Described as one of the most influential female boxers of all time, helping legitimize women’s participation in the sport, Christy Martin shocked the world by becoming a superstar after winning a blood-soaked undercard match at the Mike Tyson/Frank Bruno fight in 1996. After her meteoric rise, the film breaks down Christy’s incredible fight for survival both in and out of the ring as she battled substance abuse, domestic violence and a harrowing brush with death. We also see Christy’s struggle with her sexual orientation and her journey of self-discovery. This is a story stranger than fiction, that must be seen to be believed.
The 1980s was an era in which a fusillade of new genres emerged, and many are still with us today, such as hip-hop and house. Dylan Jones has mined the archives to select some of the most crucial tracks in the rise of these two genres. From a young Kurtis Blow making his Top of the Pops debut to the sonic bombardment of Public Enemy and the sampling skills of Bomb the Bass, this episode showcases the evolution in rap and house music across the decade. There are rare archival interviews and stellar performances from Run-DMC, Salt 'N' Pepa, S'Express, Cookie Crew and Neneh Cherry, as well as iconic videos from Herbie Hancock, The Beastie Boys, M/A/R/R/S, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and many more.
High on cocaine, Hitler hatches an audacious plan to turn the tide of the war. He has been prescribed the drug for injuries sustained when Stauffenberg tried to kill him. Colourised archive depicts the Germans’ opening salvo artillery barrage and George Patton’s arrival in Bastogne to break the German siege. The film also looks at the role played by commando Otto Skorzeny, who put English-speaking German soldiers behind the lines to sow confusion, spreading the rumour that they try to kill or capture Eisenhower.
This episode is all about Williams Racing. After over forty years in F1, the family from which the team is named has sold up, and the not-ominous-sounding-at-all Dorilton Capital has moved in and is ringing the changes. They have got a motor sport man through and through to run it though: former Volkswagen WRC principal Jost Capito. The new boss soon starts scything through the team with ruthless German efficiency. George Russell soon gets in the mood also, like a prefect joining in with the teacher grassing someone up, saying some team members need to be given the shove. The team does come through to score a valiant eighth and ninth in Budapest. The new regime is rocking and rolling.
(Click CC for subtitles) Rumors fly about whether an up-and-coming driver will join Hamilton on team Mercedes, potentially leaving Valtteri Bottas without a seat. Seemingly permanently stuck in the crisis of a one-year contract running out, this time Bottas has Mercedes golden boy George Russell breathing down his neck. The young Brit desperately wants Bottas’ seat, and things come to a head when the two collide at Imola. Scandalous. Bottas can’t resist the inevitable though, and after Russell puts the F1 on the front row at Spa, whilst the Finn can only manage eighth, it looks to be all over. Thus follows a scene of Russell being told he has the Mercedes seat by Wolff in a scene which looks so staged it would make even cringe.
Plants that have developed to thrive in the desert, including cacti that grow in the shade of other trees and collect water in pleated trunks that expand and contract - but can also find themselves a host to other plants, like desert mistletoe. This programme also reveals how tobacco plants being eaten by caterpillars are able to summon the creatures' natural predators, and how tumbleweeds roll across the landscape, only unfurling and growing when they encounter rain.
After her meteoric rise, the film breaks down Christy’s incredible fight for survival both in and out of the ring as she battled substance abuse, domestic violence and a harrowing brush with death. We also see Christy’s struggle with her sexual orientation and her journey of self-discovery. This is a story stranger than fiction, that must be seen to be believed.