List of Horizon (British TV series) episodes
Horizon is a current and long-running BBC popular science and philosophy documentary programme. Series one was broadcast in 1964 and it is currently in its 48th series. Over 1100 episodes have been broadcast with an average of 24 episodes per series during the 47 year run.
- 1964-1970 – 207 episodes
- 1970-1980 – 284 episodes
- 1980-1990 – 233 episodes
- 1990-2000 – 186 episodes
- 2000-2010 – 174 episodes
Special editions
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Great British Drought" | 26 May 1976 | 00x01 |
| "Darwin's Dream" | 23 September 1977 | 00x02 |
| "The Case of the Ancient Astronauts" | 25 November 1977 | 00x03 |
| "The Mind's Eye" | 28 January 1980 | 00x04 |
| "25 Years in Space" | 25 December 1982 | 00x05 |
| "Biology at War: The Mystery of Yellow Rain" | 15 May 1984 | 00x06 |
| "Beyond the Moon" | 21 July 1984 | 00x07 |
| "Biology at War: A Plague in the Wind" | 29 October 1984 | 00x08 |
| "Halley's Comet: The Apparition" | 25 November 1985 | 00x09 |
| "Life Story" | 27 April 1987 | 00x10 |
| "Doctors to Be, 1: Trial by Interview" | 23 April 1988 | 00x11 |
| "Doctors to Be, 2: The Knowledge" | 24 April 1988 | 00x12 |
| "Doctors to Be, 3: Welcome to the Real World" | 25 April 1988 | 00x13 |
| "The Quest for Tannu Tuva" | 4 July 1988 | 00x14 |
| "Making an Honest Fiver" | 6 June 1990 | 00x15 |
| "Red Star in Orbit, 1: The Invisible Spaceman" | 7 December 1990 | 00x16 |
| "Red Star in Orbit, 2: The Dark Side of the Moon" | 14 December 1990 | 00x17 |
| "Red Star in Orbit, 3: The Mission" | 21 December 1990 | 00x18 |
| "A Close Encounter of the Second Kind" | 10 July 1992 | 00x19 |
| "Hide and Seek in Iraq" | 23 August 1992 | 00x20 |
| "Assault on the Male" | 31 October 1993 | 00x21 |
| "Twice Born" | 14 February 1995 | 00x22 |
| "The Science of Star Trek" | 26 August 1996 | 00x23 |
| "The Invisible Enemy (BSE Special episode)" | 17 November 1996 | 00x24 |
| "The Human Experiment (BSE Special episode)" | 18 November 1996 | 00x25 |
| "Ice Mummies 1: The Ice Maiden" | 30 January 1997 | 00x26 |
| "Ice Mummies 2: A Life in Ice" | 6 February 1997 | 00x27 |
| "Ice Mummies 3: Frozen in Heaven" | 13 February 1997 | 00x28 |
| "Computers Don't Bite, Inside the Internet" | 17 May 1997 | 00x29 |
| "Destination Mars" | 4 July 1997 | 00x30 |
| "Mars, Death or Glory?" | 5 July 1997 | 00x31 |
| "The Ice Forms (Antarctica Special Edition Part 1)" | 30 October 1997 | 00x32 |
| "The Ice Lives (Antarctica Special Edition Part 2)" | 6 November 1997 | 00x33 |
| "The Ice Melts (Antarctica Special Edition Part 3)" | 13 November 1997 | 00x34 |
| "Darwin, The Legacy" | 29 March 1998 | 00x36 |
| "Longitude" | 4 January 1999 | 00x37 |
| "Born to Be Fat (Fat Files Special Edition Part 1)" | 7 January 1999 | 00x38 |
| "Fixing Fat (Fat Files Special Edition Part 2)" | 14 January 1999 | 00x39 |
| "Living on Air (Fat Files Special Edition Part 3)" | 21 January 1999 | 00x40 |
| "Atlantis Uncovered (Atlantis Special Edition Part 1)" | 28 October 1999 | 00x41 |
| "Atlantis Reborn (Atlantis Special Edition Part 2)" | 4 November 1999 | 00x42 |
| "Living Forever (Life and Death in the 21st Century Special Edition Part 1)" | 4 January 2000 | 00x43 |
| "Future Plagues (Life and Death in the 21st Century Special Edition Part 2)" | 5 January 2000 | 00x44 |
| "Designer Babies (Life and Death in the 21st Century Special Edition Part 3)" | 6 January 2000 | 00x45 |
| "Inside the Internet" | 10 June 2000 | 00x46 |
| "Science Zone, Aliens from Mars" | 27 June 2000 | 00x47 |
| "Life on Mars (Mars Special Episode Part 1)" | 11 January 2001 | 00x48 |
| "Destination Mars (Mars Special Episode Part 2)" | 18 January 2001 | 00x49 |
| "What Sank the Kursk?" | 8 August 2001 | 00x50 |
| "First Olympian" | 23 July 2004 | 00x51 |
| "Winning Gold in 2012" | 18 March 2006 | 00x52 |
| "Everest: Doctors in the Death Zone Part 1" | 23 September 2007 | 00x53 |
| "Everest: Doctors in the Death Zone Part 2" | 30 September 2007 | 00x54 |
| "40 Years on the Moon" | 9 July 2009 | 00x55 |
| "Pandemic: A Horizon Guide" | 9 August 2009 | 00x56 |
| "Mars: A Horizon Guide" | 15 November 2009 | 00x57 |
| "Diet: A Horizon Guide" | 7 January 2010 | 00x58 |
| "The End of God?: A Horizon Guide to Science and Religion" | 21 September 2010 | 00x59 |
|
Historian Dr Thomas Dixon explores BBC archive footage detailing the age-old conflict between religion and science. He highlights interviews with a diverse range of theorists, including American creationists and physicists in Geneva working with the Large Hadron Collider, and asks whether the expansion of knowledge has left no room for the concept of God in the modern world. | ||
| "What Makes Us Clever? A Horizon Guide to Intelligence" | 6 January 2011 | 00x60 |
|
Delving into the 'Horizon' archives, Dallas Campbell discovers how our understanding of intelligence has transformed over the last century. | ||
| "The End of the World? A Horizon Guide to Armageddon" | 17 March 2011 | 00x61 |
|
Our understanding of the world around us is better now than ever before. But are we any closer to knowing how its all going to end? Dallas Campbell delves into the Horizon archive to discover how scientists have tried to predict an impending apocalypse - from natural disaster to killer disease to asteroid impact - and to ask: when Armageddon arrives, will science be able to save us? | ||
| "Japan Earthquake: A Horizon Special with Iain Stewart" | 27 March 2011 | 00x62 |
|
A look at the powerful forces that created the devastating Japanese earthquake. | ||
| "The Space Shuttle: A Horizon Guide" | 10 April 2011 | 00x63 |
|
Coverage from three decades of programmes to present a biography of the space shuttle programme, due to be decommissioned in 2011. | ||
| "Lost Horizons: The Big Bang" | 2 August 2011 | 00x64 |
|
The theory that the universe began from nothing has not always been accepted with the same conviction it is today. Professor Jim Al Khalili looks through 50 years of the BBC science archive to explain how scientists have pieced together the popular theory by using curious horn-shaped antennae, U-2 spy planes and particle accelerators. | ||
| "Carrot or Stick: A Horizon Guide to Raising Kids" | 11 August 2011 | 00x65 |
|
Child psychologist Laverne Antrobus uses excerpts from the Horizon archive to demonstrate how science has shaped parenting and education methods over the past 50 years. She considers which approach is best for raising children, explores how extreme behaviour can be explained by neurological problems, and finds out the effects of a child-centred environment on learning. | ||
| "Extinct: A Horizon Guide to Dinosaurs" | 21 September 2011 | 00x66 |
|
Dallas Campbell explores how mankind's understanding of dinosaurs has developed since the 1970s. He reveals how technological advances led to scientists revising their theories about how the creatures might once have lived, as well as gaining new insights into the reasons for their extinction. The presenter also explores the genetic links between modern birds and the ancient lizards. | ||
| "The Hunt for the Higgs" | 9 January 2012 | 00x67 |
|
Jim Al-Khalili follows the efforts of particle physicists at the Cern research laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, to find the Higgs particle, which is believed to give mass to everything in the universe. He explains why scientists believe discovering it could help answer fundamental questions about the nature of existence, and reveals why their theories are based on the idea of symmetry. | ||
| "Woof! A Horizon Guide to Dogs" | 1 March 2012 | 00x68 |
|
Dallas Campbell examines films from the Horizon archive to discover what science can teach people about dogs. He investigates the origins of domestic breeds and learns about the role humans played in shaping canine evolution, before asking why the bond between mankind and dogs is particularly strong - and whether it can be improved in the future. | ||
| "The Hunt for AI" | 3 April 2012 | 00x69 |
|
Marcus De Sautoy wants to find out how close we are to creating machines that can think like us: robots or computers that have artificial intelligence. His journey takes him to a strange and bizarre world where AI is now taking shape. Marcus meets two robots who are developing their own private language, and attempts to communicate to them. He discovers how a super computer beat humans at one of the toughest quiz shows on the planet, Jeopardy. And finds out if machines can have creativity and intuition like us. Marcus is worried that if machines can think like us, then he will be out of business. But his conclusion is that AI machines may surprise us with their own distinct way of thinking. | ||
| "Stuff: A Horizon Guide to Materials" | 19 April 2012 | 00x70 |
|
Engineer and broadcaster Jem Stansfield explores the Horizon archives to discover how the programme has covered developments in material science during the past five decades. He learns how scientists have created new materials and found fresh uses for old ones, and explores how advances including superconductors and silicon chips have changed mankind's understanding of the world. | ||
| "The Transit of Venus: A Horizon Special" | 5 June 2012 | 00x71 |
|
Liz Bonnin explores the transit of Venus, an event which takes place just after 11pm tonight and offers a rare opportunity to see the planet passing across the face of the sun. She explains why the orbits of Venus and Earth mean they are only aligned twice every century, and investigates what studies of Venus have revealed about life on Earth. Solar physicist Lucie Green investigates James Cook's 1769 voyage to Tahiti to observe the transit, and oceanographer Helen Czerski explores how Earth and Venus came to be so different. | ||
| "Blink: A Horizon Guide to the Senses" | 11 July 2012 | 00x72 |
|
Kevin Fong looks back through 40 years of Horizon archives to explore what science has revealed about methods of perception. He discovers why babies use touch more than any other sense, how vision can easily be tricked, and the ways technological advancements are getting closer to being able to replace human faculties if they fail. | ||
| "Immortal? A Horizon Guide to Ageing" | 17 July 2012 | 00x73 |
|
Veteran presenter Johnny Ball looks back over the 45 years that both he and TV series Horizon have been appearing on air to find out what scientists have learnt about how and why people grow old. He charts developments from macabre early claims of rejuvenation to the latest breakthroughs, and asks if the dream of immortality is any closer to coming true. | ||
| "The Truth About Looking Younger" | 23 July 2012 | 00x74 |
|
Plastic surgeon Rozina Ali explores how the ageing process affects human skin. She examines why some people appear to age better than others, and explores scientific innovations including a pill that manufacturers claim has rejuvenating properties. She also discovers how the contents of a squid's eye could change people's experiences of summer. | ||
Revisited
Horizon Revisited was broadcast on BBC Four and shown between 2002 and 2003. Each of the seven episodes takes information and clips from previous edition of Horizon and updates them with current thinking on each of the topics at hand. These are similar in format to the current 'Horizon Guide' special episodes.
