Nov 21st-Dec 4th

Your Money and How They Spend It 
BBC2 London 9:00pm-10:00pm (1 hour ) Wed 30 Nov
The blurb: "Part two of two. Nick Robinson explores the difficulties politicians face when trying to change the way tax is collected, and how Chancellors have persuaded people to pay more in the past. He also discovers how little many people understand the system, and asks whether the wealthy should be making larger contributions"

Storyville: Bobby Fischer - Genius and Madman (2011)
BBC4 9:00pm-10:30pm (1 hour 30 minutes) Wed 30 Nov
The blurb: "Premiere. Documentary about the troubled chess grandmaster, who went from child prodigy to world champion at the age of 29. However, he struggled to cope with life in the public eye and succumbed to paranoia and delusions, making controversial statements and being forced to live as a fugitive from the American legal system. Featuring archive footage and interviews with those closest to him"

Storyville - Knocking on Heaven's Door 
BBC4 8:00pm-9:00pm (1 hour ) Thu 1 Dec
The blurb: "Film-maker George Carey marks the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's 1961 flight into space by exploring the origins of the mission. He investigates how the Russian programme was inspired by a mystic who claimed that science would make humans immortal, and discovers ideas from this era have survived communism and adapted themselves into modern scientific theory"

Mark Zuckerberg: Inside Facebook 
BBC2 London 9:00pm-10:00pm (1 hour ) Sun 4 Dec
The blurb: "Emily Maitlis explores the phenomenal success of the social networking website, including an interview with its co-creator Mark Zuckerberg. Over seven years, Facebook has gained 800 million users and is predicted to be worth $100billion if it is floated on the stock market next year. Emily explores the site's origins and its extraordinary cultural impact, and also questions Zuckerberg on why he believes there is no conflict between sharing and guarding users' personal information"

Black Mirror: The National Anthem 
Channel 4 9:00pm-10:00pm (1 hour ) Sun 4 Dec
The blurb: "New series. First of three darkly comic horror stories about the power of technology in the 21st century. Prime minister Michael Callow faces a dilemma when Princess Susannah, a much-loved member of the royal family, is kidnapped, and he and his staff struggle to deal with shifting public opinion as information about the case spreads across the internet."

Storyville: The Interrupters - How to Stop a Riot (2011) 
BBC4 9:00pm-11:00pm (2 hours ) Sun 4 Dec
The blurb: "Premiere. Documentary following the work of an organisation set up in Chicago to prevent street crime. The group uses volunteers, many of whom have criminal pasts, to prevent outbreaks of violence escalating into riots. The film follows three of these `interrupters' as they use their own methods to persuade people not to commit crimes"

November 21st-27th 2011

Britain's Greatest Codebreaker 
Channel 4 9:00pm-10:20pm (1 hour 20 minutes) Mon 21 Nov
the blurb:
Docu-drama about Alan Turing, the mathematician who was instrumental in the breaking of the German Enigma code during the Second World War, and was a pioneer of the computer age and artificial intelligence. Turing's achievements went largely unrecognised while he was alive, and he committed suicide in 1954 after being convicted of gross indecency with another man, at a time when homosexuality was considered a crime


Storyville: Deadline - The New York Times (2011)
BBC4 10:00pm-11:30pm (1 hour 30 minutes) Tue 22 Nov
the blurb:
Premiere. Documentary going behind the scenes of the respected newspaper, gaining access to the newsroom and the media desk as journalists pursue the perfect front-page story.  
The film examines how the rise of online news sources has affected The Times, considering the continuing importance of professional journalism and the wider repercussions of a decline in print media


Your Money and How They Spend It 
BBC2 London 9:00pm-10:00pm (1 hour ) Wed 23 Nov
the blurb:
Part one of two. Nick Robinson explores how governments collect and spend tax money. He explores who receives what funding and why, investigates whether any of the money is wasted and finds out about the pressure politicians are constantly under to authorise further spending, as well as the difficulties they face in resisting. Includes interviews with senior Westminster figures and voters from around Britain


Tony Robinson's Gods and Monsters 
Channel 4 8:15pm-9:15pm (1 hour ) Sat 26 Nov
the blurb:
Tony Robinson explores the history of belief, superstition and religious experience in Britain. He begins by focusing on the human fascination with and  terror of dead bodies, examining why people in the past thought they could rise from the grave to cause havoc among the living. During his investigation he encounters stories of a plague-breathing zombie and monarchs who ate the remains of their subjects

