S2012 E1 • Titanic: And The Band Played On

When the RMS Titanic set sail across the Atlantic from Southampton on her maiden voyage 100 years ago, the luxury passenger liner that cost $7,500,000 to build was reckoned to be unsinkable. After stop-offs in Cherbourg and Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland, she was ready to make the crossing. With 2,201 people onboard she set sail for New York. What happened 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland is history… From the moment the ship sank, a series of powerful myths grew up around the Titanic. Perhaps the most potent of all was that of the band standing on deck, bravely playing on until the last lifeboat had left and there was no hope of escape. For the first time, Titanic: The Band Played On (pictured) tells the story of those unsung heroes who were about to play for the last time. Presented by Madness frontman Suggs, this brand-new and exclusive film reveals why the media and public were so captivated by the story of these courageous men. He interviews renowned experts and descendants of the band’s musicians to delve further into the story that has lasted well beyond their lifetimes. Taking a fresh look at the Titanic disaster, the film uncovers new details about the heroic band of musicians who played together for the first and last time aboard the ship, as well as examining the facts and looking at memorabilia to ask questions about the band’s role in the tragedy. It also asks why the hymn Nearer My God To Thee has grown up around the ship’s final moments.

Première diffusion : 12 avril 2012

S2012 E2 • Deep Blue Dive

Meet Trevor Hutton, a South African freediver. Diving as deep as possible on one breath is a dangerous but exhilarating business, and in Deep Blue Dive we follow Trevor as he negotiates the hostile South African coastline, the ocean swells and dangerous marine life that inhabit his local waters. Trevor is self-trained but South Africa has always cautioned against the sport, and for good reason. But something incredible happens to this six-feet-plus man as he enters the water. We’ll watch as nerve receptors in his heart trigger oxygen-saving responses in his body, slowing his heart down by 50 per cent. Blood vessels constrict, his spleen shunts red blood cells into his bloodstream to prepare for a lack of oxygen and a litre of blood floods into the chest. His body turns into a deep diving machine. With CGI we’ll find out how Trevor’s extraordinary body uses subconscious techniques passed down genetically from generation to generation to cope in extreme conditions, and bring to life some of these incredible physiological transformations. And then there’s the beauty of the underground world off the coast of South Africa – deep blue and full of amazing marine wildlife.

S2012 E3 • Dingo: Wild Dogs at War

The Australian bush is a battleground for a war between man and dingo. Farmer and dog trainer Dave Graham (‘Farmer Dave’ of Big Brother fame) is hunting for solutions to the dilemma surrounding Australia’s native canine, the dingo. A secretive and stealthy predator, dingoes are responsible for devastating livestock losses. Farmers, in defence of their livelihoods, have long retaliated with culling. It’s a battle for survival, and it’s escalating. But is the dingo really a villain? New research shows that the dingo may play a pivotal role in protecting Australian ecosystems. Sadly, this research also shows that the pure dingo is on the brink of extinction, making way to the crossbred "wild dogs" who pose a much greater threat. Featuring stunning behavioural photography and a wide cast of passionate stakeholders, this documentary is a must see for both dog lovers and working farmers as it attempts to unravel the complex emotional debate around living in harmony with our native dingo.

S2012 E4 • Hummingbirds Jewelled Messengers

Hummingbirds have become the greatest aerial acrobats on earth. They can hover, fly backwards and even fly backwards and upside down simultaneously. Plants have “created” hummingbirds as their messengers, carrying pollen from flower to flower. The smallest warm-blooded creatures on the planet, hummingbirds also have the highest metabolism of any vertebrate. The film explores the evolution of the birds, as they are shaped by their role as go-betweens for plants. These glittering birds live on the edge of what is possible, even going into a kind of hibernation each night, and all because of plants.

S2012 E5 • I was a Jet Set Stewardess

The 1960s were the golden age of jet air travel. Pilots looked like matinee idols, air stewardesses looked like Jean Shrimpton and passengers were served seven-course meals in economy. Every child wanted to work on an airline growing up, and the new age of air travel seemed to encapsulate the optimism, the glamour and the new consumerism of the decade. Now in this documentary, part of Yesterday’s Spirit Of The Sixties season, relives this glamorous age through the testimonies and personal archive of the men and women who pioneered the jet set lifestyle. During the austerity of the post war years, air travel was still very much the domain of the wealthy and those who worked in the colonies. But the invention of the jet engine coincided with everything the 60s stood for – increased leisure time, the cult of celebrity, fashion, food and fun. Suddenly starlets and movie stars, politicians and upwardly mobile families were taking to the skies, but the era also saw the emergence of a whole new breed of woman: the air stewardess. Seen as a glamorous free spirit who looked like a Biba model, she was as reassuring as Florence Nightingale and spoke like a Lucie Clayton graduate. But what was it really like to work in the industry? I Was A Jet Set Stewardess finds out the truth behind the glamour, the cool and the air miles.