Every night in Falkirk in the central lowlands of Scotland, smoke from the nearby Grangemouth oil refinery engulfs the town, and the lights from the industrial complex make the fog glow bright orange. As a child, the writer and playwright Alan Bissett would look out at the factory and occasionally he’d see the unstable chemicals igniting, turning the smoke to flames. When the explosion eventually came, killing two workers and badly injuring his own father, it was a tragedy, but it wasn’t a surprise.
Life under the shadow of a gas-belching Grangemouth oil refinery
Director: Adam Stafford
Producer: Peter Gerard

videoHistory of technology
The Americas’ oldest book is an intricate work of Maya astronomy
9 minutes

videoDesign and fashion
Beyond fortune-telling – the enduring beauty and allure of tarot
16 minutes

videoHistory
The dry-stacked stones of Zimbabwe are a medieval engineering wonder
7 minutes

videoWork
Like a cheery Sisyphus, Fred dismantles an industrial chimney one brick at a time
12 minutes

videoArchitecture
Steep climbs lead to sacred spaces carved high into the cliffs of Ethiopia
9 minutes

videoMedicine
Drinking wine from toxic cups was the 17th century’s own dubious ‘detox’ treatment
11 minutes

videoEngineering
How water-based clocks revolutionised the way we measure time
10 minutes

videoDemography and migration
In California’s farmlands, immigrant workers share their stories of toil and hope
17 minutes

videoArchitecture
A lush tour of Fallingwater – the Frank Lloyd Wright design that changed architecture
14 minutes