Video Documentaries

Monty Don continues his quest to uncover the secrets of paradise gardens. Having mastered their basic building blocks in Spain, Morocco and Iran, Monty sets out to explore the wide variety of gardens offering a slightly different vision of Paradise. In Turkey Monty is dazzled by an extraordinary display of the Ottoman Empire's favourite flower - the tulip - and learns of its sacred significance. At Topkapi palace, the heart of this vast Eastern empire he learns how this sacred value was extended to all plants, landscapes and even panoramic views in a way that created gardens that rejoiced in nature. Travelling further east to India, Monty encounters a new type of spirituality in the tomb gardens of the Mughal Empire. Stunning mausoleums were set in vast gardens as places where an earthly king could enter a divine paradise. But unlike our quiet courtyards and cemeteries these were places filled with life - tented cities where people lived as well as prayed. As favoured spots for yog

Gardeners World episode 18 2016 - As summer gets into full swing, there is plenty for Monty to be doing at Longmeadow, and this week he gets to grips with summer pruning as he tackles his espaliered pear trees. Nature's bounty is very much in evidence at Lord Rothschild's garden at Waddesdon Manor, where we get an exclusive look behind the scenes, and Joe Swift ponders ways of putting a contemporary twist on traditional bedding plants.  In Gardeners World episode 18 2016: Yellow rattle This pretty little annual sends out roots that grow into the roots of neighbouring grass plants, and steal nutrients (that is, food) from them. It will produce many tiny seeds that rattle around in the papery brown calyx – hence the common name – and it can spread itself year by year, weakening the poor, hard-working grasses that it grows among.  Wild flower area maintenance Wildflower meadows require an annual maintenance programme to allow the more desirable species to flourish and to reduce th

This week in Beechgrove Garden episode 25, the whole Beechgrove team head to what has been Jim McColl's adopted home for the last 40 years, the Aberdeenshire town of Oldmeldrum, for the penultimate programme of the series. Jim takes us on a tour of the horticultural highlights of the area, including visiting the magnificent Haddo House, whose gardens have been recently restored to their 1830 heyday. Haddo House is also the venue for a Beechgrove question-and-answer session, where Jim, Carole, George and Brian attempt to answer some of the local gardening queries from the gardeners of Meldrum as it is affectionately called. In Beechgrove Garden episode 25:  1. Haddo House Terraced Garden Set in the agricultural heartlands of north-east Aberdeenshire, Haddo House has been in the family of  the Earls and Marquesses of Aberdeen since the 1730’s and has now been in the care of the NTS since 1979.  2. Q&A The historical accuracy of the newly restored Haddo Terraced garden is obviousl

In Tom Kerridge's Best Ever Dishes ep.3 is all about dishes for the weekend, when there is a bit more time to enjoy being in the kitchen and cook something extra special to share with family and friends. [video width="640" height="360" mp4="https://video-clump.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Tom-BDE-ep.3.mp4"][/video]   Tom turns an ordinary leg of lamb into an extraordinary dish by roasting it wrapped in branches of bay leaves to pack in extra flavour. He wants to shake up Sunday sides so is salt-baking garlic and lemon before stirring it through some wilted greens - much better than boring boiled broccoli. He visits a Malaysian supper club to find out the secrets of authentic Malay-style satay. Inspired by the wonderful flavours, he decides to fuse Asian and British cuisines by creating his own satay roast chicken. Not everyone gets time off at the weekend, so he decides to cook a brunch for a group of firefighters. An easy one to replicate at home, t