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Horizon Revisited, A Tale of Two Feathers" | 18 October 2002 | 00x01 |
| "Horizon Revisited, Mega Tsunami: Coming to a Beach near You" | 25 October 2002 | 00x02 |
| "Horizon Revisited, Back to the Dark Ages" | 29 November 2002 | 00x03 |
| "Horizon Revisited, Dawn of the Dinosaurs" | 6 December 2002 | 00x04 |
| "Horizon Revisited, You Do as You Are Told: Jonathan Miller and the Milgram Experiment" | 27 February 2003 | 00x05 |
| "Horizon Revisited, The Human Genome Project" | 6 March 2003 | 00x06 |
| "Horizon Revisited, Michael Adler on AIDS" | 13 March 2003 | 00x07 |
Series 01: 1964-1965
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The World of Buckminster Fuller" | 2 May 1964 | 01x01 |
| "Pesticides and Posterity" | 30 May 1964 | 01x02 |
| "A Candle to Nature" | 27 June 1964 | 01x03 |
| "Strangeness Minus Three" | 25 July 1964 | 01x04 |
| "The Air of Science" | 22 August 1964 | 01x05 |
| "The Knowledge Explosion" | 21 September 1964 | 01x06 |
| "The Amateur Scientist" | 19 October 1964 | 01x07 |
| "Tots and Quots and Woodgerie" | 16 November 1964 | 01x08 |
| "Professor J.B.S. Haldane, Obituary" | 1 December 1964 | 01x09 |
| "Science, Toys and Magic" | 14 December 1964 | 01x10 |
| "Learning from Machines" | 6 January 1965 | 01x11 |
| "The Technique of Change" | 20 January 1965 | 01x12 |
| "Star Gazers" | 3 February 1965 | 01x13 |
| "Science and Art" | 17 February 1965 | 01x14 |
| "The Great Computer Scandal" | 3 March 1965 | 01x15 |
| 17 March 1965 | 01x16 | |
| "Faster, Farther, Higher" | 31 March 1965 | 01x17 |
| "Other Side of the Pill" | 14 April 1965 | 01x18 |
| 12 May 1965 | 01x19 | |
| 26 May 1965 | 01x20 | |
| 9 June 1965 | 01x21 | |
| 23 June 1965 | 01x22 | |
| "Dr. Joseph Needham" | 14 July 1965 | 01x23 |
| 28 July 1965 | 01x24 | |
| "Certain of Uncertainty" | 11 August 1965 | 01x25 |
| 25 August 1965 | 01x26 | |
| "Fuel for the Future" | 8 September 1965 | 01x27 |
| "Let Newton Be" | 22 September 1965 | 01x28 |
Series 02: 1965-1966
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Special Senses" | 10 October 1965 | 02x01 |
| "An Affair of the Heart" | 24 October 1965 | 02x02 |
| "Ten Thousand Tombs" | 7 November 1965 | 02x03 |
| "Toil, Sweat & Tears" | 21 November 1965 | 02x04 |
| "The Big Dishes and the Living Stream" | 5 December 1965 | 02x05 |
| 19 December 1965 | 02x06 | |
| 2 January 1966 | 02x07 | |
| 16 January 1966 | 02x08 | |
| "A Man of Two Visions" | 30 January 1966 | 02x09 |
| 13 February 1966 | 02x10 | |
| 27 February 1966 | 02x11 | |
| 13 March 1966 | 02x12 | |
| 27 March 1966 | 02x13 | |
| 10 April 1966 | 02x14 | |
| 24 April 1966 | 02x15 | |
| "Man in Space" | 8 May 1966 | 02x16 |
| 22 May 1966 | 02x17 | |
| 5 June 1966 | 02x18 | |
| 19 June 1966 | 02x19 | |
| 3 July 1966 | 02x20 | |
| "The Lonely Children" | 17 July 1966 | 02x21 |
| 31 July 1966 | 02x22 | |
| 11 September 1966 | 02x23 | |
| 25 September 1966 | 02x24 |
Series 03: 1966-1967
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Ten Years in the Antarctic" | 10 October 1966 | 03x01 |
| "The Athlete" | 24 October 1966 | 03x02 |
| "From Peenemunde to the Moon" | 7 November 1966 | 03x03 |
| 21 November 1966 | 03x04 | |
| "The Structure of Life" | 5 December 1966 | 03x05 |
| "Hand Me My Sword, Humphrey" | 25 December 1966 | 03x06 |
| "Sons of Cain" | 17 January 1967 | 03x07 |
| "How Best to Make a Man, How Best to Make a Scientist" | 14 February 1967 | 03x08 |
| "Dynamo, The Life of Michael Faraday" | 28 February 1967 | 03x09 |
| "Migraine" | 14 March 1967 | 03x10 |
| "How Safe Is Surgery?" | 28 March 1967 | 03x11 |
| "The Shape of War to Come" | 25 April 1967 | 03x12 |
| "Memory" | 9 May 1967 | 03x13 |
| "Masters of the Desert" | 23 May 1967 | 03x14 |
| "Cancer, The Smoker's Gamble" | 20 June 1967 | 03x15 |
| "Science and the Supernatural" | 4 July 1967 | 03x16 |
| "Hypnosis" | 18 July 1967 | 03x17 |
Series 04: 1967-1968
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The War of the Boffins" | 12 September 1967 | 04x01 |
| "Aspects of Alcohol" | 26 September 1967 | 04x02 |
| "Lords of the Sea" | 10 October 1967 | 04x03 |
| "Will Art Last?" | 24 October 1967 | 04x04 |
| "Air Safety, The Unknown Factor" | 7 November 1967 | 04x05 |
| 21 November 1967 | 04x06 | |
| "Koestler on Creativity" | 5 December 1967 | 04x07 |
| "The World of Ted Serios" | 12 December 1967 | 04x08 |
| "Professor in Toyland" | 24 December 1967 | 04x09 |
| "An Ingenious Man, Sir H. John Baker" | 2 January 1968 | 04x10 |
| "Man's Best Friend" | 30 January 1968 | 04x11 |
| "Once a Junkie" | 13 February 1968 | 04x12 |
| "Town Traffic and Tomorrow" | 27 February 1968 | 04x13 |
| "The Man Makers" | 12 March 1968 | 04x14 |
| "Man in Search of Himself" | 26 March 1968 | 04x15 |
| "Investigating Murder" | 9 April 1968 | 04x16 |
| "The Equation of Murder" | 7 May 1968 | 04x17 |
Series 05: 1968-1969
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Lindemann Enigma" | 12 September 1968 | 05x01 |
| "From Field to Factory" | 19 September 1968 | 05x02 |
| "Comfort on Ageing" | 26 September 1968 | 05x03 |
| "Experiments in War" | 3 October 1968 | 05x04 |
| "African Medicine" | 17 October 1968 | 05x05 |
| "The Broken Bridge" | 24 October 1968 | 05x06 |
| "Children Without Words" | 31 October 1968 | 05x07 |
| "Computer Revolution" | 7 November 1968 | 05x08 |
| "Doctor's Dilemma" | 14 November 1968 | 05x09 |
| "In the Matter of Dr Alfred Nobel" | 21 November 1968 | 05x10 |
| "Wheels Within Wheels" | 28 November 1968 | 05x11 |
| "Black Man — White Science" | 5 December 1968 | 05x12 |
| "Hidden World" | 12 December 1968 | 05x13 |
| "The Talgai Skull" | 19 December 1968 | 05x14 |
| "Phantasmagoria, The Magic Lantern" | 24 December 1968 | 05x15 |
| "Inside Every Fat Man..." | 2 January 1969 | 05x16 |
| "If Only They Could Speak" | 9 January 1969 | 05x17 |
| "The Miraculous Wonder, The Human Eye" | 16 January 1969 | 05x18 |
| "The Year of the Locusts" | 23 January 1969 | 05x19 |
| "The Gifted Child" | 30 January 1969 | 05x20 |
| "The Last of the Polymaths" | 6 February 1969 | 05x21 |
| "Music and the Mind" | 13 February 1969 | 05x22 |
| "Report on V.D." | 20 February 1969 | 05x23 |
| "The Drift from Science" | 6 March 1969 | 05x24 |
| "Powers of Persuasion" | 13 March 1969 | 05x25 |
| "The View from Space" | 20 March 1969 | 05x26 |
| "The Unborn Patient" | 27 March 1969 | 05x27 |
| "King Solomon's Garden" | 10 April 1969 | 05x28 |
| "Muck Today — Poison Tomorrow" | 24 April 1969 | 05x29 |
| "Shark" | 1 May 1969 | 05x30 |
| "Technology and Self Determination" | 15 May 1969 | 05x31 |
| "After Apollo" | 22 May 1969 | 05x32 |
| "Discovery" | 29 May 1969 | 05x33 |
| "Machines and People, Rt. Hon. A. Wedgwood-Benn" | 5 June 1969 | 05x34 |
Series 06: 1969-1970
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Science on Safari" | 15 September 1969 | 06x01 |
| "A True Madness" | 22 September 1969 | 06x02 |
| "The Problem of Pain" | 29 September 1969 | 06x03 |
| "Four Fast Legs and a Nose" | 6 October 1969 | 06x04 |
| "Father of the Man" | 13 October 1969 | 06x05 |
| "Master of the Microscope" | 20 October 1969 | 06x06 |
| "CERN" | 27 October 1969 | 06x07 |
| "Cancer" | 10 November 1969 | 06x08 |
| "There's a Rhino in My Sugar" | 17 November 1969 | 06x09 |
| "Fit to Live" | 24 November 1969 | 06x10 |
| "Don't Cackle, Lay Eggs" | 1 December 1969 | 06x11 |
| "How Much Do You Drink?" | 8 December 1969 | 06x12 |
| "A Game of War" | 15 December 1969 | 06x13 |
| "Bread" | 22 December 1969 | 06x14 |
| "For the Safety of Mankind" | 29 December 1969 | 06x15 |
| "Just Another World" | 5 January 1970 | 06x16 |
| "Henry Royce, Mechanic" | 12 January 1970 | 06x17 |
| "A Disease of Our Time, Stress" | 19 January 1970 | 06x18 |
| "A Disease of Our Time, Heart Attacks" | 26 January 1970 | 06x19 |
| "Sex and Sexuality" | 2 February 1970 | 06x20 |
| "Whose Coast?" | 16 February 1970 | 06x21 |
| "A Much Wanted Child" | 23 February 1970 | 06x22 |
| "The Expert Witness" | 2 March 1970 | 06x23 |
| "After the Iron Age" | 9 March 1970 | 06x24 |
| "Let the Therapy Fit the Crime" | 16 March 1970 | 06x25 |
| "The World Outside" | 23 March 1970 | 06x26 |
| "In the Beginning Was the Word" | 30 March 1970 | 06x27 |
| "Drifting of the Continents" | 13 April 1970 | 06x28 |
| "A Case of Priority" | 20 April 1970 | 06x29 |
| "The Fretful Elements" | 27 April 1970 | 06x30 |
| "One Man's Meat" | 11 May 1970 | 06x31 |
| "Only Skin Deep" | 6 July 1970 | 06x32 |
| "Wolves and Wolfmen" | 13 July 1970 | 06x33 |
| "A Measure of Uncertainty" | 10 August 1970 | 06x34 |
| "The Manhunters" | 17 August 1970 | 06x35 |
| "Don't Get Sick in America" | 24 August 1970 | 06x36 |
| "Crown of Thorns" | 31 August 1970 | 06x37 |
Series 07: 1970-1971
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Noah's Ark in Kensington" | 7 September 1970 | 07x01 |
| "Virus" | 14 September 1970 | 07x02 |
| "Water, Water..." | 21 September 1970 | 07x03 |
| "All Creatures Great and Small" | 28 September 1970 | 07x04 |
| "Child for a Lifetime" | 5 October 1970 | 07x05 |
| "Something for Our Children" | 12 October 1970 | 07x06 |
| "Million Ton Tanker" | 2 November 1970 | 07x07 |
| "The Insect War" | 9 November 1970 | 07x08 |
| "The Savage Mind" | 16 November 1970 | 07x09 |
| "Tanks" | 23 November 1970 | 07x10 |
| "Mind the Machine" | 30 November 1970 | 07x11 |
| "Square Pegs" | 7 December 1970 | 07x12 |
| "Earthquakes, The City That Waits to Die" | 14 December 1970 | 07x13 |
| "The Man Who Talks to Frogs" | 21 December 1970 | 07x14 |
| "The Gargantuan Triumph of Science" | 28 December 1970 | 07x15 |
| "Wildlife, The Last Great Battle" | 4 January 1971 | 07x16 |
| "Great Ormond Street" | 18 January 1971 | 07x17 |
| "A Bulldozer Through Heaven" | 25 January 1971 | 07x18 |
| "Rumours of Wars" | 1 February 1971 | 07x19 |
| "I'm Dependent, You're Addicted" | 15 February 1971 | 07x20 |
| "Kuru, To Tremble with Fear" | 22 February 1971 | 07x21 |
| "Due to Lack of Interest Tomorrow Has Been Cancelled" | 8 March 1971 | 07x22 |
| "What Kind of Doctor?" | 15 March 1971 | 07x23 |
| "A Nice Sort of Accident to Have" | 22 March 1971 | 07x24 |
| "The Wood" | 5 April 1971 | 07x25 |
| "The Measure of Man" | 12 April 1971 | 07x26 |
| "Three Score Years and Then?" | 26 April 1971 | 07x27 |
| "Darwin's Bulldog" | 3 May 1971 | 07x28 |
| "The Secret" | 10 May 1971 | 07x29 |
| "What Every Girl Should Know" | 17 May 1971 | 07x30 |
| "Taste of Foods to Come" | 24 May 1971 | 07x31 |
| "Looking for a Happy Landing" | 31 May 1971 | 07x32 |
| "A Case of Depression" | 7 June 1971 | 07x33 |
| "The Total War Machine" | 14 June 1971 | 07x34 |
| "The Dinosaur Hunters" | 21 June 1971 | 07x35 |
Series 08: 1971-1972
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Your Country Needs You" | 27 September 1971 | 08x01 |
| "Rheumatism" | 4 October 1971 | 08x02 |
| "If at First You Don't Succeed... You Don't Succeed" | 11 October 1971 | 08x03 |
| "One Liverpool or Two?" | 18 October 1971 | 08x04 |
| "Rutherford, Cavendish Today" | 25 October 1971 | 08x05 |
| "The Fierce People" | 1 November 1971 | 08x06 |
| "The Men Who Painted Caves" | 15 November 1971 | 08x07 |
| "Crab Nebula" | 22 November 1971 | 08x08 |
| "Can Venice Survive?" | 29 November 1971 | 08x09 |
| "Willingly to School?" | 6 December 1971 | 08x10 |
| "The Periscope War" | 20 December 1971 | 08x11 |
| "Patently Absurd" | 27 December 1971 | 08x12 |
| "The Missing Link" | 3 January 1972 | 08x13 |
| "Navajo, The Last Red Indians" | 10 January 1972 | 08x14 |
| "How Much Do You Smell?" | 17 January 1972 | 08x15 |
| "Parasite of Paradise" | 31 January 1972 | 08x16 |
| "The Day It Rained Periwinkles" | 7 February 1972 | 08x17 |
| "Are You Doing This for Me Doctor?" | 14 February 1972 | 08x18 |
| "How They Sold Doomsday" | 21 February 1972 | 08x19 |
| "For Love or Money" | 28 February 1972 | 08x20 |
| "Whales, Dolphins and Men" | 6 March 1972 | 08x21 |
| "What Is Race?" | 13 March 1972 | 08x22 |
| "Man Made Lakes of Africa" | 20 March 1972 | 08x23 |
| "Survival in the Sahara" | 27 March 1972 | 08x24 |
| "Mind over Body" | 10 April 1972 | 08x25 |
| "Out of Volcanoes" | 17 April 1972 | 08x26 |
| "The Wizard Who Spat on the Floor" | 1 May 1972 | 08x27 |
| "Rail Crash" | 8 May 1972 | 08x28 |
| "Do You Dig National Parks?" | 22 May 1972 | 08x29 |
| "The Rat Man, Sigmund Freud" | 5 June 1972 | 08x30 |
| "Sorry I Opened My Mouth" | 12 June 1972 | 08x31 |
| "The Ways We Move" | 3 July 1972 | 08x32 |
| "The Life That Lives on Man" | 10 July 1972 | 08x33 |
| "Sex Can Be a Problem" | 24 July 1972 | 08x34 |
| "The Surgery of Violence" | 31 July 1972 | 08x35 |
Series 09: 1972-1973
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Hospital, Episode 1922" | 12 October 1972 | 09x01 |
| "When Polar Bears Swam in the Thames" | 19 October 1972 | 09x02 |
| "Making of an English Landscape" | 26 October 1972 | 09x03 |
