Tech & future documentaries
Fighter Pilot: The Real Top Gun
Experience the real-life Top Gun with this action-packed documentary about Air Force Pilots. Hang onto your ejector seats as this nail-biting series follows rookie fighter pilots battling it out to be selected to fly the British Royal Air Force’s brand new F35 Lightning fighter jet.
With exclusive access, this fighter pilot documentary series gives a breathtaking, cockpit-eye view of what it’s like to be test pilots. Follow the young mavericks stepping into the danger zone as they aim to achieve their dreams of becoming top guns.
Calculating Ada: The Countess of Computing
Ada Lovelace was a most unlikely computer pioneer.
Born in the early 19th century, this daughter of romantic poet Lord Byron was a scandalous socialite who became known as the ‘enchantress of numbers’.
In this Ada Lovelace documentary Dr Hannah Fry tells the enthralling tale of a life infused with brilliance, but blighted by illness and gambling addiction.
How did this aristocratic countess become a prophet of the digital age?
Click to Change Your Life: Secrets of a Global Craze
Ever felt like social media is always trying to sell you something? You don’t know the half of it.
In this insightful documentary, British reporter Ellis Flynn goes undercover to investigate ‘multi-level marketing’ – an industry that leaves many young ‘influencers’ in huge debt.
Behind the enticing Instagram posts, Ellis finds a system of illegal pyramid schemes, systematic targeting of vulnerable women – and even brainwashing.
This show is not currently available on BBC Select but see below to browse through more tech and future documentaries available to stream on BBC Select.
The Instagram Effect
This eye-opening BBC documentary about social media, explores the impact of Instagram- a digital phenomenon that has changed the world we live in.
In just ten years, Instagram has gained over a billion users, shaping culture, trends and the way we live our lives. But the human impact of social media is increasingly being questioned and governments are looking to regulate social media networks.
This revealing BBC Instagram documentary follows on from whistleblower Frances Haugen’s disclosure of internal company research. Haugen and other former Facebook and Instagram insiders, many speaking on camera for the first time, discuss life inside the company and pivotal moments such as Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram in 2012.
The social media platform’s influence on body image and self-harm is also explored through powerful contributions from three users who describe how Instagram has impacted their lives. They talk frankly about eating disorders, undertaking dangerous cosmetic surgery and being influenced by anti-recovery communities who promote self-harm.
Are You Scared Yet, Human?
Surveillance cameras were meant to make us safer, but how could the exploitation of them restrict our freedom? This 2021 BBC documentary about AI technology, Are You Scared Yet, Human? questions whether artificial intelligence has gone too far.
Artificial intelligence technology is changing our world. But leading tech experts in Silicon Valley worry about the future that’s being created. Microsoft’s Brad Smith believes George Orwell’s 1984 could become reality by 2024. This BBC investigation looks at the rapidly evolving influence of AI. Will it usher in a golden age? Or could we lose control of it completely? Watch the trailer below: