documentary

Channel 4 orders one-off documentary on women searching for Russia’s missing men

An elderly woman stands in front of three graves, which have writing in Cyrillic

Russia’s Lost Sons (working title), an hour-long programme, was filmed over a year by filmmakers for ROMB, an independent Russian media outlet. 

Women looking for their sons, brothers and husbands join forces as they contend with mostly unresponsive government offices. They are left searching morgues and trawling social media for news, in desperate hopes of finding those they have lost. 

BBC Factual commissions new documentary to examine UK euthanasia laws

In a recent poll, 73% of Britons showed support for doctor-assisted euthanasia for the terminally ill. This comes alongside the ever-growing debate surrounding assisted suicide.

Carr (Silent Witness, Good Omens) has long campaigned against a change in the law, worrying that disabled people are scarcely consulted about the issue. Carr, who wrote and presented the documentary, said: “Too many disabled people will have had the experience of someone, often a complete stranger, telling them, ‘If I was like you, I’d rather be dead'.

"There is a mental health crisis that follows any war": James W Newton on the making of Evacuation, his powerful documentary on the fall of Kabul

It's the combination of such raw, immediate footage, and the completely candid testimonies of civilians and soldiers, that makes James W Newton's documentary on the Taliban's capture of Kabul in 2021, Evacuation, so indelible.

Laura Whitmore to investigate cyber-stalkers and incels in new docuseries

A blonde haired woman stands next to a drain pipe in an allyway lit with cold blue lighting

In one of the instalments, Whitmore will explore the world of ‘involuntary celibates’ or ‘incels’, a male-dominated online community where men who find it difficult to interact with women engage in anti-women discourse. In recent years these forums have moved off the internet and into the real world; in both the UK and US, incels have sought ‘vengeance’ for their feelings of rejection in the form of violence, including mass shootings.

Tommy Jessop goes to Hollywood in new feature-length documentary

Tommy Jessop with his teddy bear Roger

Actor and activist Tommy Jessop was born with Down Syndrome. Having always dreamed of having a leading role, Jessop felt his career was on the right path after starring in the fifth series of Line of Duty. Since then, however, further top roles have yet to materialise for Jessop, so he has decided to take the matter into his own hands.

Universities welcomed to a special screening of My Childhood, My Country: 20 Years in Afghanistan

Child smiling and pointing at camera

The rapt audience were shown Grabsky’s multiple-award-winning feature documentary My Childhood, My Country: 20 Years in Afghanistan, before being treated to a 90-minute discussion.

My Childhood, My Country won the Documentary prize at the RTS Southern Awards in 2022 and then the Bafta for Best Single Documentary.

The director explained how the film was a follow-up to two previous documentaries following Mir, initially a boy of seven, into his twenties.

Stacey Dooley to follow Ukrainian recruits for new BBC documentary

Stacey Dooley stands in the foreground, with soldiers training behind her

Dooley is no stranger to frontline investigations, having previously embedded herself in the all-female Yazidi battalion in Stacey on the Frontline: Girls, Guns and ISIS. But her new feature-length documentary Stacey Dooley: Ready For War? will bring her closer to home.

The Ukrainian civilians first arrive in Britain to engage in five weeks of the British Army’s rigorous training programme. Dooley will see first-hand the emotional and physical challenges the young recruits go through as they learn survival skills and fighting strategies.

New BBC World Service documentary exhibits Russians rallying against Ukraine War

After Russia’s war censorship laws were introduced following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it became virtually impossible to speak up against the war in Russia. Journalists fled the country, media outlets closed, and individuals began to be arrested as they criticised the conflict.

Storyville, Inside Russia: Traitors and Heroes follows one small, independent YouTube channel battling against this censorship. Two journalists document stories from the perspectives of a selection of Russian citizens throughout the past year of war.

BBC drama to tell story of 2017 Grenfell Tower fire

The BBC has commissioned Grenfell, a drama centred on the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire tragedy which killed 72 people, displaced many more, and dismantled a west London community.

The story will be told through the eyes of the people involved, recounting the stories of the victims, their families and friends, and the firefighters tasked with handling the worst residential fire in Britain since the Second World War.