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April 1, 2006

Season 6

01. Switch off Something - Britain and the Three Day Week

Welcome to 1973 - the year that saw the three-day week and the arrival of a fictional character from 2006 in the BBC1 drama Life on Mars. The success of the latter has acted as a springboard for a week-long BBC4 season. This excellent Time Shift concentrates on the winter of strikes and power cuts.

1h 0min
April 1, 2006

02. Creating 'Life on Mars'

The creators of Life on Mars (2006) discuss the series and how it was made.

1h 0min
April 2, 2006

03. The Da Vinci Code - The Greatest Story Ever Sold

After The Da Vinci Code was cleared of plagiarism, this documentary explores the climate which has permitted it to make such an effective challenge to conventional history.

1h 0min
May 1, 2006

04. Carry On Campus

Nigel Planer narrates a documentary taking a fond look at the growing pains of the university through the eyes of the writers who immortalised it in the campus novel.

1h 0min
May 10, 2006

05. Machine Men

Documentary looking at the history of robots, androids and cyborgs in both fact and fiction. Contributors include sci-fi visionary Brian Aldiss and writer Kim Newman.

1h 0min
May 13, 2006

06. Oz and Them

Documentary on the relationship between Australia and the UK since the Second World War, beginning with the Queen's 1954 visit to Australia and ending with the 2005 Ashes.

1h 0min
January 16, 2007

07. Spy Stories: British Espionage in Fact and Fiction

Bill Nighy narrates a documentary telling the story of the long and often extraordinary relationship between fact and fiction in the mysterious world of British espionage.

1h 0min
August 30, 2006

08. Planet Ping Pong

The story of table tennis and how it became the most popular sport in Asia. The programme revisits the glory days of the 30s and 40s, when thousands would cram into Wembley to watch top players do battle.

1h 0min
September 11, 2006

09. Parallel Worlds: A User's Guide

Playful viewer's guide to entering another dimension, narrated by Richard Ayoade, featuring some of TV and cinema's best-known alternate universes, from the likes of Star Trek, Sliders, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Futurama and Doctor Who.

1h 0min
November 29, 2006

10. Transylvania Babylon

A comic exploration of the cult of Dracula. From Bela Lugosi to bloodsucking bikes, with a Mexican tag-wrestling version thrown in for good measure, this ghoulish compilation is an entertaining homage to the vampire tradition gifted us by Bram Stoker's famous Count.

1h 0min
December 28, 2006

11. The New Middle Classes

Where has a decade and more of rising prosperity across the social spectrum left Britain's middle class? Much bigger certainly. But does that mean we're all middle class now? Novelist Tim Lott takes a quirky and humorous journey through the new social landscape of Britain in search of some answers.

1h 0min
March 4, 2007

12. Rover: The Long Goodbye

Documentary which traces the rise and fall of a great British brand, exploring how Rover cars went from defining their eras to becoming victims of their times.

1h 0min
March 20, 2007

13. First Rites: From the Cradle to the Prom

Documentary which looks at how the rituals that mark our milestones in life - baptism, the first day at school, the first drink - are changing in today's society.

1h 0min
March 24, 2007

14. Wedding Rites: In Sickness and in Health

Documentary looking at how and why weddings are on the increase and divorce rates in decline in the UK, and if it's the end for traditions and rituals which go back centuries.

1h 0min
March 25, 2007

15. Goodbye Children Everywhere

Documentary which celebrates the high and lows of children's TV and asks if the future of mainstream television be one where children are neither seen nor heard, as ITV cuts back on its commitment and the BBC now only makes programmes for under-11s.

1h 0min
May 26, 2007