Panorama

Tap water Panorama is a long running (started in 1953), current affairs documentary programme. It is hard hitting and topical and over the years has focussed on such items as the Martin Bashir’s interview with Diana, Princess of Wales; allegations of corruption in English football; effects of using the anti-depressant Seroxat; and a focus on Scientology.

Tonight’s Panorama obtained a lot of media attention and examined the popularity of bottled water, apparently we spent £2 billion on bottled water last year. The programme looked at the conflict between the availability of clean tap water in the UK, the spending on bottled water and the fact that some people in the World have no regular supplies of safe tap water.

In Claridge’s Hotel in London, over 30 different types of water are sold including one called “Cloud Water” which was rain water. A set of wine sommelier were asked to taste a range of waters and rank them according to taste– tap water scored highly.

People were asked why they bought bottled water and various reasons were given such as taste, bottled water being easier to carry around and the perception that bottled water is healthier as it has more minerals.

Panorama informed us that tap water and bottled water reach us in different ways – tap water through taps , whilst bottled water is bottled and shipped. The carbon footprint for each type of water was examined. Thames tap water produces 0.3 g of carbon footprint per litre of water, as compared with 188g per litre of Volvic water (from France). Energy is used to produce the bottles, transport them and dispose of them. Only 1 in 4 bottles are used again with most ending up in landfill sites. Plastic lasts for hundreds of years and has an effect on wild life

On the Claridge’s water menu “Fiji water” was available and does come from Fiji. It is one of Fiji’s main exports with the main markets being the United States and Europe (it is available in Harrods). However, around a third of Fijian’s do not have safe tap water and there are hundreds of cases of typhoid as villages use the local (dirty) streams as their water source.

There is hope though as a new breed of water companies are dedicated to more ethical production of bottled water. A company in Shropshire have degradable bottles, re-use energy and don’t transport abroad

Viewers were encouraged to drink tap water and carry it in flasks or re-usable bottles.

To Catch a Love Rat : Tonight

Tonight header ‘To Catch a Love Rat’ was the second of a two-part investigation by Morland Sanders into a gang of love cheats, and part of the “Tonight” series.

Meeting and dating people via the internet is increasing in popularity with more and more people meeting potential partners in that way. There are specific dating sites set up for this where people can be vetted, but more often than not friends are made through various social networking sites , chat rooms and messenger facilities. The programme concentrated on a gang of men from Nigeria who were making a living from “dating” women from the UK . A couple of specific cases were followed, including a woman who had been dating a good looking man on the internet. She had been dating him for a few months, but during that time, he had asked for money for flights and other things.

The lady fell in love with him and as she wanted to meet him properly, sent money - $700 or so. She started to feel suspicious following the requests for more cash. Morland Sanders managed to trace the man to Nigeria and found that he was part of a gang. He showed the lady the details of the man who had been defrauding her and she was, unsurprisingly emotional.

The gang had been using the picture of a male model (rather than one of themselves) to entice a woman. Morland met the model (in France) and reveal that his photographs had been used in a fraud. As Morland relayed the facts, the model was moved to tears at the thought that the woman was hurt and taken advantage of, in this way. He was so affected that he said that he would completely remove his picture from the internet. The gang had taken advantage of a vulnerable woman who had fallen in love and ‘To Catch a Love Rat’ was a warning to us all.

Sign Zone: Louis Theroux: Behind Bars

Louis Theroux The Sign Zone is a repeat showing of favourite programmes but with sign language for those people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Sign language was provided for Louis Theroux’s visit to San Quentin prison in California.

It was a fascinating programme where Louis asked difficult questions of inmates and prison wardens alike. One of the most scary moments was when Louis went into a large yard of prisoners who were gathered together in groups. One set of people were having a bible reading and were quite religious, whilst others were chatting in groups. There was obvious segregation in both yards that Louis went to as prisoners preferred not to be near anyone who was not of the same ethnic origin as themselves. There was a distinct amount of racism between inmates.

At one point, all of the prisoners were told to sit down in the yard as a gunshot was fired and something had occurred at the prison itself. It was a particularly scary and eerie moment as you realised that the prisoners could get nasty.

Louis met a transgender woman (formerly a man) who shared her cell with her male partner. She was due to be released soon and her partner said that they would meet again. This was not the only relationship in the prison as a gay Jewish man was with a married man.

Louis also learned of trades made between prisoners as a young man was advised by a warden just advised to serve his time (some of the longer serving prisoners traded time with younger members (who would then do longer sentences). Louis Theroux: Behind Bars was an interesting insight into San Quentin prison.

Too Young To Retire

Money programme Too Young to Retire was a special edition of the Money Programme concentrating on those over 60s who were still active and felt that they did not want to retire just yet. It was presented by evergreen Valerie Singleton and examined several people who had decided to start up a business.

