Anish Kapoor and Cecil Balmond's Orbit sculpture is the most spectacular artistic creation of 2012 - a gravity-defying, breathtakingly dynamic scribble of crimson steel. Standing twice the height of Nelson's Column, it now towers over the Olympic Park.

Seals, parakeets and even pelicans that eat pigeons have all made London their home. That's as well as badgers, foxes, scorpions, and pigeons that ride the tube.

Evidence of racist violence and anti-semitism at Polish and Ukrainian football matches.

Dan Cruickshank follows in the footsteps of John Stow and John Strype, two of London's greatest chroniclers, to explore one of the most dramatic centuries in the history of London.

From its early years until the present day, London has provided powerful, emotional inspiration to artists.This documentary evokes the city as seen by painters, photographers, film-makers and writers through the ages.

The Bible describes how Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed in a storm of fire and brimstone. Could the inspiration for this story come from a natural apocalypse around the Dead Sea in the Middle East?

The story of Anders Breivik's killing spree in Norway on July 22, 2011, tracing events as they unfolded. Survivors of the Utoya Island massacre and Oslo bomb blast discuss their experiences, and members of the emergency services recall how they helped the injured.

Special programme telling the dramatic story of Cutty Sark, the world famous clipper ship, from her launch in 1869 to the modern-day conservation work to save her.

Aggressive tax avoidance was branded "morally repugnant" by the chancellor in the last budget. But what does he mean? Panorama investigates how some of the UK's most famous companies have been using a tax haven at the heart of Europe to save millions in tax.

Panorama goes undercover inside Azerbaijan, the host country of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, to discover the extraordinary truth about this secretive country and its approach to the world's most watched non-sporting event.

For more than two years Europe has teetered on the edge of an economic precipice - one of the factors that has pushed Britain back into recession. How exactly did Europe get itself into the current financial mess? Talking to historians, economists and politicians, BBC business editor Robert Peston takes a long view of the euro.

How modern Britain is still defined by the battle between Cavaliers (panache, pleasure and individuality) and Roundheads (modesty, discipline, equality, and state intervention).

In the 60s and early 70s it was common for Grand Prix drivers to be killed while racing, often televised for millions to see.

As Facebook heads for its 100 billion dollar flotation, Emily Maitlis updates her recent documentary on the prospects for Mark Zuckerberg's social network phenomenon.

Ever wondered what would happen in your own home if you were taken away, and everything inside was left to rot? The answer is revealed in this fascinating programme.

The story of The Shard - the colossal glass skyscraper that has transformed London's skyline.

Engineer Jem Stansfield looks back through the Horizon archives to find out how scientists have come to understand and manipulate the materials that built the modern world.

By the start of the 70s, the Windrush generation of immigrants who came to the UK from the Caribbean and West Indies were an established part of the British population and their influence and culture permeated UK society.

Richard Bilton uncovers a struggle at the heart of US diplomacy between the ideals of freedom and spreading democracy, and the ruthless demands of American security and narrow self-interest.

In the second of two programmes about American diplomacy and the leaked US embassy cables, Richard Bilton examines what the cables reveal about how America handles its enemies and rivals.

The film follows Rosemary, Phil and Ray as they undergo remarkable new treatments - from a billion pound genetically targeted drug designed to fight a type of skin cancer, to advanced robotic surgery.

Marcus Du Sautoy wants to find out how close we are to creating machines that can think like us: robots or computers that have artificial intelligence.

In the past few years we have shivered through two record-breaking cold winters and parts of the country have experienced intense droughts and torrential floods. It is a pattern that appears to be playing out across the globe.

The Jungle Book's Baloo the bear character is based on the secretive sloth bear who lives in India's wildest places. The real Baloo does chase fancy ants, but his life is a lot tougher than that of his fictional friend.

Africa's wildest river is home to the most spectacular wildlife. Hippos fight for territory while herds of elephant, water buffalo and zebra depend on it for life.

An intimate portrait of Yemen as the revolution unfolds, told through the eyes of warm-hearted local tour guide Kais.

Ancient Egypt was vandalised by tomb raiders and treasure hunters until one Victorian adventurer took them on. Most of us have never heard of Flinders Petrie, but this maverick genius underook a scientific survey of the pyramids, discovered the oldest portraits in the world, unearthed Egypt's prehistoric roots - and in the process invented modern field archaeology, giving meaning to a whole civilisation.

They are constantly circling hundreds of miles above our heads, driving our daily lives - yet we barely give satellites a second thought.

In this documentary, Rageh Omaar sets out to find out that if human depiction is the source of such controversy, how is it that the art displayed here shows a tradition of figurative art at the heart of Islam for century after century? He explores what forms of art are acceptable for a Muslim - and why this artistic tradition has thrived - in the hidden art of the muslim world.

Science series. People like to think they are in control of their lives - of what they feel and think. But scientists are now discovering this is often simply an illusion.