TV Times - 26 April - 2 May 2008
This weeks highlight is a virtually silent documentary portrayal of the anomie and alienation inherent in modern-day food production in Europe.
Other highlights include an investigation into UN corruption, an analysis of the Algiers Airport hi-jacking of 1994 and a stimulating radio discussion of the intellectual underpinnings of the revolution in Paris in 1968.
Monday 28 April - 8 - 8.30pm - ITV1 - Tonight: Bad Manners Britain
Tonight's edition concerns a subject which has been much discussed previously on the boards - the role of politeness and good manners in an equitable society. Britain was once a nation renowned for its politeness, a reputation which has become much tarnished in recent years. Jonathan Maitland here tests whether turning a team of badly-behaved footballers into gentlemen will have any effect on their on-pitch performance.
Monday 28 April - 8.30 - 9pm - BBC1 - Panorama - Mission Impossible
The United Nations are supposed to be neutral arbitrators in conflicts around the world; however tonights investigation sheds light on damning leaked documents that suggest the UN is riddled with corruption.
Monday 28 April - 9 - 10pm - BBC2 - Am I Normal? - Spirituality
Whilst Britain is statistically more a secular nation than has ever been the case before, nevertheless many people still maintain a belief in some kind of spiritual or supernatural force. Psychologist Dr. Tanya Byron explores the scientific analysis of religious phenomena such as faith healing and speaking in tongues in a bid to discover if, in any way, empirical evidence can validate or debunk issues of faith.
Tuesday 29 April - 9 - 10pm - BBC2 - Age of Terror - 3/4 - The Paris Plot
Peter Taylor's well-researched series on terrorist atrocities of recent decades continues with an analysis of the events of Christmas Eve 1994, when four members of an extreme Islamist group, the GIA, hijacked an Air France plane on the tarmac at Algiers Airport and demanded to fly to Paris. As the authorities stalled, hostages died, until the storming of the plane during a refuel at Marseille revealed the terrorists' true aim - to crash the plane into the centre of Paris.
Tuesday 29 April - 10pm - Midnight - More4 - True Stories: Our Daily Bread
This virtually silent documentary examines industrial food production and high-tech farming around Europe, illustrating how the treatment of animals, agriculture and automation combine to remove individuality from a system to which all belong.
Wednesday 30 April - 11 - 11.30am - Radio 4 - 1968: Philosophy in the Streets
In a programme dedicated to the intellectual underpinning of the revolution in Paris in May 1968, presenter Nick Fraser both talks to some of those who personally demonstrated on the streets but also seeks to understand how this huge change in philosophy was forged by academic activists determined to challenge out-moded orthodoxies. Fraser argues that the views of Foucalt, Derrida, Deleuze, Barthes and, of course, Debord, still resonate in French political thought to this day.
Friday 2 May - 8 - 8.30pm - ITV1 - Tonight: Big Mac Fights Back
Evidently fast food chain McDonalds is selling more burgers and meals in the UK than ever before, after recovering from a major fall in profits and pressure from anti-obesity campaigners. This edition looks at both the burgers chain's "reinvention" and the concerns of its critics.
Apr 27 2008 00:22