Fifties Features - The Women behind the Pictures

Magical Caresses

June 2025 •French

An animated documentary series in which Lori Malépart-Traversy takes a playful and uninhibited look at solo sexuality.

The Fifties

June 2025 •English

Archival footage and interviews with historians mark this fascinating documentary on the 1950s, based on David Halberstam's bestseller. Among the subjects covered: work and the family; the impact of TV; the Cold War; and the beginnings of the civil-rights movement and the sexual revolution.

Secrets of Britain

June 2025 •English

The enormous popularity of recent British dramas such as Downton Abbey, Mr. Selfridge, and Sherlock, has led to vast interest in the real-life stories and history of the icons of Great Britain. Each episode of this series visits a famous British building or institution to explore its past and present, meeting a wide range of experts and historians along the way.

Secret Britain

June 2025 •English

Exploring the hidden corners of the UK in search of the best the countryside has to offer.

Corleone: A History of la Cosa Nostra

June 2025 •French

How, from 1974 to 1993, Totò Riina (1930-2017), supreme boss of the Corleone family, ruled by blood and terror over the Sicilian Mafia. An implacable account, based on the testimony of his men and those who fought against them.

Great British Garden Revival

June 2025 •English

Britain’s rich horticultural history is being lost. More and more front and back gardens are paved over - for development, for parking spaces, or because families don’t have the time or inclination to manage these spaces. The trend for easy-to-maintain lawns, patios and paving has also led to a decline in traditional gardens full of flowers, plants and trees to the extent that some of our most iconic flora and fauna have all but disappeared. Step forward the BBC’s most-loved gardening experts, who are determined to turn us back into a green-fingered nation once again.

Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School

June 2025 •English

In a unique experiment, five teachers from China take over the education of fifty teenagers in a Hampshire school to see whether the high-ranking Chinese education system can teach us a lesson.

Elles

June 2025 •French

This documentary series hosted by Sarahmée follows daring, determined women’s collectives all over the world as they shake things up to carve out brighter futures.

Secret Society

June 2025 •English

A politically charged mini-series researched and written by Duncan Campbell which saw dramatic Special Branch raids on BBC Scotland. An entire production office was loaded into transit vans and confiscated by the police. + One: 'The Secret Constitution' about secret Cabinet committees that amount to a secret decision making system at the highest levels of power in the United Kingdom. + Two: 'In Time of Crisis' about secret preparations for war that began in 1982 within every NATO country. This programme revealed what Britain would do. + Three: 'A Gap In Our Defences' about bungling defence manufacturers and incompetent military planners who have botched every new radar system that Britain has installed since World War II. + Four: 'We're All Data Now' about the Data Protection Act. + Five: 'Association of Chief Police Officers' and how Government policy and actions are determined in the fields of law and order. + Six: 'Communications' with particular reference to Zircon spy satellites ...

Clit revolution

June 2025 •French

The Railway: Keeping Britain On Track

June 2025 •English

Documentary series revealing the inner workings of Britain's railways, introducing the track-workers, train guards, drivers, police officers and management teams determined to keep the country moving.

Shop Well for Less

June 2025 •English

A mission to help families change the way they shop - without changing their lifestyle. A host of money-saving tips and tricks to put hard-earned cash back in people's pockets.

The Great Smog: Winter of '52

June 2025 •English

Dr Xand Van Tulleken and Raksha Dave investigate the Great Smog of 1952 - the deadliest environmental disaster ever recorded and one of the world's worst peacetime catastrophes. Lasting just over four days, the Great Smog plunged London into a terrifyingly murky gloom - the acrid pollution seeping into homes, leaving Londoners gasping for breath, shutting down transport and emergency services, and overwhelming hospitals and undertakers alike.

Gulag, the Story

June 2025 •French

A major political, historical, human and economic fact of the 20th century, the Gulag, the extremely punitive Soviet concentration camp system, remains largely unknown.

España, el siglo XX en color

June 2025 •Spanish

Inside Windsor Castle

June 2025 •English

A look at life in Windsor Castle over the last 80 years, including the tragedies, triumphs, romances and scandals of the Royal Family.

Hospital

June 2025 •English

The story of the NHS in unprecedented times.

Her Story: The Female Revolution

June 2025 •English

Draw for Change!

June 2025 •French

DRAW FOR CHANGE! is a 6 part documentary series about female cartoonists from all around the globe, challenging the red lines and the taboos of their society. Zooming in on their drawings, these cartoonists take us on a journey into their world in search of people who experience their drawings in reality.

A Very British Romance with Lucy Worsley

June 2025 •English

Lucy Worsley delves into the history of romance to uncover the forces shaping our very British happily ever after and how our feelings have been affected by social, political and cultural ideas.