Cutting Edge

Since it started in 1994, the National Lottery has created over two and a half thousand new millionaires. This Cutting Edge film tells the story of a number of lottery winners and the moment their lives were suddenly turned upside down, revealing their extraordinary experiences and capturing their lifestyle today. Jackpots and Jinxes: Lottery Stories also enters the mysterious halls of Camelot to discover the inner workings of the organisation behind the lottery. The film makers gain insight into how Camelot manage the lucky ticket holders and their friends and family by filming with new winners before they decide to make their identities known. And they meet the staff - from the weights and measures man who calibrates the balls, to those taking the potential winners' calls, to the person who helps them to decide whether to keep their win a secret or go public with the news. Some of Britain's luckiest people open up about what it's really like when your fortune changes overnight; some revel in their newfound celebrity, whereas others find their win has caused surprising challenges and difficulties in their lives. As well as seeking to answer the questions all of us have when we imagine winning the lottery - what will you buy first, who would you give money to, would a lottery win really change your life? - this humorous and touching film also delves deeper into some of the best winners' stories to explore just how profoundly their lives have been altered. Mark Gardiner, who was one of the first lottery winners 16 years ago, is fully aware of the highs and lows of winning the jackpot and during the film, advises a winner who is struggling to come to terms with their sudden wealth. Five years ago, Tony won £2.2 million but soon after discovered the true cost of love when he divorced his wife and had to pay her almost half the money. Ray and Barbara Wragg won £7.6 million and have given nearly £6 million away to family, friends and charities - their win has

This Cutting Edge film explores one of the longest-running, most emotionally charged battles in British medical history. In one corner, a pioneering doctor who dared to accuse mothers of abusing their own children. In the other corner are the mothers who counter-claim that the doctor was the abuser - using his power so that he could research on the children to test his own medical theories. With unprecedented access to both sides of the story, this authored documentary by Bafta award-winning film-maker Leo Regan explores the controversy surrounding paediatrician Dr David Southall and the group of mothers he accused of abusing their children. Filmed over two years, Regan gets to the heart of this war between doctors and mothers and tries to find out who's telling the truth.

The expansion of the EU and open borders in the UK have led to a surge in foreign criminals heading for Britain. The number of requests for wanted fugitives has risen ten-fold over the past five years and now totals more than 4300 a year. Over the course of three months Cutting Edge has unique access to New Scotland Yard's Extradition Unit as they track down murderers, suspected rapists and armed robbers from abroad. A record 1500 foreign fugitives are now arrested each year and with more and more coming to these shores it's a job that is stretching the unit and its officers to the limit. Some of these criminals go to extraordinary lengths to evade capture, changing their name and ID, so it's a painstaking and often frustrating experience tracking them down. The film-makers are there as officers follow up on leads tracing potentially dangerous criminals, and capture high-tension arrests as the unit's hard work finally pays off. The cameras are also with the unit when it deals with some of its biggest ever high profile cases, including the arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, wanted in Sweden for alleged sex crimes, and the arrest of Shrien Dewani, wanted in South Africa in connection with the death of his wife, Anni, on their honeymoon. Other cases include the hunt for Hungary's most wanted fugitive, a Turkish man who conducted an honour killing, a suspected Croatian war criminal and an alleged serial rapist who's escaped the French authorities and who they must close in on before it's too late

Colin Blanchard, Vanessa George, Angela Allen, Tracy Lyons and Tracey Dawber provoked widespread revulsion and made international headlines after their sexual offences against children came to light in 2009. With unique access to the police investigation, Cutting Edge is the first film to take an in-depth forensic look at this criminal web, detailing how it operated, and what motivated the five people within it. This carefully crafted, sensitive and revealing documentary uses police interviews with the offenders, and first-hand testimonies from family members of the offenders and the parents of a possible victim. Chilling unseen police evidence from a multi-force inquiry is pieced together in an attempt to understand how Colin Blanchard persuaded four women - all mothers - to abuse children. The film also reveals the painstaking police investigations in Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Plymouth and Portsmouth that led to five arrests and subsequent successful convictions. To understand the emotional and psychological fallout for those most intimately affected by the ring, the film-makers hear from the parents of a child who attended the Little Ted's Nursery in Plymouth, where Vanessa George worked. Unaware of the secret lives of their loved ones, the perpetrators' relatives also talk candidly about how the legacy of abuse continues to affect them. The husband of one of the offenders gives detailed insight into the trauma of betrayal. And in another powerful interview, a close relative of one of the female abusers - a young woman who has been forced into hiding - describes how she was driven from her home after the news was made public.

The British hospitality industry is under attack. Businesses are being assaulted by ever-more nit-picking and abusive reviews. It's bad for their livelihoods and their sanity. But it's not the professional critics who are reviewing their hosts; a nation of virtual AA Gills and Michael Winners are using the Trip Advisor website to get their own back on hotels and restaurants. With more than 40 million users a month, Trip Advisor is the largest and most powerful travel guide in the world. But is it a force for good that gives the customer a voice, or an abuse of power that undermines businesses and ruins lives? How long can Britain's small businesses cope with relentless criticism before they pack it all in? This Cutting Edge film reveals Britain's most meticulous Trip Advisors and meets some of the hoteliers and restaurateurs at war with the site.

