The Open University

Robots – friend or foe? New OU/BBC series explores the rise of the robots

19 July 2017

Are robots our companions or could they become our greatest rivals? In a special two-part series, electronics engineer, Professor Danielle George, and evolutionary biologist, Dr Ben Garrod, explore everything from driverless cars, to a robot destined to set up home for us on Mars. An obsession with robots in human form Produced in partnership with […]

OU supports year-long BBC science and technology season

12 June 2017

The OU is supporting a year-long season of science and technology programmes that will bring science to life for millions. Launched under the banner Tomorrow’s World, the radio and TV programmes and online hub, will take science out of the lab and into peoples’ homes, addressing how science is changing peoples’ lives, reshaping the world, and […]

Antidote to crime dramas hits TV this week – The Met: Policing London

23 May 2017

Across London, twenty four hours a day, the Metropolitan (Met) Police is dealing with the demands and dilemmas of policing a city of eight and a half million people. Following on from the highly successful first series, a second series of The Met: Policing London, which begins on BBC One, 9pm on 24 May, lifts the […]

Doctor Who takes an ethical stance towards alien life – so why isn’t he vegan?

12 April 2017

Since the Doctor Who series was rebooted in 2005 the television show has consistently presented the Doctor as a moral leader, a key element of which is his respectful relationship with other species. The Doctor expresses admiration and wonder for others, even when they threaten him or his human companions. Christopher Eccleston, who played the […]

Understanding today’s Teenagers: Child of Our Time returns to BBC One

28 March 2017

Child of Our Time: BBC ONE, 9pm, 3rd & 4th April Since the year 2000, The Open University and the BBC have followed the lives of 25 children born across the UK, to find out what makes us who we are. Now, the hugely popular series Child of Our Time returns to the BBC on […]

OU/BBC production allows viewers to Meet the Lords

27 February 2017

A peek into the biggest parliamentary body outside China, the Chamber of Lords, is in store in a new two-part documentary co-produced by The Open University and the BBC. Meet The Lords on BBC2 from Monday 27th February will help to explain what the 800 plus peers do on a day to day basis. Production company […]

Brontë blockbuster tells story of remarkable sisters

28 December 2016

They came from obscurity to produce some of the greatest novels in the English Language. The story of the Brontë sisters, authors of Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and the Tenant of Wildfell Hall, is told with a new one-off drama on BBC One, To Walk Invisible, which airs on Thursday 29 December at 9pm and is […]

The OU’s 2016 TV and Radio Blockbusters

24 December 2016

A raft of award winning television and radio programmes co-produced with the BBC in 2016 inspired and informed us. Here are some of the highlights from this year: Celebrating Shakespeare The 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death saw the OU team up with the BBC, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the British Council to produce a […]

The Open University Chancellor Asa Briggs addressing the audience at a graduation ceremony.

OU pays tribute to Asa Briggs, former OU Chancellor

5 October 2016

Members of the OU community, past and present, attended yesterday’s thanksgiving service for the late Asa Briggs. The former Vice-Chancellor Sir John Daniel, representing the OU and a close family friend, paid tribute to Asa’s remarkable contribution to the OU and announced the new Asa Briggs Chair in History. All the speakers brought out just […]

Scotland and the Battle for Britain

9 September 2016

Former BBC political editor Andrew Marr, born in Glasgow, presents Scotland and the Battle for Britain, a two-part documentary exploring Scotland’s political transformation during the historic events of recent years. Produced in partnership with The Open University, the programmes look at the impact of the Scottish referendum on independence, the success of the SNP in last […]

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