It is well known that those in their late 50s, 60s and 70s are the most wealthy generation. They have paid off their mortgages, have an amount of disposable income and tremendous drive and determination to succeed. The programme featured two sisters, one of whom had worked selling cosmetics and beauty products for the last 20 years or so. They set up a company called Rhodes to Heaven selling organic skin creams and lotions of a soothing nature. They had been selling their products at various fairs but were now ready to take the next step. The women met with Peter Jones from Dragon’s Den who gave them advice about marketing and packaging of their products and received a goodie bag of their expensive products.

The programme showed the sisters visiting Heels in London, who were impressed with their products. Other people were featured such as Jackie Lawson, who creates e-cards, and has learnt to use the animation programme Flash, to do this.

After working as an accountant and a restaurateur, one man decided to change career entirely by moving to France and planting trees that were infected with truffle spores. He ran a successful business selling black truffles – one tree could produce £3,000 worth of truffles! Too Young To Retire was an inspiring programme and pained a positive picture of setting up a business in later life.

Life in Cold Blood

Life in Cold Blood is the latest nature series from David Attenborough, focusing on reptiles and amphibians. These creatures are often misunderstood - thought of as dull, slow and dim-witted, but they are so much more. This programme gives an introduction to the secret lives of reptiles and amphibians, showing them in all their scaly glory. The first episode gave a taste of what is to come, and introduced some of the animals which the series will showcase.

Marine iguanas are black in colour and, like all reptiles, get their energy directly from the sun. They become cold during the night but as the sun rises they start to warm up. Once warm (which takes around 30 minutes), they are able to maintain a constant body temperature of around 37 degrees centigrade. The sea in the Galapagos Islands permanently chilled by currents. Only the larger adults are warm enough to withstand the cold sea and dive for seaweed. The lizards need heat to digest their food so they spread out on black rocks to warm up. In the evening, the iguanas huddle together to retain heat.

The horned lizard lives in the Arizona Desert and buries itself in the sand with only its head being visible. The Leopard gecko gets heat from rocks and is very active at night (unlike other lizards) and the mating process was shown. The external temperature determines the sex of eggs – higher temperatures produce males and lower temperatures are for females. Unlike birds, reptiles do not sit on eggs for them to hatch but warm them on rocks. Tortoises also need to warm up before they feed. At noon, it gets too hot and they seek shade. In the afternoon, the tortoises are at their best and start to fight - a process which can take thirty minutes and ends with an opponent being flipped over.

One of the most amazing pieces of footage in first episode was a python eating a deer, head first. The head was much bigger than the python and took several hours to swallow. The digestive system and internal organs expanded to accommodate the deer. Digestion can take up to a week and the snake would not need another meal for several months or even a year!

This was just the first episode of Life in Cold Blood - there will be plenty of incredible moments to come as the series progresses.

A Boy Called Alex

A Boy Called Alex was a documentary following the life of Alex Stobbs at Eton collage. Alex had a particularly severe form of cystic fibrosis (an inherited disease which affects the lungs and digestive system). Alex needed regular physiotherapy and a mixture of drugs to control the disease. It was affecting his bones and his hearing too.

Despite this, Alex was a pupil at Eton college and a highly gifted musician who played piano and sang in the choir. He had taken up the extremely demanding challenge of conducting a piece at a special performance at Eton Chapel. This was the Magnificat – Bach’s choral work. The programme followed Alex through his preparation for this task over a three-month period and highlighted what he had to contend with, but also the support of his tutors, doctor and family.

Alex became extremely ill on more than one occasion but was determined to rise to the performance, as music was his life. The programme was extremely inspiring as Alex met the challenge.

Extreme Dreams with Ben Fogle

Just as Ben Fogle’s programme Animal Park has finished, he popped back onto our screens with Extreme Dreams. He intended to take a team of people with him on an expedition and on a snowy day, asked 8 people to find him and meet him somewhere in the Brecon Beacons in Wales.

The 8 people were hardly prepared, as most had quite heavy suitcases and needed to trek through the snow to meet Ben. They were asked to work together as a team and eventually arrived an hour and a half later. All of the contestants wanted an “Extreme Dream” for differing reasons, such as being an underachiever, wanting to prove their love to a family member or feeling like a failure. When they met Ben, he explained that the snow of Wales was good training for the eventual trip, which was trekking through mountains in Nepal to a secret lake. However, only 4 of the 8 would go to Nepal.

Acouple of challenges were set for the group as they were split into two teams – yellow and red. The challenge was to collect red or yellow ribbons and was a race. However, the teams also needed to transport someone who was injured. One team carried the injured party and were slowed down by this action; whilst the other team dragged the person on a stretcher. They also faced a morale dilemma as a 4 x 4 car was placed at a roadside, with the keys in the ignition. One of the teams had no qualms about driving the car to the destination.

The second challenge was to build a wigwam frame and tent – but one of each team wore a blindfold, one had earphones and one was gagged. At the end of the challenges each of the 8 had to sell themselves and say why they should go to Nepal. Ben and his panel whittled down the 8 to 4 people.

