Superhuman (2007)

The Superhuman strand continues its fascinating insight into some of the world’s most extraordinary people as they attempt to find happiness and acceptance in a world where they stand out from the crowd. Superhuman: The World’s Smallest People features little people who will never grow to full adult height and examines the challenges they face in day to day life. The documentary visits the world’s smallest people out and about and in their homes as they explain how they’ve come to terms with being Superhuman and how they deal with everything from work and health to finding love. The programme meets Britain’s shortest man, Michael, who, at two foot 11 inches tall is the same height as the average three-year-old. Michael was born with a rare condition that gave him short limbs, he has feet the size of a one-year-old and tiny three inch hands that he can’t clench properly. But, in spite of his condition, the programme reveals how Michael leads a relatively normal and happy life with a regular office job, an average-sized wife and seven-year-old son. The film follows Michael as he plays with his four-foot-tall son who towers above him. The film also features He Ping Ping from Inner Mongolia who is two foot five inches tall and weighs just eight kilograms – the same as the average one-year-old. He Ping Ping, 19, is a primordial dwarf whose condition affects less than one in 10 million people and his growth retardation started before he was even born. Superhuman: The World’s Smallest People joins a man from the Guinness Books of Records as he travels across the world to measure He Ping Ping. Becoming officially recognised as the world’s smallest man is potentially his route into the limelight and out of poverty. The documentary also follows the Dwarf Athletics Association Games where two four foot six inches tall British men are competing to be the fastest little person on the planet. Azi Zahed tells the programme how, like mos

he Superhuman strand continues its fascinating insight into some of the world’s most extraordinary people. Superhuman: Super Strong meets some of the strongest people on the planet and reveals the extreme lengths they will go to in order to possess their amazing raw power. The documentary features the three-year-old girl whose parents have already got her lifting weights, the man who is so muscular his thigh is almost as big as his waist and the man who can smash his hand through nine layers of solid concrete. The film examines the relationship between the power of the mind and the power of the body and reveals how far human power is down to nature or nurture. Welsh bodybuilder Flex Lewis tells the programme how he lives on a diet of fish five times a day and devotes his whole life to developing the most incredible bulging muscles. He has 80 per cent more muscle than the average British man, a quarter of the body fat and the circumference of his thigh is almost the same as his waist. He says: “If you want to stand out you’ve got to make yourself look like a peacock. I don’t want to be a blackbird; I want to show my feathers off.” The film also meets circus strongman Uri Akulova from the Ukraine who has trained his teenage daughter, Varya, to become a power-lifting record breaker and has already got her three-year-old sister, Barbi, lifting weights. He says: “I started to train my children even before they were born - I was working with their mother. Their mother was training until the last day of pregnancy”. His wife, Larisa, adds: “At the beginning it was a bit hard, but that passed, up until I was nine months pregnant I moved, ran, skipped and boxed with my husband.” British black belt karate king Ed Byrne describes to the programme how he mentally transforms himself into an alter ego he calls ‘Thug’ before smashing his hand through nine layers of solid concrete. Ed says: “Concrete deserves respect, especially

What is it like to be head-and-shoulders above all the other children at school, or the tallest girl or boy in the world? What are the day-to-day challenges for these children and for their parents? And how does it affect the children’s health? Superhuman: World’s Tallest Children reveals the stories of children who have reached superhuman heights – like the 13-year-old who’s already over seven foot tall, the tallest family in England and the girl from Bangkok hoping to achieve a Guinness World record for her height. Brenden Adams is the world’s tallest boy - at just 13, he’s seven feet four and a half inches tall. Brenden comes from Ellensburg in Washington. He has a unique genetic condition which isn’t hereditary – the rest of his family are of average height. Brendan is two feet taller than his friends, but still attempts to join in the activities of a normal thirteen year old. Brenden has been in and out of hospital for much of his life. He was born with a unique genetic abnormality, which has also caused enlarged joints and swollen eyelids. As he has grown faster than any child ever his future is uncertain. His mother says: “You want an answer; you want to know what’s wrong with my child, why is this happening. And nobody can tell you. Nobody can give you an answer.” 11-year-old Naomi Van Nes, at five feet nine inches tall, is head and shoulders above her school friends. She may stand out at school but at home her height is nothing extraordinary. The Van Nes’s are thought to be Britain’s tallest family. Dad Frank and 16-year-old son Vincent are six feet ten inches, 15-year-old Lucas is six foot eight, 13-year-old Franklin is six foot one and mum Miriam is nearly six foot tall. When they go out as a family they are the object of curiosity and at times ridicule, but at home they can be themselves. Their house has been specially designed to take into account their height, with extra long beds, higher worktops in the kitchen