Country: United Kingdom

The Pendle Witch Child

6.7

2011

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HD

Simon Armitage presents the extraordinary story of the most disturbing witch trial in British history and the key role played in it by one nine-year-old girl. Jennet Device, a beggar-girl from Pendle in Lancashire, was the star witness in the trial in 1612 of her own mother, her brother, her sister and many of her neighbours and, thanks to her chilling testimony, they were all hanged. In The Pendle Witch Child poet Simon Armitage explores the lethal power and influence of one childs words - a story of fear, magic and demonic pacts retold partly with vivid and innovative hand-drawn animation. He discovers how Jennets appearance in the witness box cast its shadow way beyond Lancashire, impressing lawyers, politicians, clerics and even the King himself and setting a dark precedent for child testimony in witch trials as far away as America. Finally, in a dramatic twist to the tale, he reveals how, 22 years after the original trial, Jennets own words were very nearly the death of her - when she herself was put on trial, accused of being a witch by a 10-year-old boy. With the help of historians Malcolm Gaskill, Diane Purkiss and Ronald Hutton, Simon Armitage attempts to get inside Jennets head and understand how the illegitimate and illiterate youngest child of a family of beggars could become both pawn and player in a much bigger story of 17th century religion, power, law, science and the monarchy. What made Jennet speak out so everyone she knew would die? And how did the courts decide to admit her evidence, and allow her example to create a precedent for accepting the testimony of other child witnesses who wanted to send their neighbours to the gallows? Although the events in this film may date back four hundred years, its issues resonate today as much as ever - when to believe our children, how the police and the court system should handle child witnesses and above all how, in times of crisis, fear of evil can easily lead us to behave in ways which may corrode the very values that we most wish to protect.

Contraband Spain

5.4

1955

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HD

Robin Hood star Richard Greene plays an agent who goes to the French-Spanish border to round up some smugglers and counterfeiters after his brother is murdered. He is helped by singer Anouk Aimee, who he falls in love with.

Woolly Mammoth: Secrets From The Ice

7.7

2012

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Professor Alice Roberts on the natural history of the woolly mammoth, revealing adaptations that helped the species evolve from their origins in the tropics to surviving in Siberia

Women of World War One

5

2014

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Kate Adie examines the impact of womens work on the Home Front during the First World War. Innovations included the first womens police force, womens football and female surgeons operating on men. Adie argues that what truly mattered though was whether these changes in womens lives were long-lasting or viewed as only for the duration.

Want It

5.4

2015

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HD

An intruder breaks into a modern and luxurious home. He wants it. As he samples the lifestyle his senses are heightened. When the owner of the house returns unexpectedly, the tables are turned, and the intruder finds himself naked and powerless. A film about passion, longing and desire in all its forms.

Russell Brand: End the Drugs War

7.2

2014

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HD

In this personal journey for BBC Three, Russell Brand sets out to find out how other countries are tackling their problems of drug abuse and to explore how the framework of criminalization implicit in the war on drugs produces enormous harm in the treatment of addicts.

Get Cracking

6.2

1943

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HD

George Formby joins the home guard.

It's in the Air

6.8

1938

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George Brown (George Formby) is rejected as an Air Raid Warden and in doing so sees his potential to join the Royal Air Force. His dreams could soon come true as he realises that in fact his friend has left behind some very important papers, he dons a his Royal Air Force uniform and delivers the papers when he is mistaken for a dispatch driver from HQ. He soon becomes the butt of jokes from his sergeant which ends him staying indefinitely at the air base. George soon falls in love with the Sergeant Majors daughter and when he discovers his real identity he threatens to report him. On the day of an annual inspection George attempts to escape the base and ends up in a plane, while the inspecting officer watches on, Georges plane display is mesmerising and the inspecting officer insists he should be commended, in order to save their skins George manages to land the plane and is accepted as a flyer by the RAF.

The Man Who Could Work Miracles

7

1936

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An ordinary man suddenly finds that anything he says comes true. Or at least, almost anything.

No Limit

6.5

1935

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George Shuttleworth is convinced that he has the talent to win the Isle of Man TT races, despite what his neighbours back home in Wigan may think. During the trials, the brakes go on Georges bike, The Shuttleworth Snap, which he made himself. As a result, he breaks the TT lap record, becoming an instant motor-cycling star. As the big race approaches, George soon realises that other jealous riders will stop at nothing to make sure he does not take part in the race. An early George Formby film and probably his best.

Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons

6.3

1974

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HD

Penthesilea, the first of six films made by Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen, traverses thousands of years to look at the image of the Amazonian woman in myth. It asks, among other questions, is the Amazonian woman a rare strong female image or is she a figure derived from male phantasy? The film explores the complexities of such questions, but does not seek any concrete answers.

Travelooper

7

2019

Movie

HD

Desperately shy Graham believes he is destined to always be alone. Caught in a time loop, he sees a vision of his future evolving along with the city he lives in. Finally Graham knows what he must do.