1980

Episodes • 1980

The Ghost Of The Amoco Cadiz

1. The Ghost Of The Amoco Cadiz

60 min

Documentary examination of the causes and conditions of the sinking of the Amoco Cadiz oil-tanker, in 1978.

Watch Episode
You Are Old, Father William

2. You Are Old, Father William

60 min

Documentary examination on the process of ageing and some things that can be done about the problems of senility in old people.

Watch Episode
Cleared for Take-Off

3. Cleared for Take-Off

60 min

Documentary which looks at the danger points in flying an airliner on a routine flight from Gatwick to Los Angeles. Danger points are identified and we see research into airtraffic control, aircraft design, the role of the stewardess, avoiding mid-air collisions, electronic flight desks, whirlwind vortices and a new fuel additive that may virtually eliminate the instant conflagrations.

Watch Episode
A Sporting Chance

4. A Sporting Chance

60 min

Documentary on the ways in which athletes from different countries prepare for the Olympic Games and the artificial methods of improving performance, drugs and physiological methods

Watch Episode
The Cancer Detectives of Lin Xian

5. The Cancer Detectives of Lin Xian

60 min

Documentary film on cancer research in the remote Chinese valley of Lin Xian where the population suffers more than 100 times the incidence of oesophagal cancer than normal.

Watch Episode
The Big If...

6. The Big If...

60 min

About Interferon, a drug made from human blood cells, thought to be capable of controlling viruses and cancer

Watch Episode
Cash from Trash

7. Cash from Trash

60 min

Explores the potential in recycling rubbish in terms of energy and other resources

Watch Episode
Encounter with Jupiter

8. Encounter with Jupiter

60 min

Documentary on the space voyages of Nasa robot space craft Voyager 1 & 2 and their photographic records of the planet Jupiter.

Watch Episode
Portrait of a Poison

9. Portrait of a Poison

60 min

Documentary report on the mounting evidence of the horrifying effects of the use of dioxin as a defoliant in Vietnam and as a herbicide in domestic use on both humans and all other living beings.

Watch Episode
Magnet Earth

10. Magnet Earth

60 min

Looks at what is known about the earth's magnetic field, how it affects the world's organisms and in particular at recent research in this field.

Watch Episode
Goodbye Gutenberg

11. Goodbye Gutenberg

60 min

Documentary on the "information revolution" the advances made in the methods of electronic storage and display of information, and the effects of these advances on democracy, language, national boundaries, bureaucracy and privacy.

Watch Episode
Invasion of the Virions

12. Invasion of the Virions

60 min

Investigates various virus infections ranging from smallpox and rabies down to influenza and the common cold. The way they function and the reasons the body builds up resistance to some and not to others.

Watch Episode
Beyond the Milky Way

13. Beyond the Milky Way

60 min

Astronomers are seen at work in the UK, Arizona, Hawaii, New Mexico and Australia, describing their discoveries about the galaxies beyond the Milky Way.

Watch Episode
Little Boxes

14. Little Boxes

60 min

Documentary about industrial design and the effect it has on the look of everyday life. Dieter Rams, Tom Woolfe, Etore Sottsass and Raymond Loewy are among the designers talking about their work .

Watch Episode
The Other Kenya

15. The Other Kenya

60 min

Looks at the contrasts in Kenya between the tourist image and the hardship caused by development. In particular, considers the lives of three family groups native to the country and the poverty they are forced to live in by the Kenyan economy geared to the West.

Watch Episode
Moving Still

16. Moving Still

60 min

The new perspectives which can be gained on the natural world through time-lapse and high-speed photography. Includes footage of droplets of water merging in mid-air, a bullet spiralling up its barrel toward you, a wet dog shaking its fur, flowers bursting open, starfish scurrying on the sea floor, and spark plugs spreading their fire.

Watch Episode
The Way Out

17. The Way Out

60 min

Documentary about London Transport and the decline in its services over the year s. It receives less subsidy than an comparable transport system in the world, but would more GLC aid improve the service?

Watch Episode
The Dead Sea Lives

18. The Dead Sea Lives

60 min

Explains, within a historical context, how Israel and Jordan are trying to make use of the Dead Sea. Its mineral-rich waters are being harnessed by scientists and engineers to produce such diverse products as protein, potash and cheap energy .

Watch Episode
Once in a Million Years

19. Once in a Million Years

60 min

Documentary on nuclear energy and the efforts of scientists to contain and control the high risk factors involved with plutonium and uranium.

Watch Episode
Smoker's Luck

20. Smoker's Luck

60 min

Documentary about smoking and about the secondary effects of it. Britain leads the world in smoking deaths at 200 per day. The film looks at prognosis of deat h and at the chances of those who give up smoking of dying of the effects.

Watch Episode
Behind the Horoscope

21. Behind the Horoscope

60 min

Documentary looking at the scientific facts about the growing cult of Astrology. In this report, Horizon looks at the way astrology has evolved and examines statistical evidence to evaluate its credibility.

Watch Episode
The Mondragon Experiment

22. The Mondragon Experiment

60 min

Documentary on the twenty-five year old experimental industrial set-up in the Spanish city of Mondragon where most of the factories and laboratories are co-operativetively owned and run by a workers committee.

Watch Episode
The Spike

23. The Spike

60 min

Documentary about epilepsy, showing epileptic fits as they occur and explaining what the onlooker should and should not do. Sufferers describe their experiences of the disease and consultant neurologist and psychiatrist, Dr. Peter Fenwick, offers a scientific interpretation.

Watch Episode
The Slatemakers

24. The Slatemakers

60 min

Documentary on the slatemaking industry of North Wales, now a dying craft, and the people involved with it.

Watch Episode
Anatomy of a Volcano

25. Anatomy of a Volcano

60 min

Chronicles the efforts of geologists throughout the summer of 1980 to study the recently erupted volcano Mt. Saint Helens in Washington State, USA.

Watch Episode