The Beechgrove Garden is a blaze of early autumn colour and Jim and Carole show off some of the very best for this time of year from dahlias to hydrangeas. Scone Palace Gardens are overrun with rabbits and deer. At the start of the series, we saw head gardener Brian Cunningham setting up an observation to see what methods, if any, work to deter them and to find out if there really are rabbit-proof plants. Brian pulls a rabbit out of a hat with some surprising results. In Beechgrove Garden episode 24 :  1. Small Fruit Bed At Beechgrove we have an expanding collection of mini fruit – or dwarf fruit suitable for anyone who has a limited space to grow fruit in their garden. Last year many of these plants were in pots and weren’t doing that well, so they were planted into this mini fruit plot in front of the decking. Since then there have been mixed results.  2. Camellias Inside It did seem like a fine summer’s day at Beechgrove this week but Jim had been checking the overnight temperatures

In Tom Kerridge's Best Ever Dishes ep.2: he creates dishes inspired by some of his favourite takeaway foods. This is the kind of casual grab-and-go food that puts a smile on people's faces. He starts with a puff pastry pizza that saves on making pizza dough and is topped with delicious crispy beef. Next he cooks an upmarket version of the classic post-pub takeaway - the doner kebab. He swaps the usual lamb for duck, marinates it in Asian flavours and threads it on to lemongrass skewers for maximum flavour. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://video-clump.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Tom-BDE-ep.2.mp4"][/video]   Tom's favourite takeaway treats from his childhood were doughnuts bought at the end of Weston-super-Mare pier. Doughnuts are currently making a comeback, and Tom visits a stall in London's Borough Market serving some of the best doughnuts he has ever tasted. Inspired by his visit, Tom shows us how to make a grown-up doughn

The Sky at Night - The Invisible Universe: reports on one of the most unnerving discoveries in space science - that most of the universe is missing. We live in a material world, so instinctively we know what normal matter is - the world around us, the planets, stars and interstellar dust. But scientists currently estimate that 95 per cent of everything in the universe is actually - one way or another - invisible. Some of this is ordinary matter that we just can't easily see. But there's also stuff that's much more weird. For instance, there's a new kind of matter we think is out there, but whose very existence is still largely hypothetical - dark matter. And most mysteriously of all, scientists think there is an unknown form of energy pervading the universe that we know so little about, all it has so far is a name - dark energy. The Sky at Night takes you on a tour of this invisible universe, and shows how its existence - or lack of it - will define the fate of the enti

In Tom Kerridge's Best Ever Dishes ep.1 Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge wants to show us how to cook the best ever versions of the kind of food we all love to eat. This series his aim is to turn ordinary dishes into extraordinary ones with a few simple tricks that will help us all raise our game in the kitchen at home. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://video-clump.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Tom-BDE-ep.1.mp4"][/video]   In this episode, Tom serves up some great crowd-pleasing dishes, perfect for sharing with mates at a party. However, there are no canapes on this menu - Tom likes to make proper hearty food for his guests that you can eat in your hands, packed full of flavour. To start, he transforms ordinary filled potato skins into extraordinary crispy stuffed skins filled with creamy roquefort and salty pancetta. He visits Brixton market and discovers a place doing a roaring trade in slow-cooked, barbecue-style food. Tom loves this

In this series, Monty travels across the Islamic world and beyond in search of paradise gardens. The Koran, the holy book of Islam, tells of these magical places - green spaces filled with flowers and fruit where shade and water provide a safe haven from the harsh climate that dominates the Arab world. For Muslims, these gardens are an earthly vision of the real paradise awaiting believers in heaven. Monty starts in Spain, a country synonymous with Christian traditions but which, for 800 years, was actually Islamic. At the Alhambra, he discovers the basic building blocks of paradise gardens - green spaces divided into four by channels of water that meet at a central fountain. In Seville, Monty explores their symbolic significance. Water is the key feature of these gardens. In the desert, rain was a mercy from heaven. The channels of water that divide the garden are representative of the four rivers of heaven: water, milk, honey and wine. The repeated geometric shapes seen in the fount

