The Guardian 8 November, 2006
TV programs previewed:
Sun Nov 19 — Sat Nov 25
In Wild Europe (ABC 7.30pm Sunday) we journey back three billion years, through tropical swamps and ice ages, among civilisations and revolutions, to experience the events that shaped the landscapes and wildlife of Europe. No other continent has such a variety of landscapes and wildlife crammed into it.
As Europeans settled into communities they emerged as the major force now shaping the continent’s landscape and wildlife.
Ten thousand years ago in the Near East a new and revolutionary practice was taking shape — agriculture. Where people had once cut small clearings to catch prey, now livestock is reared and whole forests are felled to plant crops. Agriculture paved the way for dramatic change
From the Minoans and the Greeks through to the first true pan-European empire of the Romans, farming saw the creation of wealth for some and encouraged trade.
Imagine a world where disease could be eradicated by an injection of tiny robots the size of molecules. That is the hope offered by nanotechnology — the science of microscopically small machines. But others fear nanotechnology could lead to a non-biological cancer — where swarms of tiny nanobots come together and literally devour human flesh. Sounds like science fiction? It certainly did, until a brilliant young scientist called Hendrik Schön seemed to bring it a step closer — The Dark Secret (SBS 5pm Monday).
Schön’s great breakthrough was to make a computer transistor out of a single organic molecule. It was an achievement of almost incalculable brilliance. Some speculated this technology could spell the end of the entire silicon chip industry. Crucially, Schön’s transistor was organic. Suddenly, this seemed to be the first step towards true nanotechnology, where minute computers could grow as living cells. Scientists speculated about how these tiny machines could be used to target diseases with astonishing precision.
Others wondered — could the military use them as a new weapon? Others, including Prince Charles, were terrified. If these machines can grow by themselves, how do we stop them from growing? What happened next would destroy reputations and shatter lives — because there was more to Hendrik Schön’s discovery than anyone knew.
America is a nation increasingly divided on issue after issue. The political divide is often described as red states vs. blue states. But Cutting Edge: State Of The Union (SBS 8.30pm Tuesday) demonstrates that the phenomenon is more neighbourhood by neighbourhood or town by town — red streets vs. blue streets. As an example, this documentary compares two cities, Montclair, New Jersey and Franklin, Tennessee.
A generation ago in both communities, the vote in the presidential election was split 50-50 Democrat-Republic. In 2004 it was a blowout in opposite directions — 78% for Senator John Kerry in "blue" Montclair, 72% for President Bush in "red" Franklin, Tennessee. The margin of victory has steadily widened in every Presidential election since 1976.
Storyline Australia: Do Not Resuscitate (SBS 8.30pm Thursday) is a two-part film about three very different people, Steve, Mary and Judy, whose lives are driven by suffering. They want the right to choose how and when they die. In Australia, assisting them to die is illegal and carries a 14-year jail sentence, despite the fact that 73 percent of Australians support euthanasia.
But the prospect of dying a long and painful death drives these three people to extraordinary lengths to get access to the means to choose their own kind of death. As Steve, Mary and Judy challenge the status quo, the laws governing euthanasia in Australia are put to the test.
On 30 January, 2000, Hungary’s Tisza River was flooded with 120,000 tons of cyanide from an Australian-Romanian gold mine in Baia Mare, Romania. The resulting environmental disaster killed over 1200 tons of fish and devastated the river’s eco-system.
The fishermen, whose livelihoods depend on their daily catch from the Tisza River, lost everything because of the disaster. Fishermen like Balazs Meszaros struggled to survive. In an effort to save his people and their way of life, Balazs travels to Australia to confront the mining company that was responsible.
Filmmaker Peter Hegedus was in Hungary when the disaster occurred. He started making plans for this documentary, Inheritance (SBS 1pm Friday) hoping to understand what had happened to the Australian mining company, intending to explore both the Hungarian and the Australian sides.
Debbie Does Dallas was made 25 years ago and is the highest grossing pornographic film of all time. The history of the film includes some of the leading crime families in the United States, a double murder, at least one suicide, an Attorney General’s Report in 1986, a legal test case and several unexplained disappearances. Millions have viewed the film, but few are aware of the dark history connected to this seventies porn movie. The Curse Of Debbie Does Dallas (SBS 10pm Friday) follows up on the famous porn flick and catches up with many of the original actors 27 years after its release.
The Classical Destinations series explores Europe’s most spectacular cities and landscapes while revelling in the great classical music composed within them the lives of the master musicians, the cities they lived in, and how their work reflects the very same surroundings familiar to us today. Presented and narrated by British actor and music expert Simon Callow — Venice, Vivaldi And The Four Seasons (SBS 6pm Saturday) — part six visits Venice where Antonio Vivaldi spent his most productive years in the early 18th century.