| "Shadows of Bliss" | 2 November 1972 | 09x04 |
| "Billion Marsh" | 9 November 1972 | 09x05 |
| "Do You Sincerely Want a Long Life?" | 16 November 1972 | 09x06 |
| "The Making of a Natural History Film" | 23 November 1972 | 09x07 |
| "Fire" | 30 November 1972 | 09x08 |
| "Alaskan Pipe Dream" | 7 December 1972 | 09x09 |
| "Their Life in Your Hands" | 21 December 1972 | 09x10 |
| "Navigating Europe" | 28 December 1972 | 09x11 |
| "Epidemic" | 4 January 1973 | 09x12 |
| "Worlds in Collision" | 11 January 1973 | 09x13 |
| "The Military Necessity" | 18 January 1973 | 09x14 |
| "The Curtain of Silence" | 25 January 1973 | 09x15 |
| "When the Breeding Has to Stop" | 8 February 1973 | 09x16 |
| "Science Is Dead, Long Live Science" | 15 February 1973 | 09x17 |
| "And Where Will the Children Play?" | 1 March 1973 | 09x18 |
| "Acupuncture" | 8 March 1973 | 09x19 |
| "What Time Is Your Body?" | 22 March 1973 | 09x20 |
| "Survival of the Weakest" | 5 April 1973 | 09x21 |
| "Red Sea Coral and the Crown of Thorns" | 12 April 1973 | 09x22 |
| "Lumbered... With Back-Ache!" | 26 April 1973 | 09x23 |
| "Airport" | 3 May 1973 | 09x24 |
| "Do You Remember the Memory Man?" | 17 May 1973 | 09x25 |
| "What a Waste!" | 24 May 1973 | 09x26 |
| "The Laws of the Land" | 7 June 1973 | 09x27 |
| "Do We Really Need the Railways?" | 14 June 1973 | 09x28 |
| "The Telly of Tomorrow" | 21 June 1973 | 09x29 |
| "How Does It Hurt?" | 5 July 1973 | 09x30 |
| "A Scientist Looks at Religion" | 9 August 1973 | 09x31 |
Series 10: 1973-1974
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "In Search of Konrad Lorenz" | 24 September 1973 | 10x01 |
| "Stretch Up Tall" | 1 October 1973 | 10x02 |
| "Gilding the Lily" | 8 October 1973 | 10x03 |
| "Black Holes of Gravity" | 15 October 1973 | 10x04 |
| "What's so Big About Us?" | 22 October 1973 | 10x05 |
| "The Steadfast Tin Solidier" | 29 October 1973 | 10x06 |
| "Carry On Smoking" | 5 November 1973 | 10x07 |
| "Air Crash Detective" | 26 November 1973 | 10x08 |
| "An Element of Mystery" | 3 December 1973 | 10x09 |
| "Digging Up the Future" | 17 December 1973 | 10x10 |
| "Kula, A Reason for Giving" | 24 December 1973 | 10x11 |
| "Crime Lab" | 31 December 1973 | 10x12 |
| "A Matter of Self Defence" | 7 January 1974 | 10x13 |
| "Bird Brain, The Mystery of Bird Navigation" | 14 January 1974 | 10x14 |
| "Never Too Late to Learn" | 21 January 1974 | 10x15 |
| "The Great Fish Hunt" | 28 January 1974 | 10x16 |
| "Pedal Power" | 4 February 1974 | 10x17 |
| "The Writing on the Wall" | 11 February 1974 | 10x18 |
| "Where Did the Colorado Go?" | 25 February 1974 | 10x19 |
| "The Future Goes Boom" | 4 March 1974 | 10x20 |
| "Fusion, The Energy Promise" | 11 March 1974 | 10x21 |
| "The First Ten Years" | 22 April 1974 | 10x22 |
| "This Yankee Dodge Beats Mesmerism Hollow" | 29 April 1974 | 10x23 |
| "The Hunting of the Quark" | 6 May 1974 | 10x24 |
| "A Noah's Ark for Europe" | 13 May 1974 | 10x25 |
| "Bridges, When It Comes to the Crunch" | 3 June 1974 | 10x26 |
| "Search for Life" | 10 June 1974 | 10x27 |
| "The Secrets of Sleep" | 17 June 1974 | 10x28 |
| "Who Needs Skill?" | 24 June 1974 | 10x29 |
| "Hills of Promise" | 1 July 1974 | 10x30 |
| "The Race for the Double Helix" | 8 July 1974 | 10x31 |
| "The Immigrant Doctors" | 15 July 1974 | 10x32 |
| "Mines Minerals and Men" | 22 July 1974 | 10x33 |
| "What Price Steak?" | 29 July 1974 | 10x34 |
| "Listen and Be Loyal" | 5 August 1974 | 10x35 |
| "Adam or Eve?" | 19 August 1974 | 10x36 |
Series 11: 1974-1975
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "An Unholy Scramble" | 2 September 1974 | 11x01 |
| "You Do as You Are Told" | 28 October 1974 | 11x02 |
| "The First Signs of Washoe" | 4 November 1974 | 11x03 |
| "The Other Way" | 11 November 1974 | 11x04 |
| "The Greatest Advance Since the Wheel" | 25 November 1974 | 11x05 |
| "Joey" | 9 December 1974 | 11x06 |
| "The Neglected Harvest" | 16 December 1974 | 11x07 |
| "How on Earth Did They Do That?" | 23 December 1974 | 11x08 |
| "The Lysenko Affair" | 30 December 1974 | 11x09 |
| "The Cleanest Place in the World" | 6 January 1975 | 11x10 |
| "The Killer Dust" | 20 January 1975 | 11x11 |
| "A Time to Be Born" | 27 January 1975 | 11x12 |
| "The Unsafe Sea" | 10 February 1975 | 11x13 |
| "The Change of Life" | 17 February 1975 | 11x14 |
| "Project Fido" | 24 February 1975 | 11x15 |
| "The Planets" | 10 March 1975 | 11x16 |
| "The Long Long Walkabout" | 7 April 1975 | 11x17 |
| "The Overworked Miracle" | 14 April 1975 | 11x18 |
| "Not the Cheapest but the Best" | 21 April 1975 | 11x19 |
| "A Spoonful of Roughage" | 28 April 1975 | 11x20 |
| "Brain Poison" | 5 May 1975 | 11x21 |
| "The Bulldog's Last Bark?" | 12 May 1975 | 11x22 |
| "Benjamin" | 19 May 1975 | 11x23 |
| "The Mcmaster Experiment" | 2 June 1975 | 11x24 |
| "The Glazed Outlook" | 9 June 1975 | 11x25 |
| "The Three Chord Trick" | 16 June 1975 | 11x26 |
| "Strange Sleep" | 30 June 1975 | 11x27 |
| "How Do You Read?" | 14 July 1975 | 11x28 |
| "The Sickly Sea" | 21 July 1975 | 11x29 |
| "Happy Catastrophe" | 28 July 1975 | 11x30 |
| "To Die – To Live, The Survivors of Hiroshima" | 6 August 1975 | 11x31 |
| "Cannabis" | 11 August 1975 | 11x32 |
| "Meditation and the Mind" | 18 August 1975 | 11x33 |
Series 12: 1975-1976
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Trobriand Experiment" | 29 December 1975 | 12x01 |
| "The Transplant Experience" | 5 January 1976 | 12x02 |
| "Intimate Strangers" | 12 January 1976 | 12x03 |
| "A Fair Share of What Little We Have" | 19 January 1976 | 12x04 |
| "The Incredible Machine" | 26 January 1976 | 12x05 |
| "King Coal Revived" | 2 February 1976 | 12x06 |
| "A Question of Trust" | 9 February 1976 | 12x07 |
| "The Case of the Bermuda Triangle" | 16 February 1976 | 12x08 |
| "The Lords of the Labyrinth" | 23 February 1976 | 12x09 |
| "Inside the Shark" | 1 March 1976 | 12x10 |
| "The Chemical Dream" | 8 March 1976 | 12x11 |
| "The Edelin Affair" | 15 March 1976 | 12x12 |
| "The World of Margaret Mead" | 22 March 1976 | 12x13 |
| "The Pathway from Madness" | 29 March 1976 | 12x14 |
| "Geronimo's Children" | 5 April 1976 | 12x15 |
| "The Vision of the Blind" | 12 April 1976 | 12x16 |
| "A Lesson for Teacher" | 26 April 1976 | 12x17 |
| "Why Did Stuart Die?" | 3 May 1976 | 12x18 |
| "The Children of Peru" | 17 May 1976 | 12x19 |
| "Dying" | 24 May 1976 | 12x20 |
| "A Home Like Ours..., A Story of Four Children" | 7 June 1976 | 12x21 |
| "What's Wrong with the Sun?" | 14 June 1976 | 12x22 |
Series 13: 1976-1977
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Bull's-Eye War" | 25 October 1976 | 13x01 |
| "The Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs" | 1 November 1976 | 13x02 |
| "Billion Dollar Bubble" | 8 November 1976 | 13x03 |
| "The Selfish Gene" | 15 November 1976 | 13x04 |
| "A Child of Our Own" | 22 November 1976 | 13x05 |
| "Secrets of a Coral Island" | 29 November 1976 | 13x06 |
| "The Long Valley" | 6 December 1976 | 13x07 |
| "Half-Way to 1984" | 13 December 1976 | 13x08 |
| "The Mystery of King Arthur and His Round Table" | 20 December 1976 | 13x09 |
| "A Smile for the Crocodile" | 7 January 1977 | 13x10 |
| "The Pill for the People" | 14 January 1977 | 13x11 |
| "The Ape That Stood Up" | 21 January 1977 | 13x12 |
| "The Human Animal" | 4 February 1977 | 13x13 |
| "The Guinea Pig and the Law" | 18 February 1977 | 13x14 |
| "Hunters of the Seal" | 25 February 1977 | 13x15 |
| "The Red Planet" | 4 March 1977 | 13x16 |
| "One of Nature's Hotels" | 11 March 1977 | 13x17 |
| "Dawn of the Solar Age" | 18 March 1977 | 13x18 |
| "Genetic Roulette" | 1 April 1977 | 13x19 |
| "The Amazing Doctor Newton" | 15 July 1977 | 13x20 |
| "The Trouble with Medicine" | 22 July 1977 | 13x21 |
| "Silent Speech" | 29 July 1977 | 13x22 |
| "The Green Machine" | 5 August 1977 | 13x23 |
| "Horizon 2002" | 26 August 1977 | 13x24 |
Series 14: 1977-1978
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The River That Came Clean" | 2 September 1977 | 14x01 |
| "Blueprints in the Bloodstream" | 9 September 1977 | 14x02 |
| "40 Years of Murder" | 16 September 1977 | 14x03 |
| "The Cry for Help" | 30 September 1977 | 14x04 |
| "The Sunspot Mystery" | 7 October 1977 | 14x05 |
| "The Rhine's Revenge" | 21 October 1977 | 14x06 |
| "Icarus' Children" | 2 December 1977 | 14x07 |
| "The Healing Nightmare" | 9 December 1977 | 14x08 |
| "The Great Wine Revolution" | 23 December 1977 | 14x09 |
| "Living Machines" | 6 January 1978 | 14x10 |
| "A Land for All Reasons" | 20 January 1978 | 14x11 |
| "I Don't Want to Be a Burden" | 27 January 1978 | 14x12 |
| "Zero G" | 3 February 1978 | 14x13 |
| "The Message in the Rocks" | 17 February 1978 | 14x14 |
| "The Eddystone Lights" | 24 February 1978 | 14x15 |
| "Light of the 21st Century" | 10 March 1978 | 14x16 |
| "The New Breadline" | 24 March 1978 | 14x17 |
| "Now the Chips Are Down" | 31 March 1978 | 14x18 |
| "Explosions in the Mind" | 14 July 1978 | 14x19 |
| "One Small Step" | 21 July 1978 | 14x20 |
| "The Tsetse Trap" | 28 July 1978 | 14x21 |
| "A Whisper from Space" | 4 August 1978 | 14x22 |
| "Prisoners of Hope" | 11 August 1978 | 14x23 |
| "On a Different Track" | 18 August 1978 | 14x24 |
| "Careering into Science" | 25 August 1978 | 14x25 |
Series 15: 1978-1979
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Cashing In on the Ocean" | 1 September 1978 | 15x01 |
| "Bags of Life" | 8 September 1978 | 15x02 |
| "Innocent Slaughter?" | 15 September 1978 | 15x03 |
| "Beersheva Experiment" | 3 November 1978 | 15x04 |
| "Divers Do It Deeper" | 10 November 1978 | 15x05 |
| "The Big Sleep" | 17 November 1978 | 15x06 |
| "The Vital Spark" | 24 November 1978 | 15x07 |
| "The Red Deer of Rhum" | 29 December 1978 | 15x08 |
| "The Forever Fuel" | 26 February 1979 | 15x09 |
| "In Search of Pegasus" | 5 March 1979 | 15x10 |
| "The Keys of Paradise" | 12 March 1979 | 15x11 |
| "Sweet Solutions" | 19 March 1979 | 15x12 |
| "Bronze Age Blast-Off" | 26 March 1979 | 15x13 |
| "The Real Bionic Man" | 2 April 1979 | 15x14 |
| "A Mediterranean Prospect" | 9 April 1979 | 15x15 |
| "Elements of Risk" | 23 April 1979 | 15x16 |
| "Mr Ludwig's Tropical Dreamland" | 30 April 1979 | 15x17 |
| "Where Nothing Happens Twice" | 7 May 1979 | 15x18 |
| "Journey Through the Human Body" | 14 May 1979 | 15x19 |
| "The Fight to Be Male" | 21 May 1979 | 15x20 |
| "The Robots Are Coming" | 28 May 1979 | 15x21 |
Series 16: 1979-1980
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Mexican Oil Dance" | 24 September 1979 | 16x01 |
| "Tracks on the Oregon Trail" | 1 October 1979 | 16x02 |
| "The Race to Re-Shape Cars" | 8 October 1979 | 16x03 |
| "Dragnet for Diabetes" | 15 October 1979 | 16x04 |
| "Lost Waters of the Nile" | 22 October 1979 | 16x05 |
| "Survival of the Fastest" | 29 October 1979 | 16x06 |
| "A Touch of Sensitivity" | 5 November 1979 | 16x07 |
| "A Treasury of Trees" | 12 November 1979 | 16x08 |
| "Darkness Visible" | 19 November 1979 | 16x09 |
| "Uranium Goes Critical" | 3 December 1979 | 16x10 |
| "The Fat in the Fire" | 10 December 1979 | 16x11 |
| "Decade" | 17 December 1979 | 16x12 |
| "Ghost of the Amoco Cadiz" | 14 January 1980 | 16x13 |
| "You Are Old, Father William" | 21 January 1980 | 16x14 |
| "Cleared for Take Off" | 4 February 1980 | 16x15 |
| "A Sporting Chance" | 11 February 1980 | 16x16 |
| "The Cancer Detectives of Lin Xian" | 18 February 1980 | 16x17 |
| "The Big If" | 25 February 1980 | 16x18 |
| "Cash from Trash" | 3 March 1980 | 16x19 |
| "Encounter with Jupiter" | 10 March 1980 | 16x20 |
| "Portrait of a Poison" | 17 March 1980 | 16x21 |
| "Magnet Earth" | 24 March 1980 | 16x22 |
Series 17: 1980-1981
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Goodbye Gutenberg" | 1 September 1980 | 17x01 |
| "Invasion of the Virions" | 8 September 1980 | 17x02 |
| "Beyond the Milky Way" | 15 September 1980 | 17x03 |
| "Little Boxes" | 22 September 1980 | 17x04 |
| "The Other Kenya" | 29 September 1980 | 17x05 |
| "Moving Still" | 6 October 1980 | 17x06 |
| "The Way Out" | 13 October 1980 | 17x07 |
| "The Dead Sea Lives" | 20 October 1980 | 17x08 |
| "Once in a Million Years" | 27 October 1980 | 17x09 |
| "Smokers' Luck" | 3 November 1980 | 17x10 |
| "Behind the Horoscope" | 10 November 1980 | 17x11 |
| "The Mondragon Experiment" | 17 November 1980 | 17x12 |
| "The Spike" | 24 November 1980 | 17x13 |
| "The Slatemakers" | 1 December 1980 | 17x14 |
| "Anatomy of a Volcano" | 15 December 1980 | 17x15 |
| "Spend and Prosper" | 5 January 1981 | 17x16 |
| "A Whole New Medicine" | 12 January 1981 | 17x17 |
| "The Qualyub Project" | 19 January 1981 | 17x18 |
| "No One Will Take Me Seriously" | 26 January 1981 | 17x19 |
| "Living with Dying" | 2 February 1981 | 17x20 |
| "A Is for Atom, B Is for Bomb" | 9 February 1981 | 17x21 |
| "Who Will Deliver Your Baby?" | 16 February 1981 | 17x22 |
| "West of Bangalore" | 2 March 1981 | 17x23 |