With exclusive access to Mark Kennedy, Britain's most controversial undercover police officer, this gripping and revelatory documentary tells the definitive, inside story of Mark Stone/Kennedy. Directed by BAFTA Award-winner Brian Hill and narrated by Kennedy, the Cutting Edge film also features interviews with the police to reconstruct the story of how Mark Kennedy went from being a regular south London police officer, with a wife and two children, to becoming Mark Stone. This was Mark the environmental campaigner, militant activist and undercover cop who broke into power stations, learned how to make bombs, infiltrated groups hell-bent on attacking major corporations and stood arm-in-arm with anti-capitalist anarchists. He also had a relationship with a female activist for four years and was even beaten up by fellow police officers who were unaware he was undercover. All the time he was feeding intelligence back to his handlers. Now, with his cover blown, he lives in fear for his life. He is separated from his wife and family. The woman he fell deeply in love with as Mark Stone never wants to see him again. For the first time, Kennedy is returning to face up to himself, his actions and to the people who claim he betrayed them.

Alan Turing is the genius British mathematician who was instrumental in breaking the German naval Enigma Code during World War II, arguably saving millions of lives. He was also the visionary scientist who gave birth to the computer age, pioneered artificial intelligence and was the first to investigate the mathematical underpinnings of the living world. Turing is one of the great original thinkers of the 20th century, who foresaw the digital world in which we now live. In the eyes of many scientists today Turing sits alongside Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin at the table of scientific greats. Turing's achievements went unrecognised during his lifetime. Instead he ended up being treated as a common criminal, for being homosexual at a time when homosexual acts were a crime. In 1952, he was convicted of 'gross indecency' with another man and was forced to undergo so-called 'organo-therapy' - chemical castration. Two years later, he killed himself with cyanide, aged just 41. Alan Turing was driven to a terrible despair and early death by the nation he'd done so much to save. In the last 18 months of his short life, Turing visited a psychiatrist, Dr Franz Greenbaum, who tried to help him. This film brings Turing's ideas to life by dramatising this relationship and these sessions, based on historical records, Turing's writings, and accounts of those who knew him. The film includes the testimony of people who knew and remember Turing. Plus, contemporary experts from the world of technology and high science, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, bring Turing's exciting impact up to the present day, explaining why, in many ways, modern technology has only just begun to explore the potential of Turing's ideas.

Seven years ago, they were the happiest, perfect family. A loving husband and wife with two beautiful boys. When the children were 17 and 10 the oldest son, Henry discovered his mother half dead in the garden. She was unrecognizable because there was so much blood and his father just stood there watching her try to crawl to safety. His father had blindfolded his mother and walked her out to the garden where he hit her in the head with the back of an ax, fracturing her skull in three places and leaving her to die. He only served 5 months in prison and then tried to return to the family as if nothing had happened. The family hid the whole tragedy from the youngest son, Felix. Now that Felix is 17 yrs. old Henry decides to tell him the whole story, while trying to heal himself.

Cash-strapped Britain is in the grip of a bargain-hunting boom. Every week a staggering 40 million of us use money-off deals and voucher sites to buy anything from holidays to clothes, car insurance and even dental care. Cutting Edge takes an entertaining and revealing look at the lives of some of the country's thriftiest people, from frugal families obsessed by discount vouchers and competitions to a penny-pinching bride who's determined that her wedding day will cost less than the price of the average wedding dress. The Ultimate Guide to Penny Pinching offers a warm insight into the lives of people who take watching the pennies to new extremes. Thirty-eight-year-old Judith is a voucher-loving midwife who can slash her supermarket bill from £50 to less than five pounds. By the age of 15, Judith had opened 170 bank and building society accounts to get the free gifts they were offering to children. Her family also live by Judith's cost-effective ways, using solar panels to heat their hot water and missing showers when the weather is bad, or eating the same meals for weeks because it was bought on offer. For Judith getting a discount or using coupons is a way of life. Betrothed bargain hunters Rebekah and Steven believe you don't have to spend thousands to have your dream wedding, but neither does it have to look cheap. Rebekah is having her dress made by her mum, she'll arrive at the ceremony in a minicab, and the flowers are from the local supermarket. Together with their finger buffet and alcohol-free reception, the couple's overall wedding spend is less than the average cost of a photographer. Cost-cutting carnivore Jonathan reckons he saves £1500 a year by replacing meat from the butcher with freshly collected roadkill. When friends come over for dinner, their barbeque could be anything from squirrel to pheasant, and it can often be a guessing game around the table. IT worker Jalaj uses the latest technology to ensure he pays rock-bottom

Cutting Edge explores the world of extreme Christmas decorating, meeting people who adorn their houses in festive regalia every year, and finding out why they do it

In a pretty English village in the Surrey stockbroker belt lives the infamous Mr Wallace, whose hoarding habits have spread across a million pounds-worth of property that used to belong to his parents. His detached bungalow, four-bedroom semi-detached house and separate double garage are all stuffed from floor to ceiling with newspapers and other household items. Cutting Edge is given unique access into his intriguing home, where no one else has ever ventured. Mr Wallace is arguably the UK's most extreme hoarder and his house has become a death trap. It is so packed that he has to crawl over mountains of papers and magazines simply to move from room to room; it takes 40 minutes to get to his front door from the chair he eats and sleeps in. The garden also acts as a dumping ground for tonnes of refuse so old that it is overgrown by foliage and trees.