Season 2009

1. Mandela at 90

January 31, 2009 · 1h

After years of retirement from political life, Nelson Mandela, the world's most admired statesman, allows cameras into his private world.

2. Escaping North Korea

April 6, 2009 · 1h

The dramatic stories of North Koreans who are risking everything, including torture and execution, to escape the repression and hunger of their homeland and reach safety in the South. The border between the two Koreas is so heavily guarded that refugees are forced to flee into China, dodging border guards and risking freezing to death crossing the river that divides the two countries. Once in China, they are forced to live secret lives, the women often sold into forced marriages or prostitution, because if discovered, the Chinese authorities will send them back. This film follows two women who have decided to embark on the next stage of the journey, a desperate attempt to reach South Korea. For May, it involves a four thousand mile journey through the jungles of Laos and Thailand, to claim asylum in Bangkok. For Guem Hee, it means buying a fake passport and risking arrest at any moment. For both women, it is a moving story of leaving their loved ones behind in the biggest gamble of their lives.

3. The Madoff Hustle

June 28, 2009 · 1h

Investigative documentary. Willard Foxton, whose father committed suicide after falling for an elaborate con, heads to the US to investigate the fraud and its fallout.

4. Gypsy Child Thieves

September 2, 2009 · 1h

This World examines the shocking phenomenon of Romanian Gypsy children across Europe forced to beg and steal, and the racism and discrimination suffered by the Romani people.

5. An Iranian 'Martyr'

November 24, 2009 · 1h

Investigative documentary series. The story of Neda Agha Soltan, an Iranian woman who was shot in Tehran in June 2009, and has been claimed as a martyr for Iran's protest movement.

6. Can Obama Save the Planet?

November 25, 2009 · 1h

International investigative documentary series. Justin Rowlatt reports on whether President Obama is on target to keep his climate change promises.

7. Stalin's Back

December 2, 2009 · 1h

Joseph Stalin is back. Or is he? Reporter John Sweeney travels more than 5000 miles through the old Soviet Union, from Stalin's birthplace in Georgia to a former labour camp in Russia, to find out if one of the twentieth century's most notorious mass-murderers is really being rehabilitated.