Synopsis
Documentary series about the effect of medicine on life expectancy. How knowledge gained from the discovery of antibiotics and antiviral drugs underpins efforts to find treatments for new diseases.
- Programme: Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
- Episode: 2: Medical Drugs
- Channel: BBC Four
- Broadcast year: 2021
- Biology
Licence: ERA Licence required
UK only
Staff and students of licensed education establishments only
Cannot be adapted
Add Notes
More clips from Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
Finding Existing Drugs that Work Against COVID-19 | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
Finding Existing Drugs that Work Against COVID-19 | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
Looking for drugs to treat COVID-19, a team of scientists established one of...
The Development of Anti-Retroviral Drugs to Treat HIV | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
The Development of Anti-Retroviral Drugs to Treat HIV | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
The story of how Professor David Ho worked in a team to develop the firs...
The Development of Anti-Viral Drugs | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
The Development of Anti-Viral Drugs | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
The story and science behind Gertrude Elion and George Hitching's development of a revolut...
The Discovery of Penicillin | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
The Discovery of Penicillin | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
The story of how Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin.
The Scientists Using AI to find New Solutions to Antibiotic Resistance | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
The Scientists Using AI to find New Solutions to Antibiotic Resistance | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
How can the antibiotic resistance crisis be addressed? ...
More resources about Health and Social Care
The Drug Trial: Emergency at the Hospital
The Drug Trial: Emergency at the Hospital
Documentary telling the story of one of the most infamous medical emergencies in recent British history, when six healthy men took ...
Katie Price: Harvey and Me
Katie Price: Harvey and Me
A deeply personal film following Katie Price and her disabled son Harvey in a crucial year of his life, as he turns 18 and becomes an adult.
Episode 1 | Inside the Care Crisis with Ed Balls
Episode 1 | Inside the Care Crisis with Ed Balls
Ed immerses himself in life at St Cecilia's, a typical family-run mid-sized care home, to understand the realities facing th...
Britain's Child Health Crisis | Panorama
Britain's Child Health Crisis | Panorama
Rahil Sheikh tries to discover what's causing Britain's child health crisis and what can be done to fix it. Keir Starmer has promise...
3: Data | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
3: Data | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
Documentary series about the effect of medicine on life expectancy. Before a vaccine or an effective treatment can com...
Gaming and ''loot-boxes'' | Darren McGarvey's Addictions
Gaming and ''loot-boxes'' | Darren McGarvey's Addictions
"Loot boxes" is an in-game purchase (sometimes with real money) where the item is randomised. The feeling is describ...
Joe Swash: Teens in Care
Joe Swash: Teens in Care
Documentary that follows Joe Swash as he explores the stories of teens in care over the age of 16, the largest-growing cohort in both child protecti...
The Forgotten Frontline | Panorama
The Forgotten Frontline | Panorama
Panorama follows the unfolding tragedy in care homes as they struggle to protect residents against Covid-19. Alison Holt asks if they were...
06: The Manager's Tale | Doctors to Be: 20 Years On
06: The Manager's Tale | Doctors to Be: 20 Years On
John is now involved in healthcare management after spells in many different branches of medicine.
1: Vaccines | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
1: Vaccines | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
Documentary series about the effect of medicine on life expectancy. How the development and delivery of the smallp...
Alcohol and the brain | The Secrets of Your Food
Alcohol and the brain | The Secrets of Your Food
Michael explains what happens to the brain when we drink alcohol.
Mental: A History of the Madhouse
Mental: A History of the Madhouse
Documentary telling the story of the closure of Britain's mental asylums and what it says about society's changing attitudes to mental illn...
Rio Ferdinand: Being Mum and Dad
Rio Ferdinand: Being Mum and Dad
Documentary following Rio Ferdinand a year after losing his wife to cancer as he tries to come to terms with the loss and its effects on him...
S2E01 | Scotland's Superhospital
S2E01 | Scotland's Superhospital
A 12-strong trauma team assemble as a patient is helicoptered to the rooftop helipad.
The Drug Trial That Went Wrong | Dispatches
The Drug Trial That Went Wrong | Dispatches
Award-winning journalist Brian Deer investigates the circumstances surrounding the infamous drug trial conducted at a private uni...
02: The Surgeon's Tale | Doctors to Be: 20 Years On
02: The Surgeon's Tale | Doctors to Be: 20 Years On
This edition looks at Mark George, who after years of hard work and deprivation became a top surgeon.
1: We Are What We Eat | The Secrets of Your Food
1: We Are What We Eat | The Secrets of Your Food
Michael Mosley and James Wong reveal the delicious science hidden inside our food. Michael begins by trying the first meal m...
A Day at the Home | Further Education
A Day at the Home | Further Education
A TeachersTV production showing the day of a carer in a retirement home.
Crisis in Care - Part 1: Who Cares? | Panorama
Crisis in Care - Part 1: Who Cares? | Panorama
Panorama reveals the failings of our social care system, as our population gets older and more of us need help with day-to-day...
Crisis in Care: Follow the Money | Panorama
Crisis in Care: Follow the Money | Panorama
Tens of thousands of elderly people live in care homes owned by international investors. Panorama asks how much money is being ta...
More from David Olusoga
Number 10 Guinea Street in Bristol | A House Through Time
Number 10 Guinea Street in Bristol | A House Through Time
David Olusoga begins his investigation into the history of number 10 Guinea street in Bristol.
4: Union and Disunion | Union with David Olusoga
4: Union and Disunion | Union with David Olusoga
The 20th century sees partition in Ireland. A sense of national unity emerges in the aftermath of the Second World War, but ...
Ring Vaccination and the Eradication of Smallpox | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
Ring Vaccination and the Eradication of Smallpox | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
In the late 1960s, William Foege was running out of smallpox vaccine in Niger...
The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files
The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files
How black immigrants who made Britain their home came face to face with the government's 'hostile environment'. David Olusoga exposes...
6: First Contact | Civilisations
6: First Contact | Civilisations
David Olusoga shows how art was always on the frontline when distant cultures met.
Kitchener and British Empire Historiography | A Timewatch Guide
Kitchener and British Empire Historiography | A Timewatch Guide
David Olusoga explains how perceptions of empire have shifted throughout different generations.
1: First Encounters | Black and British: A Forgotten History
1: First Encounters | Black and British: A Forgotten History
Historian David Olusoga explores the enduring relationship between Britain and people whose origins lie in Afric...
The beginnings of the British slave trade | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners
The beginnings of the British slave trade | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners
David Olusoga investigates the beginnings of the British slave trade in Barbados.
French troops from Sub-Saharan West Africa | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
French troops from Sub-Saharan West Africa | The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire
David Olusoga investigates the WW1 experiences of French troops from Sub-Saharan W...