In Gardeners World episode 17 2016: earlier in the year, Monty put aside a patch of his garden to grow his own cut flowers, and this week he returns to assess the results and harvest his first crop of colourful blooms. We pay a visit to an organic flower farm to find out how, from seed to harvest, the process of growing plays a large part in improving wellbeing. Joe Swift explores the Savill Garden in Windsor to see how the traditional rose garden has been reimagined into a contemporary design. In Gardeners World episode 17 2016:  Grow your own aubergines Aubergines are becoming popular vegetables to grow at home - thanks to new cultivars more suited to the British climate and their delicious fruit. Sunshine and warm growing conditions are the key to success.  How to use roses Roses are one of the largest groups of plants available to gardeners, so choosing specific varieties can seem like a daunting prospect. Whether you are looking for a rose to climb a shady wall, roses for a hedge,

Soul food to boost your mood and put a smile on your face. James cooks the ultimate fast food pizza and a decadent delight, chocolate éclairs. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://video-clump.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/jm-ep.15.mp4"][/video]   He is joined by special guest Michael Caines. James Martin – Pick Me Ups ep.15 dishes:  1. 'Nduja sausage and sheeps’ cheese pizza [caption id="attachment_1775" align="alignnone" width="300"] 'Nduja sausage and sheeps’ cheese pizza[/caption] These spicy, tangy homemade pizzas are so much better than anything you can have delivered – the perfect pick-me-up.  2. Perfect cottage pie [caption id="attachment_1776" align="alignnone" width="300"] Perfect cottage pie[/caption] James Martin’s perfect cottage pie has lots of lovely rich flavour with red wine, beef stock and Worcestershire sauce.  3. Roast grouse with pear tatin and kale [caption

In Beechgrove Garden episode 23 2017 it is hedge-clipping time and Jim, Carole and George trim their way around the garden. Chris finishes the planting in the heather garden to help create the windswept, top-of-the-mountain look, adding a range of tough grasses and ferns. From prodigious parsnips to dinner plate-sized dahlias, Jim visits the showers and growers at the Dundee Flower and Food Festival. Earlier this year, the Beechgrove team visited some of the entrants to the show to see how preparations were going. Jim catches up with them again at the show to see if their labours have borne fruit. In Beechgrove Garden episode 23 2017:  1. Propagation of summer bedding We have had a lovely display of summer bedding this year. However it was now time to decide which plants to keep, which plants can be propagated from and which ones to get rid of. Lobelia sown from seed would go on the compost heap and new plants sown next year. Geraniums, on the other hand, can be kept and dried off indo

The whole Beechgrove team are on the road again, this time to the Fife county town of Cupar. Renowned for its award-winning floral displays, the Cupar in Bloom team have invited Beechgrove to come and take a look at their efforts, as well as hosting a Beechgrove Gardeners' Question Time in the Corn Exchange. Jim, Carole, George and Brian attempt to answer as many Cupar gardening questions as possible. The team also visit some of Cupar's outstanding gardens and tee off with a visit to Elmwood Golf Course.

The restoration of Leonardo da Vinci final masterpiece, 'The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne' was completed and exhibited in the Louvre in March 2012. Viewers and critics were astounded by its new life and luminosity, allowing details to be seen again for the first time in 500 years. Nevertheless, the pain-staking restoration process caused ructions and controversy amongst the panel of international experts and the restorer chosen to undertake the work. [video width="720" height="404" mp4="https://video-clump.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Leonardo-da-Vinci-The-Restoration-of-the-Century.mp4"][/video]   Leonardo da Vinci's 'Virgin and Child with Saint Anne' had already been disfigured by attempts at repairs when the controversial decision was made in 2009 to once again attempt a clean-up and refurbishing. Complicating the decision was the fact that da Vinci had never finished the painting, but returned to it year after year to modify i

