Great documentaries (UKTV Documentary)

Member Name: vernonpresley

Product:	UKTV Documentary
Date:	02/12/07 (70 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A chance to see some of the best documentaries made for the BBC

Disadvantages: Adverts are intrusive

Launched in 2004, UKTV Documentary is a UK digital television channel, and is part of the UKTV network, which also includes UKTV Drama and UKTV Food, amongst others. Prior to its existence the channel UK Horizons fulfilled much the same purpose.

The output of this channel is solely documentaries (hence its name), and most of them are BBC programmes. Much of the programming is abridged in order to fulfil the requirements of commercial broadcasting, and sometimes the position of the adverts really distracts from my concentration when watching the programmes. The person making the decisions about where to put the commercial breaks clearly do not watch the actual programmes as the edits seem quite random at times, and this is one of my criticisms of the whole UKTV network.

UKTV Documentary is available on both the Sky (on channel 532) and Virgin Media (on channel 208)digital platforms. Timeshifted channels are also available, showing the same programmes but an hour later.

Some of my favourite programmes on the channel include:

ANIMAL HOSPITAL
A programme showing stories about animals and their health, which ran during the mid to late 1990s and into the 2000s.

COAST
A programme that explores the coastline of Britain which reminds us that in Britain no-one is ever more than 72 miles from the sea. The question is - why do people not visit it more!!?

HORIZON
This is one of the longest-running documentary programmes in the world, which began in 1964. Unfortunately UKV Documentary doesn't show episodes from the early years of the programme, but it is always an interesting watch.

PLANET EARTH
The award-winning documentary series narrated by David Attenborough, which was described by one of its producers as being the definitive look at the diversity of our planet. This is an absolutely fascinating series which I watch over and over again.

POLE TO POLE
Michael Palin's early 1990s travel show is one of the better ones, and shows him travelling from the North Pole to the South Pole. I like all of Palin's travel programmes, but this is perhaps my favourite.

Overall, if you can put up with the intrusive adverts then this is definitely a channel to return to again and again.

Summary: Great documentaries