TV Schedule
Daily
Today - Friday, 10 September 2010
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Morning 8.00am Creative Vision
9.00am Building the Ultimate: Submarine
Speed, strength, stealth, and power - the submarine is a mean machine. It goes where man cannot. The ocean is it's domain. How does a submarine withstand the huge forces of sea pressure? Dramatic tests show how a submarine's hull can be crushed like a cigarette packet. An intriguing insight into the Cold War game of cat and mouse when a submarine's main defence was avoiding detection. Sound, the need to be quiet, plays a key role in trying to make a submarine indestructible. We hear from the sonar operators who would go on "sneakies", creeping up on their Russian opponents and listening in to their every move.
9.30am Building the Ultimate: Racing Car
Aerodynamic car that could be driven upside down, with an engine that costs as much as a house - The Formula 1 car has become the chariot of fire for those who lust after ultimate performance & power.
10.00am International Terrorism Since 1945: Japanese Sarin Cult
On 20 March 1995, a group of terrorists released a deadly nerve gas called Sarin into the Tokyo subway system. It also killed 12 people and resulted in another 50 falling seriously ill.
11.00am Creative Vision
Afternoon 12.00pm Surving Disaster: Eruption at Mount St Helens
In 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the Ritcher Scale, left 63 dead. Among those who survived that day was sales manager Dorothy Otto, who was trapped under the wreckage of the collapsed Cypress freeway.
1.00pm International Terrorism Since 1945: Japanese Sarin Cult
On 20 March 1995, a group of terrorists released a deadly nerve gas called Sarin into the Tokyo subway system. It also killed 12 people and resulted in another 50 falling seriously ill.
2.00pm Adventures in Architecture: Beauty
Igloo, Ittoqortoormiit, Greenland: Dan builds an igloo and learns about Inuit culture. Giant Buddha, Le Shan, China: Dan visits the biggest Buddha from the ancient world. Catherine Palace, Pushkin near St Petersburg, Russia: A luxurious masterpiece of Russian Baroque. Sun Temple, Konarak, India: A temple full of erotic statues that are still shocking today. Albi Cathedral, France: One of the biggest brick buildings in the world, built to suppress the local population, but now an object of beauty and wonder.
3.00pm Infamous Assassinations: The Assassination of Zia Al Huq
On August 17 1988, en route for a military base in Northern Pakistan, Pakistan’s pro-military strongman was brought down by a bomb in his Hercules transport plane, possibly in retaliation for helping the rebels fight the Russians in Afghanistan. Was a Russian agent in the aircraft minutes before he took off?
3.30pm Infamous Assassinations: The Assassination of Martin Luther King
After leading mass protests in Birmingham Alabama and his “I have a dream” speech, Martin Luther King took on the causes of American withdrawal from South Vietnam and the plight of the poor in America’s South. On 4 April 1968, he was shot dead by a mysterious white assassin, who escaped in a white Mustang car. James Earl Ray was imprisoned for life for the killing, but was he guilty?
4.00pm Top Trumps: War Ships
For top of the range technology, cutting edge science and nail-bitingly dangerous crash-landings, look no further than this week’s Top Trumps. While Robert Llewellyn heads to the Baltic Sea to board the Royal Navy’s newest amphibious landing platform, HMS Bulwark, Ashley is whisked by aeroplane to a secret location in the Pacific where he is crash-landed onto the deck of the USS John C Stennis, one of the biggest aircraft carriers in the world. With a crew of over 5000 it makes for some awe-inspiring statistics, from its sheer size and air-power, to the 16 thousand meals served up every day. Robert’s Top Trump is on an altogether different scale –but what amphibious landing dock HMS Bulwark lacks in size, it makes up for in versatility. Along side helicopters and tanks she houses an artificial dock containing 4 amphibious landing craft. But her secret weapon is an elite crack force of 700 Royal Marines, with whom Rob has to participate in some knuckle-bitingly realistic war games in order to collect those all important statistics if he hopes to beat Ashley when they go head to head in the Warships Top Trumps game.
4.30pm Top Trumps: Rescue Rigs
It’s going to be a wet one this week for Robert Llewellyn and Ashley Hames as they go head to head to find out what is the Top Trumps ultimate rescue rig. Robert ends up in the mighty Tamar lifeboat – the pride of the RNLI’s fleet. This 2 million pound megaboat is brimming with gadgets, gizmos and ground-breaking technology. Not only that, but it can right itself if it capsizes, and carry more than 100 survivors. But of course Robert won’t take anyone’s word for it, and he goes out with the volunteers of Padstow lifeboat station to put the Tamar to the test. In the Outer Hebrides, Ashley Hames is putting a Sikorsky S92 state-of-the-art search-and-rescue helicopter, used by the Stornoway coastguards, through its paces. Ashley jumps in with both feet as he gets involved in a hair-raising rescue exercise that shows off the talents of the Sikorsky to the full. But which would you prefer to see coming over the horizon if you were floating in the middle of the sea? Join Ashley and Robert to discover who’s found out the winning statistics when they go head to head at the end of the show to play Top Trumps.
5.00pm Paul Merton in India: Delhi
Paul lands in Delhi, the capital of India, and immediately goes in search of some ‘help’ on how to survive the next eight weeks. He enrols in a finishing school and meets the formidable Pria Warwick.
