Documentary

3.00PM – 5.00PM WEEKDAYS

TEN-HD takes viewers on a wild journey each weekday afternoon with documentaries uncovering the vibrancy of the earth and its inhabitants, marvelling in its variety of shapes, textures and its awe-inspiring grace and power. From Monday to Friday viewers can expect a visual feast of scientific discoveries, technologies and innovations, and be taken up close and personal with some of the most amazing creatures on the planet – looking at their habits, habitats and survival strategies.

3.00PM – 5.00PM WEEKDAYS

TEN-HD takes viewers on a wild journey each weekday afternoon with documentaries uncovering the vibrancy of the earth and its inhabitants, marvelling in its variety of shapes, textures and its awe-inspiring grace and power. From Monday to Friday viewers can expect a visual feast of scientific discoveries, technologies and innovations, and be taken up close and personal with some of the most amazing creatures on the planet – looking at their habits, habitats and survival strategies.

Sunday, 11 May 2008
7.30pm

The Douglas Mawson Antarctic expedition of 1912 is one of the most amazing feats of physical and mental endurance of all time.
After an horrific journey across hundreds of kilometres of frozen wasteland, during which his two companions perished, the world was amazed to hear that Douglas Mawson had survived. Some questioned how it was possible, and the media of the day reported that he’d considered eating the body of his dead comrade, Xavier Mertz.
Mawson was later knighted and became a hero, but the question of how he lived when others died has tantalised scientists, historians and explorers ever since. Now, Australian adventurer Tim Jarvis retraces Mawson’s gruelling experience to find an answer. Having been almost killed during his own solo trek to the South Pole in 1999, he confronts the deadly ice again – as Mawson did, with similar meagre rations and primitive clothing and equipment.
It’s a bold and unprecedented historical experiment that will provide clues to what happened to Mawson physically – and mentally – as a man hanging on the precipice of life and death. Combining the drama of Jarvis’s contemporary adventure with chilling dramatic reconstructions, expert commentary and stunning footage from the original expedition photographed by Frank Hurley, this is an extraordinary story of human survival.

Thursday, 15 May 2008
9.35pm

America’s North Pole is a town that claims to be the true home of Santa Claus, but North Pole Alaska is actually 2700km south of the real North Pole.
It was founded in 1953 to attract the toy industry and tourism. Each year thousands of letters addressed to Santa arrive and are handled by a small army of Santa’s helpers.
But the town has a darker side. Last year six of the town’s pupils were arrested for plotting a mass murder of students and teachers on the anniversary of the Columbine school shootings.

Sunday, 04 May 2008
7.30pm

Discover the beauty, brilliance and behaviour of Australia’s most conspicuous birds – parrots and cockatoos in Australia: Land of Parrots. Multi-award winning, natural history filmmakers David Parer and Elizabeth Parer-Cook have turned their cameras to the sky to capture the spirit of these dazzling birds with breathtaking results – including rare and never before seen footage – all shot in HD.
Varieties of parrots and cockatoos thrive across Australia and often in large numbers. From the dense rainforests of the tropical north to the cold, wind-swept coast of southern Australia and the arid deserts of the interior. Australia: Land of Parrots explores the spectacular and bizarre behaviour of Australia’s wild parrots and cockatoos across the varied landscapes of the island continent.
In the tropical rainforests of northern Australia the female Eclectus Parrot defies every rule in the evolutionary rule book. Instead of being drab, like most female birds, she’s brightly coloured.
Meanwhile the decade-long drought in the centre of Australia has broken and budgerigars gather to breed. Time is short – they quickly pair up, lay eggs and rear their young, all in the space of a few months.
Parrots are very adaptable, the southern coast of Australia is battered by fierce weather yet Rock Parrots live along the shoreline. Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Little Corellas and galahs have been quick to take advantage of opportunities arising from modern farming. With food and water easily available, their populations have exploded, causing havoc for farmers.
One of the most amazing parrots is the rare Palm Cockatoo which lives up north. Imitating their calls, Steve Murphy has been tracking them for years trying to work out how they live and he’s uncovered some amazing behaviour.

Thursday, 08 May 2008
9.35pm

Ice. It’s one of nature’s most simple elements, yet it can affect the lives of everyone on this planet. It can be beautiful and it can also be deadly. In its many forms, in thin layers or mile-thick glaciers, ice can plague mankind.
This one-hour film investigates the varied ways in which ice creates problems – and spawns disaster. It takes us into icy realms to survey the splendours and unlocks the mysteries of ice, and tells stories of ice’s destructive and sometimes deadly nature.
In December 2002, a group of small boys found themselves facing death on the frozen Merrimack River in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Tragically, the boys had failed to realise just how fragile ice can be.
In the frozen Rockies, an ice climber shows how the apparent solidity of ice can be deceptive, drawing some to make fatal errors. He shows how skill and knowledge are essential to those who challenge the ice.
Even in much thinner forms, ice can be deadly. Winter thaws bring a dangerous phenomenon called black ice to streets and highways. At a winter driving school in Colorado, an instructor shows the best ways to respond to ice-caused skids.
In 1998 the most severe ice storm in Canadian history hit Quebec and several US states. Meteorologist David Philips explains how nature conspired to blanket much of these regions under a 20cm thick sheet of ice, leaving millions of people stranded with no heat or power in bitter mid-winter conditions.
In Newfoundland, we see how the Canadian Coast guard icebreaker Henry Larsen patrols the seas to clear paths through the sea ice keeping shipping lanes open. It was in the waters off Newfoundland that the Titanic sank in April 1912, victim of an unseen iceberg. In the aftermath of that disaster, nations joined together to prevent a similar disaster by creating the International Ice Patrol. Flying low over the ocean, at the spot where the Titanic sank, International Ice Patrol officers stage a tribute to those who died.
Finally, the tragic story of Air Florida Flight 90, which crashed after struggling to take off in January, 1982. The cause – ice. A thin coating on the plane’s wings and tail was enough to destabilise the weight of the aircraft and render it uncontrollable. 74 of its 78 passengers and crew died.

