An in-depth voyage into the sci-fi film 'Alien' with the visionary filmmakers who created it. See how one of the most terrifying movies of all time came to life 40 years ago and the untold origin story behind Ridley Scott's movie.
It was rooted in Greek and Egyptian mythologies and in our universal fears, and the history was inspired by underground comics, the art of Francis Bacon, and the dark visions of Dan O'Bannon and H.R. Giger. The documentary is a contemplation on the symbiotic collaborative process of movie-making, the power of myth, and our collective unconscious.

The untold story of the doomed steamship's construction, revealing how 15,000 men toiled day and night in life-threatening conditions to create a state-of-the-art floating city. Based on original blueprints and unseen archives, cutting-edge special effects bring this process back to life on screen, and explore how the outsize ambitions that made it all possible also led to the ship's dramatic demise.

With unprecedented access to the nuclear industry in France, Russia, and the United States, director Oliver Stone delves deep into the groundbreaking technologies that promise a revolution in energy production. But this is not just a story of power and progress; it's a tale of dispelling myths and confronting the fears surrounding nuclear energy. From the passionate voices of those funding their ventures to the illuminating insights of visionaries like Stephen Hawking, 'Nuclear Now' challenges viewers to question their preconceptions.
Join this journey to uncover the truths, understand the risks, and judge the possibilities. Imagine a tomorrow that is brighter than today, where humanity harnesses the primordial power of the atom to ensure a future we can all look forward to. Dive into the debate, and decide for yourself.

This episode tells the tale of what's broadly considered China's most creative dynasty - the Song (960-1279). Michael Wood heads to the city of Kaifeng, the greatest city in the world before the 19th century. Here in Twin Dragon Alley, locals tell him the legend of the baby boys who became emperors.
He explores the ideas and inventions that made the Song one of greatest eras in world culture, helped by China's most famous work of art, the Kaifeng scroll, which shows the life of the city in around 1120. A chef makes Michael a recipe from a Song cookbook, while a guide to 'how to live happy, healthy lives for old people', published in 1085 and still in print, is discussed with local women doing their morning exercises. The Song was also a great era for scientific advance in China. Michael steers a huge working replica of an astronomical clock, made by China's Leonardo da Vinci.
Then at a crunch Chinese Premier League match, Michael tells us the Chinese invented football! The golden age of the northern Song ended in 1127, when invaders sacked Kaifeng, but they survived in the south. At their new capital, Hangzhou, Wood joins locals dancing by the West Lake, while in the countryside he meets Mr Xie with his records of 40 generations of ancestors. The final defeat of the Song took place in a naval battle in the estuary of the Pearl River in 1279. When all was lost, rather than surrender to the Mongols, a loyal minister jumped into the sea with the young boy emperor in his arms. 'So ended the glory of the Song', Wood concludes, 'but a new age would arise... as in China, it always has!'.

Painted over five centuries ago, Filippo Lippi's nativity is like none other: it shows the birth of Christ in a dark, wooded wilderness. There are no shepherds, kings, ox, ass – there is no Joseph. Its beauty inspired Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli. But it also conceals a deeply personal story. It was painted for Cosimo de Medici, a wealthy banker who feared that his money was dragging him straight to hell. The artist's life was equally surprising. One of the most celebrated painters of his day, Filippo Lippi was also a Carmelite friar, but he was no stranger to the temptations of the flesh, to which he frequently yielded. Shortly before painting his Adoration, he caused uproar by seducing a twenty year-old nun. His paintings rejoice not only in divine beauty, but in the beauty of women. In later times, the Adoration's history was interwoven with that of rulers and dictators. It became a bargaining chip after Napoleon's allies seized twenty merchant ships. And in the 20th century, it was hidden by the Nazis in a potassium mine, where specialist american officers, known as Monuments Men, stumbled upon it. they were now told to get it ready to be shipped out. In an unprecedented turn of events they refused. This is the only known case in the whole of the Second World War of American officers refusing an order. It was sent to the National Gallery of Art, but in 1949 Lippi's Adoration was returned to Germany.

A visit to the Amazon jungle - the world's largest rainforest and home to the widest variety of plants and animals on Earth. he diversity of life in the jungle is so great that in just two square miles scientists have counted 3,000 varieties of ants, 530 types of birds and 11 species of monkey. But despite the huge range of life that flourishes here, survival is never easy.