James encourages everyone to experiment in the kitchen and makes amazing comfort food from everyday larder ingredients. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://video-clump.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/jm-ep.14.mp4"][/video]   He is joined by special guest Cyrus Todiwala. James Martin - Love Your Larder dishes:  1. Salt-baked sea bass with warm artichoke and bacon salad [caption id="attachment_1745" align="alignnone" width="300"] Salt-baked sea bass with warm artichoke and bacon salad[/caption] Baking a whole fish in salt helps retain the meat's moisture. James Martin's recipe is infused with basil and lemon.  2. Hearty chicken and chorizo broth [caption id="attachment_1746" align="alignnone" width="300"] Hearty chicken and chorizo broth[/caption] This spicy chicken soup is cheap, flavourful and quick to prepare using items from your larder.  3. Dal chicken with chilli paneer and

A film that looks at the genius of JMW Turner in a new light. There is more to Turner than his sublime landscapes - he also painted machines, science, technology and industry. Turner's life spans the Industrial Revolution, he witnessed it as it unfolded, and he painted it. In the process he created a whole new kind of art. The programme examines nine key Turner paintings and shows how we should rethink them in the light of the scientific and Industrial Revolution. Includes interviews with historian Simon Schama and artist Tracey Emin. Joseph Mallord William Turner: Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775 – 19 December 1851), known as J. M. W. Turner and contemporarily as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, print maker and water colourist, known for his expressive colourisation, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings. Turner was born in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London, to a modest lower middle-class family. He lived in London all hi

Scientists theorize that when mankind encounters extraterrestrials, we'll need to speak to them through the universal language of mathematics and binary code. But is it possible that extraterrestrials have already been communicating with our greatest mathematicians and engineers? Might they have somehow aided them in bringing about the space age and computers? Ancient Astronaut theorists say yes. As evidence, they point to the true father of the space program, Nikolai Fyodorov, a "Cosmist" who believed that human civilization had its origins in outer space and that it was our destiny to return to the cosmos. Wernher von Braun was greatly influenced by Fyodorov and he was motivated by a similar, secret belief when he ran the mission that put the first man on the moon. Is it possible that humanity's greatest visionaries have been carrying out an extraterrestrial master plan?

Impressive dishes to wow your friends and family in no time at all. James makes a zingy lemon posset and beer braised beef cheeks that melt in your mouth. He is joined by special guest Carol Kirkwood. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://video-clump.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/jm-ep.13.mp4"][/video]    1. Tandoori chicken lollipop drumsticks with raita dip [caption id="attachment_1729" align="alignnone" width="300"] Tandoori chicken lollipop drumsticks with raita dip[/caption] These spiced chicken bites make delicious meaty canapés – pass them around at a party and watch them disappear.  2. Layered sole with langoustines and cauliflower [caption id="attachment_1730" align="alignnone" width="300"] Layered sole with langoustines and cauliflower[/caption] This super-impressive fish dish pairs delicate lemon sole with earthy cauliflower and sweet langoustines  3. Lemon posset with gran&#

Jim takes a final tally and taste-test of tomatoes in the greenhouse. Carole is in Ardersier for Vegetable Garden on a Budget. Carole catches up with Mari Reid for harvest and a picnic on the beach, and to hear how much three families have saved and gained by growing their own.   Tourists and townspeople often stop to admire the front garden of James Findlay in Carluke. Jim joins the crowd and James explains how he took over his neighbour's garden to increase the kerb appeal in Carluke. In Beechgrove Garden episode 21 2017:  1. Pond Maintenance The pond has been really successful year. The gardeners have managed keep the algal bloom at bay so that all the plants have put on a huge amount of growth. The water lilies were starting to bloom. Last year Chris propagated some of these water lilies and planted them up, placing them on a shelf near the pond’s edge. It was now time to move them deeper into the pond as their stems were getting too long for their position. He gently floated t