| "Gentlemen, Lift Your Skirts" | 9 March 1981 | 17x24 |
| "Hello Universe!" | 16 March 1981 | 17x25 |
| "Voices from Silent Hands" | 23 March 1981 | 17x26 |
| "Did Darwin Get It Wrong?" | 30 March 1981 | 17x27 |
| "East of Bombay" | 6 April 1981 | 17x28 |
| "Resolution on Saturn, 1: The Rings" | 11 April 1981 | 17x29 |
| "Resolution on Saturn, 2: The Moons" | 13 April 1981 | 17x30 |
Series 18: 1981-1982
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Heads I Win, Tails You Lose" | 28 September 1981 | 18x01 |
| "The Hunt for the Legion Killer" | 5 October 1981 | 18x02 |
| "Breaking in Children" | 12 October 1981 | 18x03 |
| "The Grid" | 19 October 1981 | 18x04 |
| "Butterflies or Barley?" | 26 October 1981 | 18x05 |
| "Science for the People" | 2 November 1981 | 18x06 |
| "The Race to Ruin" | 9 November 1981 | 18x07 |
| "Death of the Dinosaurs" | 16 November 1981 | 18x08 |
| "Feynman, The Pleasure of Finding Things Out" | 23 November 1981 | 18x09 |
| "The Cornucopia" | 30 November 1981 | 18x10 |
| "A Race Against Time" | 7 December 1981 | 18x11 |
| "Painting by Numbers" | 21 December 1981 | 18x12 |
| "The Secret of the Snake" | 11 January 1982 | 18x13 |
| "Finding a Voice" | 18 January 1982 | 18x14 |
| "The Sea Behind the Dunes" | 25 January 1982 | 18x15 |
| "Whatever Happened to the Energy Crisis?" | 1 February 1982 | 18x16 |
| "Notes of a Biology Watcher" | 8 February 1982 | 18x17 |
| "The Cline Affair" | 15 February 1982 | 18x18 |
| "The Million Murdering Death" | 22 February 1982 | 18x19 |
| "Shots in the Dark" | 1 March 1982 | 18x20 |
| "The Victims" | 8 March 1982 | 18x21 |
| "The Future-Made in Japan?" | 15 March 1982 | 18x22 |
| "The Private Face of Medicine" | 22 March 1982 | 18x23 |
| "The Fatal Bargain" | 5 April 1982 | 18x24 |
Series 19: 1982-1983
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Miracle of Life" | 11 October 1982 | 19x01 |
| "The Case of the UFO's" | 18 October 1982 | 19x02 |
| "A Killing Rain" | 25 October 1982 | 19x03 |
| "Intimate Relations" | 1 November 1982 | 19x04 |
| "The Scientist and the Baby" | 8 November 1982 | 19x05 |
| "Brave New Babies?" | 15 November 1982 | 19x06 |
| "The Professor of Surgery" | 29 November 1982 | 19x07 |
| "The Chopper" | 6 December 1982 | 19x08 |
| "The State of the Planet" | 13 December 1982 | 19x09 |
| "The Mysterious Mr Tesla" | 20 December 1982 | 19x10 |
| "Sizewell Under Pressure" | 10 January 1983 | 19x11 |
| "Tropical Time Machine" | 17 January 1983 | 19x12 |
| "The Geneva Event" | 24 January 1983 | 19x13 |
| "How Much Can You Drink?" | 7 February 1983 | 19x14 |
| "Talking Turtle" | 14 February 1983 | 19x15 |
| "What Little Girls Are Made Of" | 21 February 1983 | 19x16 |
| "British Science — On the Wrong Track?" | 28 February 1983 | 19x17 |
| "The Great Plains Massacre" | 7 March 1983 | 19x18 |
| "Hard Rock" | 14 March 1983 | 19x19 |
| "Better Mind the Computer" | 21 March 1983 | 19x20 |
| "Madness on Trial" | 11 April 1983 | 19x21 |
| "Sixty Minutes to Meltdown" | 18 April 1983 | 19x22 |
| "Killer in the Village" | 25 April 1983 | 19x23 |
Series 20: 1983-1984
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Case of E.S.P." | 26 September 1983 | 20x01 |
| "The Artificial Heart" | 3 October 1983 | 20x02 |
| "Dr Priestley and the Breath of Life" | 10 October 1983 | 20x03 |
| "Professor Hawking's Universe" | 17 October 1983 | 20x04 |
| "The Cruel Choice" | 24 October 1983 | 20x05 |
| "A Child's Guide to Languages" | 31 October 1983 | 20x06 |
| "China's Child" | 7 November 1983 | 20x07 |
| "The Earthquake Connection" | 14 November 1983 | 20x08 |
| "Prisoner or Patient?" | 28 November 1983 | 20x09 |
| "Cancer, The Pattern in the Genes" | 5 December 1983 | 20x10 |
| "The Academy" | 12 December 1983 | 20x11 |
| "The Intelligence Man" | 9 January 1984 | 20x12 |
| "Microworld" | 16 January 1984 | 20x13 |
| "A New Green Revolution?" | 23 January 1984 | 20x14 |
| "Spies in the Wires" | 30 January 1984 | 20x15 |
| "Valley of the Inca" | 13 February 1984 | 20x16 |
| "Conquest of the Parasites" | 27 February 1984 | 20x17 |
| "Reflections on a River" | 5 March 1984 | 20x18 |
| "A Normal Face" | 12 March 1984 | 20x19 |
| "Prisoners of Incest" | 19 March 1984 | 20x20 |
| "Signs of the Apes, Songs of the Whales" | 26 March 1984 | 20x21 |
| "Professor Bonner and the Slime Moulds" | 9 April 1984 | 20x22 |
| "The Mind of a Murderer, 1: The Case of the Hillside Strangler" | 16 April 1984 | 20x23 |
| "The Mind of a Murderer, 2: The Mask of Madness" | 17 April 1984 | 20x24 |
| "A Cruel Inheritance" | 30 April 1984 | 20x25 |
| "The Malvern Link" | 7 May 1984 | 20x26 |
Series 21: 1984-1985
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Contented Cows and Other Animals" | 5 November 1984 | 21x01 |
| "Picking Winners" | 12 November 1984 | 21x02 |
| "The Brain Puzzle" | 19 November 1984 | 21x03 |
| "Global Village" | 26 November 1984 | 21x04 |
| "Ivan" | 3 December 1984 | 21x05 |
| "A Mathematical Mystery Tour" | 10 December 1984 | 21x06 |
| "Supercharged, The Grand Prix Car (1924-1939)" | 17 December 1984 | 21x07 |
| "Colourful Notions" | 7 January 1985 | 21x08 |
| "A World of Their Own" | 14 January 1985 | 21x09 |
| "Decoding Danebury" | 21 January 1985 | 21x10 |
| "A Mission to Heal" | 28 January 1985 | 21x11 |
| "Mystery of the Left Hand" | 4 February 1985 | 21x12 |
| "The Theatre of War" | 11 February 1985 | 21x13 |
| "The Careful Predator" | 25 February 1985 | 21x14 |
| "What Einstein Never Knew" | 4 March 1985 | 21x15 |
| "Eurekaaargh!" | 11 March 1985 | 21x16 |
| "Careering On" | 18 March 1985 | 21x17 |
| "How to Film the Impossible" | 25 March 1985 | 21x18 |
| "The Food Allergy War" | 1 April 1985 | 21x19 |
| "The Goddess of the Earth" | 15 April 1985 | 21x20 |
| "Iras, The Supercooled Eye" | 22 April 1985 | 21x21 |
| "A Prize Discovery" | 29 April 1985 | 21x22 |
| "Twenty-First Birthday" | 20 May 1985 | 21x23 |
Series 22: 1985-1986
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Are You a Racist?" | 6 January 1986 | 22x01 |
| "Genesis" | 13 January 1986 | 22x02 |
| "Bitter Cold" | 20 January 1986 | 22x03 |
| "The Mould, the Myth and the Microbe" | 27 January 1986 | 22x04 |
| "Outbreak, The Microbe Masters the Mould" | 3 February 1986 | 22x05 |
| "The Wrong Stuff" | 10 February 1986 | 22x06 |
| "Science... Fiction?" | 17 February 1986 | 22x07 |
| "The Children of Eve" | 24 February 1986 | 22x08 |
| "The New Face of Leprosy" | 3 March 1986 | 22x09 |
| "Hi-Tech a la Française" | 10 March 1986 | 22x10 |
| "In the Wake of HMS Sheffield" | 17 March 1986 | 22x11 |
| "AIDS, A Strange and Deadly Virus" | 24 March 1986 | 22x12 |
| "The Case of the Frozen Addict" | 7 April 1986 | 22x13 |
| "Nice Guys Finish First" | 14 April 1986 | 22x14 |
| "The Men Who Bottled a Cow" | 21 April 1986 | 22x15 |
| "Twice Five plus the Wings of a Bird" | 28 April 1986 | 22x16 |
| "What Makes an Animal Smart?" | 12 May 1986 | 22x17 |
| "A Handful of Sugar with a Pinch of Salt" | 19 May 1986 | 22x18 |
| "Uranus Encounter" | 26 May 1986 | 22x19 |
| "Who Built Stonehenge?" | 9 June 1986 | 22x20 |
| "Battered Baby, 1: From Generation to Generation" | 16 June 1986 | 22x21 |
| "Battered Baby, 2: Breaking the Chain" | 23 June 1986 | 22x22 |
| "Doctors to Be" | 30 June 1986 | 22x23 |
Series 23: 1986-1987
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Twenty-Five Hour Clock" | 5 January 1987 | 23x01 |
| "The Search for the Disappeared" | 12 January 1987 | 23x02 |
| "The Blind Watchmaker" | 19 January 1987 | 23x03 |
| "Riding the Stack" | 26 January 1987 | 23x04 |
| "Bruno Bettelheim, 1: The Man Who Cared for Children" | 2 February 1987 | 23x05 |
| "Bruno Bettelheim, 2: A Sense of Surviving" | 9 February 1987 | 23x06 |
| "Energy from Outer Space" | 16 February 1987 | 23x07 |
| "The Return of the Osprey" | 23 February 1987 | 23x08 |
| "Can AIDS Be Stopped?" | 2 March 1987 | 23x09 |
| "Police Stress, John Wayne Syndrome" | 9 March 1987 | 23x10 |
| "To Engineer Is Human" | 16 March 1987 | 23x11 |
| "The Magma Chamber" | 23 March 1987 | 23x12 |
| "Broken Images" | 30 March 1987 | 23x13 |
| "Trial Babies" | 6 April 1987 | 23x14 |
| "After Chernobyl, Closer to Home" | 13 April 1987 | 23x15 |
| "Making Sex Pay" | 11 May 1987 | 23x16 |
| "The Anthropic Principle" | 18 May 1987 | 23x17 |
| "Aircrash, The Burning Issue" | 1 June 1987 | 23x18 |
| "Riddle of the Joints" | 8 June 1987 | 23x19 |
| "To Catch a Falling Star" | 15 June 1987 | 23x20 |
| "In the Light of New Information" | 22 June 1987 | 23x21 |
| "Janice's Choice" | 29 June 1987 | 23x22 |
Series 24: 1987-1988
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Transplanted Brain" | 4 January 1988 | 24x01 |
| "Death of a Star" | 11 January 1988 | 24x02 |
| "Playing with Madness" | 18 January 1988 | 24x03 |
| "The Canal in the Jungle" | 25 January 1988 | 24x04 |
| "Death of the Working Classes" | 1 February 1988 | 24x05 |
| "The Greenhouse Effect" | 8 February 1988 | 24x06 |
| "Struggling for Control" | 15 February 1988 | 24x07 |
| "Thinking" | 22 February 1988 | 24x08 |
| "Patients on Trial" | 29 February 1988 | 24x09 |
| "Purple Warrior, Rules of Engagement" | 7 March 1988 | 24x10 |
| "Purple Warrior, Limited War" | 14 March 1988 | 24x11 |
| "The Heart of Another" | 28 March 1988 | 24x12 |
| "Easter Island, The Secrets" | 11 April 1988 | 24x13 |
| "Easter Island, The Story" | 18 April 1988 | 24x14 |
| "Cancer at Bay" | 4 May 1988 | 24x15 |
| "Traces of Murder" | 9 May 1988 | 24x16 |
| "The Hope of Progress" | 16 May 1988 | 24x17 |
| "A Newsday Revolution" | 23 May 1988 | 24x18 |
| "A Good Test?" | 6 June 1988 | 24x19 |
| "Superconductor, The Race for the Prize" | 13 June 1988 | 24x20 |
| "Believe Me" | 27 June 1988 | 24x21 |
Series 25: 1988-1989
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Diary of Discovery" | 28 September 1988 | 25x01 |
| "The Book of Man" | 9 January 1989 | 25x02 |
| "The Poison That Waits" | 16 January 1989 | 25x03 |
| "Perils of the Deep" | 23 January 1989 | 25x04 |
| "Smart Weapons" | 30 January 1989 | 25x05 |
| "Wasting the Alps" | 6 February 1989 | 25x06 |
| "In the Last Resort" | 13 February 1989 | 25x07 |
| "Gaze in Wonder" | 20 February 1989 | 25x08 |
| "In My Lifetime?" | 27 February 1989 | 25x09 |
| "Concerto" | 6 March 1989 | 25x10 |
| "Black Schizophrenia" | 13 March 1989 | 25x11 |
| "Trial in the Jungle" | 20 March 1989 | 25x12 |
| "Who Will Make Me Better?" | 3 April 1989 | 25x13 |
| "A Wonderful Life" | 17 April 1989 | 25x14 |
| "Why Buildings Make You Sick" | 24 April 1989 | 25x15 |
| "Jubilee" | 8 May 1989 | 25x16 |
| "Crash" | 15 May 1989 | 25x17 |
| "The New Sixth Sense" | 22 May 1989 | 25x18 |
| "Clive Sinclair, The Anatomy of an Inventor" | 12 June 1989 | 25x19 |
| "Newpin, A Lifeline" | 19 June 1989 | 25x20 |
| "Time of Darkness" | 26 June 1989 | 25x21 |
Series 26: 1989-1990
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Oil Spill" | 8 January 1990 | 26x01 |
| "Medicine 2000" | 15 January 1990 | 26x02 |
| "Food Irradiation, Would You Buy It?" | 22 January 1990 | 26x03 |
| "From Earth to Miranda" | 29 January 1990 | 26x04 |
| "Encounter with Neptune" | 5 February 1990 | 26x05 |
| "Guess What's Coming to Dinner" | 12 February 1990 | 26x06 |
| "The First 14 Days" | 19 February 1990 | 26x07 |
| "The 10,000 Year Test" | 5 March 1990 | 26x08 |
| "Hurricane!" | 12 March 1990 | 26x09 |
| "The Britannic Greenhouse" | 19 March 1990 | 26x10 |
| "Cold Fusion" | 26 March 1990 | 26x11 |
| "The Quake of 89, The Final Warning?" | 2 April 1990 | 26x12 |
| "The Sharpest Show of the Universe" | 9 April 1990 | 26x13 |
| "The Company of Ants and Bees" | 23 April 1990 | 26x14 |
| "The Intelligent Island" | 30 April 1990 | 26x15 |
| "Legacy of a Volcano" | 14 May 1990 | 26x16 |
| "Do Cows Make You Mad?" | 21 May 1990 | 26x17 |
| "The Child Mothers" | 4 June 1990 | 26x18 |
| "Signs of Life" | 11 June 1990 | 26x19 |
| "AIDS, A Quest for a Cure" | 25 June 1990 | 26x20 |
Series 27: 1990-1991
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Sudden Death" | 7 January 1991 | 27x01 |
| "Keen as Mustard" | 14 January 1991 | 27x02 |
| "Smokers Can Harm Your Health" | 21 January 1991 | 27x03 |
| "Coming in from the Cold" | 28 January 1991 | 27x04 |
| "Small Problem with the Mirror" | 4 February 1991 | 27x05 |
| "California Dreaming" | 11 February 1991 | 27x06 |
| "The Day the Earth Melted" | 18 February 1991 | 27x07 |
| "The Curse of Karash" | 25 February 1991 | 27x08 |
| "Playing at Noah" | 4 March 1991 | 27x09 |
| "Cashing in on Paradise" | 11 March 1991 | 27x10 |
| "The Terracotta Time Machine" | 18 March 1991 | 27x11 |
| "Measuring the Roof of the World" | 25 March 1991 | 27x12 |
| "The First Americans" | 15 April 1991 | 27x13 |
| "Inside Chernobyl Sarcophagus" | 22 April 1991 | 27x14 |
| "Colonising Cyberspace" | 29 April 1991 | 27x15 |
| "Emerging Viruses" | 13 May 1991 | 27x16 |
| "Camelford, A Bitter Aftertaste" | 20 May 1991 | 27x17 |
