Explore TV Series

How the Other Half Live is a British documentary series, broadcast on Channel 4 by the creators of the similar social benefit programme The Secret Millionaire. The show features a wealthy family providing 'sponsorship' for a family living in poverty in the UK. There have been two series broadcast so far, one in 2009 and another in 2010. The series' are six episodes long and each episode lasts roughly an hour with commercial breaks. Every episode focuses on a new pair of families. The children of the families swap DVDs and meet in person with their parents to explore their mutual lives and homes. The richer family then provide social and economic support to improve the situation for all involved, which normally includes the families meeting in person multiple times, and educational improvements for the children, as well as housing and monetary assistance.

Mary Portas attempts to transform the humble charity shop from the poor relation on the high street into a real contender.

Launched on February, 2002. Cbeebies is a childrens slot coming from 6am to 18pm, presented by Chris Jarvis and Pui Lee and the other presenters, Cbeebies airs a variety of programmes in live action and animation.

Hard Spell is a United Kingdom televised spelling bee programme for children between the ages of eleven and fourteen, presented by Eamonn Holmes, with Nina Hossain reading the words. It was first broadcast on BBC One in late 2004. Heats were held in different parts of the country leading to the grand final, at the end of which Gayathri Kumar was crowned Britain's best young speller. Notable spellers apart from Gayathri included Nisha Abraham-Thomas from Wolverhampton, Mark Jackson from Cambridge, Dominic Harvey from Bath, Sarah Williams from Penzance, Jack Jarvis from Chesterfield and Anthony Collins from Barnes. All of the televised runners-up in 2004 received a signed photograph of Eamonn Holmes and other Hard Spell memorabilia. Soon after, the BBC produced a one-off episode of Star Spell, which followed the same format but had celebrities taking part rather than children. This was again presented by Eamonn Holmes, with Nina Hossain reading the words. The one-off episode was won by Richard Whiteley. In late 2005, the BBC broadcast a full series of Star Spell, again presented by Eamonn Holmes but Mishal Husain took over from Nina as word pronouncer. As the show was such a success, Hard Spell returned to television screens at Christmas 2005 with a different age group but the same presenters, Eamonn Holmes and Mishal Husain. In the final, the winner was Niall O'Neill from Northern Ireland who won £10,000 worth of holiday vouchers and media equipment for his school. In 2005 the memorabilia contained a Hard Spell T-shirt, mug, pencil case, pen and a dictionary signed by the presenter.

Jamie's School Dinners is a four-episode documentary series broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 23 February to 16 March 2005. The series was recorded between Spring to Winter 2004, in which it featured TV chef Jamie Oliver attempting to improve the quality and nutritional value of school dinners at a typical British school, Kidbrooke School in the Royal Borough of Greenwich — a goal which ultimately led to a broader campaign to improve school dinners throughout Britain.

Jade's P.A was a British Living reality television series following the late Jade Goody teaming up with celebrity PA Heather Howard and recruitment psychologist Dr Rob Yeung to put 10 wannabe PAs through a series of gruelling tasks. Following her death on 22 March 2009 Sky Living re ran the series.

Eastenders Xtra was an interactive entertainment series to celebrate the 20th anniversary of EastEnders.

Four short documentaries made for Channel 4, each about preparing for the worst.

Frauentausch is a German reality television series broadcast on RTL II. This program is similar to other Wife Swap programs, when, for ten days, wives exchange homes and families. They are allowed to advise each other through a video and information cards. The meet blindfolded, half-way en route to their new homes. They are allowed to greet each other, then are later asked for their impression of the meeting. On the tenth and last day of the swap the wives prepare for their trip home, and say goodbye to their substitute families. At the half-way point en route to their apartments, the women or men meet each other again. They might give each other advice on what they can change or talk about problems encountered, etc. Sometimes the discussions end in insults or even in violence. Finally we see their arrival at their own home and how their families receive them. On May 18, 2006, the hundredth episode was shown with a big anniversary special. It was shown whether the lives have changed of the families who have taken part at Frauentausch or whether there are new friendships between some families. Prisma Film produces with Tausche Familie a similarly successful format for Austrian television.

Spy is a British television programme originally made by Wall to Wall for BBC Three in 2004. It has been one of the most-exported United Kingdom television shows of the present decade; according to the Producers' Alliance for Cinema and Television, it had been sold to 129 countries by April 2005. The series follows a group of real-life volunteers as they are trained by former spies in espionage techniques, including maintaining a false identity, surveillance, persuasion and recruitment. The programme's psychological challenges, dramatic tension, high production values, and personable cast led to its being called 'the most addictive thing on TV at the moment' by The Daily Telegraph. The series further develops a format that first appeared in the Wall to Wall television productions Spymaster and Spymaster USA. SPY: A Handbook, a companion book written by Harry Ferguson, a trainer featured on the show, was published in 2004 by Bloomsbury in the UK.

