Everyman

A two-part investigation into Christianity in Britain today by Peter France. Is Christianity in Britain today more a matter of behaviour than belief? As Bishops argue whether the Creed is literally 'true' Peter France looks at the strength, beauty - and oddities - of the Christian tradition and asks distinguished Church leaders 'What do I have to believe to come in?'.

The second of a two-part investigation into Christianity in Britain today by Peter France. As Bishops argue whether the traditional 'truths' of Christianity have to be taken literally, Peter France goes on a journey through Christian Britain. He looks at the strength, beauty - and oddities of the Christian tradition. In this film he examines the powerful dissenting movements which have helped to shape modern Britain and asks influential Protestant leaders: 'What do I have to believe in order to come in?'

With these words as their guide, members of some churches in West Virginia, USA, handle poisonous snakes in their church services. This extreme Biblical literalism has been banned in the surrounding states, but in West Virginia it remains legal, despite the occasional deaths of participants. This film examines the routes of Christian snake handling in the harsh coal-mining environment of the state, and in the traditional Protestant fundamentalism of its people. The Everyman team gained access to one of the snake-handling services, and filmed scenes of extraordinary religious fervour, never before shown in such detail on television.

Anxiety, lack of confidence, isolation, depression ... these alarming feelings are often presented in doctors' waiting rooms and treated with drugs. But why are some people made ill by the stress and strains of life while others seem to sail through? Dr Dorothy Rowe , clinical psychologist and author, argues that the answer lies in the 'mind box'-the framework of unexamined beliefs about life and death which each person acquires in childhood. Psychology has traditionally dismissed such beliefs. Dr Rowe, however, sides with an older tradition which sees depression as a symptom of an underlying spiritual crisis. 'Ancient writers on the subject said it was a lack of wisdom in living, and I think that's true. Learning to be a bit wiser about yourself-that's the cure for depression.' This film examines how she passes on the ancient wisdom of self-knowledge - and what the people who come to her learn in the process.

Since the end of the Vietnam War ended, the Buddhist kingdom of Thailand has become a front-line state, facing a unified Communist Indo-China across the Mekong River. The legacies of the American presence are still clearly visible in Thailand -in its highly developed consumer society, powerful military elite and over one million prostitutes. In coping with the shock of the last decades, the Sangha- Buddhist clergy-play a crucial role. But, like the Christian churches of the West, the monks themselves are divided. This Everyman film reveals a society where the beliefs of Buddhism have become weapons in the struggle for the hearts and minds of its people.

Ten years ago the Communist Pathet Lao took over in Laos. Thirty years of civil war and two million tons of US bombs had changed this Buddhist kingdom from a quiet backwater to a front line state of the Cold War. Rumours tell of drastic attempts to turn Laos from its traditional Buddhist beliefs to hard-line Marxist-Leninism. For the first time, the government has allowed a Western crew to film widely in the country. And in this film, Everyman tries to find out why some monks fought with the Communists, why some have fled, and what the future of Buddhism is in a country where theoretically there is no religion. Narrator Eugene Fraser Series producer Daniel Wolf Producer John

At 14, Laura Herbert was an orphan, cutting cane on a St Kitts estate. Now 75. she lives on a tiny pension in a back-to-back in Leeds. Her days are spent by the window, reading the Bible. Elizabeth Richardson has 12 children. When she wasn't caring for them she was out working. Now not even a damaged back keeps her away from her duties as church steward. Lunadelle Willocks works all week in a factory. At the weekend, as 'Volunteer Willocks', she leads and inspires her congregation in a tiny backstreet church. These are just some of the 'sisters in the spirit': women from the Caribbean who have made their lives in inner-city Britain. This film tells their story. Researcher

Between Two Worlds: A Journey to Calcutta This year, 1985, is the International Year of Youth. The oldest youth organisation in the world - the YMCA - is contributing to it with a special project: taking 20 young people from Britain to India, to work with the destitute of Calcutta. They will also help out on rural development schemes, aimed at stopping thousands more joining the three million who already live in the city's slums. Some of the youngsters making the journey are unemployed, one is a striking miner. Each of them has had to raise F700

In Iran, Baha'is are being imprisoned, tortured and executed. In the rest of the world, three million Baha'is are setting up a computerised structure for an alternative world government. The Baha'i faith began as a 19th-century offshoot of Islam. Today it's the fastest growing new religion in the world. In the first of a new international series, "Everyman" slips behind the lines of "The Quiet Revolution" to report on the Baha'i mission to establish God's Kingdom on Earth.

Christians have always seen God as a hugely powerful father. And the fatherhood of God has always justified the subjection of women to male authority. Feminists argue that freedom for women is incompatible with Christianity - but where does this leave women influenced by feminism who want to remain Christians? Five Christian women argue that if the church is to be loyal to its deepest insights the faithful must learn to say - God is She.

The Rainbow Warrior trial - the case linking the French Secret Service to the mining of Greenpeace's ship - begins in Auckland this week. At the centre of the controversy surrounding the case is the outspoken New Zealand Prime Minister, David Lange. He has condemned forthrightly France's violation of New Zealand's sovereignty. Earlier this year, the USA found him equally uncompromising when he announced their nuclear carriers would not be welcome in New Zealand. Lange is a Methodist lay preacher who says that what he does in his political life is a reflection of his Christian convictions. This Everyman profile records his first meeting with the man whose preaching changed his life - Lord Soper. In a conversation filmed earlier this year, they discuss the choice confronting a politician between compromise and conscience.

Years of our lives are passed in the dreamscapes of sleep, yet the phenomenon of dreams remains largely a mystery to us. We say 'it was only a dream' to dismiss these phantasms, and reassure ourselves that we have returned to reality. But recent research is blurring the distinction between sleeping and waking states. In the last ten years investigators have discovered that some 'lucid dreamers', can perform pre-arranged experiments in their sleep, and even send messages acfbss the sleep barrier to the waking world. The results of these experiments have provided startling insights into sleep consciousness. Everyman examines the story of lucid dream research, and encounters a puzzle well-known to the most ancient religious traditions: how can we ever be sure we're awake?

Every year thousands of torture victims disappear, never to tell their tale. But thousands more survive, and are released back into the world. Their torture does not end at the moment they step outside the prison gates. The memories remain, and with them the anguish that makes readjustment to normal life so hard. Canada has a uniquely liberal policy of immigration for political refugees - over 20,000 settle in the country each year. Many have suffered terrible tortures and made miraculous escapes. To meet their needs an extraordinary network of doctors, psychiatrists, health workers and volunteers, several themselves former victims, has sprung up. This film does not investigate the politics of the victims. It examines their experiences, and follows the attempts of care-workers, medical and social, to overcome their traumas.

The Church of England is today on the defensive in the inner cities, apparently irrelevant in a hostile world of unemployment, deprivation and riots. But the problems it is facing are not new ones. In the week the Archbishop of Canterbury's Commission on the Church in the City publishes its findings, Everyman asks: has the Church ever been at home in Britain's industrial areas? Or has it always, as its critics maintain, dined with the rich and preached to the poor? The film goes to one English town - Middlesbrough and examines the Church's record there over the last 150 years. It reveals a story of lethargy and energy, of indifference and concern, of occasional victories and persistent defeats.