| "Of Big Bangs, Stick Men, and Galactic Holes" | 3 June 1991 | 27x18 |
| "Food for Thought" | 10 June 1991 | 27x19 |
| "The Long Road to the West" | 17 June 1991 | 27x20 |
| "Half Hearted About Semi-Skimmed" | 24 June 1991 | 27x21 |
| "T-Rex Exposed" | 1 July 1991 | 27x22 |
Series 28: 1991-1992
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Shadow of Breast Cancer" | 6 January 1992 | 28x01 |
| "Pest Wars" | 13 January 1992 | 28x02 |
| "Molecules with Sunglasses" | 20 January 1992 | 28x03 |
| "In Search of the Noble Savage" | 27 January 1992 | 28x04 |
| "Malaria, Battle of the Merozoites" | 3 February 1992 | 28x05 |
| "The Black Sun" | 17 February 1992 | 28x06 |
| "Hitler's Bomb" | 24 February 1992 | 28x07 |
| "An Expensive Theology" | 2 March 1992 | 28x08 |
| "The Strange Life and Death of Dr. Turing" | 9 March 1992 | 28x09 |
| "Hot Jam in the Doughnut" | 16 March 1992 | 28x10 |
| "Diet for a Lifetime" | 30 March 1992 | 28x11 |
| "Before Babel" | 6 April 1992 | 28x12 |
| "The Man Who Moved the Mountains" | 13 April 1992 | 28x13 |
| "Iceman" | 27 April 1992 | 28x14 |
| "Taking the Credit" | 11 May 1992 | 28x15 |
| "Fast Life in the Food Chain" | 18 May 1992 | 28x16 |
| "Dodging Doomsday" | 1 June 1992 | 28x17 |
| "A Question of Sport..." | 8 June 1992 | 28x18 |
| "Genes R Us" | 15 June 1992 | 28x19 |
Series 29: 1992-1993
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Truth About Sex" | 3 December 1992 | 29x01 |
| "Awakening the Frozen Addicts" | 4 January 1993 | 29x02 |
| "Cheating Time" | 11 January 1993 | 29x03 |
| "TB, The Forgotten Plague" | 18 January 1993 | 29x04 |
| "No Ordinary Genius, Episode 1" | 25 January 1993 | 29x05 |
| "No Ordinary Genius, Episode 2" | 1 February 1993 | 29x06 |
| "Mars Alive" | 8 February 1993 | 29x07 |
| "Suggers, Fruggers and Data-Muggers" | 15 February 1993 | 29x08 |
| "The Pyramid Builders" | 22 February 1993 | 29x09 |
| "Here Be Monsters" | 1 March 1993 | 29x10 |
| "Iceman" | 8 March 1993 | 29x11 |
| "Whatever Happened to Star Wars?" | 15 March 1993 | 29x12 |
| "Resurrecting the Dead Sea Scrolls" | 22 March 1993 | 29x13 |
| "Dante Goes to Hell" | 29 March 1993 | 29x14 |
| "Ghosts in the Dinosaur Graveyard" | 5 April 1993 | 29x15 |
| "The New Alchemists" | 19 April 1993 | 29x16 |
| "Allergic to the Twentieth Century" | 10 May 1993 | 29x17 |
| "Wot U Lookin At?" | 24 May 1993 | 29x18 |
| "The Electronic Frontier" | 7 June 1993 | 29x19 |
| "A Vital Poison" | 14 June 1993 | 29x20 |
| "Chimp Talk" | 21 June 1993 | 29x21 |
| "Life Is Impossible" | 28 June 1993 | 29x22 |
Series 30: 1993-1994
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Small Arms, Soft Targets" | 10 January 1994 | 30x01 |
| "The Last Mammoth" | 17 January 1994 | 30x02 |
| "Gerald Edelman, The Man Who Made Up His Mind" | 24 January 1994 | 30x03 |
| "Genie, Secret of the Wild Child" | 31 January 1994 | 30x04 |
| "Death Wish, The Untold Story" | 7 February 1994 | 30x05 |
| "Air Crash, The Deadly Puzzle" | 14 February 1994 | 30x06 |
| "Hunt for the Doomsday Asteroid" | 28 February 1994 | 30x07 |
| "Hubble Vision" | 7 March 1994 | 30x08 |
| "Some Liked It Hot" | 14 March 1994 | 30x09 |
| "Too Close to the Sun" | 21 March 1994 | 30x10 |
| "Sir Walter's Journey, A Genetic Map of Britain" | 28 March 1994 | 30x11 |
| "After the Flood" | 18 April 1994 | 30x12 |
| "Against the Clock" | 25 April 1994 | 30x13 |
| "Auschwitz, The Blueprints of Genocide" | 9 May 1994 | 30x14 |
| "Ulcer Wars" | 16 May 1994 | 30x15 |
| "30th Anniversary, The Far Side" | 23 May 1994 | 30x16 |
Series 31: 1994-1995
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Deaf Whale, Dead Whale" | 7 November 1994 | 31x01 |
| "Whispers of Creation" | 14 November 1994 | 31x02 |
| "The Predator" | 21 November 1994 | 31x03 |
| "Close Encounters" | 28 November 1994 | 31x04 |
| "Orange Sherbert Kisses" | 12 December 1994 | 31x05 |
| "Designer Wines" | 19 December 1994 | 31x06 |
| "Tibet, The Ice Mother" | 9 January 1995 | 31x07 |
| "Russia's Deep Secrets" | 16 January 1995 | 31x08 |
| "Bones of Contention" | 23 January 1995 | 31x09 |
| "Siamese Twins" | 30 January 1995 | 31x10 |
| "Too Big Too Soon?" | 20 February 1995 | 31x11 |
| "Farewell Fantastic Venus" | 27 February 1995 | 31x12 |
| "Exodus" | 6 March 1995 | 31x13 |
| "The Betrayers" | 13 March 1995 | 31x14 |
| "Icon Earth" | 20 March 1995 | 31x15 |
| "The I-Bomb" | 27 March 1995 | 31x16 |
| "Foetal Attraction" | 3 April 1995 | 31x17 |
| "Cracks in the Crust" | 10 April 1995 | 31x18 |
| "Hearing Voices" | 24 April 1995 | 31x19 |
Series 32: 1995-1996
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Liar" | 30 October 1995 | 32x01 |
| "The Human Laboratory" | 6 November 1995 | 32x02 |
| "Nanotopia" | 13 November 1995 | 32x03 |
| "Hunt for the Doomsday Asteroid" | 20 November 1995 | 32x04 |
| "A Code in the Nose" | 27 November 1995 | 32x05 |
| "AIDS, Behind Closed Doors" | 4 December 1995 | 32x06 |
| "The Runaway Mountain" | 11 December 1995 | 32x07 |
| "The Butchers of Boxgrove" | 8 January 1996 | 32x08 |
| "Fermat's Last Theorem" | 15 January 1996 | 32x09 |
| "A Miracle for Cancer?" | 22 January 1996 | 32x10 |
| "Nature's Numbers" | 29 January 1996 | 32x11 |
| "The Gene Race" | 5 February 1996 | 32x12 |
| "Masters of the Ionosphere" | 12 February 1996 | 32x13 |
| "Assault on the Male" | 26 February 1996 | 32x14 |
| "Death by Design" | 4 March 1996 | 32x15 |
| "The Planet Hunters" | 11 March 1996 | 32x16 |
| "Einstein, The Miracle Year" | 17 March 1996 | 32x17 |
| "Einstein, Fame" | 18 March 1996 | 32x18 |
| "Inside Chernobyl Sarcophagus" | 25 March 1996 | 32x19 |
| "Fall-Out from Chernobyl" | 1 April 1996 | 32x20 |
Series 33: 1996-1997
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "TV Is Dead, Long Live TV" | 2 November 1996 | 33x01 |
| "Aliens from Mars" | 11 November 1996 | 33x02 |
| "Living Death" | 25 November 1996 | 33x03 |
| "The Time Lords" | 2 December 1996 | 33x04 |
| "Molecules with Sunglasses" | 9 December 1996 | 33x05 |
| "Noah's Flood" | 16 December 1996 | 33x06 |
| "Siamese Twins" | 20 February 1997 | 33x07 |
| "Psychedelic Science" | 27 February 1997 | 33x08 |
| "Fat Cats, Thin Mice" | 6 March 1997 | 33x09 |
| "The Shipwreck" | 13 March 1997 | 33x10 |
| "Genius of the Jet" | 20 March 1997 | 33x11 |
| "Smallpox on Death Row" | 27 March 1997 | 33x12 |
| "Silent Children, New Language" | 3 April 1997 | 33x13 |
| "Turned on by Danger" | 17 April 1997 | 33x14 |
| "A Perfect Oil Spill" | 24 April 1997 | 33x15 |
| "The Great Balloon Race" | 1 May 1997 | 33x16 |
Series 34: 1997-1998
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Crater of Death" | 11 September 1997 | 34x01 |
| "Mind over Body" | 18 September 1997 | 34x02 |
| "Out of Asia" | 25 September 1997 | 34x03 |
| "The Virus That Cures" | 9 October 1997 | 34x04 |
| "The Man Who Lost His Body" | 16 October 1997 | 34x05 |
| "Dawn of the Clone Age" | 23 October 1997 | 34x06 |
| "Crash" | 12 January 1998 | 34x07 |
| "Saddam's Secrets" | 19 February 1998 | 34x08 |
| "Dr Miller and the Islanders" | 26 February 1998 | 34x09 |
| "The Rainmaker" | 5 March 1998 | 34x10 |
| "Hopeful Monsters" | 19 March 1998 | 34x11 |
| "Premature Babies, The Limits to Birth" | 26 March 1998 | 34x12 |
| "Overkill" | 2 April 1998 | 34x13 |
| "The Curse of Vesuvius" | 16 April 1998 | 34x14 |
| "Mir Mortals" | 23 April 1998 | 34x15 |
| "The Computer That Ate Hollywood" | 30 April 1998 | 34x16 |
| "Magic Bullet" | 7 May 1998 | 34x17 |
| "The Gulf War Jigsaw" | 14 May 1998 | 34x18 |
Series 35: 1998-1999
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Sexual Chemistry" | 10 September 1998 | 35x01 |
| "Chimps on Death Row" | 1 October 1998 | 35x02 |
| "Dinosaurs in Your Garden" | 8 October 1998 | 35x03 |
| "Mosquito!" | 15 October 1998 | 35x04 |
| "The Life and Times of Life and Time" | 22 October 1998 | 35x05 |
| "Thalidomide, A Necessary Evil" | 29 October 1998 | 35x06 |
| "Beyond a Joke" | 5 November 1998 | 35x07 |
| "From Here to Infinity" | 28 January 1999 | 35x08 |
| "Pandemic" | 4 February 1999 | 35x09 |
| "Elephants or Ivory" | 11 February 1999 | 35x10 |
| "Electric Heart" | 18 February 1999 | 35x11 |
| "Sudden Death" | 25 February 1999 | 35x12 |
| "New Star in Orbit" | 11 March 1999 | 35x13 |
| "New Asteroid Danger" | 18 March 1999 | 35x14 |
| "Skeleton Key" | 25 March 1999 | 35x15 |
| "Designer Babies" | 7 April 1999 | 35x16 |
| "Wings of Angels" | 1 August 1999 | 35x17 |
Series 36: 1999-2000
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Mistaken Identity" | 11 November 1999 | 36x01 |
| "Volcanoes of the Deep" | 18 November 1999 | 36x02 |
| "Anatomy of an Avalanche" | 25 November 1999 | 36x03 |
| "The Midas Formula" | 2 December 1999 | 36x04 |
| "Breath of Life" | 13 January 2000 | 36x05 |
| "Lost City of Nasca" | 20 January 2000 | 36x06 |
| "The Diamond Makers" | 27 January 2000 | 36x07 |
| "Supervolcanos" | 3 February 2000 | 36x08 |
| "Miracle in Orbit" | 10 February 2000 | 36x09 |
| "Complete Obsession, Body Dysmorphia" | 17 February 2000 | 36x10 |
| "Is GM Safe?" | 9 March 2000 | 36x11 |
| "Planet Hunters" | 16 March 2000 | 36x12 |
| "Science of Addiction, Constant Craving" | 30 March 2000 | 36x13 |
| "Moon Children" | 4 April 2000 | 36x14 |
Series 37: 2000-2001
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Mega-Tsunami, Wave of Destruction" | 12 October 2000 | 37x01 |
| "Conjoined Twins" | 19 October 2000 | 37x02 |
| "The Lost World of Lake Vostok" | 26 October 2000 | 37x03 |
| "Vanished, The Plane That Disappeared" | 2 November 2000 | 37x04 |
| "The Secret Treasures of Zeugma" | 9 November 2000 | 37x05 |
| "The Valley of Life or Death" | 16 November 2000 | 37x06 |
| "Extreme Dinosaurs" | 23 November 2000 | 37x07 |
| "Supermassive Black Holes" | 30 November 2000 | 37x08 |
| "The Boy Who Was Turned into a Girl" | 7 December 2000 | 37x09 |
| "Atlantis Reborn Again" | 14 December 2000 | 37x10 |
| "The Mystery of the Miami Circle" | 25 January 2001 | 37x11 |
| "The Missing Link" | 1 February 2001 | 37x12 |
| "Killer Algae" | 8 February 2001 | 37x13 |
| "Ecstasy and Agony" | 15 February 2001 | 37x14 |
| "Snowball Earth" | 22 February 2001 | 37x15 |
| "Taming the Problem Child" | 8 March 2001 | 37x16 |
Series 38: 2001-2002
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Mystery of the Persian Mummy" | 20 September 2001 | 38x01 |
| "The Ape That Took Over the World" | 4 October 2001 | 38x02 |
| "Life Blood" | 11 October 2001 | 38x03 |
| "The Death Star" | 18 October 2001 | 38x04 |
| "Cloning the First Human" | 25 October 2001 | 38x05 |
| "Helike, The Real Atlantis" | 10 January 2002 | 38x06 |
| "Volcano Hell" | 17 January 2002 | 38x07 |
| "Fatbusters" | 24 January 2002 | 38x08 |
| "The Lost Pyramids of Caral" | 31 January 2002 | 38x09 |
| "Death of the Iceman" | 7 February 2002 | 38x10 |
| "Parallel Universes" | 14 February 2002 | 38x11 |
| "The Dinosaur That Fooled the World" | 21 February 2002 | 38x12 |
| "The Fall of the World Trade Center" | 7 March 2002 | 38x13 |
| "Archimedes' Secret" | 14 March 2002 | 38x14 |
| "The Mystery of the Jurassic" | 28 March 2002 | 38x15 |
| "Killer Lakes" | 4 April 2002 | 38x16 |
| "The A6 Murder" | 16 May 2002 | 38x17 |
| "The England Patient" | 23 May 2002 | 38x18 |
Series 39: 2002-2003
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Freak Wave" | 14 November 2002 | 39x01 |
| "Stone Age Columbus" | 21 November 2002 | 39x02 |
| "Homeopathy, The Test" | 26 November 2002 | 39x03 |
| "The Day the Earth Nearly Died" | 5 December 2002 | 39x04 |
| "The Secret of El Dorado" | 19 December 2002 | 39x05 |
| "The Mystery of Easter Island" | 9 January 2003 | 39x06 |
| "Living Nightmare" | 16 January 2003 | 39x07 |
| "Averting Armageddon" | 23 January 2003 | 39x08 |
| "Dirty Bomb" | 30 January 2003 | 39x09 |
| "Sexual Chemistry" | 13 February 2003 | 39x10 |
| "The Day We Learned to Think" | 20 February 2003 | 39x11 |
| "Trial and Error, The Rise and Fall of Gene Therapy" | 27 February 2003 | 39x12 |
| "Earthquake Storms" | 6 March 2003 | 39x13 |
| "Life on Mars" | 27 March 2003 | 39x14 |
| "The Secret Life of Caves" | 3 April 2003 | 39x15 |
| "God on the Brain" | 17 April 2003 | 39x16 |
| "Flight 587" | 8 May 2003 | 39x17 |
| "SARS, The True Story" | 29 May 2003 | 39x18 |
Series 40: 2003-2004
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Big Chill" | 13 November 2003 | 40x01 |
| "The Bible Code" | 20 November 2003 | 40x02 |
| "Last Flight of the Columbia" | 27 November 2003 | 40x03 |
| "The Hunt for the AIDS Vaccine" | 4 December 2003 | 40x04 |
| "Percy Pilcher's Flying Machine" | 11 December 2003 | 40x05 |
|
