Written by Abi Morgan (Sex Traffic and Murder) with a stellar cast including Tim
Roth, Toni Collette, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sophie Okonedo, Hugh Bonneville and Gina McKee, Tsunami – The Aftermath is a story of loss, survival and hope seen through the eyes of a group of fictional characters.
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Focusing on the aftermath of the tsunami in Thailand, this
fictional drama is based on first-hand research and interviews.
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It examines
the way people from all over the world - and from across the spectrum
of economic circumstances - came together in the aftermath of the
tsunami to cope with their losses and to try to help one another rebuild
their lives.
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Says Roly Keating, Controller of ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ TWO: "The 2004 Asian
tsunami shocked and devastated the world, touching the lives of people everywhere.
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"Since then, many questions have been asked and answers have been sought, but
what this drama is able to do – through the searing writing talent of Abi
Morgan – is to explore the cultural and personal fault lines that can be
ruptured when catastrophe strikes.
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"Tsunami – The Aftermath really gets inside the issues and lessons for humanity raised by a disaster of such extraordinary magnitude.
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"Its intention is to mark the unique nature and scale
of this tragedy, and to pay tribute to some of the victims' and survivors'
incredible courage."
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Fresh ideas in factual
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³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ TWO explores the whole range of factual programming this season, with some strong pieces, from hard-hitting documentaries to new factual formats.
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In two remarkably frank and revealing films, Stephen Fry investigates the reality of living with manic depression for Stephen Fry – The Secret Life Of The Manic Depressive.
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On what is an extremely personal journey, Stephen speaks
to celebrities and other people who live with the condition.
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In a welcome return to ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ TWO, historian Simon Schama recounts eight remarkable stories of high drama in the making of eight masterpieces for a major new series, Simon Schama's Power of Art.
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To mark the 60th anniversary of the execution of senior Nazi criminals, a drama-documentary series, Nuremberg, goes behind the scenes of the most famous trial in history.
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Adam Curtis, producer of the award-winning Power of Nightmares, returns with a beautifully crafted, authored series about the death of altruism and the collapse of trust, Cold Cold Heart.
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Monty Don puts his money where his trowel is and takes on the biggest challenge of his career to prove that growing things can transform the life of young offenders.
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In The Monty Don Project the
³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ TWO gardener takes on a real project, a real business and a real community
challenge with dramatic results.
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London Symphony Orchestra Choirmaster Gareth Malone also works with young people taking on a challenge of a different kind in The Choir.
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He aims to create a school choir from scratch and take them
to the Choir Games in China to compete with the very best.
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In Oz And James' Big Wine Adventure wine expert Oz Clarke teams up with Top Gear's James May for an unforgettable road trip through France's wine regions. Oz aims to convert a beer drinker into a wine aficionado, but James thinks he'll teach Oz a thing or two about cars on the way.
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Famed for his snail porridge and bacon-and-egg ice cream, culinary alchemist Heston Blumenthal turns his attention to the UK's staple dishes in a new series for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ TWO, Heston Blumenthal – In Search Of Perfection.
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The heat is turned up for a second series of Beyond Boundaries, in which an intrepid team of disabled people venture across Africa on an even longer, more dangerous and far more treacherous expedition.
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Finally, bridging the gap between factual and entertainment, Dragons' Den returns to the channel with two new formidable dragons, Deborah Meaden and Richard Farleigh, who join Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne and Theo Paphitis for an even longer series.
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But does this mean that the millionaire investors will be parting with even more of their money?
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Entertainment talent
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³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ TWO is proud to have some of the biggest comedy talents on the channel. This season sees David Mitchell and Robert Webb invite viewers into their lopsided world of sketch comedy in That Mitchell & Webb Look.
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Time Trumpet, a bizarre clip show based in the future and looking back at key events, celebrities and television shows from the next few years, comes from the ever-surprising, satirical brain of Armando Iannucci.
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Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's award-winning series Extras returns for a second series, which sees Andy Millman move from background artist to TV face as he begins to film his sitcom.
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This series features appearances from Orlando Bloom, David Bowie, Daniel Radcliffe, Chris Martin, Ronnie Corbett and Sir Ian McKellan.
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Talented comedienne Catherine Tate is also back for a third series of her award-winning sketch show. She'll be introducing some new characters and bringing back some familiar favourites in The Catherine Tate Show.
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Plus, in a new sitcom from Michael Atkins (Waiting For God) called Fear, Stress and Anger, Peter Davison (Doctor Who) and Pippa Haywood (Green Wing) play a couple who discover they have become the 'sandwich generation' – their 20-something children won't leave home and their ancient parents won't shuffle off the stage.
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Other highlights
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Also on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ TWO this autumn:
- Into The West, Steven
Spielberg's epic drama series covering
the period 1825 to 1892 and following the experiences of two multi-generational
families.
- HG Wells – War With The World, starring Michael Sheen and
telling the fascinating story of the father of science fiction.
- Why Are
We Waiting?, which sees Sir Gerry Robinson, the ruthless turnaround
king of big business, spending six months in an NHS Trust to slash waiting
times and to try and find a formula that really works.
- Equator, in which
author and broadcaster Simon Reeve takes viewers on a 25,000 mile journey
around the equator, home to both the world's greatest concentration
of human poverty and natural biodiversity.
- Galapagos, focusing on the
islands made famous by Charles Darwin, for the channel's most spectacular
high definition series to date.
- Digging Deep, introducing garden designers
Andre Smith and Amanda Brooks who are horticultural therapists, making
gardens for the soul.
- Coast, which returns for a new series and sees Neil
Oliver and the team uncover more charm and mystery from around Britain's
coastline.
- Autumnwatch With Bill Oddie, which sees the popular Springwatch
team observing nature in action as the temperature lowers.
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