BBC Four

Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil

Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil: Episode 1

Episode 1

BBC Four - Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil, Episode 1

The men who discovered the oil and risked their lives to get it ashore tell their stories.

Series telling the story of North Sea oil and gas. This edition gives a voice to the men who made the discovery in the 1960s and who risked their lives to get the oil ashore.

Three-part series combining archive footage and eye-witness accounts to tell the dramatic narrative of North Sea oil and gas from the 1960s to the present. It charts the decades when the country made the most of its North Sea windfall, with scarcely a thought about where it came from or of the men and women who brought it to us. Through the story of oil, the series offers a fresh perspective on British politics and society and a timely insight into the state of our economy today.

Forty years ago, Britain was poised on the brink of an extraordinary discovery - oil, billions of gallons of it, deep beneath the harsh waters of the North Sea. This opening edition gives a voice to some of the men who made that discovery and who risked their lives in the North Sea to get the oil ashore. 

Theirs is a tale of dramatic risk-taking and high politics as the government and the oil companies raced to get their hands on the bonanza. The promise of enormous riches inspired technical innovation on a scale never seen before, but did the haste of the North Sea project put at risk the lives of men who were working in some of the most extreme conditions in the world?

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

Series telling the story of North Sea oil and gas from the 1960s to the present

Series combining archive footage and eye-witness accounts to tell the story of North Sea oil and gas from the 1960s to the present, offering a fresh perspective on British politics and society

Crude Britannia: the Story of North Sea Oil

1/3. Archive footage and eyewitness accounts tell the story of North Sea oil and gas over the past 40 years. The first episode focuses on the men who made the original discovery and risked their lives to get the oil ashore, as companies raced to get their hands on the resource. Shown last Thursday

Jackie Stewart: The Flying Scot

11/04/2009

BBC Four - Jackie Stewart: The Flying Scot

Documentary about the eventful life of three-time Formula 1 world champion Jackie Stewart.

Documentary about the life of Sir Jackie Stewart, winner of three Formula 1 world championships and 27 grand prix, ranked as one of the ten greatest racing drivers of all time.

Sir Jackie Stewart is one of Britain's all time great sporting personalities - winner of three Formula 1 world championships and 27 grand prix, and ranked as one of the ten greatest racing drivers of all time. 

With his black cap and sideburns, he became an unmistakable icon in the glorious era of style, glamour and speed of the 1960s and 70s.

Venturing beyond the world of motor sport, this documentary is an insight into the triumphs and tragedies of Stewart's eventful life, and includes contributions from friends and colleagues such as Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi, Sean Connery, Murray Walker and Edsel Ford, as well as the last ever interview with the late Ken Tyrrell, without whom Stewart's career might have taken a very different turn.

Produced by Stewart's youngest son Mark, the film is enriched with family photographs, home movies and scrapbooks kept by Lady Helen Stewart that document her husband's career.

Jackie Stewart: the Flying Scot

Portrait of the former racing driver, winner of three Formula One World championships and 27 Grand Prix. The programme chronicles his early career and subsequent success as an internationally respected businessman in charge of his own Formula One team. 
With archive footage and contributions from, among others, Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi , Sean Connery and Murray Walker. First in an evening of motor racing-themed programmes. See paneL

Jim Clark: The Quiet Champion

18/04/2009

BBC Four - Jim Clark: The Quiet Champion

Portrait of enigmatic 1960s world Formula One champion and motor racing legend Jim Clark.

Portrait of 1960s world Formula One champion and motor racing legend Jim Clark, using previously unseen archive footage and testimonials from friends, family and former colleagues.

A comprehensive, entertaining and moving portrait of Jim Clark, one of the most talented and intriguing characters of the 1960s. From unlikely beginnings on a farm in Scotland, the introverted and media-shy Clark emerged to become the most successful racing driver of his time, and forged a reputation as one of the all-time great heroes of motor sport. 

Using previously unseen archive footage, testimonials from friends, family and former colleagues, the film tells the extraordinary but tragic story of an enigmatic racing legend.

Jim Clark: the Quiet Champion

The life of the two-time Formula One champion, who was killed at the height of his career, featuring rare archive footage, interviews with the driver and comments from close friends.

Graham Hill: Driven

26/05/2008

BBC Four - Graham Hill: Driven

Portrait of the eccentric, charismatic British motor racing legend, Graham Hill.

Portrait of the eccentric, charismatic British motor racing legend Graham Hill, a man who lived and died during a time when sex was safe and racing was dangerous.

Emotive documentary portrait of a sporting legend who lived and died during a time when sex was safe and motor racing was dangerous!

Graham Hill was an eccentric, charismatic Englishman from a bygone era of sporting endeavour. With great determination he won the Formula 1 World Championship, the Indy 500 and the Le Mans 24 hours race, thereby achieving the 'triple crown' of motor racing - a unique feat that remains unmatched to this day. Graham also won the glamorous Monaco Grand Prix five times during an era when drivers routinely met violent death. Away from the circuit, he was a raconteur of hilarious proportions, a dashing figure with a keen eye for the ladies. He was an irrepressible free spirit who simply didn't know when to quit.

Ultimately, it was to be his undoing.