Could an unknown Englishman have been the first person ever to fly? To mark the hundredth anniversary of the Wright brothers inaugural flight, Horizon tells the remarkable story of Percy Pilcher. He could have been the most famous aviator of them all. Four years before the Wright brothers, he had constructed his own aeroplane. But on the day it was due to take off for the very first time, something so terrible happened that he was denied the chance of ever flying it. So Horizon has rebuilt his long lost flying machine to see if Percy Pilcher, the British amateur, could have claimed the glory and been the first person ever to fly. This film mixes dramatic reconstruction with fabulous contemporary scenes and gripping science. With a specially assembled team of historians, aviation experts and our own test pilot, Horizon painstakingly rebuilds Pilcher's flying machine and puts it to the test. The results will leave you cheering. BBC.[1] | ||
| "Time Trip" | 18 December 2003 | 40x06 |
| "The Demonic Ape" | 8 January 2004 | 40x07 |
| "The Moscow Theatre Siege" | 15 January 2004 | 40x08 |
| "The Atkins Diet" | 22 January 2004 | 40x09 |
| "Secrets of the Star Disc" | 29 January 2004 | 40x10 |
| "The Dark Secret of Hendrik Schön" | 5 February 2004 | 40x11 |
| "Thalidomide, A Second Chance?" | 12 February 2004 | 40x12 |
| "Diamond Labs" | 4 March 2004 | 40x13 |
| "T. Rex, Warrior or Wimp?" | 11 March 2004 | 40x14 |
| "Project Poltergeist" | 18 March 2004 | 40x15 |
| "The Truth of Troy" | 25 March 2004 | 40x16 |
Series 41: 2004-2005
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Truth About Vitamins" | 16 September 2004 | 41x01 |
| "King Solomon's Tablet of Stone" | 22 September 2004 | 41x02 |
| "Derek Tastes of Earwax" | 30 September 2004 | 41x03 |
| "What Really Killed the Dinosaurs?" | 7 October 2004 | 41x04 |
| "Making Millions the Easy Way" | 14 October 2004 | 41x05 |
| "Saturn, Lord of the Rings" | 21 October 2004 | 41x06 |
| "The Hunt for the Supertwister" | 28 October 2004 | 41x07 |
| "Dr. Money and the Boy with No Penis" | 4 November 2004 | 41x08 |
| "Global Dimming" | 13 January 2005 | 41x09 |
| "Einstein's Unfinished Symphony" | 20 January 2005 | 41x10 |
| "Einstein's Equation of Life and Death" | 27 January 2005 | 41x11 |
| "Living with ADHD" | 3 February 2005 | 41x12 |
| "Neanderthal" | 10 February 2005 | 41x13 |
| "An Experiment to Save the World" | 17 February 2005 | 41x14 |
| "Who's Afraid of Designer Babies?" | 24 February 2005 | 41x15 |
| "The Lost Civilisation of Peru" | 3 March 2005 | 41x16 |
| "The Next Megaquake" | 22 May 2005 | 41x17 |
| "Does the MMR Jab Cause Autism?" | 29 May 2005 | 41x18 |
| "Malaria, Defeating the Curse" | 5 June 2005 | 41x19 |
Series 42: 2005-2006
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Tsunami, Naming the Dead" | 8 September 2005 | 42x01 |
| "The Hawking Paradox" | 15 September 2005 | 42x02 |
| "The Mystery of the Human Hobbit" | 22 September 2005 | 42x03 |
| "The Doctor Who Makes People Walk Again?" | 29 September 2005 | 42x04 |
| "Could Fish Make My Child Smart?" | 6 October 2005 | 42x05 |
| "Madagascar, A Treetop Odyssey" | 13 October 2005 | 42x06 |
| "Titan, A Place Like Home?" | 20 October 2005 | 42x07 |
| "The 7/7 Bombers, A Psychological Investigation" | 27 October 2005 | 42x08 |
| "The Ghost in Your Genes" | 3 November 2005 | 42x09 |
| "The Life and Times of El Niño" | 3 January 2006 | 42x10 |
| "Space Tourists" | 12 January 2006 | 42x11 |
| "Waiting for a Heartbeat" | 19 January 2006 | 42x12 |
| "A War on Science" | 26 January 2006 | 42x13 |
| "The Lost City of New Orleans" | 2 February 2006 | 42x14 |
| "Most of Our Universe Is Missing" | 9 February 2006 | 42x15 |
| "The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow" | 8 June 2006 | 42x16 |
| "The Genius Sperm Bank" | 15 June 2006 | 42x17 |
| "Bye Bye, Planet Pluto" | 22 June 2006 | 42x18 |
| "We Love Cigarettes" | 29 June 2006 | 42x19 |
| "Nuclear Nightmares" | 13 July 2006 | 42x20 |
| "Tutankhamun's Fireball" | 20 July 2006 | 42x21 |
Series 43: 2006-2007
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Survivors Guide to Plane Crashes" | 3 October 2006 | 43x01 |
| "Chimps Are People Too" | 10 October 2006 | 43x02 |
| "The World's First Face Transplant" | 17 October 2006 | 43x03 |
| "Human Version 2.0" | 24 October 2006 | 43x04 |
| "The Great Robot Race" | 31 October 2006 | 43x05 |
| "Pandemic" | 7 November 2006 | 43x06 |
| "We Are the Aliens" | 14 November 2006 | 43x07 |
| "My Pet Dinosaur" | 13 March 2007 | 43x08 |
| "The Elephant's Guide to Sex" | 20 March 2007 | 43x09 |
| "Prof Regan's Beauty Parlour" | 27 March 2007 | 43x10 |
| "Mad but Glad" | 3 April 2007 | 43x11 |
| "Moon for Sale" | 10 April 2007 | 43x12 |
| "Battle of the Brains" | 17 April 2007 | 43x13 |
| "Skyscraper Fire Fighters" | 24 April 2007 | 43x14 |
| "The Six Billion Dollar Experiment" | 1 May 2007 | 43x15 |
| "How to Commit the Perfect Murder" | 8 May 2007 | 43x16 |
| "Professor Regan's Supermarket Secrets" | 31 May 2007 | 43x17 |
Series 44: 2007-2008
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "How to Kill a Human Being" | 15 January 2008 | 44x01 |
| "Total Isolation" | 22 January 2008 | 44x02 |
| "What on Earth Is Wrong with Gravity?" | 29 January 2008 | 44x03 |
| "Is Alcohol Worse than Ecstasy?" | 5 February 2008 | 44x04 |
| "How to Make Better Decisions" | 12 February 2008 | 44x05 |
| "How to Live to Be 101" | 19 February 2008 | 44x06 |
| "Are We Alone in the Universe?" | 4 March 2008 | 44x07 |
| "How Much Is Your Dead Body Worth?" | 18 March 2008 | 44x08 |
| "How Does Your Memory Work?" | 25 March 2008 | 44x09 |
Series 45: 2008-2009
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The President's Guide to Science" | 16 September 2008 | 45x01 |
| "How Mad Are You? Part 1" | 11 November 2008 | 45x02 |
| "How Mad Are You? Part 2" | 18 November 2008 | 45x03 |
| "Jimmy's GM Food Fight" | 25 November 2008 | 45x04 |
| "Do You Know What Time It Is?" | 2 December 2008 | 45x05 |
| "Allergy Planet" | 9 December 2008 | 45x06 |
| "Where's My Robot?" | 16 December 2008 | 45x07 |
| "Why Are Thin People Not Fat?" | 26 January 2009 | 45x08 |
| "Cannabis: The Evil Weed?" | 3 February 2009 | 45x09 |
| "Why Do We Dream?" | 10 February 2009 | 45x10 |
| "Can We Make a Star on Earth?" | 17 February 2009 | 45x11 |
| "The Secret Life of Your Bodyclock" | 24 February 2009 | 45x12 |
| "What's the Problem with Nudity?" | 3 March 2009 | 45x13 |
| "How to Survive a Disaster" | 10 March 2009 | 45x14 |
| "Who Do You Want Your Child to Be?" | 17 March 2009 | 45x15 |
| "Why Can't We Predict Earthquakes?" | 24 March 2009 | 45x16 |
| "Alan and Marcus Go Forth and Multiply" | 31 March 2009 | 45x17 |
| "How Violent Are You?" | 12 May 2009 | 45x18 |
Series 46: 2009-2010
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Do I Drink Too Much?" | 13 October 2009 | 46x01 |
|
Alcohol is by far the most widely used drug - and a dangerous one at that. So why are so many of us drinking over the recommended limits? Why does alcohol have such a powerful grip on us? How much of our relationship with this drug is written in our genes? What are the real dangers of our children drinking too young? Addiction expert John Marsden, who likes a drink, makes a professional and personal exploration of our relationship with alcohol. He undergoes physical and neurological examinations to determine its impact, and finds out why some people will find it much harder than others to resist alcohol. Even at the age of 14 there may be a way of determining which healthy children will turn into addicts. John experiments with a designer drug being developed that hopes to replicate all the benefits of alcohol without the dangers. Could this drug replace alcohol in the future? | ||
| "The Secret You" | 20 October 2009 | 46x02 |
|
With the help of a hammer-wielding scientist, Jennifer Aniston and a general anaesthetic, Professor Marcus du Sautoy goes in search of answers to one of science's greatest mysteries: how do we know who we are? While the thoughts that make us feel as though we know ourselves are easy to experience, they are notoriously difficult to explain. So, in order to find out where they come from, Marcus subjects himself to a series of probing experiments. He learns at what age our self-awareness emerges and whether other species share this trait. Next, he has his mind scrambled by a cutting-edge experiment in anaesthesia. Having survived that ordeal, Marcus is given an out-of-body experience in a bid to locate his true self. And in Hollywood, he learns how celebrities are helping scientists understand the microscopic activities of our brain. Finally, he takes part in a mind-reading experiment that both helps explain and radically alters his understanding of who he is. | ||
| "Fix Me" | 27 October 2009 | 46x03 |
|
Horizon follows the emotional journey of three young people with currently untreatable conditions to see if within their lifetime, they can be cured. Sophie is desperate to discover if there's a medical breakthrough which will get her walking again - a car crash after celebrating her A level results left her paralysed from the waist down. Anthony's leg was amputated after a rugby accident on the eve of his eighteenth birthday. Will he ever be able to regrow his leg? Father of four Dean is desperate for a cure for his damaged heart to avoid an early death. They've all read the headlines about the astonishing potential of stem cells to heal the body. Now they've been given access to the pioneering scientists who could transform their lives. With so much at stake, each meeting is highly emotional as our three young people find out if science can fix them. | ||
| "Who's Afraid of a Big Black Hole?" | 3 November 2009 | 46x04 |
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Black holes are one of the most destructive forces in the universe, capable of tearing a planet apart and swallowing an entire star. Yet scientists now believe they could hold the key to answering the ultimate question - what was there before the Big Bang? The trouble is that researching them is next to impossible. Black holes are by definition invisible and there's no scientific theory able to explain them. Despite these obvious obstacles, Horizon meets the astronomers attempting to image a black hole for the very first time and the theoretical physicists getting ever closer to unlocking their mysteries. It's a story that takes us into the heart of a black hole and to the very edge of what we think we know about the universe. | ||
| "Why Do We Talk?" | 10 November 2009 | 46x05 |
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Talking is something that is unique to humans, yet it still remains a mystery. Horizon meets the scientists beginning to unlock the secrets of speech - including a father who is filming every second of his son's first three years in order to discover how we learn to talk, the autistic savant who can speak more than 20 languages, and the first scientist to identify a gene that makes speech possible. Horizon also hears from the godfather of linguistics, Noam Chomsky, the first to suggest that our ability to talk is innate. A unique experiment shows how a new alien language can emerge in just one afternoon, in a bid to understand where language comes from and why it is the way it is. | ||
| "How Long Is a Piece of String?" | 17 November 2009 | 46x06 |
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Alan Davies attempts to answer the proverbial question: how long is a piece of string? But what appears to be a simple task soon turns into a mind-bending voyage of discovery where nothing is as it seems. An encounter with leading mathematician Marcus du Sautoy reveals that Alan's short length of string may in fact be infinitely long. When Alan attempts to measure his string at the atomic scale, events take an even stranger turn. Not only do objects appear in many places at once, but reality itself seems to be an illusion. Ultimately, Alan finds that measuring his piece of string could - in theory at least - create a black hole, bringing about the end of the world. | ||
| "How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth?" | 9 December 2009 | 46x07 |
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In a Horizon special, naturalist Sir David Attenborough investigates whether the world is heading for a population crisis. In his lengthy career, Sir David has watched the human population more than double from 2.5 billion in 1950 to nearly seven billion. He reflects on the profound effects of this rapid growth, both on humans and the environment. While much of the projected growth in human population is likely to come from the developing world, it is the lifestyle enjoyed by many in the West that has the most impact on the planet. Some experts claim that in the UK consumers use as much as two and a half times their fair share of Earth's resources. Sir David examines whether it is the duty of individuals to commit not only to smaller families, but to change the way they live for the sake of humanity and planet Earth. | ||
| "The Secret Life of the Dog" | 6 January 2010 | 46x08 |
