This weeks theme can be summed up in one word - hardcore. Documentaries abound on such heavyweight subjects as children of the Holocaust, Iraqi death squads, the formulation of the atom bomb, execution on the grounds of conspiracy to commit espionage and the Waco siege. Fortuitously this weeks searing viewing is rounded off with a more uplifting documentary on the influence of black music on white culture. A welcome respite.
Sat 27 January - 9 - 10.30pm - History - Hidden Children
A documentary on the brave non-Jewish minority who saved Jewish children from the concentration camps.
Sun 28 January - 11.30pm - 1am - BBC4 - The Fight
A Storyville documentary exploring the boxing match between black American Joe Louis versus Nazi Germany's Aryan figurehead Max Schmeling.
Mon 29 January - 8 - 9pm - Channel 4 - Dispatches: Iraqs Death Squads
A look at whether insurgents and al-Qaeda are being blamed for acts of mass murder carried out by Shia infiltrated govt death squads.
Mon 29 January - 8.30 - 9pm - BBC1 - Panorama - Secrets of the Drugs Trials
An investigation into whether Britains biggest drug company deliberately misled doctors into prescribing Seroxat for depressed teenagers without any evidence to prove its efficacy to treat this patient group. (Given this industries penchant for illegally testing its wares on Third World citizens, illegally dumping out-of-date and lethal drugs in deprived countries for the tax breaks, deliberately letting vulnerable people die for the sake of a few pence profit and carrying out acts of corporate murder when their "reputation" is threatened this would be hardly be surprising. )
Mon 29 January - 9 - 10pm - BBC2 - Nuclear Secrets - 3/5 - Superbomb
A story on the development of the originl atomic bomb which was masterminded by Robert Oppenheimer who went on to fiercely oppose the new hydrogen superbomb and consequently was considered to be a Communist.
Mon 29 January - 10 - 10.30pm - BBC2 - Trust Me I'm a Healer - 4/6
This tongue-in-cheek strand today asks if its subject - Mary Malone - really can cure illnesses through prayer.
Wed 31 January - 10.30pm - 12.10am - BBC4 - Heir to an Execution
In this Storyville strand, Ivy Meeropol recounts the tale of her grandparents, executed in 1953 for conspiracy to commit espionage.
Pick of the Week :rb:
Thu 1 Feb - 9 - 11.05pm - Channel 4 - Inside Waco
This lengthy and multi faceted documentary on the infamous Texan Waco siege of 1993 combines news footage, reconstructions and first-person testimonies from both siege survivors and law enforcement agencies. The director, Neil Rawles, is quoted as saying.. "I hope this film makes people think again about Waco. Because if Amercians can get it so wrong, on their own soil, with their own people, what does it say about their policies in the rest of the world?"
Fri 2 Feb - 9 - 10pm - BBC4 - Soul Brittania - 1/3
Don Letts is at the helm of this documentary on the dynamic impact of black American and Caribbean sounds on white British music and society.
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