Season 19

1997-05-20

Following the travels of a British inventor around Ghana with a pair of glasses that he was convinced could save the sight of millions.

1997-05-27

Using exclusive access to Joseph Merrick's case history and medical notes, this programme traces the story of the so-called Elephant Man's life, from his birth in Leicester to his premature death in the London Hospital.

1997-06-03

The series tonight explores US scientist Professor Stanley Curtis's work in training two young pigs to operate computers, which could prove that after humans, pigs are the most intelligent animals on the planet.

1997-07-09

A young man is admitted into hospital after a relatively minor road traffic accident and should have recovered from his injuries in two days. However, due to the complete medical mis-management of the case by the hospital, his condition deteriorates rapidly and two weeks later he is dead. His father wants to know why he died and struggles completely in vain to discover the truth. The public inquest into the death is a white wash and the father is left angry and frustrated still with many unanswered questions. Eventually he is forced to educate himself in medical matters in order to take on the medical establishment and pursue the matter through the courts.

1997-07-16

Californian cowboy, Monty Roberts, has a special talent of taming wild horses in under 30 minutes. His latest challenge is to tame a wild mustang.

1997-07-23

Dr Susan MacKinnon is the first surgeon in the world to carry out nerve transplants. Her pioneering work in St Louis, Missouri, utilising nerves from dead bodies, is the only hope for patients who would otherwise face lifelong paralysis in a limb. It's thanks to her, for instance, that three-year-old Rebecca, whose hand was almost completely paralysed after a garden accident, can play like othertoddlers. In tonight's film QED's cameras show Dr MacKinnon performing only the sixth operation of its kind on a teenager who severed an arm in a water sports accident.

1997-08-04

A four-part series showing how parents are coping with the pressures of raising children in modern Britain. It is a common assumption that mothers automatically love their children from birth, but many women do not experience an immediate bond with or affection towards their newborn child. The first programme follows two mothers suffering from post-natal depression, as psychologists help them to learn to love their children.

1997-09-12

Second of a four-part series showing how parents are coping with the pressures of raising children in modern Britain. The series concentrates on the intensely personal stories of families who are finding their children particularly challenging. This programme tells the story of the Broadrick family's quest to communicate with their autistic son, how they learned of the radical approach of the Option Institute in America, the two years of fundraising to visit for two weeks, and the miracle they could only dream of.

1997-09-18

Third of a four-part series showing how parents are coping with the pressures of raising children in modern Britain. One in six children has special needs, and each year around 11,000 pupils are excluded from British schools because of their unruly behaviour. This programme follows four disruptive children as they attend a unique education unit in Westminster, London.

1997-09-25

The parents of a gifted child have a special set of problems - not least the fact that nobody believes that they have a problem. The last programme in the series follows Chantelle, one of the brightest four-year-olds in the country, through her first year at school as she learns to cope with children up to three years older than her.