Day 152 – June 1st – Child of Our Time

‘Child of Our Time‘ is a BBC documentary presented by Professor Robert Winston, which follows the lives of 25 children who were born in 2000 as they grow up to become young adults. It is a continuing project, running from 2000 to 2020, looking at the development of the children, seeing how the environment and society affect the way that people develop. An important question that the series seeks to answer is “Are we born or are we made?“

Most recently has been ‘The Big Personality Test‘, which looked at how personality develops in people and how it can affect different aspects of your life, such as work, health and relationships.

It terms of psychology and sociology, the programme as a whole is a fantastic insight into human development. It’s the sort of thing that I don’t think we get enough of these days: an open and honest look into who we are as people and how and why we interact in the way that we do. As they come up with different experiments and aspects of development to look at every year or so, it is a series definitely worth watching.

Day 110 – April 20th – Louis Theroux Documentaries

Louis Theroux is a British-American broadcaster and journalist who presents a series of documentaries looking at certain issues in society, such as crime, drug use, gambling, etc. They are extremely insightful, raising awareness of many aspects of the involved issues and speaking to people first-hand about such issues and what life is like for them.

I haven’t seen all of the documentaries that Louis has presented, but have watched the last few that have been on: “A Place for Paedophiles“, in which he meets sex offenders who are going through rehabilitation. Also “The City Addicted to Crystal Meth“, in which he travels to a city where the drug crystal meth is a large part of most people’s lives. And most recently “America’s Medicated Kids“, where he talks to children who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses and put on medication.You can catch the most recent documentary here.

It’s amazing how much you can learn just by listening to the people involved, and how it can so easily change your view on certain subjects. I would say that the documentaries help to give you a more ‘worldly’ view of importanty topics. It isn’t often on television that you find such unique accounts of matters. Louis Theroux is a brilliant journalist and seems to ask all of the right questions, as well as acting in such a manner that he is given the answers. His documentaries are definitely worth watching, if just for the sake of learning something important.

Day 105 – April 15th – Election Debates

In preparation for the UK general election on May 6th, there are to be three television debates hosted, whereby the leaders of the three main parties – Gordon Brown for Labour, David Cameron for Conservative and Nick Clegg for Liberal Democrats – discuss many different issues.

The first debate was tonight at 8:30 and shown on ITV. For more information on the debate, you can click here. Or, if you missed it and would like to watch the debate, you can click here.

There are going to be two further debates in the coming weeks, the next being on April 22nd at 8PM on Sky News, and the last being on April 29th at 8:30PM on BBC 1.

Myles Dyer has also made a video response to the first debate, just giving a quick outline and opinion:

I think what is so important about this debates is that this is the first time that anything like this has been done in the UK. It focusses a lot more on comparing the three main political parties side by side and asking the general public what they think. In terms of democracy, I must admit that it is one step forwards. At the very least, after only one debate, I already have a better understanding of the policies of each of the parties. It has increased my interest in politics, also, which is, whether we like it or not, an important aspect of society. I think the debates are definitely something worth watching.

Day 72 – March 13th – Life On Mars

Every so often the BBC comes out with a brilliant drama television series. ‘Life On Mars‘ was a great success, it’s originality and nostalgic referencing to the 1970s captivating huge audiences. It was, however, the smaller things about the show that really enthralled me. The psychological aspects, I found fascinating.

The show follows a police officer, Sam Tyler, who is hit by a car in 2006 and wakes up in 1973. The main plot focusses on Sam, questioning whether he has gone mad, is in a coma, or has gone back in time. As a police drama, there is also the odd detective mystery, although often brought up is the clash in policing techniques between Sam, who is just, fair, and seems able to understand people well, and the 1970s police force, who are rather corrupt and often resort to brute force.

The show is absolutely fascinating, and it manages to build up the main characters is such a way that you think you know them, but never truly know what lies around the corner. So many twists and turns keep you interested and often end up raising more questions than are answered. It is a show that makes you think about so many things, yet is entertaining at the same time.  Altogether it is something rather special.

Day 21 – January 21st – Being Human

Decent television programmes are few and far between. What I mean by ‘decent’ is something that is entertaining and enthralling, yet is, at the same time, clever and well-written; something that really makes you think.

‘Being Human‘ is one of those rare programmes that is all of the above. Although only a small BBC Three broadcast at first, the aurdience has grown considerably and, after one series, the show has become one my favourites.

I was actually made aware of Being Human by a friend. They described it as a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost living together and trying to be human. It was made out to be a ‘comedy/horror’ programme and, to be honest, it didn’t sound overly appealing. However, what is special is that clever blend of serious drama and light humour. The comedy side of it is to break up the seriousness, but it is the concept of the plot of the show that interests me the most, and can be seen as most inspiring.

We are made to consider – and perhaps re-evaluate – what it means to be human. Is it just something that we ignore; take for granted? Who and what we are is seen by some as something that we should embrace. In the case of Being Human, the vampire, werewolf and ghost all see trying to lead normal lives as the answer; the right path to walk down. We, as humans, perceive them as monsters. What is most intelligent about the show, however, is that it makes you question those views; it makes you wonder whether, in actual fact, we are the monsters?

With Series 2 having just started, it’s definitely a show to start watching if you don’t already. It can be quite visual at times, but it all helps to get the bold point across. It’s something you don’t want to miss.