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We have an extraordinary relationship with dogs - closer than with any other animal on the planet. But what makes the bond between us so special? Research into dogs is gaining momentum, and scientists are investigating them like never before. From the latest fossil evidence, to the sequencing of the canine genome, to cognitive experiments, dogs are fast turning into the new chimps as a window into understanding ourselves. Where does this relationship come from? In Siberia, a unique breeding experiment reveals the astonishing secret of how dogs evolved from wolves. Swedish scientists demonstrate how the human/dog bond is controlled by a powerful hormone also responsible for bonding mothers to their babies. Why are dogs so good at reading our emotions? Horizon meets Betsy, reputedly the world's most intelligent dog, and compares her incredible abilities to those of children. Man's best friend has recently gone one step further - helping us identify genes responsible for causing human diseases. | ||
| "Why Do Viruses Kill?" | 13 January 2010 | 46x09 |
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Just months ago, the world stood in fear of an emerging new disease that threatened to kill millions. A new flu variant H1N1 had arrived. In the UK alone, 65,000 deaths were predicted. Yet to date, these dire warnings have not materialised. If this latest pandemic has taught anything, it is just how little is understood about the invisible world of viruses. But that has not stopped scientists trying. Horizon follows the leading researchers from across the world, who are attempting to unravel the many secrets of viruses to understand when and why they kill. | ||
| "Pill Poppers" | 20 January 2010 | 46x10 |
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Over a person's lifetime they are likely to be prescribed more than 14,000 pills. Antibiotics, cholesterol lowering tablets, anti-depressants, painkillers, even tablets to extend youth and improve performance in bed. These drugs perform minor miracles day after day, but how much is really known about them? Drug discovery often owes as much to serendipity as to science, and that means much is learnt about how medicines work, or even what they do, when they're taken. By investigating some of the most popular pills people pop, Horizon asks, how much can they be trusted to do what they are supposed to? | ||
| "Don't Grow Old" | 3 February 2010 | 46x11 |
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For centuries scientists have been attempting to come up with an elixir of youth. Now remarkable discoveries are suggesting that ageing is something flexible that can ultimately be manipulated. Horizon meets the scientists who are attempting to piece together why we age and more vitally for all of us, what we can do to prevent it. But which theory will prevail? Does the 95-year-old woman who smokes two packets of cigarettes a day hold the clue? Do blueberries really delay signs of ageing or is it more a question of attitude? Does the real key to controlling how we age lie with a five-year-old boy with an extraordinary ageing disease or with a self-experimenting Harvard professor? Could one of these breakthroughs really see our lives extend past 120 years? | ||
| "To Infinity and Beyond..." | 10 February 2010 | 46x12 |
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By our third year, most of us will have learned to count. Once we know how, it seems as if there would be nothing to stop us counting forever. But, while infinity might seem like an perfectly innocent idea, keep counting and you enter a paradoxical world where nothing is as it seems. Mathematicians have discovered there are infinitely many infinities, each one infinitely bigger than the last. And if the universe goes on forever, the consequences are even more bizarre. In an infinite universe, there are infinitely many copies of the Earth and infinitely many copies of you. Older than time, bigger than the universe and stranger than fiction. This is the story of infinity. | ||
| "What Makes a Genius?" | 17 February 2010 | 46x13 |
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Could you have come up with Einstein's theory of relativity? If not - why not? This is what Marcus du Sautoy, professor of mathematics, wants to explore. Marcus readily admits that he is no genius, but wants to know if geniuses are just an extreme version of himself - or whether their brains are fundamentally different. Marcus meets some remarkable individuals - Tommy, an obsessive artist who uses his whole house as his canvas; Derek: blind, autistic, and a pianist with apparently prodigious gifts; Claire, who is also blind, but whose brain has learnt to see using sound. Marcus is shown how babies have remarkable abilities which most of us lose as teenagers. He meets a neuroscientist who claims he has evidence of innate ability, a scientist who's identified a gene for learning, and Dr. Paulus, who has discovered how to sharpen the brain... by electrically turbo-charging it. | ||
| "Did Cooking Make Us Human?" | 2 March 2010 | 46x14 |
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We are the only species on earth that cooks its food - and we are also the cleverest species on the planet. The question is: do we cook because we're clever and imaginative, or are we clever and imaginative because our ancestors discovered cooking? Horizon examines the evidence that our ancestors' changing diet and their mastery of fire prompted anatomical and neurological changes that resulted in taking us out of the trees and into the kitchen. | ||
| "Is Everything We Know About the Universe Wrong?" | 9 March 2010 | 46x15 |
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There's something very odd going on in space - something that shouldn't be possible. It is as though vast swathes of the universe are being hoovered up by a vast and unseen celestial vacuum cleaner. Sasha Kaslinsky, the scientist who discovered the phenomenon, is understandably nervous: 'It left us quite unsettled and jittery' he says, 'because this is not something we planned to find'. The accidental discovery of what is ominously being called 'dark flow' not only has implications for the destinies of large numbers of galaxies - it also means that large numbers of scientists might have to find a new way of understanding the universe. Dark flow is the latest in a long line of phenomena that have threatened to rewrite the textbooks. Does it herald a new era of understanding, or does it simply mean that everything we know about the universe is wrong? | ||
Series 47: 2010-2011
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Back from the Dead" | 27 September 2010 | 47x01 |
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Dr Kevin Fong investigates a pioneering technique of extreme cooling that is being used to bring people back from the dead. In the operating theatre, a patient's heart is stopped and their brain shows no activity. They are indistinguishable from someone who is dead. Yet patients can then be warmed up and brought back to life. Kevin Fong meets the doctors who have developed this procedure, finds out how it could revolutionise intensive care and trauma medicine, and meets some of the remarkable people who have been brought back from the dead. | ||
| "The Death of the Oceans?" | 4 October 2010 | 47x02 |
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Sir David Attenborough reveals the findings of one of the most ambitious scientific studies of our time - an investigation into what is happening to our oceans. He looks at whether it is too late to save their remarkable biodiversity. Horizon travels from the cold waters of the North Atlantic to the tropical waters of the Great Barrier Reef to meet the scientists who are transforming our understanding of this unique habitat. Attenborough explores some of the ways in which we are affecting marine life - from over-fishing to the acidification of sea water. The film also uncovers the disturbing story of how shipping noise is deafening whales and dolphins, affecting their survival in the future. | ||
| "What Happened Before the Big Bang?" | 11 October 2010 | 47x03 |
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They are the biggest questions that science can possibly ask: where did everything in our universe come from? How did it all begin? For nearly a hundred years, we thought we had the answer: a big bang some 14 billion years ago. But now some scientists believe that was not really the beginning. Our universe may have had a life before this violent moment of creation. Horizon takes the ultimate trip into the unknown, to explore a dizzying world of cosmic bounces, rips and multiple universes, and finds out what happened before the big bang. | ||
| "Is Seeing Believing?" | 18 October 2010 | 47x04 |
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Horizon explores the strange and wonderful world of illusions - and reveals the tricks they play on our senses and why they fool us. We show how easy it is to trick your sense of taste by changing the colours of food and drink, explain how what you see can change what you hear, and see just how unreliable our sense of colour can be. But all this trickery has a serious purpose. It's helping scientists to create a new understanding of how our senses work - not as individual senses, but connected together. It holds the intriguing possibility that one sense could be mapped into another. This is what happened to Daniel Kish, who lost his sight as a child. He is now able to create a vision of the world by clicking his tongue which allows him to echolocate like a bat. And in a series of MRI scans, scientists are now looking to find out if Daniel's brain may have actually rewired itself enabling him to use sound to create a visual image of the world. | ||
| "Miracle Cure? A Decade of the Human Genome" | 25 October 2010 | 47x05 |
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A decade ago, scientists announced that they had produced the first draft of the human genome, the 3.6 billion letters of our genetic code. It was seen as one of the greatest scientific achievements of our age, a breakthrough that would usher in a new age of medicine. A decade later, Horizon finds out how close we are to developing the life-changing treatments that were hoped for. Horizon follows three people, each with a genetic disease, as they go behind the scenes at some of Britain's leading research labs to find out what the sequencing of the human genome has done for them - and the hope this remarkable project offers all of us. | ||
| "Asteroids - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" | 3 November 2010 | 47x06 |
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Famed for their ability to inflict Armageddon from outer space, asteroids are now revealing the secrets of how they are responsible for both life and death on our planet. Armed with an array of powerful telescopes, scientists are finding up to 3000 new asteroids every night. And some are heading our way. But astronomers have discovered that it's not the giant rocks that are the greatest danger - it's the small asteroids that pose a more immediate threat to Earth. Researchers have explained the photon propulsion that propels these rocks across space, and have discovered that some asteroids are carrying a mysterious cargo of frost and ice across the solar system that could have helped start life on earth. | ||
| "Deepwater Disaster - The Untold Story" | 16 November 2010 | 47x07 |
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Horizon reveals the untold story of the 87-day battle to kill the Deepwater Horizon oil blowout a mile beneath the waves - a crisis that became America's worst environmental disaster. Engineers and oil men at the heart of the operation talk for the first time about the colossal engineering challenges they faced and how they had to improvise under extreme pressure. They tell of how they used household junk, discarded steel boxes and giant underwater cutting shears to stop the oil. It's an operation that one insider likens to the rescue of Apollo 13. | ||
| "What Is One Degree?" | 10 January 2011 | 47x08 |
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Comedian Ben Miller returns to his roots as a physicist to try to answer a deceptively simple question: what is one degree of temperature? His quest takes him to the frontiers of current science as he meets researchers working on the hottest and coldest temperatures in the universe, and to a lab where he experiences some of the strangest effects of quantum physics - a place where super-cooled liquids simply pass through solid glass. Plus, Ben installs his very own Met office weather station at home. | ||
| "What Is Reality?" | 17 January 2011 | 47x09 |
