Documentaries

Requiem for a Moth
Martin Wainwright looks at our national night time obsession - with the beauty of moths.
06 May 2011,28 mins
The Life of Pope Francis
Following the death of Pope Francis, Edward Stourton explores his life and legacy.
21 Apr 2025,41 mins
John Burnside: From the Other Side
How a recent near-death experience has influenced poet John Burnside's life and work.
30 Oct 2022,28 mins
Does the Irish Republic want reunification?
Rising taxes, changes to flags and anthems. It’s more complicated than it seems.
22 May 2023,28 mins
Sweet Reason
Series 1
Experts
Experts - are they to be trusted?
23 Aug 2018,28 mins
More episodes
The Invisible Man of Britain's Far Right
An investigation into Jim Dowson, the front man for Knights Templar International.
01 May 2018,38 mins
Vessels of Memory: Glass Ships of Sunderland
Now an endangered craft, discover the lost legacy of Sunderland’s glass ships in bottles.
23 Jun 2024,28 mins
A Walk on the Supply Side
Duncan Weldon explores the past, present and uncertain future of supply-side economics.
01 Nov 2022,28 mins
The Animal Employment Agency
Meet the creatures with a career path - in niche jobs where only an animal will do.
14 May 2025,28 mins
A Documentary: By ChatGPT
What would a documentary made by ChatGPT sound like? Lara Lewington explores AI territory.
06 Mar 2023,28 mins
Reading the Air
Writer Chris Yates looks to the skies in search of the wintering hen harrier.
23 Oct 2022,28 mins
Suck it and See
Award-winning songwriter Amy Wadge investigates the history and potential of the harmonica
29 Mar 2016,30 mins
A Dyeing Wish
Facing his own mortality, an artist collaborates with a farmer to transform toxic dyes.
13 Dec 2023,28 mins
Pilgrimage for a Pint
Julie Fowlis and Karine Polwart journey to the most remote pub in mainland Britain.
24 Dec 2023,28 mins
Searching for cosmic dust
A jazz musician becomes a cosmic dust hunter.
30 Apr 2023,28 mins
Andy Warhol: Time Regained
Lenny Henry unveils the mysterious contents of Andy Warhol's Time Capsules.
11 Sep 2014,28 mins
The Hidden History of the Attic
Rachel Hurdley discovers a part of the home full of memory, mystery and possession.
23 Apr 2023,28 mins
Cover Story
Rufus Wainwright on how he approaches the song A Foggy Day and why he's drawn to it.
04 Aug 2022,28 mins
Train Hopping in the USA
Jumping on freight trains in America, adventure or desperation? Peter Bowes explores.
19 Dec 2012,30 mins
The NHS at 75: Covid Memories
Poems and prose from NHS staff on their experiences of the Covid pandemic.
04 Jul 2023,28 mins
The Other Black Door
How a group of organisations in one Westminster building affected a decade of UK politics.
19 Sep 2022,28 mins
I'm Here. Where Are You?
Early-bird poet Ian McMillan investigates why people are early or late.
02 Aug 2017,30 mins
Conjuring Halie
Cerys Matthews celebrates one of her musical heroines, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.
01 May 2012,30 mins
Edward Thomas and the Song of the Path
Robert Macfarlane and Johnny Flynn with Edward Thomas's Poems and Songs for the Open Air.
18 Dec 2022,28 mins
Bella Hardy Goes Home
Radio 2's Folk Singer of the Year 2014 goes back to her roots, Edale in Derbyshire.
24 Jun 2014,30 mins
House, Bridge, Fountain, Gate, Pitcher, Fruit-Tree, Window
A radio hymn to the things around us inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies.
17 Nov 2022,28 mins
Simpson in Afghanistan
John Simpson reports from Afghanistan and asks how things have gone wrong.
10 Sep 2009,30 mins
Alice's Restaurant
Ian McMillan discovers how Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant became a Thanksgiving anthem.
17 Nov 2012,30 mins
The Treasury Under Siege
How Whitehall's most powerful department found itself at the heart of a political storm.
25 Oct 2022,28 mins
Inheritors of Partition
The legacy of the division of the Indian subcontinent in Britain today
08 Aug 2022,42 mins