Start your free trial:

Health & Wellness Documentaries

BBC Select joins presenters, like Louis Theroux, who explore what it takes to fight illness in order to nurture a healthy mind, body and soul. If you live in the US or Canada, you can watch a range of BBC documentaries on health and wellbeing.

The Good Drug

The good drug

Can psychedelic substances herald a new era for medicine and health? This fascinating documentary investigates our historical, societal, and scientific relationship with psychedelics. Could these mind-altering materials initiate a modern renaissance for clinical research and can their therapeutic properties be used to eradicate a host of mental health problems?

Honduras's Abortion Pill Black Market

Image of woman with a pill on her tongue

Honduras is the world’s most restrictive country for female reproductive rights. Even the emergency contraception pill is outlawed. In a place that has a ban on abortion in every instance, this disturbing documentary meets the women buying illegal abortion pills, the men profiteering from them, the doctors dealing with the fallout, and the politicians reluctant to make progress.

The Plastic Surgery Capital of the World

Watch The Plastic Surgery Capital of the World on BBC Select

60% of Korean girls in their 20s have had cosmetic surgery. Teenagers are given eye lifts as graduation gifts.

After being burned as a child, Annie Price endured countless hours under the knife. Now, she’s considering having work done on her own terms.

In cosmetic surgery’s capital, Korea, she finds a country where a nose job is the norm in this insightful documentary.

But what’s the cost of the plastic pressure to be perfect?

Epidemic: The Great Plague

Tragedy. Sacrifice. Disinformation. The historical records covering the devastating Bubonic Plague outbreak that swept through Europe in the 1600s have eerie similarities with the global coronavirus crisis. Can lessons be learned from this plague that we can apply today? Xand van Tulleken, Raksha Dave and John Sergeant trace the spread of the Great Plague of 1665 week by week and chart its impact.

Eat To Live Forever With Giles Coren

Stream Eat to Live Forever with Giles Coren on BBC Select

How far would you go to live longer? Would you go fruitarian, where your diet is 100% fruit? How about the paleo diet, eating only the foods hunted, fished or gathered in Palaeolithic times? Or perhaps you’d prefer a near-starvation regime?

This show is not currently available on BBC Select but browse through the previous titles for more Health & wellness documentaries available to stream on BBC Select.