14/11/2011 Channel 4, 9pm Confessions of an Undercover Cop

Might sound a bit sensationalist, but from the Cutting Edge stable, which is reason enough to watch it.
The Blurb : "Documentary following undercover police officer Mark Kennedy, who spent eight years as a dedicated activist, having infiltrated the environmental movement and Europe's left-wing extremist political groups. Now, with his cover blown, Kennedy has lost his wife and children, and the friends he made during his time with the protesters have labelled him a traitor. In this Cutting Edge film, he discusses the consequences of his actions, as police bosses claim he has forgotten who he really is"

November 7th-13th

A particularly barren week in the interesting TV domain. Nothing new which sounds really interesting, but one repeat worth watching if haven't seen before:

World War Two: 1941 and the Man of Steel
13th Nov, BBC 4 9pm
the blurb: "Historian David Reynolds explores Josef Stalin's handling of the conflict between the Soviet Union and Germany during the Second World War. He reveals how the dictator's mental frailties nearly caused his country to fall to the Nazis in 1941 and examines the compromises he was forced to make to survive. He also investigates the events that led to Stalin eventually siding with the Allied powers, including Winston Churchill's 1942 visit to Moscow"

One amusing little nugget was that Stalin never lost his strong rural Georgian accent, which would probably have marked him out for ridicule in high russian society, if it hadn't belonged to a vicious and vengeful paranoic. The UK equivalent would seem to have been to hear angry despotic rhetoric delivered with a yorkshire accent. Oh aye Amos, will have nowt to do with them bourgois landlords, and will kill every last one of them.

TV Tips for 2011-10-31 to 2011-11-06

Mon 11/10/31 10pm BBC4 : Andy Hamilton's Search for Satan

the blurb : "An exploration the history of Satanic mythologies, examining the roots of stories about the Devil and how perceptions of him have changed through the centuries. He also assesses the importance of Satan in society and popular culture, and considers his importance in explaining the presence of evil in the world"

Since I think one of the problems in the world is the easy belief that problems
are due to simple 'evildoers' then this examination of the roots of the satan
myth might be interesting

Wed 11/11/2 9pm BBC2 Secret Pakistan (Part 2)
the blurb :  "Backlash The conclusion of the two-part documentary reveals how Britain and America discovered compelling evidence that Pakistan was secretly helping the Taliban and concluded they had been double crossed. It tells the story of how, despite Pakistan denying the allegations against them, the US has been waging a secret war against one of the West's closest allies, suspecting them of sheltering and arming the Taliban, and even helping to kill Western troops"

Important topic, first part was fascinating, so will tune in again.

Thu 11/11/3 9pm BBC2 Life in Day
the blurb : "Documentary based on the highlights of the thousands of submissions to create a portrait of life on Earth in the present day"

Always good to get an insight into daily life for the rest of the planet

Fri 11/11/4 9pm BBC1 Have I Got News For You
Topical british comedy. What more could you want
Fri 11/11/4 9.30pm BBC1 Live At The Apollo.
More british comedy, why change channel?

Sun 11/11/6 9pm BBC2 Will it snow?
the blurb :  "Kate Humble, Adam Rutherford and Alys Fowler assess what Britain's weather will be like this winter, following the high levels of snow that caused chaos across the nation in 2010. The presenters explore how methods of prediction have developed through the centuries, from medieval folklore to modern supercomputers, and discover how people and businesses are preparing for the possibility of more severe weather in the months to come"

The title has got me hooked. Almost as important a topic as Pakistan.

TV tips - new sub blog

As much as writing about interesting programmes afterwards, for anyone interested in the topics  I am, then it might be just as useful to have some tips about upcoming programmes of interest. So every Monday I’m going to try and post a list of what I think are the best TV tips for the next week.

These will be the things I’ll be putting into my DVR for the week, but whether I’ll ever get around to watching them is another thing. That said, my digital database is already crammed full of unwatched programmes, so I currently am trying to limit myself (and my recommendations) to things I really think I should, if not will, watch.

Note, all times are UK broadcast times. Much of this stuff is available after broadcast on the internet (own moral/legal guidelines apply! Though since I’ll generally recommend free-to-air documentary stuff then it’s hardly a big issue).

and of course, since I haven't yet actually watched any of this stuff - it's only a best guess! :-)