6.00pm Building the Ultimate: Roller Coaster
Also known as 'The Incredible Scream Machines', these real life monsters are designed both to excite and to terrify anyone who dares set foot on them. Interviews with eminent coaster designers, historians and enthusiastic riders tell the story of these remarkable feats of engineering from their humble origins in 17th century Russia to the 400 foot monsters that dominate today's skylines. We feature such vital contributions such as John Miller's 1912 invention of upstop wheels that prevented cars flying off the track, Ed Morgan and Karl Bacon's breakthrough in materials that gave birth to all manner of looping and twisting coasters in the 1960's up to the hydraulically powered launch systems of today that propel riders up to speeds of over 100mph. Speeds that are made safe by designers understanding and mastering the physics of roller coasters, using G-Forces, Kinetic Energy and Centrifugal Forces as their Weapons of Mass Exhilaration.
6.30pm Building the Ultimate: Tank
A war machine built to intimidate. A unique combination of firepower, protection, and mobility, the tank dominates the battlefield. Its design has been driven by the enemy's desire to destroy it. Explosive ballistic tests show how tanks have evolved to withstand the weapons pitted against them. Track technology is highlighted with tensile strength tests showing a single track link withstanding a massive 40 tons of weight. Unique archive film of highly secret tests in the Israeli desert show how a new kind of super-armour was invented, one used in virtually every tank today.
Prime Time 7.00pm Robin Hood: Episode 8
King Richard’s birthday turns out to be a day of surprises for the gang. First Djaq is captured when they raid Gisborne’s party at Locksley Manor, then Robin unexpectedly discovers a terrible secret about Gisborne which sends him spiralling out of control. Without Robin as leader, the gang fails to rescue Djaq. They need Robin to choose between helping them save her, and seeking final retribution on his enemy Gisborne.
8.00pm Top Trumps: Fire Engines
In this week’s installment of Top Trumps Ashley and Robert each run the flaming gauntlet to find out which fire engine in the Top Trumps pack will be the winner. Ashley’s with the firefighters of Strathclyde Fire Brigade putting their spanking new Aerial Rescue Platform through its paces. The ARP combines the work of three different appliances into one incredible vehicle. Ashley jumps in with both feet whether it’s rescuing survivors from a towering inferno, mopping up deadly chemical spills or cutting open a crashed car like a tin of sardines, collecting his killer stats as he goes. His opposition, Robert is with Bristol Airport’s Cobra 2: a lean, mean, and bright yellow, fire-fighting machine. He puts its fire-quenching capability to the test when he is faced with a runway inferno and twenty-foot high flames licking the sky. With water jets powerful enough to knock a man off his feet and a fuselage-piercing “snozzle”, the Cobra is at the top of its game. It’s all going to come down to strategy when Ashley and Robert go head to head to see who’s gathered the winning stats when they play the final game of Top Trumps.
8.30pm Top Trumps: ATVs
This week Ashley Hames and Robert Llewellyn are out to put off-roaders through their paces in this ALL TERRAIN VEHICLE edition of Top Trumps. Ashley is dealt the Eagle 4 hovercraft. Powered by an enormous motorcycle engine, the Eagle is normally used for rescue attempts from quicksand or flooded urban environments. The hovercraft’s ability to glide effortlessly over land or sea makes it a versatile craft in certain situations, but with Ashley at the helm to collect his killer statistics, can it out-trump the dog of war that Rob has been dealt? Rob’s ATV Top Trump is The Jackal. This brand new bit of military kit, already in use in Afghanistan, is a mighty force to be reckoned with. Underneath the hardware is a meaty chassis that Rob manages to get to a whopping 80 mph out of as he puts it through its paces. He also tests out its independently articulated suspension – and checks how easily it can be parallel parked on a narrow urban street – all in the interests of collecting winning stats. But when it comes to the final showdown which of them will come out with the Top Trump?
9.00pm Building the Ultimate: Suspension Bridge
Graceful and slender, the suspension bridge is the only man-made structure that can span more than 1 mile. With new computer technology, we found out what really happened at the infamous Tacoma Narrows collapse of 1940. Interviews with designers of the Humber and the Millennium Bridge explain the enemies that the bridge engineers must face as they seek to Build the Indestructible.
9.30pm Building the Ultimate: Stadium
Referred to by many as modern day Cathedrals, these huge structures are becoming icons for the cities they inhabit. The film looks how stadiums have been transformed from lumbering wooden and steel stands that herded spectators in to modern, comfortable and multi-purpose state of the art structures. Interviews with stadium designers, engineers, historians, sports players and fans will trace the history of the stadium from the archetypal Roman Colosseum to the stadiums of the future including what will surely be the most famous stadium in the world - the new Wembley Stadium.
10.00pm Biography: Brad Pitt Exposed
He’s every woman’s female fantasy and the actor most men idolise. Brad Pitt appeared in one of the sexiest film moments of all time in Thelma and Louise. Now he’s one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Despite the recent revelations with his love life he’s escaped the wrath of the press and emerged bigger than ever. From those hot cowboy scenes, to life with Angelina Jolie, Exposed looks through the most defining pictures of Tinsel Town’s favourite star.
Late Evening 11.00pm International Terrorism Since 1945: Somali Warlords
On the afternoon of 03 October 1993, a team of crack US troops abseiled down from helicopters onto the roof of a house in the centre of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, in the east horn of Africa. Their mission: to snatch two notorious terrorists and bring them to justice. But it all went horribly wrong. The troops – outnumbered 20 to one – were pinned down in a 17-hour gun-battle which left 18 of them dead and 80 wounded. Then in a daring rescue mission with ground troops and helicopters, US Marines paid a terrible price. During the fire-fight, two US Blackhawk helicopters were brought down with rockets and crashed into the narrow streets.