Documentaries I'd recommend

A series of films about how humans have been colonized by the machines we have built. Although we don't realize it, the way we see everything in the world today is through the eyes of the computers.

A documentary about the rise of psychoanalysis as a powerful means of persuasion for both governments and corporations.

A series of three documentaries about the use of fear for political gain.

The many ways in which Western notions of personal and political freedom are changing in the 21st Century are explored in this three-part documentary from writer and filmmaker Adam Curtis.

About the life and work of controversial American Jewish academic Norman Finkelstein.

Since 1978, Anvil has become one of heavy metal's most influential yet commercially unsuccessful acts. In 2006, after a fledging European tour Anvil sets out to record their thirteenth album and continue to follow their dreams.

A documentary focusing on the life of novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, the author of the bestselling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and originator of the Objectivist philosophy.

A documentary on Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34.

Documentary about four of the most brilliant mathematicians of all time, Georg Cantor, Ludwig Boltzmann, Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing, their genius, their tragic madness and their ultimate suicides.

A history of the American War of Independence.

A history of how the depiction of the vulgar has been a vital part of English satire,starting with the artwork of Hogarth in the eighteenth century and Gay's 'Beggar's Opera',the first home-grown play to lampoon politicians - which leads to stage censorship. Leading literary satirists Swift and Pope and Laurence Sterne,author of near-the-knuckle novel 'Tristram Shandy' are followed by political cartoonists Rowlandson, Gillray and Cruikshank,whose often grotesque drawings of the Stuart monarchy are no holds barred whilst poet Byron mocks political villainry in his poems. In Victoria's reign music-hall artists,such as the censor-baiting Marie Lloyd,take up the flag of vulgarity,along with comic creations like the goatish drunk Ally Sloper. The new art of photography leads to under-the-counter postcards of nude women and,thanks to the popularity of the seaside holiday,What the Butler Saw machines and saucy postcards, the master of which is Donald McGill,who,as late as the 1950s,is accused of obscenity,as is his contemporary, music-hall comic Frank Randle. The political cartoonists' tradition is upheld throughout the twentieth century by the likes of Gerald Scarfe and Steve Bell whilst stage censorship is relaxed to allow the often disturbing comedy plays of Joe Orton,one of whose regular actors,Kenneth Williams is a mainstay of the Kenneth Horne BBC radio shows,milestones of innuendo.The BBC becomes known for satirical fare such as TW3 and the sitcoms featuring bigot Alf Garnett though in the 1980s the commercial channel ITV scores a huge hit with 'Spitting Image' in which the great and the good are lampooned in puppet form. Alternative comedy is born,along with the deliberately politically incorrect adult comic 'Viz' and political incorrectness hits back at the Blair government's nannying state with the likes of the blue comedy of Chubby Brown and the gross-out TV sketches of 'Little Britain'. For a change the liberal left are now the critics of 'Rude Britannia',rather than its purveyors

Traces 2,000 years of Britain's history through the arts - both as objects that have often played a decisive part in events and as marvels of their age.

This two-part science fiction docu-drama examines the possibilities of a dangerous, manned space mission to explore the inner and outer planets of the Solar system.

Stephen Fry presents this documentary exploring the disease of manic depression; a little understood but potentially devastating condition affecting an estimated two percent of the population. Stephen embarks on an emotional journey to meet fellow sufferers, and discuss the literal highs and lows of being bi-polar. Celebrities such as Carrie Fisher and Richard Dreyfuss invite the comedian into their home to relate their stories. Plus Stephen looks into the lives of ordinary people trying to deal with the illness at work and home, and of course to the people studying manic depression in an effort to better control it. A fascinating, moving and ultimately very entertaining Emmy Award-winning program.

The story behind the fiendishly addictive game, a tale of high stakes, intimidation and legal feuds set against the backdrop of Cold War tensions between East and West.

Professor Hans Rosling shares his excitement with statistics, and shows how researchers are handling the modern data deluge.

Chaos theory has a bad name, conjuring up images of unpredictable weather, economic crashes and science gone wrong. But there is a fascinating and hidden side to Chaos, one that scientists are only now beginning to understand. It turns out that chaos theory answers a question that mankind has asked for millennia - how did we get here? In this documentary, Professor Jim Al-Khalili sets out to uncover one of the great mysteries of science - how does a universe that starts off as dust end up with intelligent life? How does order emerge from disorder? It's a mindbending, counterintuitive and for many people a deeply troubling idea. But Professor Al-Khalili reveals the science behind much of beauty and structure in the natural world and discovers that far from it being magic or an act of God, it is in fact an intrinsic part of the laws of physics. Amazingly, it turns out that the mathematics of chaos can explain how and why the universe creates exquisite order and pattern. And the best thing is that one doesn't need to be a scientist to understand it. The natural world is full of awe-inspiring examples of the way nature transforms simplicity into complexity. From trees to clouds to humans - after watching this film you'll never be able to look at the world in the same way again.

Virtual Revolution charts two decades of profound change since the invention of the World Wide Web, weighing up the huge benefits and the unforeseen downsides.

This extremely powerful 89 minute film presents comprehensive documentation from United States Government archives of a massive cover-up, including military and civilian experimentation, dating back over 60 years. As ailing Gulf War Heroes from all 27 coalition countries slowly die of "unknown causes," they wait for answers from their respective governments, but no satisfying or even credible answers have come forth from the military establishment. Records that span over a decade point to negligence and even culpability on the part of the U.S. Department of Defense and their "disposable army" mentality. From the first Gulf War the VA has determined that 250,000 troops are now permanently disabled, 15,000 troops are dead and over 425,000 troops are ill and slowly dying from what the Department of Defense still calls a "mystery disease." How many more will have to die before action is taken?

Wars of the future will be fought over water as they are over oil today, as the source of human survival enters the global marketplace and political arena. Corporate giants, private investors, and corrupt governments vie for control of our dwindling supply, prompting protests, lawsuits, and revolutions from citizens fighting for the right to survive. Past civilizations have collapsed from poor water management.

An examination of the social costs of corporate interests pursuing profits at the expense of the public good.

Documentary on the Friedmans, a seemingly typical, upper-middle-class Jewish family whose world is instantly transformed when the father and his youngest son are arrested and charged with shocking and horrible crimes.

The story of how Miami became the cocaine capital of the United States in the early 1980's and the police officers who turned the tide on crime.

A documentary on Michael Ruppert, a police officer turned independent reporter who predicted the current financial crisis in his self-published newsletter, From the Wilderness.