''Don't Look Down'' is a
BBC 2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
documentary television series written and presented by
Kevin McCloud
Kevin McCloud, (born 8 May 1959) is a British designer, writer, and television presenter. He has presented the Channel 4 series ''Grand Designs'' since its debut in April 1999.
Early life
Born in Bedfordshire, McCloud and his two brothers, T ...
which ran for six episodes beginning in May 2000.
Each episode is a documentary about the history of famous tall buildings in the United Kingdom; the
Forth Bridge
The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...
,
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.
The buildi ...
, the
Lloyd's building
The Lloyd's building (sometimes known as the Inside-Out Building) is the home of the insurance institution Lloyd's of London. It is located on the former site of East India House in Lime Street, in London's main financial district, the City of ...
,
Trellick Tower
Trellick Tower is a Grade II* listed tower block on the Cheltenham Estate in North Kensington, London. Opened in 1972, it had been commissioned by the Greater London Council and designed in the Brutalist style by architect Ernő Goldfinger. Th ...
, the
Lovell Telescope
The Lovell Telescope is a radio telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Goostrey, Cheshire in the north-west of England. When construction was finished in 1957, the telescope was the largest steerable dish radio telescope in the world at 76 ...
at
Jodrell Bank Observatory
Jodrell Bank Observatory () in Cheshire, England, hosts a number of radio telescopes as part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio astron ...
and
Liverpool Cathedral
Liverpool Cathedral is the Cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool, and the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. It may be referred to as the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool (as recorded in the ...
. McCloud looks at the buildings' construction, architecture and history, but with the twist that part of the episode featured McCloud climbing the outside of the building as a way to conquer his
fear of heights
Acrophobia is an extreme or irrational fear or phobia of heights, especially when one is not particularly high up. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort, that share both similar causes and options for ...
. McCloud filmed the series around his fortieth birthday, claiming that it was an excellent way to remain fit.
The series was aired again on the
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
in the UK during 2009 where it was retitled ''Kevin McCloud's UK Superstructures''
Discovery Channel UK — Kevin McCloud's UK Superstructures
References
2000 British television series debuts
2000 British television series endings
2000s British documentary television series
BBC television documentaries
English-language television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
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