Documentaries & Specials
Each month, the BBC World Service offers new documentaries and specials selected specifically for U.S. audiences, with in-depth, relevant reporting. Typically one-hour, or two half-hours on a similar topic, they offer great content for any time of day, and satisfy audiences' needs for deeper narratives and more reflective listening.
Subscribe to BBC Monthly to receive the latest updates.
Discussion and Documentary: The Great Hunger - Stalin's famine in Kazakhstan
Air window: November 22 - December 19, 2025
One hour
Few people outside Kazakhstan know of the famine that left nomadic life destroyed in the 1930s. Even within Kazakhstan you can meet people who have no idea that a third of their population perished just within the living memory. Why is the cloak of silence around this calamity - in contrast to the well-known Holodomor in Ukraine during the same period? Rose Kudabayeva's grandparents didn't breathe a word. Now she travels through Kazakhstan trying to piece together what happened.
World Book Club: Philippa Gregory
Air window: December 6 - January 4, 2026
One hour
Harriett Gilbert welcomes bestselling author Philippa Gregory into the World Book Club studio to discuss her celebrated historical novel, The Other Boleyn Girl.
This novel, about to celebrate its 25th anniversary, is a vivid portrayal of ambition, love, and betrayal in the Tudor Court, told from the perspective of Mary Boleyn, sister to the ill-fated Anne. As Mary becomes the mistress of King Henry VIII, Anne sets her sights on the throne. Set against the splendor and peril of sixteenth-century England, Philippa Gregory’s masterful novel explores power, desire, and the price women paid in a world where one man’s whims were considered sacrosanct.
Philippa Gregory answers readers’ questions on what drives her fascination with women’s untold histories, the clash between love and ambition in the fraught world of the English court, and whether sisterhood can survive when the ultimate prize is the crown of England.
World Questions: Kenya
Air window: December 13 - January 9, 2026
One hour
Kenya gets ninety percent of its energy from renewables, its tech sector is one of the biggest in Africa and its economy is growing fast. The country has a strong role to play diplomatically, promoting climate action worldwide, hosting the only UN Head Quarters in Africa and deploying its police offers to support security as far away as Haiti.
But it faces many challenges: Nearly half of young Kenyan adults are unemployed and mass youth protests have rocked the government and led to multiple deaths. Crime is a growing problem, violence against women has surged and corruption at all levels continues to be a scourge. Can Kenya provide stability and protect civil liberties at the same time? Can it tackle corruption and reform its institutions? Whatever the issue, World Questions puts people and their questions at the heart of the debate. The BBC’s Jonny Dymond and a panel of Kenyan political leaders debate questions from an audience in Nairobi.
Discussion and Documentary: United in Space – How we Built the ISS
Air window: December 20 - January 16, 2026
One hour
Personal tales of bravery, tragedy, daring and triumph, United in Space unveils the remarkable story of one of humanity’s greatest ever feats – building a home among the stars – the International Space Station.
Celebrating 25 unbroken years of humans living in space, former international director of the UK Space Agency, Dr Alice Bunn charts how nations put aside differences to create the ultimate symbol of human ingenuity and collaboration – a space station orbiting our planet that has been home to over 300 people from 24 different nations.
Looking into the future, Alice explores how the legacy of the ISS will be carried on by a new generation of private space stations, which have the power to push back the boundaries of science for the good of all humanity. The reduced gravity offers enormous possibilities from creating materials impossible to create on Earth - these range from ultrafast semiconductors for use in computing, to life-saving vaccines, and most remarkably of all entire human organs for life-saving transplants.
BBC Correspondents' Look Ahead to 2026
Air window: December 27 - January 23, 2026
One hour
Join BBC correspondents and editors from across the globe as they peer into their crystal balls to predict what 2026 might hold.
Not by the Playbook: Soccer Special
Air window: January 3 - January 30, 2026
One hour
Soccer is going to be one of the focal points of the sporting calendar this year, not least because in June the men's FIFA World Cup will be hosted in Mexico, Canada and the United States of America. So, we thought we'd start the year by exploring what it is like to be a football fan in the modern age. What do football fans have in common whichever team they support? Without their passion and loyalty, the billion-dollar football business would not exist. But is the relationship between those who love the game and those who profit from it always a happy one? We hear about fan experiences at an event hosted by Deborah Dilworth, Head of Women's Football at the Football Supporters Association.
Discussion and Documentary: No Man's Land
Air window: January 10 - February 6, 2026
One hour
Humans have spread to every corner of the globe, transforming ecosystems and reshaping landscapes. Is there anywhere left on Earth that is unaffected by humans? Anywhere we haven’t changed – at all? Presenter Caroline Steel and producer Florian Bohr begin their mission to find No Man's Land... if it exists.
World Questions: Hungary
Air window: January 17 - February 13, 2026
One hour
Jonny Dymond will chair a debate with leading Hungarian politicians and academics who will take questions from the public across Hungary. With elections due in April, can the right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has been in power for 15 years, hold off his main political challenger?
World Book Club: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Air window: January 24 - February 24, 2026
One hour
Harriett Gilbert welcomes bestselling author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni into the World Book Club studio to discuss her internationally acclaimed novel, The Palace of Illusions. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni answers readers’ questions about reclaiming women’s voices from myth and legend, the challenges of retelling an epic from a female perspective, and why mythology is still so powerful for modern readers.
Broadcast Rights
Read the full broadcast rights for this program.