Graham's illustrious racing career spanned three decades, which at its height saw him routinely slugging it out with fellow F1 champions Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart. Close friends yet intense rivals on the track, they were the 'Three Musketeers' during a golden era of motor racing. But what was the truth behind Graham's popular public image? 30 years on from his death, his family, close friends and former colleagues paint an intimate, revealing and entertaining portrait of a sporting hero tragically killed in a plane crash in 1975.

A portrait of motor racing star 
Graham Hill , the only man to win the Formula One World championship, Indy 500 and Le 
Mans 24-Hour race.

Cobra Ferrari Wars

17/06/2002

BBC Four - Cobra Ferrari Wars

How racing driver Carroll Shelby won Le Mans in 1959 and developed the famous Cobra car.

Documentary telling the story of Texan racing driver Carroll Shelby, who won Le Mans in 1959 and later developed the famous Cobra, a car designed to take on the might of Ferrari.

The date is 1959. The place is Le Mans racing circuit, France. A little known Texan racing driver, Carrol Shelby, wins the most prestigious event in motor racing at his first attempt and is universally acclaimed as one of the best drivers in the world. 

But Shelby had a secret that was to prevent him ever driving again.

This is the comeback story of a man driven by the desire to beat the world on the race track, and specifically to beat the might of motor racing, Ferrari. From his base in California with only a team of hot rodders for support, in three years Shelby put together a car that would take on the world and win. The Shelby Cobra, as it was known, is still an automotive icon today. 

Featuring a great 60s soundtrack and using true-to-the-period split screen effects, this film is for car fans and casual viewers alike.

The story of Texan racing driver Carroll Shelby, the mastermind behind the world-famous Shelby Cobra.

In Search of Speed

In Search of Speed: Episode 1: The Battle of Bonneville

Episode 1: The Battle of Bonneville

The Battle of Bonneville

BBC Four - In Search of Speed, The Battle of Bonneville

Art Arfons' and Craig Breedlove's attempts to break the land speed record in the 1960s.

Documentary about the attempts by Craig Breedlove and Art Arfons to break the land speed record, a near-lethal contest which saw many barriers broken.

The Battle of Bonneville focuses on six dramatic years in land speed history that saw Craig Breedlove and Art Arfons go head-to-head in a death-defying land speed duel. Two men locked in a near-lethal contest which saw the 400, 500 and 600 miles per hour barriers broken. The programme features interviews with Arfons and Breedlove, friends, family and members of their teams. 

Farm-boy Art Arfons was affectionately known as the Junkyard Genius. Art famously built his record breaking car from pieces of junk and stock-parts, including the powerful J-79 aircraft surplus jet engine which he bought from a scrap dealer. When he first ignited his restored J-79, Art obliterated his chicken shed. In his car The Green Monster, an angry, over-powered beast, Art captured the world record three times only to have it snatched from him on each occasion by Breedlove. In 1966, Art became the first man to survive a crash at over 600 miles an hour. 

Smooth-talking Californian hot-rodder Craig Breedlove, in his cars Spirit of America and Sonic 1, was the first man to break the 400, 500 and 600mph barriers on land. At the tender age of 24, Craig Breedlove was so moved by President Kennedy's plea to 'ask what you can do for your country', he decided that his goal was to recapture the world land speed record from the British. Breedlove persuaded Shell Oil to sponsor his vision and, backed by a team of hot-rod friends, he went on to build his car Spirit of America, arguably the most beautiful land speed car ever built. 

This is a story of a dramatic showdown between two land speed legends who displayed extraordinary ingenuity, ambition and bravery.

Documentary series looking at mankind's attempts to set new speed records.

land-speed record duels of the 1960s   130 Leonard Cohen Live in London: footage from his recent tour

Leonard Cohen Live in London

12/06/2009

BBC Two - Leonard Cohen Live in London

A recording of a concert from Leonard Cohen's 2008-2009 world tour.

A recording of a concert from Leonard Cohen's 2008-2009 world tour, including such hits as Hallelujah, Suzanne, Bird on the Wire, I'm Your Man and First We Take Manhattan.

A recording of a concert from Leonard Cohen's 2008-2009 world tour. 

For over four decades, Leonard Cohen has been one of the most important and influential songwriters of our time, a figure whose body of work achieves greater depths of mystery and meaning as time goes on. In 2008, Leonard Cohen embarked on his first tour in 15 years. His set included Hallelujah, Suzanne, Bird on the Wire, I'm Your Man, The Future, Democracy, Dance Me to the End of Love and First We Take Manhattan, and was quickly recognised as musical folklore in the making, leaving fans and critics alike hailing the show as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

BBC Two

BBC Two is a TV channel that started broadcasting on the 20th April 1964.

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

Omnibus

Omnibus: Leonard Cohen - Songs from a Life

19/06/2009

Leonard Cohen - Songs from a Life

BBC Four - Omnibus, Leonard Cohen - Songs from a Life

Portrait of Canadian singer, songwriter, poet and novelist Leonard Cohen.

Portrait of Canadian singer, songwriter, poet and novelist Leonard Cohen, recorded in 1988. Featuring interviews, archive film and live performances from his world tour.

Portrait of Canadian singer, songwriter, poet and novelist Leonard Cohen, recorded in 1988. Featuring interviews, archive film and live performances from London, Paris, Athens and New York.

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