The Fashion Show is a British television programme which debuted on ITV2 on 11 September 2008. The programme was originally titled The Fashion Project. The show originally aired at 8pm on ITV2 as part of XXL Thursday, the show was moved to an earlier 7pm slot for episodes 4-8 to accommodate CelebAir which was moved due to poor ratings, the show returned to its original 8pm slot for the final 2 episodes.

Ban This Filth was a spoof television programme aired on Channel 4 in October 2004. The show was presented as a crusade against pornography, profanity and nudity on television. The three presenters are all elderly middle class women, who warn viewers what programmes not to watch in the coming week. It is presented in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, with segments such as: ⁕ What not to watch, a review of programmes with nudity or pornographic scenes, the times and channels are given so viewers can avoid them ⁕ Review of pornographic DVDs, presented, as what not to buy ⁕ Interviews with porn stars, asking them to quit the business ⁕ Documentary segments covering Adult babies, or Dogging for example

Animated series for the whole family, which takes place at the beginning of 1200 years. It tells the story of a Franciscan monk traveling and carrying wisdom and helping people. A lot of the beautiful words and biblical references.

500 years ago, Michelangelo created three of the art world's greatest and most enduring icons: the statue of David, the painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican and the dome of St Peter's in Rome. This revealing drama documentary traces his development from angry young man to renowned sculptor and creator of incredible paintings. How was one individual capable of producing such work?

Bill Oddie, wildlife cameraman John Aitchison and sound recordist Chris Watson reveal normally hidden natural worlds.

Cricket AM is a Saturday-morning cricket-based television programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports 1. It began broadcasting in May 2006, and is largely based on its successful football-related counterpart Soccer AM, as a replacement during the football off-season. The show lasts for 90 minutes and for the 2010 season is presented by Matt Floyd, who has taken over from Simon Thomas, and Sarah-Jane Mee, the latter taking over from Anita Rani. During the English Cricket Season either an England test or game or a County Cricket game follows the programme.

Dom Joly off on a journey of discovery across the world as he looks to get to grips with the habits, rituals and values of different cultures and examines their attitude to Homer Simpson’s proclaimed "cause of and solution to all of life’s problems" – alcohol. Dom Joly's Happy Hour is a surreal, spoof travel investigation in which Joly teams up with his friend, Canadian digital artist, Peter Wilkins to explore drinking habits around the world. They travel to the Southern States of America, Russia,Mexico, Australia, Europe and India.

A look at several mystery cases

British Isles: A Natural History is an eight-part documentary series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit and presented by Alan Titchmarsh. Originally broadcast in the UK on BBC1 from September to November 2004, it took viewers on a journey from the formation of what is now the British Isles some 3 billion years ago to the present day, revealing how natural and human forces have shaped the landscape. Each of the 50-minute episodes was followed by a 10-minute short specific to each region of the British Isles. In 2007, the BBC made a companion series about British wildlife called The Nature of Britain, also presented by Titchmarsh. A 3-disc Region 2 and 4 DVD set featuring all eight episodes was released on 29 November 2004. Titchmarsh wrote an accompanying book, also called British Isles: A Natural History, and released by BBC Books on 1 October 2004.

In the series a group of five men and five women, accompanied by four older female "chaperones," are given the identities of Regency-era singles. Participants received instruction in the upper class courtship rituals of the time and were charged with seeking out a suitable marriages within the group. The identities assigned range from titled aristocracy and other wealthy members of society to middle class social climbers. One woman is assigned the role of the ladies' assistant and is thus excluded, according to the conventions of the times, from many of the social activities in the house.

Chateau Monty is a British reality television series in which writer Monty Waldin gives up life in England to take over a small organic vineyard in the south-west of France.

This series deals with the mass migration of Germanic tribes at the very beginning of European history, when Rome raced toward collapse.

Beat the Boss is a BBC TV programme in the UK, presented by Cameron Johnson and previously Saira Khan. Two teams, one kids team named "The Bright Sparks", and one adult team named "The Big Shots", have to create a product that will appeal to the kid's market. At the end of each episode, a panel of kids vote for their favourite product and the team with the most votes wins a limousine ride home while the losers take the bus. The show has been commissioned for a fifth series to be made in Manchester.

Documentary series going behind the scenes at The Royal Horticultural Society.

Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory is a United Kingdom television documentary series broadcast on Channel 4 in March 2008. Filmed in "fly-on-the-wall" style, it shows the efforts of Willie Harcourt-Cooze to establish a brand of 100% cacao chocolate in the UK. The series centres around "Willie" Harcourt-Cooze, assisted by his wife Tania Harcourt-Cooze née Coleridge, who aims to grow high quality cacao beans on his farm in Venezuela, and then process them in the UK into luxury chocolate products. A follow-up series, Willie's Chocolate Revolution: Raising the Bar, aired on Channel 4 over three consecutive nights, 7–9 April 2009. This followed Willie's attempt to introduce a high-cacao chocolate bar, "Delectable", in the British market.

Warship is a British documentary series produced by Channel 5 about the Royal Navy. The series features two Navy ships and documents the daily routines of the crew on board during a deployment or exercise.