3.00PM – 5.00PM WEEKDAYS

TEN HD takes viewers on a wild journey each weekday afternoon with documentaries uncovering the vibrancy of the earth and its inhabitants, marvelling in its variety of shapes, textures and its
awe-inspiring grace and power. From Monday to Friday viewers can expect a visual feast of scientific discoveries, technologies and innovations, and be taken up close and personal with some of the most amazing creatures on the planet – looking at their habits, habitats and survival strategies.

9.35pm Thursday, 01 May 2008

This documentary is about one of the greatest mysteries in the history of exploration. It’s the extraordinary story of the British explorer John Franklin who sailed into the Arctic in the mid 19th century in search of a Northwest Passage and never came back.
Two ships and 129 men vanished without a trace. Their disappearance spawned the greatest manhunt ever mounted and the full story remains a mystery that has confounded explorers, historians and Franklin-searchers for 150 years.
Franklin’s Lost Expedition brought together a team of scientists and explorers determined to solve the Franklin mystery. Forensic researchers have found skeletons of white men littered across the arctic wasteland, which proved Franklin and his crew were not cannibalised – others claim botulism or lead poisoning killed them.
After collecting data on their earlier Arctic expeditions, the team believe they have the answers to this mystery in their grasp.

8.30pm Thursday, 24 April 2008

The incredible true story of an Australian World War 1 submarine, lost in the Dardanelles for nearly 100 years, is told with dramatic re-enactment accompanied by modern day footage of a daring rescue expedition to save it from the murky depths.
The AE2 is the stuff of submarine legend, but her story was lost among the horrors of the Western front and the bungled Gallipoli campaign in 1915. Her captain, Lt Commander Henry Stoker and the 32 crew were attempting to break through the heavily defended Dardanelles Strait and disrupt Turkish supply lines. But after a confrontation with a Turkish gunboat, Stoker abandoned her, opened her tanks and scuttled her.
She lay undisturbed on the sea bed until her discovery in 1998. Her deterioration is considerable, but as she is buried in fine deep silt to her waterline, her main pressure hull may be preserved. The Submarine Institute of Australia mounted an archaeological expedition last year to see if the AE2 could be saved. Their assessment told in Gallipoli Submarine, uses intimate documentary footage, dramatic re-enactment, archival footage, underwater photography and state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery.

8.30pm Thursday, 10 April 2008

This documentary, filmed over two years, follows the daily chaos and drama of a group of homeless kids who have found solace and family at Oasis, a youth refuge run by Salvation Army Captain Paul Moulds.
Screening during National Youth Week 2008, The Oasis: Australia’s Homeless Youth with Tony Jones is a heartbreaking yet uplifting tale about a man who, with his wife Robbin, has dedicated his life to saving kids on the street who have no-one else to turn to. Unflinching in his compassion, Paul has become a surrogate father to a wide collection of dispossessed youth.
For every kid there “is a journey that’s lead them to this point”, Paul says. “Australia isn’t the lucky country for every kid. There are heaps of kids out there living on the streets, in squats, under bridges”.
With childhood memories of their parents which involve domestic abuse, drug and alcohol abuse and prostitution, the Oasis kids were born into hard lives. “I’ve worked with these kids for twenty-five years”, says Paul “and the reality is they’re pretty damaged.”
The teenagers featured, some as young as 14, stand precariously on the edge of an abyss of self-destruction with Paul patiently and lovingly ever-present as a support and counsellor. Paul provides a light at the end of the tunnel for kids like Hayley, Darren, Owen, Tommy, Trent and Emma who are wrestling with challenges like drug addiction, teenage pregnancy, unemployment and criminal records.
We watch hopefully as some of the kids turn their lives around with the help and guidance provided by Paul and Robbin, and grieve as some of them struggle with their demons and seem incapable of changing – even though they want to.
In this raw observational documentary we watch hopefully as some of the kids turn their lives around with Paul’s help, and grieve as some of them struggle with their demons and seem incapable of changing – even though they want to.
The Oasis: Australia’s Homeless Youth with Tony Jones concludes the 75 minute documentary with a 40 minute panel discussion hosted by Tony Jones in which the social and political issues of child homelessness will be considered by a panel of experts including Captain Paul Moulds. The panel will seek practical ways to address this complex issue in Australia.