Seasons & episodes

In this documentary, Horizon investigates obesity in Britain, following a woman, Heather Osborne, who weighs 322 pounds. We watch her progress through a stomach stapling operation and explore reports on a so-called fat free fat and two new drugs which have been marketed as the ultimate cure for obesity.

Horizon follows the investigations into the origins of a 16th century shipwreck discovered off of the coast of the Channel Islands.

This episode of Horizon presents a profile of the inventor Sir Frank Whittle and his idea for the first jet engine which changed the nature of air travel.

In this episode, Horizon reports on the last lab samples of smallpox destined to be destroyed. But do we still have much to learn from this virus?

In this episode, Horizon investigates an amazing new sign language developed solely by deaf children and explores if we copy language from what surrounds us.

Horizon reports on a radical new theory by Professor Polly Matzinger about the human body's immune system.

Horizon investigates the real impact that oil pollution has on our environment during a 12 month study.

Horizon reports on the technical and logistical struggles of teams trying for the first time to circumnavigate the earth by balloon.

Horizon investigates the theory that a comet impact in the Gulf of Mexico was responsible for the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.

Horizon reports on how mainstream science is now looking at whether the brain can affect the immune system.

In this episode, Horizon presents new findings about the dates for the arrival of people in Australia and the invention of art.

Horizon presents a documentary about scientists who now believe that viruses that can kill bacteria, known as bacteriophage, might win the fight against super-germs.

Looks at Ian Waterman, who at 19 caught a virus that destroyed half of his nervous system and who, in spite of medical assertions that he would never walk, feed or move again, managed by sheer will-power to get back some mobility. Examines the question of how far the brain can over-ride disease or physical problems.

This Horizon documentary is about how and why, a sheep named Dolly, became the first cloned copy of an adult mammal.

After the 1991 Gulf War, a UN Special Commission was set up to go into war-torn Iraq, seek out Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and destroy or disable them. This remarkable Horizon follows the tension of the inspectors' every move as they track down secret military bases, Scud missile launchers, the infamous super-gun barrels, decaying chemical weapons dumps, and the remains of the nuclear research establishment, cunningly hidden amongst debris and the innocent-looking rubble of post-war reconstruction. At each stage in the cat-and-mouse game with the Iraqi security forces, the UN team had to draw on cunning and courage to force their way into secret locations. Day by day, they recorded their progress on video, and charted the tensions of diplomatic stand-offs as the world was twice drawn close to another violent confrontation in the Gulf. The courage of the UN team, drawn from scientists from all over the world, is graphically revealed as they attempt to gauge the lethal nature of rusting canisters of poison gas, at Saddam's decaying chemical weapons store. After the immediate rush of successes, the inspectors' work became a steady process of attrition - grinding on against the stonewalling of their hosts. "The weapons programme is like layers of an onion. Every now and then, Saddam would allow us to peel one back, but there is always more underneath." But five years on, the inspectors had still not tracked down proof of the darkest of Saddam's secrets: his biological weapons programme. However, painstaking detective work revealed that huge quantities of the media needed for growing biological organisms had been imported, and Iraq finally admitted to having substantial biological weapons, which are cheaper and more simple to produce than nuclear and chemical weapons, yet have the same destructive power. Gradually the inspectors got close to the labs and animal testing stations where the lethal toxins had been produced. In addition to the most common biological warfare organisms, anthrax and botulinus, Iraq developed and tested strains of viruses never before adopted for weapons purposes. This was part of an ongoing international biological arms race to design novel weapons using gene-splicing or fibroviruses such as Ebola, Hanta fever and others.

Horizon presents a documentary with Jonathan Miller who sets out for the Torres Strait, near Australia, to retrace the footsteps of the first British anthropological expedition 100 years ago. The expedition laid the foundations of modern anthropology's aims, ethos, and rules.

Horizon presents the scientist, Graeme Mather, whose claims to be able to cause rainfall, are tested in Mexico with his reputation at stake.

In this documentary, Horizon reports on the genetic research of biologist Mike Levine, whose discovery of a mutant fruit fly led to cures for illnesses as diverse as Parkinson's disease and skin cancer.

Horizon examines how much further we can and should go in our treatment of those born too soon in Britain.

Horizon presents the story from Celtic ritual and forensic science with startling conclusions that emerge about the subject and the nature of the evidence itself.

In this story, Horizon looks at the communities that live directly below the shadow of the volcano called Mount Vesuvius.

S35 · E8Mir Mortals 1998-04-23 · 60 min＋

This documentary by Horizon presents the story of the four Russian men who orbited earth last year on board the ill-fated Mir space station.

Horizon presents this documentary on how special effects have evolved during the last century of films.

Horizon brings the story of a 40 year struggle to bring 'Antisense' into being and it's current trials with incurable cancer patients.