4:50 mins. duration

We look at the history of sanitary appliances - from the beginning in the filthy alleys to the height of modern convenience and elegance.... the Japanese super loo.... you have to see it to believe it.

Starting off from the Historical Sanitary exhibition at the Science Museum we then tour some of London's most favourite toilets. We finish up where it all started, at the Thomas Crapper Company in Stratford on Avon.

Crapper holds a few royal warrants and the English monarchy proudly support him. We get hands on advice on ancient loos and get to hear some amusing toilet tales from the past to the present. We also glimpse antique Victorian toilets, which are veritable works of art.

Tall Persons Club

2:55 mins. duration

The Tall Persons Club GB & Ireland is now the third largest Club in the world, with approximately 1700 members. We visit the club at the Swallow Hotel in Liverpool, the only hotel that caters to big people, for it's 8th Anniversary. 60 tall persons were present and we accompanied them on an outing to the local bowling alley.

We spoke to several of the participants about the trials and tribulations of being a tall person.

3:00 mins. Duration

The tenth Thai Raid Adventure race took place in the North of Thailand last December. This 5 day long trek through the jungle passes through the notorious Opium area, the Golden Triangle, between Burma/Laos and Thailand. Spectacular and exotic visuals as we pass through tropical rain forests, jungle and mountain areas. River rafting, elephant trekking and Thai massage are also part of the programme.

300 km above the Arctic Circle in the land of the midnight sun Lapland hosts a new spectacular 7 day adventure race starting from Norway's Fjords and finishing 650 KM later on the coast of Sweden. Part of the race includes climbing over a mountain with inflatable canoes.

This area has been called "The last European Wilderness"

There are 11 disciplines: Mountain climbing, Trekking, Mountainbiking, White water canoeing, CaveingÉetc

In just one week you can experience things most nature-lovers could only dream of doing in a life time!

2 mins. duration

Every Year 'Ye Old Royal Oak' in Wetton, Staffordshire hosts the 'World Toe Wrestling Championships'.

A truly bizarre sport, which regularly attracts among others the well known author of 'The Bizarre Leisure Book', Stephen Jarvis, alias The son of Kento Nagasocki.

The opponents sit opposite each other on the toedium and remove their footwear. Big toes are interlocked on the toes track and on the command 'Toes away' each player attempts to force their opponents foot over the line.

2:30 mins. duration

In 1662 King Charles II issued a royal decree, which required the continuous presence of six ravens in the grounds of the Tower of London.

The ravens are said to symbolise the well being of the Monarchy. If they fly away the Monarchy and the Tower will crumble.

Recently two of the Ravens, Hugine and Jackie, were misbehaving so badly they had to be removed. A bad omen for England?

2:50 mins. duration

The In-door World Championships 1999 in Carlow, Rep of Ireland is the fifth Indoor Championships. The Indoor version of Tug of War is getting more and more popular, resulting in an increasing number of teams participating in the event

The men's 680kg pull was won by England. Other winners in different categories were Scotland, Japan and Holland.

2:40 mins. duration

Lloyd Jerome runs a dentist's surgery with a difference. Patients are offered light refreshments in the waiting room, which could easily be mistaken for an art gallery.

Lloyd's 'piece de resistance', however, is the use of a virtual reality visor, which the patient wears during treatment. It relaxes and distracts and one can choose one's own video. With the use of a special camera Lloyd also offers the patient virtual reality tours through their very own mouths.

3 mins. duration

Enterprising management at Aberdeen's Paramount Bar have come up with a first in new attractions. Originally installed to vent aggression against a Glaswegian football team it now serves as a release against politicians, celebrities, friends and foes alike.

Three television screens have been set into the gent's urinal behind a Perspex screen. Videos can be selected to play on the screens and one can vent one's feelings by relieving oneself over either John Major, Saddam Hussein, Eric Cantona or the mother in law, if you bring your own video.

3 minutes duration

What makes a real man real? In Schwaben, Germany Ð the size of his beard. At the International German Beard Championships the biggest and bushiest beards were on show.

Over 120 participants wearing fancy costumes from all over Europe competed in front of a 600 strong audience. As a grand final they set a new Guinness World record for the longest beard chain... the mind boggles.

3:52 mins. duration

There is only one place on earth you can watch 'Skikjšring': St. Moritz, venue of the international horseracing event known as White Turf. This unique race meeting held on the world's flattest racecourse, the frozen lake at St. Moritz, dates back to 1906. Thoroughbred horses pull their jockeys on skis along the 2,7 km. Track.

An international field also lines up for the Grand Prix of St. Moritz to compete for the title of "European champion on snow".

White Turf presents a spectacular programme with an exclusive mixture of first class sport, cultural entertainment and celebrities.

image: ©Verkehrsverein St Moritz

4:58 mins. duration

In the seventies, Manchester, like so many other British towns found itself being overtaken by its European rivals. The heart of the city came to resemble an urban wasteland.

This legacy continued into the nineteen eighties. Then came Manchester 2000, an attempt with heavy government backing to regenerate the city in a bid to host the Olympic Games. Stan Baxter, a local taxi driver, shows us the sights and lets us know what he thinks of Manchester 2000.

2:00 mins. duration

In June Wife Carrying champs take place in Sonkajarvi, 340 miles north of Helsinki.

As the name implies it is all about men carrying women along a 277-yard course. The different carrying techniques, obstacles and water splashes provide great laughs.

3:46 mins. duration

Have you ever seen 500 red English telephone boxes piled on top of each other in a field?

The Essex vintage Rolls Royce Owners Club witness this spectacle when they visit the eccentric English farmer and millionaire, Willy White. The telephone boxes are Willy's pride and joy. He lovingly transforms them into toilets, showers, cocktail bars, libraries and fish tanks. He has even supplied some to the Queen.

Adrian must sell the lowest car in the world. He’s getting married and needs the money. The car is called Lowlife is made out of 3 minis, has 250 brake horse power and is only 60 centimetres high. It holds the Guinness World Record.

It has just two and a half centimetre ground clearance and reaches a top speed of 160 mph…!

2 mins. duration

The first World Worm-Charming Championships were held at Willaston, Cheshire in 1980. The inaugural winner, Tom Shufflebotham, charmed 511 worms out of his three-metre square plot in the allotted time of 30 mins. duration.

The worms are coaxed to the surface by vibrating garden forks and other implements in the soil.

Some contestants use music, like Mike Forster, who plays 'The Green Green Grass of Home' from his stereo to entice his prey to the surface.

3 mins. duration

Down in the Alps Yodelling is taken seriously. Each village has its own sound and that's how they've communicated since time in memorial. We witness a huge Yodel gathering in Biel, Switzerland with dozens of Yodelling teams, giant alpine horn demonstrations and workshops. To top it all we get a fantastic display of giant Cow Bell ringing.

2:55 mins. duration

Maradona, Klinsmann, Cantona - over the past six months the biggest names in soccer have failed the supreme test of individual skill - penalty taking. But Charlie Mitten, Manchester United's greatest ever outside left (Matt Busby), reckons he knows why. Cheeky Charlie reckons no one should ever miss if they get the simple technique right.

Indeed, a master should be able to score every time BLINDFOLDED against even the greatest keepers in the world. A recent biography of Charlie 'The Bogota Bandit' has put him back in the public eye. We take Charlie, 77 years old, back to his old club and see him put today's pros through their paces.