I collaborate with Director of Photography Andy Jackson and writer and documentary maker Paul Sen, writing, producing, directing and filming prime time BBC documentaries about science, history and philosophy, including making films for the world-famous BBC Horizon brand.

Paul Sen is                www.furnacetv.com 
Andy Jackson is       www.andyjackson.tv

Here are a few of our films together:

SECRETS OF SIZE: ATOMS TO SUPERGALAXIES

This series became a huge hit on BBC iPlayer, looking at the smallest and biggest structures in the universe. My episode, BIG, went from the Solar System to the Milky Way to galactic superclusters and ended by revealing the largest known astronomical structure of which we are a part - a beautiful "river of light" which stretches for 500 million light years and contains 100,000 galaxies. The series also shows how recent cosmological discoveries are questioning our most fundamental assumptions about the birth and future of the universe.

Director/ Camera/Editing by Andrew Smith, DoP Andy Jackson, Exec Producer Paul Sen, Presented by Professor Jim Al Khalili, first broadcast on BBC 4

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EUGENICS: SCIENCE'S GREATEST SCANDAL

This two-part series saw historian of race and culture Angela Saini and disability activist and Hollywood actor Adam Pearson investigate the dark story of how Britain at the height of Empire invented eugenics - a discriminatory pseudo-science which claimed the human race could be improved by selective breeding, and led to the horrors of the Nazis and the concentration camps. Both presenters have to face up to the awful fate which befell the disabled and people of colour in Britain as a result of eugenics; and the series also asks whether some of the thinking which drove eugenics has continued to the present day.

Director/ Camera Andrew Smith, DoP Andy Jackson, Exec Producer Paul Sen, first broadcast on BBC 4

STORM TROUPERS: THE FIGHT TO PREDICT THE WEATHER

​A documentary series for the BBC revealing an extraordinary and little-known story - how the world wars of the 20th century revolutionised our ability to predict the weather.

A combination of untold history documentary and a deep dive into the chaotic science of weather. With presenter Alok Jha.

​Director/ Camera Andrew Smith, DoP Andy Jackson, Exec Producer Paul Sen, first broadcast on BBC 4

OAK TREE: NATURE'S GREATEST SURVIVOR

Part science documentary, part historical investigation, this 90 minute special celebrated one of the most iconic trees in the British countryside, giving viewers a sense of just what an extraordinary species the oak is and providing an insight into how this venerable tree experiences life.

Filmed over a year, presenter George McGavin uncovers the extraordinary transformations the oak goes through to meet the challenges of four very different seasons. This film won the prestigious Grierson Award.

Filmed by Andy Jackson, Director Nic Stacey, Exec Producer Paul Sen for BBC and worldwide

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BEING HUMAN: A BBC HORIZON SERIES

In production. This series looks at the latest understanding of the evolution of the human brain. To be broadcast later in 2025.

Directors Andrew Smith and Tim Usbourne. Filmed by Andy Jackson. Exec Producer Paul Sen. To be broadcast later in 2025.

GRAVITY AND ME: THE FORCE THAT SHAPES OUR LIVES

This 90 minute feature special for the BBC posed a question - why does an apple fall to the ground - which turns out to be fiendishly difficult to answer. Our quest took us through Galileo, Newton and Einstein to the cutting edge of modern science, including a visit to the extraordinary LIGO site in Louisiana which discovered the existence of gravitational waves. The answer, according to Nobel Prize winner Kip Thorne, lies in the nature of time itself. The film also showed how, as Einstein shows, your weight and the relative rate at which you age depend on where you stand on Earth. Presented by Professor Jim Al Khalili.

Director/ Camera Andrew Smith, DoP Andy Jackson, Exec Producer Paul Sen, first broadcast on the BBC 4 then Amazon Prime and worldwide. 
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MECHANICAL MONSTERS: ENGINEERING MARVELS OF THE 19th CENTURY

This tour d'horizon of the most extraordinary technological accomplishments of the 19th century had a deeper purpose - it explored how destabilising scientific breakthroughs, including the discovery of the universal principle of decay and the inevitable heat death of the universe led to an existential crisis of faith in Western societies.

Its twisty-turny narrative culminated in the creation of cinema and a quixotic recreation of the futuristic but often dystopian visions of HG Wells.

Director/ Camera Andrew Smith, DoP Andy Jackson, Exec Producer Paul Sen, presented by Professor Simon Schaffer, first broadcast on the BBC.
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POP! THE SCIENCE OF BUBBLES

Physicist Dr Helen Czerski takes us on an amazing journey into the science of bubbles. Bubbles may seem to be just fun toys, but they are also powerful tools that push back the boundaries of science.From the way animals behave to the way drinks taste, Dr Czerski shows how bubbles affect our world in all sorts of unexpected ways. Whether it's the future of ship design or innovative new forms of medical treatment, bubbles play a vital role.

Filmed by Andy Jackson, Director Paul Sen for BBC and worldwide

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THE NEVER-ENDING SEARCH: WOMEN IN SCIENCE

This documentary, currently in development, follows extraordinary British PhD cosmology student Alexia Lopez, whose astonishing discovery of one of the largest structures in the universe has made international news, and may yet shake our core understanding of reality.

A film which also explores what it's like to be a young woman of working class background making a mark in science. 

Filmed by Andy Jackson, director Andrew Smith