New on
BBC Knowledge in October, 2008:
Pole To PolePremiered: Thursday, 2 October 2008 at 06h00
Runs Mondays to FridaysRepeats: daily 01h30, 13h30, 19h30
Michael Palin travels from the North Pole to the South Pole, following the 30-degree line of longitude over as much land as possible, including South Africa.
TVSA's Pole To Pole Mini Site
Earth - Power Of The PlanetPremieres: Wednesday, 8 October 2008 at 21h30
Repeats: Thursdays: 04h00, 06h00, 09h00, 14h30
Mondays: 00h00
Earth: Power Of The Planet tells the life story of our planet and how, over the course of 4.6-billion years, it came to be the remarkable place it is today.
TVSA's Earth Power Of The Planet Mini-Site.
Auschwitz - The Nazis And The Final SolutionPremieres: Monday, 13 October 2008 at 22h30
Duration: 1 hour
Written and produced by BAFTA-winning producer Laurence Rees, this series offers an insight into the horrors of Auschwitz, the concentration camp where the biggest mass murder in history occurred when Polish Jews were held against their will at the hands of the Nazis.
More than one million people were slaughtered, but why did such a massacre take place?
Professors Sir Ian Kershaw and David Cesarani lead a team of experts through three years of in-depth historical research, culminating in a highly detailed account of the Nazis’ plans for systematic genocide of European Jewry.
Reconstructions with German and Polish actors bring the tragedy to life, while testimonies from camp survivors and aerial photographs conjure up vivid images of what life must have been like for the ill-fated prisoners.
The purpose of this series is not only to inform - it also aims to help us understand how and why the tragedy at Auschwitz happened, in the hope that such an atrocity will never happen again.
India With Sanjeev BhaskarPremiere date: Friday, 17 October 2008 at 21h30
Sanjeev Bhaskar journey's across India in this series that was filmed by the BBC to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the independence of India and Pakistan.
Sanjeev begins in Mumbai before linking arms with the rich and famous in Kerala. He explores religion in the form of the magnificent Golden Temple of Amritsar and witnesses a statue dunking ceremony.
He ventures even further, into Pakistan, to explore his family history and to learn more about how his father was affected by the Partition. Sanjeev’s account offers an intriguing insight into contemporary India, looking at how the country has reinvented itself for the 21st century.
Whilst documenting the country as it is today, he also unearths age-old traditions that emphasise the cultural diversity of the country.
Ross Kemp On Gangs 3Premiere date: Tuesday, 21 October at 22h30
Ross Kemp returns for a third instalment of gang investigations. This time he dives into the criminal underworld of Kingston, Jamaica; plunges head first into the football hooligan scene of Krakow, Poland; and steps on the toes of some of Bogotá’s most feared felons in Colombia.
The series gets up close and personal with some of the world’s most dangerous people, taking viewers deep into the world of gang culture. Using violence and organised crime to achieve their goals, some of these gangs will kill anyone that gets in their way, while others adopt violent initiation rites that mean once a person joins a gang, they are members for life. And they all think they are above the law.
Here, doors are opened to harsh realities where Kemp’s usual image of an EastEnders hard man is softened by the brutal nature of the gangs.
Risking It All 2Premiere date: Thursday, 30 October 2008 at 21h30
Risking It All follows a number of entrepreneurs on their quest to open and run their own businesses. Find out how they cope with financial failings, surly staff and risky renovation projects.
Unbelievably, many of these entrepreneurs know very little about the type of business they are setting up, which makes their ventures all the more risky.
Among the businessmen and women featured in the season are Paul and Lee who want to open a café bar, Steve who dreams of becoming a restaurateur, and Violaine who has grand designs on opening a children’s play centre.
Relationships, both professional and personal are pushed to the limit. But after all the hard graft and heartache, which of these businesses will flourish or flop?
SPECIALS
Rebroadcast - Blackbeard: The Pirate Of The CaribbeanPremieres: Monday, 13 October 2008 at 21h30
Duration: 1 hour
A docu-drama about the true story of Edward Teach, who went on to become known as Blackbeard - the most notorious pirate the world has ever known.
Loved by some, hated by many and feared by everyone, his reign of terror along the east coast of America and rash decision to strike at the heart of the government drove the authorities to put an end to piracy once and for all.
Based on the stories of Blackbeard and other pirates who lived at that time, this factual drama reconstructs, in vivid detail, a larger-than-life man and the historical period in which he lived.
The documentary was orginally broadcast on BBC Prime earlier this year.
Hannibal - The Man, The Myth, The MysteryOn: Monday, 20 October 2008 at 21h30
In a series of epic battles, Hannibal brought Rome to the brink of destruction, but in the end it was Hannibal’s army that was obliterated. Where did it all go wrong for one of history’s most famous figures?
Hannibal - The Man, The Myth, The Mystery looks at the seven stages in the century-long conflict between Carthage and Rome which would bring about the annihilation of Hannibal’s civilisation, and the birth of the Roman Empire.
Starting with the epic naval defeat that would motivate Hannibal, this documentary looks at the turning points that brought about one of the most important power shifts in history. With the help of the world’s leading experts on Hannibal, the truth behind the myths is gradually revealed.