This World – The Goddess and The King

The Royal Kumari Nepal is situated between “two tigers” – India and China, and is experiencing a period of limbo, being neither a republic nor a respected monarchy. There had been 15 years of Civil War in Nepal, until there was a military coup in 2003. The King was in charge of the army and ordered many atrocities. Since that time, he has never been forgiven and many, including the Prime Minister had been asking for his abdication. King Gyanendra has no powers, palace nor powers.
This World examined how the Royal living Goddess (Kumari) and the King are interlinked in Nepal. Spiritually, it is important for the King to receive the blessing of the Royal Goddess so that the House of Shah can continue to rule. Once a year, the Royal Kumari blesses the King in the temple by placing a red symbol on his forehead (a tika).

The Royal Kumari is believed to be a living goddess rather than a child and is respected by both Hindus and Buddhists . She is 9 years of age and has held the position since the age of 4 (taken from her family). Unlike her sister, she is not allowed to walk or play freely and is transported around (her feet should not touch the ground). There are a number of living Goddesses but only one is Royal. Each Goddess needs to beautiful (without any deformities or marks) and believable as a Goddess. There have been calls for the process to be abolished as it was thought to be cruel to a child (many being uneducated).

In Nepal, there is peace but chaos and many would like to have elections. Many of the people want changes and development of the country. This year the King was not expected to attend the annual ceremony.

On the night in question, the Prime Minister turns up at the Temple and receives the tika – this is the first time in history that it has happened. Braving the crowd, the King turned up and also received a tika. Nepal again was left in limbo as the elections were postponed once more.

Superhuman Giants

Superhuman Giants was a programme examining the everyday lives and problems encountered by the very tall . Around 3 in every million people are 7 feet or more in height. The programme featured a number of people, who had dealt with abuse and comments over their size, had specially made beds, furniture and clothes and were unable to go about their daily lives without a reference to their height.

Chris Greener aged 63, had been the tallest man in Britain since 1967 until very recently. He had a tumour on his pituitary gland , which caused him to grow 22 inches in 3 years. Chris was 7 feet and 6 and a quarter inches in height with size 17 shoe size. Over the years Chris had received plenty of work in films, adverts and to demonstrate the height of a product. In the programme, he had a job standing by a security fence at the Glastonbury festival. This was to demonstrate that the organisers of the festival had put in much taller fences than in past years (in an attempt to control the crowd size).

During the job, Chris became quite tired and collapsed. Although Chris had an large heart, he had been subject to an irregular heart beat for the last 40 years.

Neil Fingleton’s height had not been caused by medical condition, but at 7 feet 7 inches, he had recently been crowned as Britain’s tallest man. Aged 26 and still living with his mum, we were taken to Neil’s home where the only modification was to have an extended bed. Neil’s mum still cooked for him and spent around £100 per week on his food. A typical meal consisted of whole packets of bacon, sausages and a tin of beans and Neil needed 8,000 calories a day. It would take 20-25 pints of beer for Neil to feel “merry”. Neil had been working as a basketball player but we followed his attempt to become an actor in Hollywood. He was told that he could get a job as an “alien” in films. Whilst walking around Hollywood, Neil was verbally abused when someone suggested that he his brain did not work properly as a result of his height. Sadly, it was a regular event to receive such abuse.

During the programme, we also came across Ross, a supermarket worker with a case of curvature of the spine causing him to actually become shorter. He thought that he was 7 feet 5 but actually measured 6 feet and 10 inches and was extremely disappointed as he could not be a member of the exclusive 7 feet club.

The programme also concentrated on Alana, 6 feet 11 inches in height and recently engaged to a guy of 6 feet 2 and the former tallest man in the world, from Inner Mongolia.

Superhuman Giants gave an interesting insight into the problems faced by extremely tall people in terms of their health, finding employment and suitable accommodation and in finding love.

Windscale : Britain’s Biggest Nuclear Disaster

Windscale Over the last few months we have seen the subject of nuclear power pushed back on to the political stage, as the UK authorities strive to look for alternative power sources to replace the UK’s falling oil and gas reserves. While wind and sea power have been billed as potentials for the future, it is the subject of nuclear power (the only real alternative in many people’s eyes) which has grabbed the headlines.

This program covers the UK’s worst nuclear disaster, which occurred in 1957 at the Windscale Nuclear Reprocessing plant in Cumbria. Initially the disaster started as a small fire, although this quickly ripped through many of the main buildings, making its way to the core which housed the nuclear reactor. Despite the brave attempt by a number of technicians to subdue the fire, a significant amount of radioactive particles were released in to the atmosphere.

This program follows the government investigation into the incident, and the final report which savaged the technicians who put their life on the line to try and contain the blaze. Many thought that the technicians were made scapegoats for some glaring investment issues with the plant, and we hear the whole unedited version of events from many who had first hand experience.

Such was the anger from the locals and work force, not to mention the plants overseas customers, that the government took the strange step of later changing the name of the plant to Sellafield, in a blatant attempt to disassociate Sellafield with Windscale. The plant itself has long been a matter of great controversy in the area, because although it brings thousands of jobs to the area, and supports local economies, there have been a number of “small scale” releases since 1957.

A truly enlightening look at the world of nuclear power, and the risks which have been present since day one.

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