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Economy Gastronomy

Economy Gastronomy is the cook's answer to the credit crunch. With less money in their pockets, many people are looking for ways to cut the weekly food bill.

In this new series, top chefs and restaurateurs Allegra McEvedy and Paul Merrett combine their skills and experience to create great food on a budget and with minimal wastage.

Each week, Allegra and Paul show a household that routinely overspends on food shopping how to slash costs but still eat well, using good-quality produce. This isn't about dull and austere cooking – it's about using ingredients ingeniously to create delicious, flavour-packed food.

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Front Desk Publicity

Empire Of Cricket

Ahead of this summer's keenly anticipated Ashes encounter between England and Australia, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two explores cricket's rich sporting and social history in a documentary series about the four countries whose very different cricketing cultures created the modern game as we know it.

From its origins in the public school playing fields and shires of rural England to its adoption in the twilight of Empire as the national sport of emerging nations such as Australia, the West Indies and India, cricket has always been shaped by factors beyond the boundary fence.

The series contains rare and revealing archive, much of it unseen before on British television, and contributions from leading cricket writers and a glittering line-up of top players, past and present, including Kevin Pietersen, David Gower, Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, Sir Vivian Richards, Michael Holding, Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev.

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Front Desk Publicity

Freefall

Written and directed by multiple-BAFTA winner Dominic Savage, Freefall dives into the events that have caused turmoil in so many people's lives, tackling the present extraordinary financial crisis head-on.

Tautly and delicately interwoven, Freefall follows the lives of three men with everything on the line. Gus (Aidan Gillen) is a high-flying city executive, who packages and sells bundles of mortgages for extortionate profit, while Dave (Dominic Cooper) is the mortgage broker who can make anything happen.

When Dave offers his old school friend Jim (Joseph Mawle) a way to escape from the council flat he and his family have been stuck in for years, it's an offer too good to refuse. But as the market collapses, each man is confronted by a shocking, revelatory truth that shines a burning light on the new realities they face.

Rosamund Pike, Sarah Harding, Alfie Allen, Anna Maxwell-Martin and Riz Ahmed also star in this thought-provoking piece.

KA

Gandhi: Life And Legacy

Gandhi: Life And Legacy is a definitive and in-depth series about the political and spiritual leader who led the fight for Indian independence.

The series is presented by ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ journalist Mishal Husain, whose grandparents moved from India to what became Pakistan during the partition. Mishal seeks to look beyond the image presented in Richard Attenborough's 1982 biopic, examining Gandhi's real life.

Over three 60-minute episodes, Mishal charts Gandhi's establishment beginnings in London, his move into politics in South Africa and his non-violent campaigns in India. The dramatic story of his life is interwoven with the remarkable story of his legacy.

A year before his death, Gandhi complained that everyone wanted to take his photograph rather than discuss his policies and asked "who listens to me today?" Gandhi – His Life And Legacy will attempt to answer that question.

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The Incredible Human Journey

In this five-part series, Dr Alice Roberts traverses the globe to tell the incredible story of how humans came to populate every corner of the world – overcoming unbearable landscapes, extreme weather and other hostile hominid species.

Alice pieces together precious fragments of bone, stone and new DNA evidence to discover how we are all related to one tiny group of people who left Africa – to conquer the world.

The series looks at that critical exodus from Africa, our colonisation of each of the continents, how some of us changed en route – for instance from dark to light skinned, and the vital skills we developed – uncovering ground breaking research in palaeoanthropology, archaeogenetics and climate modelling to find out how our journeys across the globe made us who we are today.

VAA

James May On The Moon

As part of a season of programming on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Four to celebrate 40 years since the first moon landing, James May takes a "giant leap" into space history to discover the stories of the heroes behind this auspicious historical event.

In James May On The Moon, the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s Top Gear presenter learns to use an astronaut's space suit as he trains for three days with the United States Air Force before travelling to the edge of space in a U2 spy plane. At 70,000 feet, James looks up into the blackness of space and down at the thin blue atmosphere beneath him, an experience that he says "changed his life".

It may only be a small leap into space for James, but it helps him to understand the achievements of the Apollo astronauts. Along the way he meets some of the men who went to the moon, experiences zero gravity and endures the force of a Saturn V rocket launch in a centrifuge.

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Krod Mandoon And The Flaming Sword Of Fire

In the darkest days of the Marconian Empire, tyranny reigned throughout the land until a glimmer of hope arrived. The son of a blacksmith and a stay-at-home mum, a man of unwavering determination, Krod Mandoon (Sean Maguire) represents the last great hope in the struggle against the evil ruler, Chancellor Dongalor (Matt Lucas).

To help fight the great fight, Krod has assembled a band of remarkably ineffectual freedom fighters. Aneka (India de Beaufort) is the beautiful Pagan warrioress, whose weapon of choice is sex; Loquasto (Steve Speirs) is the oafish servant with bad aim; Zezelryck (Kevin Hart) is a young warlock whose greatest magical gift is spinning a line; and Bruce (Marquez Ray) is simply fabulous.

In this original action comedy, they must overcome myriad evil obstacles in their quest to save the world. Their weapons include name-calling, hired assassins and bad hair days. Keen viewers of Krod Mandoon can access more content by pressing the red button, which will launch a behind-the-scenes look at the preceding episode anchored by an exclusive interview with Dongalor himself, Matt Lucas.

AN

Mary Queen Of Charity Shops

Queen Of Shops Mary Portas returns to ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two to embark on her toughest challenge yet – turning around the fortunes of Britain's charity shops.

From well-worn woollies to last season's fashion faux pas, charity shop staff face a sales challenge like no other – how to turn other people's cast-offs into stock that will sell. As well as focusing on how the outlets operate, Mary must also tackle the public's perception of charity shops and influence how consumers make their purchasing decisions.

With strong competition from low-cost fashion chains, the declining quality of donations, and the general stigma some attach to buying second-hand, it can be tough to even tempt people through the door.

The stakes are high. Mary's ambition is to transform the image of charity shops and their bottom line. If she succeeds, her strategy could be rolled out nationwide.

AC2

NASA – Triumph And Tragedy

As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration celebrates the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing, NASA – Triumph And Tragedy takes a look behind the scenes and examines the agency's achievements and humankind's race to understand the universe.

This is the epic story of heroes, their triumphs and their tragedies as they harness breathtaking technology to conquer new worlds.

In two 60-minute films, award-winning archivists uncover forgotten material as well as original first-generation negatives of more familiar footage, digitally restored to its original glory. The restored footage reveals space walks, moonwalks, exaltation and despair through the eyes and ears of a special band of brothers.

Blended within the footage are revealing and insightful interviews with those who were there: the astronauts, family members, staff and journalists. These personal stories add depth to the science of space exploration and present an intimate glimpse into life in space.

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