United Kingdom Videos - The Documentary Network

Millionaire Basement Wars

Documentary.net staff — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 09:41:58 +0000

The super-rich are maximizing property value in the heart of London as never before. But they're not building up, they're digging down, creating mega-basements or 'iceberg homes' - nicknamed because there's more square footage under the ground than above. Over the last ten years an estimated 2000 new basements have been dug in central London. Into these multi-level subterranean structures owners are building anything from cinemas, swimming pools, beauty parlours, squash courts, wine cellars and servants' quarters. Some take as long as three years to complete. As well as the noise of the digging, fleets of concrete mixers and lorries taking away the dug soil service the sites. So life for neighbours in some of London's poshest addresses has been hell. As the Royal Borough of Kensington Council responds to angry residents and tries to regulate the number of mega-basements and the disruption they cause, this BBC film goes behind the hoardings to look inside the extraordinary structures and talk to builders, owners and irate neighbours to tell the story of the conflict that has gripped the millionaires and gold-paved streets of London's smartest postcodes.

Colin Furze – Inside The Mind Of An Inventor

Documentary.net staff — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 18:51:52 +0000

Colin Furze is a plumber by day - but in his spare time he retreats to his garage and invents all manner of weird and wonderful contraptions, like the Jet Bike and World's Fastest Mobility Scooter. He also holds the Guinness World Record for the World's Fastest Pram, Longest Motorbike and biggest Bonfire! Made for the BBC Directed by David Beazley Cameraman Max Brill Sound Design Axle Cheeng

The Pedway: Elevating London

Documentary.net staff — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 10:41:31 +0000

The Pedway: Elevating London is a documentary on the post-war redevelopment in the City of London - focusing on the attempt to build an ambitious network of elevated walkways through the city. Featuring interviews with professor of town planning Michael Hebbert (UCL), architecture critic Jonathan Glancey, city planning officer Peter Wynne Rees and writer Nicholas Rudd-Jones (Pathways), the film explores why the 'Pedway' scheme was unsuccessful and captures the abandoned remains that, unknown to the public, still haunt the square mile. Planned & Constructed by Chris Bevan Lee

Being Superman – Europe’s fastest and longest zipline

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 26 May 2014 17:58:16 +0000

The longest zip wire in Europe is located in the Snowdonia National Park in Wales. It is around 1750 metres long and visitors can travel at speeds of up to 100 kilometres per hour. Highflying thrill-seekers can get harnessed and soar over Welsh mountains. With a pricetag of €50 per person for one minute and 45 seconds of pure Superman feeling it is not really a cheap ride. In fact it will be your recordbreaker in terms of duration/price ratio...

Wonderful London in 1924 & 2014

Documentary.net staff — Thu, 08 May 2014 15:40:52 +0000

In 1924, Harry B. Parkingson and Frank Miller documented London in a fantastic series of short films, known as "Wonderful London". Over the last few months, Simon Smith has stood in their foot-steps, recapturing their shots exactly, and have blended the two together creating a window through time.

Boy Racer: Fast & Furious In The UK

Documentary.net staff — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 16:34:13 +0000

Since the trend of teenagers modifying their "affordable" cars with go-faster stripes, neon under-lights, and dump valves really took off in the 90s, the media and public have been wary of boy racers. The British government has attempted to force them out of town centers with surveillance, and the cops spend their nights hunting them in unmarked cars. Understandably, this has driven boy racers to abandon the bright lights for industrial areas, country lanes, and parking lots where they can blare happy hardcore, jungle, bassline, and pull off handbrake turns to their hearts' content. In the film, we follow the boy racers as they try—with varying degrees of success—to unify the scene in their local area. In Essex, we find car meets with hundreds of kids in kitted up cars, showing off luxury paint jobs and bass systems that ruin their girlfriends' hair dos. And in North London, boy racers take to highways to find their own fun—which, in the past, has had grave consequences. The summer brings with it super-sized car festivals, where everyone goes to race, get wasted and get their picture taken with pouting, bikini-clad promo models. Cars get scrapped, street races get dangerous, and things get wild in a parking lot. Boy Racer is a timely spotlight on what kids in souped-up cars are doing today, or tonight, in every town in the UK.

The Globemaker

Documentary.net staff — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 13:38:02 +0000

A short film about Peter Bellerby, artisan globemaker. Directed by Charles Arran Busk & Jamie McGregor Smith

Teenage Exorcists

Documentary.net staff — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 04:56:44 +0000

Finding it hard to come to terms with the shitty things that have happened to you in your life? Help is at hand, in the virginal and strangely vacant form of three bible-bashing teenage exorcists from Phoenix, Arizona. Eighteen-year-old Brynne Larson and her friends Tess and Savannah Sherkenback (18 and 21 respectively) claim to be able to confront the demons lurking inside traumatised people and draw them out using nothing more than the odd cross and a few choice words. But are the teenage exorcists really empowered by the Almighty, or merely by Brynne's father, a failed televangelist named Reverend Bob? In our new film, the girls and Reverend Bob give us exclusive access to their tour of Ukraine, during which they attempt to save the souls of recovering drug addicts and exorcise people's "sexually transmitted demons".

