The attempt to send and land astronauts on Mars risks billions of dollars and the lives of those brave enough to attempt it. Is the possible benefit really worth the risk? And is it really achievable?

Metamorphosis seems like the ultimate evolutionary magic trick, the amazing transformation of one creature into a totally different being: one life, two bodies.

Our lifespan is increasing by 2.5 years every decade - and a third of all babies born today can expect to live to 100. But living longer can come at a cost. Old age itself brings with it a range of debilitating illnesses, many of which are the result of accumulating damage during our lifetime.

In 1957, Britain exploded its first megaton hydrogen bomb - codenamed Operation Grapple X. It was the culmination of an extraordinary scientific project, which against almost insuperable odds turned Britain into a nuclear superpower. This is the inside story of how Britain got 'the bomb'.

With a PhD in papyrology, Margaret Mountford goes in search of the truth behind the legend of Sappho, the most controversial writer of the ancient world and the first authentic woman's voice in western history.

Emmy-award winning journalist Ramita Navai reveals the other side of the war against ISIS in Iraq, looking at allegations of torture, execution and sectarian cleansing of Sunni refugees by Shia militias.

Liz Bonnin joins a scientific team on an expedition across the Galapagos Islands to carry out important research that will help protect the islands and their inhabitants.

Granted spe­cial ac­cess to the se­cret work­ings of the Tube, and with the aid of the Lon­don Un­der­ground staff who know it best, en­gi­neer Rob Bell dis­cov­ers the fas­ci­nat­ing hid­den his­tory of how Lon­don’s iconic metro was built.

A fundamental force of nature, gravity shapes our entire universe. It sculpts galaxies and warps space and time. But gravity’s strange powers also affect our daily lives in the most unexpected ways. This is a story with surprises in store for Jim himself. In telling the story of gravity, his own understanding of the nature of reality comes to be challenged.

Surgeon Gabriel Weston introduces us to people from across the globe with the world's most unique bodies. She uncovers the rare and extraordinary cases that are bringing new discoveries about the human body and leading to the medical cures of the future.

The hidden story of the tens of thousands of men, women and children who've been disappeared in Syria by the Assad regime, into a network of clandestine detention centres

It is one of the most baffling questions that scientists can ask: how big is the universe that we live in?

Series following the larger-than-life characters that populate the House of Lords, one of Britain's oldest, most idiosyncratic and most important institutions.

Documentary portrait of the trail-blazing activist, poet and writer Maya Angelou. Born in 1928, she enthused generations with her bold and inspirational championing of the African-American experience that pushed boundaries and redefined the way people think about race and culture.

Dr Helen Czerski examines the extraordinary messages sound waves carry and how they help us understand the world around us.

Dr Helen Czerski examines the world of sound waves. She investigates the extraordinary science behind the sounds we're familiar with and the sounds that we normally can't hear.

This dramatic, visceral and profoundly moving documentary joins three refugee children from the Middle East on their dangerous journeys to what they hope is a new future in Western Europe

It is the defining cultural tale of modern America - a saga of race, celebrity, media, violence, and the criminal justice system. And two decades after its unforgettable climax, it continues to fascinate, polarize, and develop new chapters.

Nominated for an Academy Award, this film tells the uplifting story of Owen Suskind, an autistic young man and his family. After unremarkable early years, at the age of three Owen withdrew and suddenly stopped speaking. Diagnosed with autism, Owen slowly emerged from his isolation by immersing himself in Disney animated films, using them as an emotional road map to reconnect with the wider world.

Historian Bettany Hughes travels to India, Greece and China on the trail of three giants of ancient philosophy - Buddha, Socrates and Confucius.

Lucy Worsley explores how British history is a concoction of fibs and stories manipulated by whoever was in power at the time.

The European Union faces the biggest challenge in its 60-year history, with the rise of populist eurosceptic movements across the continent. As Britain prepares to begin the process of withdrawing from the EU, the BBC's Europe editor Katya Adler asks whether the Union itself can survive.

Series of lectures on a single topic, presenting scientific subjects to a general audience in an informative and entertaining manner

Clips from the BBC archive giving an overview of David Bowie's career from 1964 to 2016, blending interviews and performances from music programmes, documentaries and chat shows.

Fearless and influential, he blazed a trail for artists in the second half of the 20th century, and yet his work is rarely seen here in the UK. That is about to change with a major retrospective at Tate Modern in December 2016.

Having previously investigated the architecture of Hitler and Stalin's regimes, Jonathan Meades turns his attention to another notorious 20th-century European dictator, Mussolini.

This remarkable feature-length documentary combines rare and unseen archive footage with interviews with the surviving cosmonauts to tell the fascinating and at times terrifying story of how the Russians led us into the space age.

David Attenborough presents a documentary series exploring how animals meet the challenges of surviving in the most iconic habitats on earth.

Exceptional figures from politics, business, sport, science and more share their insights into being black and British today, how they got where they are, and thoughts on what the future holds.

Series showing how new camera technology is revealing the inner workings of the Earth's most spectacular natural wonders