40 Minutes
Season 11
40 Minutes was a BBC TV documentary strand broadcast on BBC Two between 1981 and 1994. The documentaries could be on any possible subject, the only connection being that they last forty minutes.
Some documentaries in the original series were revisited and updated in a 2006 version, Forty Minutes On.
Some documentaries in the original series were revisited and updated in a 2006 version, Forty Minutes On.
Where to Watch 40 Minutes • Season 11
24 Episodes
- Alec the PoleE1
Alec the PoleFor 47 years Alec Krawczynski has lived in Scotland. He is known as Alec the Pole. But his real name is not Krawczynski and he has never been to Poland. He came from the Ukraine and for nearly 50 years has kept a deadly secret. Now, as the Ukraine reaches out for independence, he discovers members of his family are still alive. He returns to the Ukraine to discover if his country and family are ready to forgive him for being, in his own words, a traitor. - Torn ApartE6
Torn ApartA rape in the Irish village of Bray divides the community. Local man Gerry is sent to prison, separated from his wife Saundra and his children. But the rape victim is also isolated by her neighbours. "Nobody believed her. In Irish society it's all black and white, virgin or whore." Fifteen months later, Gerry's appeal draws near, raising new hopes in Saundra and old conflicts in the small world torn apart by the crime. - Heads on BedsE8
Heads on BedsDuring the property boom, big profits could be made buying and selling London hotels used by councils to house the homeless. Now property prices have dropped and councils are cutting back on bed and breakfast bills. 40 Minutes takes a closer look at this notoriously secretive world. - Cowboys in the South PacificE13
Cowboys in the South PacificAn adventure story by international Emmy award-winning film-maker Nigel Evans. Into the jungles of a small Pacific island, Dr Danforth Artie Bookout leads his team of intrepid Texans to search for an aircraft and the body of Weyland Bennett, a "home-town boy" missing in action 50 years ago. Deep in the bush sits Chief Jean Marc waiting for his Texan pay packet to lumber into view. And two days' walk behind the Texan strides a local explorer who knows the secrets of Dr Dan's past. - Miami WildE15
Miami WildCapturing escaped pythons, confiscating pet cougars or wrestling with exotic crocodiles - it's all in a day's work for Miami specialist police officer Lieutenant Kat Kelley. The locals are crazy about owning flamboyant pets and many of these exotic animals have escaped and multiplied over the years, threatening both people and native wildlife. Kelley is on call 24 hours a day and never knows what she will have to face. "We're fighting a losing battle here. Basically, nature is out of control." - So Much to LoseE17
So Much to LoseAt 34, 5ft 2ins tall and weighing 16 stone, Annette is desperate to lose weight. She has been told the only permanent solution is a stomach stapling operation. The surgeon says that with a specially adapted staple gun he can reduce the size of Annette's stomach to the length of a teaspoon. And that would mean she would only ever be able to eat tiny portions of food. Unable to bear her fat any longer, and with a family history of diabetes and heart disease, Annette feels she has nothing to lose. Meanwhile her friend Kath, who reduced from 19 to seven stone after her operation, is now back to a size 22 and about to enter hospital for a fourth operation.