They say that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Well, this week in the Beechgrove Garden, Jim and Carole munch their way through the veg plot as they taste-test turnips, a new broad bean and some blight-resistant potatoes.   Chris takes a look at the new rose garden and has a new take on some age-old remedies for common rose problems. George visits the grand Drummond Castle Gardens near Crieff in Perthshire. The formal garden and parterre are among the oldest in Scotland and reputedly some of the finest in Europe. In Beechgrove Garden episode 20 2017:  1. Turnips Jim and Carole were at the raised beds beside the vegetable polytunnels looking at the salad turnips. Jim sowed a range of new varieties to observe. Half way through the season the turnips were decimated by pigeons so a second sowing was done in the middle of June. Within 8 weeks they were now ready to harvest. As they are quick maturing crop (like lettuce and radish) you could get up to a succession of 3 sowings dur

Whether it's a dinner for two or lunch for a crowd, James makes no-fuss food that is uncomplicated and easy to create and serve.He is joined by special guest Nicola Adams. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://video-clump.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/jm-ep.12.mp4"][/video] James Martin - Food to Share dishes: 1. Shellfish stew [caption id="attachment_1715" align="alignnone" width="300"] Shellfish stew[/caption] This quick, healthy take on bouillabaisse is easy to adapt with your favourite mixture of fish.  2. Churros with peaches and custard [caption id="attachment_1716" align="alignnone" width="300"] Churros with peaches and custard[/caption] This delicious dessert combines caramelised peaches, comforting vanilla custard and naughty but nice churros.  3. Braised hogget pie [caption id="attachment_1717" align="alignnone" width="300"] Braised hogget pi

Rick Stein's journey begins to draw to a close as he heads east from Oaxaca to the Yucatan Peninsula - a place once frequented by real pirates of the Caribbean, including our own Sir Francis Drake. Here, where the Europeans first landed over five hundred years ago, the local folk have lighter skins and bluey-green eyes. They feast on the hottest chilli of them all, the habanero, and give slow food a new meaning as they bury and cook their Pibil dishes below ground on hot rocks. This was the playground of the ancient Mayans, their pyramids gleaming like gold above tree-lined canopies and where dishes like Papadzules and Sikil Pak are still enjoyed in small villages across the countryside. Rick ends his journey feasting on grilled seafood in Tulum along the shores of the Caribbean Sea.  1. Sardines in tortillas with spicy tomato sauce and refried beans [caption id="attachment_1709" align="alignnone" width="300"] Sardines in tortillas with spicy tomato s

The whole team travel deep into Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Sunset Song country, to the Howe of the Mearns village of Arbuthnott. For anyone who drives the A90, the red clay soils of one of the most fertile and productive areas in the country will be familiar and are the dominant feature of the area. Jim, Carole, George and Chris explore the area horticulturally and also solve some gardening problems for the gardeners of Arbuthnott gathered in the Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Centre for a Q&A. Jim and George visit one of the oldest gardens in Scotland at Arbuthnott House, while Carole visits the contemporary gardeners of Milltown Community. In Beechgrove Garden episode 19 2017:  1. Arbuthnott House Garden This 17thC historic 5acre garden at Arbuthnott House is reputed to be one of the oldest in Scotland. The whole creation of the walled garden owes its origin and design to XV11th century pattern and practice. The garden is on an incredibly steep slope and so was divided up by three ma

TV chef James Martin gets ahead for Christmas, providing lots of clever tips and tricks to save you time and stress on the big day.   [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://video-clump.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/jm-ep.11.mp4"][/video]   Home Comforts at Christmas dishes:  1. Christmas pan bagnat [caption id="attachment_1696" align="alignnone" width="300"] Christmas pan bagnat[/caption] This genius recipe for Christmas leftovers requires no real cooking and no knives and forks.  2. Christmas cake wreath [caption id="attachment_1697" align="alignnone" width="300"] Christmas cake wreath[/caption] Feed this spicy, fruit-packed Christmas cake right up until the last minute for an extra-special festive treat.  3. The ultimate Christmas roast beef [caption id="attachment_1698" align="alignnone" width="300"] The ultimate Christmas roast beef[/caption] James Mart