List of Satellite and Terrestrial Channel Documentaries

Documentaries – Satellite channels;

Documentaries - Terrestrial channels;

Are there any similarities or differences between the different examples?
= The documentaries listed cover a range of genres and sub-categories; there are reality television documentaries, as well as drama, nature, travel and history.
= For the sub-genres of documentaries, some of the topics are the same, e.g;
   - the travel documentaries often involve property – where people are looking for new homes abroad, or holiday homes.
   - with food documentaries, the topic generally involves real-life chefs exploring new cuisines.
   - all of these various sub-genres are also part of a series.
= There are also a wide range of one-off documentaries which take my keen interest.
= Through observing these various documentaries, I’ve noticed that the topic of coverage is often quite severe, or is something highly covered in current news, e.g;
   - the documentary-drama which aired on Channel 4, Friday 8^th July at 1am is a one-off which is covering the case of a convicted criminal who was never actually charged, even though all the evidence pointed to him being guilty.
   - another political documentary titled “Racist Britain” is part of a series and also covers a highly significant issue of the EU referendum and its effect on society.
   - maybe this is because some issues are so large in significance that they need more coverage then one single documentary – which is certainly something I shall consider when creating my own documentary.

How does each of the programmes conform to our initial definition of documentary – that it is:
- non-fiction
- about the real world
- unstaged
- based on observation, rather than intervention by the documentary-maker
- informative, educational?
= “Matron, Medicine and Me: 70 years of the NHS”
   - this is non-fiction, about current affairs, filmed in-the-moment and informs us all about the development of one our most important systems.
= “Close Calls: Caught on Camera”
   - non-fiction, immediate, possibly made from the maker’s perspective as they have chosen what clips to include.
= “Attenborough’s Passion Projects…”
   - non-fiction, filmed across a period of time that is both realistic and most likely made from the perspectives of the main subject ‘David Attenborough’, but it is informative – particularly for the fans of his life.
= “Gino’s Italian Escape – Islands in the Sun”
   - non-fiction, could be said to look from the maker’s perspective as it has a purpose to highlight the positive aspects of a country – attract people there.
= “Interview with a Murderer”
   - non-fiction, filmed across a period, again made from perspectives as it is informing people of the life and situation of a man who is considered highly interesting in the eyes of the law and the media.
= most of the documentaries listed follows a similar pattern; the only form of documentary that seems to go against our original definition of documentary is the sub-genre of reality television.
= Although it cannot be concluded that all reality-documentaries are scripted, the appearance of which the subjects come across often leave viewers feeling as though reality is not actually be represented – despite the suggestive title. 

Links/titles to some of the documentaries I found most intriguing from the ones listed;
"Matron, Medicine and Me: 70 Years of the NHS"

"Interview With a Murderer"

"Big Brother"