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There is a strange and mysterious world that surrounds us, a world largely hidden from our senses. The quest to explain the true nature of reality is one of the great scientific detective stories. Clues have been pieced together from deep within the atom, from the event horizon of black holes, and from the far reaches of the cosmos. It may be that we are part of a cosmic hologram, projected from the edge of the universe. Or that we exist in an infinity of parallel worlds. Your reality may never look quite the same again. | ||
| "Science Under Attack" | 24 January 2011 | 47x10 |
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Nobel Prize winner Sir Paul Nurse examines why science appears to be under attack, and why public trust in key scientific theories has been eroded - from the theory that man-made climate change is warming our planet, to the safety of GM food, or that HIV causes AIDS. He interviews scientists and campaigners from both sides of the climate change debate, and travels to New York to meet Tony, who has HIV but doesn't believe that the virus is responsible for AIDS. | ||
| "The Secret World of Pain" | 31 January 2011 | 47x11 |
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Horizon reveals the latest research into one of the most mysterious and common human experiences: pain. Exploring the breakthroughs that have come from studying a remarkable woman in London who has felt no pain at all in her life, a man in the US who cut off his own arm to survive, and three generations of an Italian family who don't feel extremes of temperature. Featuring a new treatment that involves a pioneering computer game 'snow world' that contains the power to banish pain, and revealing how powerfully our moods and emotions shape how we feel pain. | ||
| "Surviving a Car Crash" | 7 February 2011 | 47x12 |
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Horizon meets the scientists working to make fatal car crashes a thing of the past. A remarkable fusion of mechanical engineering and biology promises to save countless lives across the world. The programme has exclusive access to the secretive world of the most advanced car crash tests. Horizon reveals how the latest advances in trauma medicine, psychology and even extreme sport are transforming your chances of surviving on the roads. And the programme shows how researchers are creating a new virtual crash test dummy that could change how our cars are designed forever. | ||
| "How to Mend a Broken Heart" | 14 February 2011 | 47x13 |
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Dr Kevin Fong finds out how close scientists are to being able to mend your heart if it stops working. He meets some of the people who have undergone pioneering heart operations and the scientists who are pushing the limits of cardiac treatment. We meet a man who has had his heart replaced with an artificial one powered by a mechanical pump he carries around in a rucksack, and witness a scientist bring a dead animal heart back to life on a workbench. Plus, the work of an American scientist who is using stem cells to turn what she calls a 'ghost heart' - the scaffold of a heart - into a replacement heart for humans. | ||
| "Are We Still Evolving?" | 1 March 2011 | 47x14 |
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Dr Alice Roberts asks one of the great questions about our species: are we still evolving? There's no doubt that we're a product of millions of years of evolution. But thanks to modern technology and medicine, did we escape Darwin's law of the survival of the fittest? Alice follows a trail of clues from ancient human bones, to studies of remarkable people living in the most inhospitable parts of the planet, to the frontiers of genetic research to discover if we are still evolving - and where we might be heading. | ||
| "Predators in Your Backyard" | 8 March 2011 | 47x15 |
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Looking at the radical scheme of reintroducing predator animals close to human dwellings around the world, and the benefits following the reintroduction of Wolves back to Yellowstone National Park. | ||
Series 48: 2011-2012
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "Do You See What I See" | 8 August 2011 | 48x01 |
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Documentary exploring the impact of colours on people's lives, and how perceptions of them can be influenced by age, gender and mood. The programme examines scientists' claims that different hues have hidden powers, from the winning properties of red to how blue seemingly makes time speed up. | ||
| "Seeing Stars" | 15 August 2011 | 48x02 |
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Across the world, a new generation of astronomers is out to make fresh discoveries about the universe, but the scientists need to look farther than ever before. For this, they have pushed the limits of science and engineering to create a new set of super-telescopes that they hope will help them rewrite the story of the stars. | ||
| "The Nine Months That Made You" | 22 August 2011 | 48x03 |
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An exploration of theories pioneered by British scientist Professor David Barker, who believes that the time people spend in the womb is so profoundly important that it could affect every area of their subsequent development, from health and personality to the lives of their children. | ||
| "The Core" | 31 August 2011 | 48x04 |
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For centuries we have dreamt of reaching the centre of the Earth. Now scientists are uncovering a bizarre and alien world that lies 4,000 miles beneath our feet, unlike anything we know on the surface. It is a planet buried within the planet we know, where storms rage within a sea of white-hot metal and a giant forest of crystals make up a metal core the size of the Moon. Horizon follows scientists who are conducting experiments to recreate this core within their own laboratories, with surprising results.. | ||
| "Are You Good or Evil?" | 7 September 2011 | 48x05 |
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Horizon meets the researchers who have studied some of the most terrifying people behind bars - psychopathic killers. But there was a shock in store for one of these scientists, Professor Jim Fallon, when he discovered that he had the profile of a psychopath. And the reason he didn't turn out to be a killer holds important lessons for all of us. We meet the scientist who believes he has found the moral molecule and the man who is using this new understanding to rewrite our ideas of crime and punishment. | ||
| "Is Nuclear Power Safe?" | 14 September 2011 | 48x06 |
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Six months after the explosions at the Fukushima nuclear plant and the release of radiation there, Professor Jim Al-Khalili sets out to discover whether nuclear power is safe. He begins in Japan, where he meets some of the tens of thousands of people who have been evacuated from the exclusion zone. He travels to an abandoned village just outside the zone to witness a nuclear clean-up operation. Jim draws on the latest scientific findings from Japan and from the previous explosion at Chernobyl to understand how dangerous the release of radiation is likely to be and what that means for our trust in nuclear power. | ||
| "Playing God" | 17 January 2012 | 48x07 |
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Adam Rutherford explores synthetic biology, a branch of science that researchers hope will enable them to break nature down into constituent parts so they can rebuild it as they please. He learns about the spider-goat, a creature bred by American scientists, whose milk can be used to artificially create the material for spiderwebs, and investigates how the science behind it could be applied to other areas of the natural world - including the human brain. | ||
| "The Truth About Exercise" | 28 February 2012 | 48x08 |
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Michael Mosley investigates recent scientific research that could change the way people exercise, including a study that suggests many could benefit from just three minutes of high-intensity activity a week. He also discovers the health benefits of seemingly innocuous actions, such as walking and fidgeting, and learns why some people do not respond to exercise at all. | ||
| "Solar Storms: The Threat to Planet Earth" | 6 March 2012 | 48x09 |
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Scientists predict this year will see a fit of violent activity on the sun which will propel billions of tonnes of superheated gas and pulses of energy towards Earth. In 1989 one of these solar storms, which has the power to close down modern technology, cut off the power to the Canadian province of Quebec. Horizon meets the weathermen as they try to predict what's coming and organisations like the National Grid as they prepare for the cosmic tempest. | ||
| "Out of Control?" | 13 March 2012 | 48x10 |
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People assume they are in control of their lives, deciding what they want and when they want it - but scientists now claim this is simply an illusion. Experiments reveal that what a person does and what they think can be very different, with the unconscious mind often influencing the decisions they make, from what they eat to who they fall in love with. Horizon reveals to what extent people really do control their own destiny. | ||
| "The Truth About Fat" | 20 March 2012 | 48x11 |
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Surgeon Gabriel Weston explores why so many people are piling on the pounds - and learns about new ways to fight the flab. She discovers the hidden hormones that control appetite and sees the latest surgery that fundamentally changes what a patient wants to eat - by altering how their brains work. | ||
| "Global Weirding" | 27 March 2012 | 48x12 |
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Something weird seems to be happening to our weather - it appears to be getting more extreme. In the past few years we have shivered through two record-breaking cold winters and parts of the country have experienced intense droughts and torrential floods. It is a pattern that appears to be playing out across the globe. Hurricane chasers are recording bigger storms and in Texas, record-breaking rain has been followed by record-breaking drought. Horizon follows the scientists who are trying to understand what's been happening to our weather and investigates if these extremes are a taste of whats to come. | ||
| "The Hunt for AI" | 3 April 2012 | 48x13 |
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Marcus Du Sautoy wants to find out how close we are to creating machines that can think like us: robots or computers that have artificial intelligence. His journey takes him to a strange and bizarre world where AI is now taking shape. Marcus meets two robots who are developing their own private language, and attempts to communicate to them. He discovers how a super computer beat humans at one of the toughest quiz shows on the planet, Jeopardy. And finds out if machines can have creativity and intuition like us. Marcus is worried that if machines can think like us, then he will be out of business. But his conclusion is that AI machines may surprise us with their own distinct way of thinking. | ||
| "Defeating Cancer" | 10 April 2012 | 48x14 |
|
Over the past year, Horizon has been behind the scenes at one of Britain's leading cancer hospitals, the Royal Marsden in London. The film follows Rosemary, Phil and Ray as they undergo remarkable new treatments - from a billion pound genetically targeted drug designed to fight a type of skin cancer, to advanced robotic surgery. We witness the breakthroughs in surgery and in scientific research that are offering new hope and helping to defeat a disease that more than one in three of us will develop at some stage of our lives. | ||
Series 49: 2012-2013
| Title | Original broadcast date | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| "The Truth About Looking Young" | 23 July 2012 | 49x01 |
|
Plastic surgeon Dr Rozina Ali leaves the operating theatre behind for the frontiers of skin science and asks if it is possible to make your skin look younger without surgery. | ||
| "Mission to Mars" | 30 July 2012 | 49x02 |
|
Horizon goes behind the scenes at NASA as they countdown to the landing of a 2.5 billion-dollar rover on the surface of Mars. | ||
References
- General
- "Horizon archives". BBC Retrieved on 2009-12-08
- "Horizon episodes coming up". BBC Retrieved on 2009-12-08
- "Recent Horizons". BBC Retrieved on 2009-12-08
- Specific
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