Season 17

In the first of the series, QED presents an extended edition for Science Week that reveals the very latest developments in the search for the causes of cot death.

In exploringthe nature of gendertraits, QED looks at how people adopt characteristics of their own gender and questions whether roles in society are necessarily dependent on a person's biological sex.

Dr Juan Legarda is a psychologist who runs a controversial detoxification programme in Seville, offering an alternative approach to beating addiction. QED follows the progress of two methadone addicts, from very different backgrounds and lifestyles, as they turn to Dr Legarda for help.

An investigation into the question that vexes city dwellers from Stockholm to Sydney: why are there so many pigeons?

Michael Caines lost his right arm in a carcrash last August. This programme follows his search for the best false arm technology can offer.

Asperger's syndrome affects around 200,000 people in Britain and manifests itself in obsessive and phobic behaviours. Tom Conti narrates this investigation into an unusual and alienating disorder.

One in ten children in Britain are affected by dyslexia - the inability to recognise the written word and to do the simplest sums. The headmaster of a special school in Suffolk is offering hope through a most unusual route.

An insight into a revolutionary technique for "breaking" horses, as devised and practised by Californian Monty Roberts. His unorthodox methods have now been introduced to Britain and have earned him support from a surprising quarter..

Follows the story of inventor Trevor Baylis and his clockwork radio which is set to be mass produced in South Africa. In 1991, Trevor Baylis saw a television programme about the spread of AIDS in Africa and he set about developing the Wind Up Radio. His first working prototype ran for 14 minutes and in 1994 was featured on the highly rated Tomorrows World TV programme. The products potential was immediately recognised and the following year BayGen Power Industries was set-up in Cape Town, South Africa employing disabled workers to manufacture the Freeplay Wind Up Radio.

Fred Amphlett became a victim of Parkinson's Disease in his mid-30s. Over the last 12 years, the medication which Fred takes to control the effects of the disease has gradually become less efficient and he now awaits a radical brain operation.

Less than three years after a horrific grenade accident, Falklands veteran Alan Perrin undertakes an extraordinary challenge.