The following program changes will be made Tuesday, January 31st and Wednesday, February 1st.
- Tuesday, January 31st: Atom Man will replace Chimp Smuggling.
- Wednesday, February 1st: Chimp Smuggling will replace India’s Classical Music Marathon.
Program title: The Documentary (Tuesday): Atom Man
Broadcast times:
Tue 12:32-12:59p ET
Sat 9:06-9:30a ET
First aired: Tuesday 31 January 2017
Broadcast window: 31 January – 6 February 2017
Number of episodes: 1
Program duration: 23 minutes or 26 mins 30 secs (30 mins including the News Update, billboard & promo)
Download availability: from Tuesday 31 January 03:30 GMT for 7 days
www.bbc.co.uk/partners/english/programmes/the-documentary–tue—atom-man
Program description:
Former US Defense Secretary William Perry explains why he believes that the world is at risk of sleepwalking into nuclear war.
William Perry has had a unique career. For six decades, he has been involved in the industry of nuclear warfare. As a young conscript, he travelled to Japan and witnessed the devastation caused by conventional bombing: he was to see the destruction caused by the atom bomb there later in life.
William’s first job was back in the 1950s as a scientist working on a jamming system against Soviet nuclear missiles. This led to a position analyzing satellite pictures of rocket sites and assessing whether there was a “missile gap” with America’s Cold War enemy. He played a key role during the Cuban Missile Crisis, as part of a small team analyzing photos of the Soviet missiles being delivered to the Caribbean. He saw at first-hand just how close the world came to a nuclear conflict thanks to human error. His knowledge led him to positions as undersecretary and secretary of defence. As part of the Clinton administration he was instrumental in what looked like a golden age of arms reduction after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia and the US cooperated in cutting their atomic capability. He stood beside the Russian defense minister to watch the destruction of missile silos in Ukraine, and created a program to find jobs and housing for former Soviet nuclear scientists. He led a team negotiating with North Korea to end its nuclear weapons development program.
Since then, he believes the situation has become radically more dangerous. While Iran has apparently suspended its weapons program, North Korea, Pakistan and India have become declared nuclear weapons states. Relations between the US and Russia are suspicious and antagonistic. The idea of them cooperating on nuclear arms is unthinkable. Vladimir Putin has led a huge modernization program for his atomic arsenal, while Donald Trump seems unconcerned by nuclear proliferation and has refused to rule out the use of atomic weapons.
Program title: The Documentary (Wednesday): Chimp Smuggling
Broadcast Times:
Wednesday, 7:32 – 7:59p ET
Saturday, 9:32a – 9:59a ET
Sunday, 2:32 – 2:59p ET
First aired: Wednesday 1 February 2017
Broadcast window: 1 – 7 February 2017
Number of episodes: 1
Program duration: 26 mins 30 secs (30 mins including the News Update, billboard & promo)
Download availability: from Wednesday 1 February 01:30 GMT for 7 days
www.bbc.co.uk/partners/english/programmes/the-documentary–wed—chimp-smuggling
Program description:
The BBC exposes the illegal trade in baby chimpanzees. Captured in Africa, the animals are exported to the Gulf or Asia as pets or for private zoos.
Capturing a baby chimp means killing the parents and often other adult chimpanzees and the trade is now starting to threaten chimpanzee populations in the wild. Although chimps can be kept as pets as babies, adult chimps can be dangerous and so they are often killed once they are fully grown.
Reporter David Shukman infiltrates a smuggling ring based in Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast. For a cash payment he receives CITES certificates – which would allow an unscrupulous buyer to get round the ban on the export of the animals. With the help of Interpol and the Ivorian police, David helps catch a smuggling ring centered on the infamous “blue room”, where captured baby chimps are held. And he discovers the huge scale of this illegal trade which crosses several continents.