TV Times - 27 October - 2 November 2007

This weeks highlight looks at the utter failure of the British and US governnments to plan for the aftermath of the Iraq War.

Submitted by Lone Wolf on October 29, 2007

Other highlights include a study of the devastating effects of the global credit crunch in the US and a new drama showing how political and social circumstances can create fundamentalist mindsets and actions with tragic consequences.

Mon 29 October - 7 - 7.30pm - BBC2 - This World: American Nightmare
Two million inhabitants in the US are expected to lose their homes this year after being sold loans that they would never able to pay. The programmes director, Emeka Onono, travels to Cleveland, Ohio, to discover the human cost of the worst banking crisis since the Great Depression. It is revealed that the predatory sale of "ninjas" - loans offered to those with "no income, no job and no assets" - at first brought rewards to the sellers but eventually led to the global credit crunch that was felt in Britain during the bank run on Northern Rock.

Mon 29 October - 8 - 9pm - Channel 4 - Dispatches: How To Get Ahead in Africa
Sorious Samura goes undercover to reveal how accepted corruption has become in Africa. In the slums of Kibera in Kenya he finds that the poor have to bribe just to survive - or even stay out of jail.

Pick of the Week :rb:
Mon 29 October - 10.45 - 11.35pm - BBC1 - No Plan, No Peace -
The Inside Story of Iraq's Descent Into Chaos
John Ware reveals how the failure to prepare for the aftermath of the Iraq War proved catastrophic. In this second part of his documentary, he asks how the American and British governments came to undertake the biggest occupation of a foreign country in modern times without a coherent plan and also asks why repeated warnings of the "black hole" in American postwar planning were ignored.

Tue 30 October - 10 - 10.30pm - BBC4 - The History of the World Backwards - 1/6
This new series helmed by Robert Newman attempts to combine comedy with social commentary, making political points by running world events in reverse; for example as jobs in computing decline he portrays the Harrow March with web designers demanding work in heavy industry.

Wed 31 October - 9 - 11.15pm - Channel 4 - Britz -
This thriller tells the story of a British-born Muslim brother and sister who are pulled in radically different directions by conflicting experiences after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Part two on at the same time the following night focuses on the more compelling story of the two siblings and provides a portrait of how a suicide bomber is shaped and forged as a result of the imposition of anti-terrorist laws in Britain combined with harrowing personal experiences.

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