Inside the Social Network: Facebook's Difficult Year, BBC Two review - how big can it get?

★★★★ INSIDE THE SOCIAL NETWORK: FACEBOOK'S DIFFICULT YEAR, BBC TWO How big can it get?

A force for good or Big Brother in the making?

Not everybody is on Facebook, yet. So far, Mark Zuckerberg’s social media monolith has only managed to scrape together about 2.3 billion users, roughly one-third of the planet. But as this fascinating documentary revealed, Facebook’s plans are huge and its ambitions boundless.

The Brink review – behind the scenes with Steve Bannon

★★★ THE BRINK Funny and frightening fly-on-the-wall documentary

Funny and frightening fly-on-the-wall documentary

Donald Trump’s former strategist, alt-right propagandist and all-round provocateur Steve Bannon comes under the spotlight of a smart, dynamic, behind-closed-doors documentary, as he attempts to turn his brand of far-right populism into a global movement.  

Armstrong review - the man behind the leap

★★★★ ARMSTRONG The man behind the leap

Documentary offers a sombre but interesting look at the first man

You wait 50 years for a moon landing documentary, then two come along at once! With Apollo 11 still showing in cinemas, along comes Armstrong. But while the former focuses solely on the lunar mission through archive footage, the latter is the wider story of the man behind those famous first words.

Cyclists: Scourge of the Streets?, Channel 5 review - can we make the roads a safer place?

★★★ CYCLISTS: SCOURGE OF THE STREETS?, CHANNEL 5 Can we make the roads a safer place?

Provocative documentary unlikely to promote harmony on the highway

Healthy, efficient and carbon-neutral, cycling ought to be a transport panacea. But in the dash for lycra, perhaps not enough attention has been paid to letting bikes and motor vehicles co-exist peacefully. This deliberately provocative Channel 5 documentary, which has sparked an angry backlash from within the cycling community, found plenty of ammunition from both sides.

Inside the Bank of England, BBC Two review - economical with the actualité

★★★ INSIDE THE BANK OF ENGLAND, BBC TWO Economical with the actualité

The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street keeps her secrets closely guarded

The BBC is pleased with itself for having insinuated a documentary team inside the Bank of England, but was this august custodian of the nation’s finances really going to let slip any juicy revelations? The Bank’s role is too powerful and too political for its employees to be anything other than extremely tight-lipped.

Apollo 11 review - an awe-inspiring leap

★★★★ APOLLO 11 An awe-inspiring leap

Todd Douglas Miller pieces together archival footage for documentary of first lunar mission

How could this story be told again? Director Todd Douglas Miller has found a way: strip away narrative and give the audience the purity of original record. The result is a gripping non-fiction experience that sits in a unique space between documentary, art, drama and dream.

Blu-ray: For All Mankind

Breathtaking, heartstopping celebration of Project Apollo

Al Reinert's For All Mankind isn't quite what it seems. In a famous 1962 speech, President Kennedy spoke of the knowledge to be gained and the new rights to be won on the moon to be "for all people", though the plaque left on the lunar surface by the crew of Apollo 11 states that the voyage was made "for all mankind". Reinert's 1989 film cleverly dubs "mankind" into Kennedy's speech in the film, not that you'd notice.

Thatcher: A Very British Revolution, Finale, BBC Two review - a heartbreaking account of her decline

How time eventually ran out for the Iron Lady

The surprisingly touching conclusion to BBC Two’s five-part chronicle of the Thatcher years was a masterpiece of contemporary history. Congratulations to producer Alice Fraser, director Pamela Gordon, and composer Alexandra Harwood for very fitting and emotive music (for once).

Eating Animals review - a compelling tale of imminent disaster

The nastiness of the meat industry laid bare

Eating Animals begins as a David and Goliath tale of independent farmers versus industrial farming. Frank Reese specialises in rare-breed turkeys and chickens. He calls his farm the "Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch" because, for him, his traditional way of farming is akin to a religious experience. And when asked which of his birds matters most, the thought of having to choose almost reduces him to tears.