The BEST episodes directed by Tim Usborne
#1 - Britain's Nuclear Secrets: Inside Sellafield
BBC Documentaries - Season 2015 - Episode 181
Lying on the remote northwest coast of England is one of the most secret places in the country - Sellafield, the most controversial nuclear facility in Britain. Now, for the first time, Sellafield are letting nuclear physicist Professor Jim Al-Khalili and the television cameras in, to discover the real story. Inside, Jim encounters some of the most dangerous substances on Earth, reveals the nature of radiation and even attempts to split the atom. He sees inside a nuclear reactor, glimpses one of the rarest elements in the world - radioactive plutonium - and even subjects living tissue to deadly radiation. Ultimately, the film reveals Britain's attempts - past, present and future - to harness the almost limitless power of the atom.
#2 - Clash of Titans
Atom - Season 1 - Episode 1
The first of three programmes in which nuclear physicist Professor Jim Al-Khalili tells the story of the greatest scientific discovery ever - that everything is made of atoms. As scientists delved deep into the atom, into the very heart of matter, they unravelled nature's most shocking secrets. They had to abandon everything they believed in and create a whole new science, which today underpins the whole of physics, chemistry, biology and maybe even life itself. The series tells a story of geniuses like Albert Einstein and Werner Heisenberg who were driven by their thirst for knowledge and glory. It is a story of false starts and conflicts, ambition and revelation, a story which leads us through some of the most exciting and exhilarating ideas ever conceived by the human race.
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#3 - The Truth about Fat
Horizon - Season 2012 - Episode 5
Surgeon Gabriel Weston discovers the surprising truth about why so many people are piling on the pounds, and how to fight the fat epidemic. She discovers the hidden battles of hormones that control people's appetites, and sees the latest surgery that fundamentally changes what a patient wants to eat by altering how their brains work. Gabriel is shocked to find out that when it comes to being overweight, it is not always your fault you are fat.
#4 - The Illusion of Reality
Atom - Season 1 - Episode 3
The final part of Professor Jim Al-Khalili's documentary series about the basic building block of our universe, the atom. Al-Khalili explores how studying the atom forced us to rethink the nature of reality itself, encountering ideas that seem like they are from science fiction but in fact are a central part of modern science. He discovers that there might be parallel universes in which different versions of us exist and finds out that empty space is not empty at all, but seething with activity. The world we think we know - the solid, reassuring world of our senses - turns out to be a tiny sliver of an infinitely weirder and more wonderful universe than we had ever conceived in our wildest fantasies.
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#5 - The Key to the Cosmos
Atom - Season 1 - Episode 2
The second in Professor Jim Al-Khalili's three-part documentary about the basic building block of our universe, the atom. He shows how, in our quest to understand the tiny atom, we unravelled the mystery of how the universe was created. It's a story with dramatic twists and turns, taking in world-changing discoveries like radioactivity, the atom bomb and the big bang. All this forms part of an epic narrative in which the greatest brains of the 20th century competed to answer the biggest questions of all - why are we here and how were we made?
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#6 - Inside Porton Down: Britain's Secret Weapons Research Facility
BBC Documentaries - Season 2016 - Episode 176
Dr Michael Mosley investigates Britain's most secretive and controversial military research base, Porton Down, on its 100th anniversary. He comes face to face with chemical and biological weapons old and new, reveals the truth about shocking animal and human testing, and discovers how the latest science and technology are helping to defend us against terrorist attacks and rogue nations.
#7 - The Language of Science
Science and Islam - Season 1 - Episode 1
Physicist Jim Al-Khalili travels through Syria, Iran, Tunisia and Spain to tell the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries. Its legacy is tangible, with terms like algebra, algorithm and alkali being Arabic in origin and at the very heart of modern science. For Baghdad-born Al-Khalili this is also a personal journey and he uncovers a diverse, outward-looking culture, fascinated by learning and obsessed with science.
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#8 - The Power of Doubt
Science and Islam - Season 1 - Episode 3
Physicist Jim Al-Khalili concludes his investigation into the relationship between science and Islam. He shows how the scientific revolution that took place in 16th and 17th century Europe had its roots in the world of medieval Islam. He travels across Iran, Syria and Egypt to discover the astronomical advances made by Islamic scholars through their obsession with accurate measurement. He then visits Italy to see how those ideas permeated into the West and helped shape the works of Copernicus.
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#9 - The Empire of Reason
Science and Islam - Season 1 - Episode 2
Physicist Jim Al-Khalili travels through Syria, Iran, Tunisia and Spain to tell the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries. He travels to Syria to discover how, a thousand years ago, the astronomer and mathematician Al-Biruni estimated the size of the earth to within a few hundred miles of the correct figure. In Cairo, he tells the story of the physicist Ibn al-Haytham, who helped establish the science of optics.
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