s name, his son Francie, 7, is caught between two worlds, learning to read at primary school while learning to fight with his fists at home. Fred Butcher is Romany but torn between the gypsy fighting tradition and his love as a father. His son, Freddy Cole, 9, is a sensitive child, terrified his father will be badly hurt in a fight. The film follows the story of how Fred nearly dies in a machete attack as a day of drinking and sparring goes terribly wrong. Gypsy Blood is a haunting study of masculinity and violence, the uneasy relationship gypsy men have with their bare-knuckle traditions, and an insight into people living amongst us whose values are a world apart.

“With its portrayal of violence and cruelty this film pulled no punches and left me reeling.” The Guardian ****
“…the documentary showed them as they see themselves: fierce, proud and unsentimental.” TLS ****
“…a first-rate documentary… If you’re hoping for a frilly film about gypsy weddings, you’re in for a shock. This is a raw, no-holds-barred look at the gypsy tradition of sorting arguments by bare-knuckle fighting….” Radio Times ****
“Visually stunning…. harrowing fare.” Sunday Telegraph

Molly Milton

admin — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:22:31 +0000

Molly Milton has a strong track record of making landmark science, history and technology series. Previous credits include The Virtual Revolution, Faith Schools Menace? presented by Richard Dawkins, Download presented by award-winning journalist and author John Heilemann for Discovery and Simon Schaffer’s Light Fantastic for BBC2. In 2009 she won the contract to create, direct and produce Animal Planet (Discovery Channel International) worldwide idents, still being broadcast today.

Duncan Bulling – Producer

admin — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:48:17 +0000

Dr Duncan Bulling worked as a biomedical research scientist before moving to television. He developed the Emmy award-winning science series DNA for Channel 4 and PBS, twice directed the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, earning a nomination for Best Children’s Programme at the Broadcast Awards 2004, and produced the Richard Dawkins polemic Root of All Evil?, winner of the Bafta Scotland best documentary 2005. Duncan also has extensive experience producing and directing Secrets of the Dead for PBS, Equinox for Channel 4 and actuality series such as Monster Moves and Animal Mega Moves for Five and Nat Geo.

Alice Lister – Production Manager

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:56:58 +0000

During eight years in the industry, Alice Lister has managed and produced projects in the UK, New Zealand and the Middle East for a variety of international broadcasters including BBC, Discovery, National Geographic, Disney, Channel 4, Channel 5, TVNZ & Al Rayyan. Her recent production credits include prime time series such as Out of Empire presented by Jeremy Paxman, The Seven Ages of Britain presented by David Dimbleby and Michel Roux’s Service.