1/5. Military conscription, a first hunting trip and a circumcision - the symbolic transformation from childhood to adulthood is tonight's engrossing subject as the global documentary strand returns. From the edge of the Arctic Circle and the closeted world of the Japanese geisha, to the Russian forest and the training grounds of the world's largest army, these poignant chronicles of adolescence disclose the universal themes that unite - and divide - us all.

Documentary: Coming of Age: This World 9.00pm BBC2
Anyone who watched last year's cracking One Day of War will recognise the This World formula: vignettes from individual lives around the world that give us snapshots of foreign cultures. The linking theme here is teenagers undergoing rites of passage.
We meet Chen Lu, a Beijing schoolgirl facing relentless pressure to succeed. "I give her five minutes to get dressed," her mother tells us, gesturing to a timetable on the wall. Chen Lu's life is so regimented, she looks forward to a compulsory spell of military training because it might provide light relief.
There are half a dozen other stories, all crisply told - from a 16-year-old Ugandan boy, Kamoti John (pictured below), nervously approaching his circumcision, to a scary Russian skinhead who wants to napalm Chechnya. But strangest of all is the tale of an Inuit boy called Apak, taking his first hunting trip with his father, which echoes last week's Natural World about... an Inuit boy called Apak taking his first hunting trip with his father. What's going on? (DB)