Q.E.D Season 3, Episode 6: Simon's War

Old Wives' Tales

Does thunder make the milk go sour? Do frogs and cows really know when it's going to rain? Are bee stings good for rheumatism? And why should a dog worry about getting too close to a walnut tree? PROFESSOR DILLY enthusiastically travels the Cotswolds on the track of the old wives. He takes a light-hearted look at some of the tales our grandmothers told us. Do these time-tested rules of rural life work? Well. he tries to answer that too.

Bend! Bend! Bend!

Whatever happened to Uri Geller ? He's the man who in 1973 first amazed television audiences and hard-nosed scientists with his mysterious spoon-bending. Well, he's still at it, alongside many new metal-benders who have popped up all over the world. This film takes a cool look at the phenomenon and asks whether the scientists, after ten years of research, are any nearer solving the mystery? With the help of conjurors and metallurgists, Q.E.D. puts the benders to the test. Are Un Geller and the others tricksters, or do they possess genuine para-normal powers?

Acts of God

The 100-foot-high wave, the little stream that suddenly becomes a raging torrent, the gale that topples trees, lorries and people. And the deadly power of the thunderbolt. Q.E.D. looks at the violence of freak weather. And, to explore our chances of surviving, John Lees, the 'Q.E.D. Test-Man', takes on the power of nature. To simulate a flash-flood, he stands below a 200-million-gallon reservoir as the sluices are progressively opened. He battles against a man-made hurricane until he blows away. And shows how to be within an inch of a direct lightning-strike - and survive.

The Long Night of the Lion

There have been many films about lions but never one like this. Previously you have only seen the lion during the day. But lions are nocturnal animals and daytime hunts are the exception rather than the rule. Now, from Savuti in the Chobe National Park in Botswana, comes a remarkable study of the secret life of the lion. For three-and-a-half years a team of researchers has followed lions throughout the night by the light of powerful searchlights. Using low-level film lights and extra-sensitive film and lenses, their researches have been recorded. Almost incredibly, the lions became quite used to the noise of the trucks and the lights. This has made possible a unique new view of the cruel and restless life of the lion at night.

Bugging in Six Easy Lessons

Chris Serle sets out to investigate the bugging game. In a top-floor office of a skyscraper two men are having a secret conversation. From the skyscraper across the street a snooper directs a special laser on to the office window, picking up the tiny movements in the glass every time one of them speaks. Futuristic equipment turns these movements into minute electric signals. Eventually it is decoded back into sound. Fact or fantasy? Don't ask the people in the bugging business. They've become so confused between real life and Hollywood they no longer know which is which.

Faster Than the Sun