what Documentaries did you watch last night.

[ColinJ]

I watched a documentary about the Bristol Channel floods of 1607. I had never heard of that tragedy.

My mother came from a low-lying village on the west coast of Scotland. The family croft was about 300 m from the local beach and only about 8 m above sea level. She told me that she remembered a storm surge which brought the sea to within metres of their home ... Scary stuff!

 

[John the Monkey]

Not sure if this counts, but I've been watching the National Gallery's archive of Lunchtime talks.

A curator talks about a painting (or paintings) from their collection, for thirty minutes or so. Always interesting, but at their best, they'll make you see the familiar differently, like the one about the Haywain;

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJVLyuk2cxI&t

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Was going to watch a documentary on BBC4 last night, but Virgin Cable had an 'outage' in our area
This; http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...possible-unbuilt-britain-2-making-connections

I'm told cable went off about 17:30, & it was still off, when I went to bed at 22:00

Slightly annoyed, as I'd set the TiVo box to record 'Supergirl' & 'Sin City Motors'
Going to record repeats instead, later in the week

I did, however, watch this, that I'd recorded on Monday evening
;http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08rb16k/tornado-the-100mph-steam-engine


Plus; this looks possibly intriguing, given my 'Great North Road' interest, but I presume it'll all be 'fly on the wall', no historical features?http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08qhgf3

 

[captain nemo1701]

I occasionally fry my brain cell and watch online PBS Spacetime. New instalment every Wednesday. Most of the maths is way beyond me, but some of the concepts discussed are fascinating, as Spock would say.

 

[nickyboy]

Was going to watch a documentary on BBC4 last night, but Virgin Cable had an 'outage' in our area
This; http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...possible-unbuilt-britain-2-making-connections

I'm told cable went off about 17:30, & it was still off, when I went to bed at 22:00

Slightly annoyed, as I'd set the TiVo box to record 'Supergirl' & 'Sin City Motors'
Going to record repeats instead, later in the week

I did, however, watch this, that I'd recorded on Monday evening
;http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08rb16k/tornado-the-100mph-steam-engine


Plus; this looks possibly intriguing, given my 'Great North Road' interest, but I presume it'll all be 'fly on the wall', no historical features?http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08qhgf3

I watched the Unbuilt Britain last night. The bit on the Channel Tunnel was pretty good. The Central Scotland canal somewhat less so

 

[Smithbat]

Prohibition, it is a Ken Burns one and is brilliant. My favoruite one of his is the one on the Roosvelts, that really is a marvellous piece of work

 

[Profpointy]

On BBC 4: Fossil Wonderlands, Nature's Hidden Treasures.

...I was enthralled.

I've read a fair few books on this kind of thing, and am a huge fan of presenter Richard Fortey's (popular) books, particularly "Trilobite". In this series he seems to have found his TV feet too and is rather good.

On the aforementioned Trilobite book, beautifully intertwines Trilobite evolution, evolution of life on earth generally, and Fortey's own career.

 

[Salad Dodger]

Last night I watched a series of 3 x 30 minute documentaries on BBC Iplayer about "Road Racers" - the folk who race motorbikes on closed roads in Northern Ireland.
They are not going to be available much longer, but I daresay they will get repeated at some point, and are well worth a look.

Incidentally and admittedly right off the original topic, if you like motorcycle road racing, look on youtube for several presentations given by Dr John Hinds, the "flying doctor" who as well as being a racer in his own right, used to be a travelling doctor who would go out onto road race circuits to administer primary care to badly injured racers. There is some medical stuff in the talks, but also a lot of humour. Such a huge loss when he lost his life in a crash......

 

[thecube]

about OJ Simpson, apparently there is a chace that he actually did it!

 

[John the Monkey]

A brace of Herzogs;

Grizzly Man (Prime)
A combination of footage shot by Timothy Tredwell, a man who lived among bears for thirteen summers, and Herzog's interviews with people involved in his story. Herzog, although he does editorialise at times, is pretty fair on Tredwell, who could have come across as a slightly ludicrous figure, and seems genuinely impressed with the footage that Tredwell shot, remarking on its "accidental beauty". It's a sad, funny, fascinating film.

Lo and Behold (Netflix)
A documentary about the internet, and its effect on society. It's a big topic, and not one that necessarily lends itself to Herzog's existential musing. There's some deeper stuff towards the end of the film, nut it seemed like an odd project for Herzog, and I may have watched it too close to the (in my opinion) superior Grizzly Man.

 

[AndyRM]

Tunes for Tyrants.

I like Suzy Klein a lot as a presenter and I think her approach to a difficult subject is thoughtful and well considered.

 

[Salad Dodger]

I watched one on Netflix about The Berkely Marathon, an absolutely bonkers 100 mile (approximately, but probably more, due to the bonkersness of the course) cross country running race, that has to be completed in 60 hours, to be classified as a finisher. Some years, no one gets classified as a finisher, even if they do get round the whole course......

 

[Illaveago]

I watched Elizabeth 1st Secret Agent documentary last night and found it very confusing. It seemed to be at odds with the documentary drama Gunpowder. In the drama Catesby was the main conspirator yet in the documentary it was Guy Fawkes. Also the priest that was being hunted by Queen Elizabeth's men was executed in the drama yet in the documentary escaped to Spain.

 

[pplpilot]

Williams. On Netflix. Story of Williams f1. Centres around frank Williams and his family. You don't have to like f1 to enjoy this I thought it was fab, and actually really sad.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Been watching Blue Planet II. Astonishing.