The Beach Captain

Documentary.net staff — Sun, 28 Jul 2013 17:37:41 +0000

Sand sculptures are a popular attraction on many of the world's most popular beaches. Castles, mermaids, furniture, all built by those who pour their heart and soul into these fragile creations. But what about London, on the banks of the murky River Thames? This film follows Ron, or as he is more commonly known, the Beach Captain. An icon of the South Bank and London sand sculptor who, along with others, creates works of art on the banks of the Capital's primary watercourse.

Debt Collector

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 11:58:51 +0000

Ten years ago Shaun Smith was an enforcer for one of the biggest crime families in Liverpool and embroiled in a war against a rival drug gang. Shaun introduced urban terrorism to the British underworld. He sprayed up houses with machine guns, tortured people and used homemade napalm to firebomb his enemies. Today, after a spell of five years in prison for firearms offences, he is trying to transfer those skills to the legal economy by working as a debt collector in the northern English satellite town of Warrington.

POV Crane Climbing

Documentary.net staff — Sun, 07 Jul 2013 08:59:08 +0000

Creating point of view footage has become very common these days. Since cameras are small and light enough and at the same time deliver professional quality, people try to outperform each other with crazy videos. James Kingston is one of them and shows us how the world looks like from the top of a crane in Southhampton, UK. Amazing or insame? When asked why he went up there to die, he replied: "I didn't go up there to die. I went up there to live."

Act of Terror – Animated Documentary

Documentary.net staff — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:57:51 +0000

While filming a routine stop and search of her boyfriend on the London Underground, Gemma suddenly found herself detained, handcuffed and threatened with arrest. Act of Terror tells the story of her fight to bring the police to justice and prevent this happening to anyone else, ever again. http://www.actofterrordocumentary.com/film http://www.facebook.com/fatratfilms http://www.twitter.com/fatratfilms It is easy to forget about the 2005 Terrorism Act and its damaging effect on civil liberties and human rights. Act Of Terror puts the spotlight back on this murky law, and demands that we keep vigilant in the face of ever increasing state power. An animated journey through the labyrinthine world of English Justice, the sinister caveats of Terrorism legislation, and the shocking cronyism of the police complaints system, Act Of Terror is about strength in the face of powerlessness and finding the courage to fight back. by Gemma Atkinson, Producer/Director Fred Grace, Producer/Director fatratfilms.co.uk

The British Wrestler

Documentary.net staff — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:10:31 +0000

A look at the UK's underground wrestling scene, from the community centres of Plymouth to the streets of Glasgow. A far cry from the now faded memories of terrestrial TV's World Of Sport and even further from the glitz and glamour of the stateside WWE, Brits across the country have been escaping the banality of their everyday lives by moonlighting as pro-wrestlers in the largely unheard scene of today.

Disposal Dilemma – Nuclear Waste

Documentary.net staff — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:06:52 +0000

How to dispose of nuclear waste is an issue that's divided opinion for years. And as the world's most dangerous waste takes thousands of years to become safe, it's a debate that's not going to go away. "Just look around - what sick person could ever conceive an idea? That is what is so frightening", says anti-nuclear waste dump protestor, Muir Lachlan. In Britain's picturesque Lake District, locals have been fighting against plans for an underground dump, with concerns about it ruining the local landscape and its tourist industry. Meanwhile, Finland is constructing a new underground high-level radioactive waste dump and it's being broadly welcomed by the locals. "We have room for 12,000 tonnes of uranium here", says geologist, Anntii Jousten. Tunnelling nearly half a kilometre below the surface, Onkalo has been constructed to last for 100,000 years. "No major earthquakes have occurred here in over one billion years. In that sense if you talk about 100,000 years, it's not so much", Jousten insists. With 437 nuclear power plants around the world, and with many more on the drawing boards, the critical choices being made by these countries will have a major impact on many future generations to come.

Guarding The Queen – Behind the Scenes of the Grenadier Guards

Documentary.net staff — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:06:49 +0000

For the very first time cameras have been allowed behind the scenes at the royal palaces to see the historic and hidden world of the Grenadier Guards. In the second episode posh but tough Major Thorold Youngman Sullivan and no nonsense right hand man Sgt Major Steve Munro have their work cut out to maintain the impeccable Grenadier standards. In thie third and final episode, the Guards on ceremonial duty are in London practising for Trooping the Colour alongside their regimental rivals, the Coldstream Guards.