Synopsis
The story of how Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin.
- Programme: Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
- Series: 1
- Episode: 02: Medical Drugs
- Channel: BBC Four
- Broadcast year: 2021
- Biology | Infection and response | Making medicines | The discovery of new drugs
Licence: ERA Licence required
Free to watch for UK schools, colleges and universities with an ERA Licence
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
02: Medical Drugs | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
02: Medical Drugs | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
Documentary series about the effect of medicine on life expectancy. How knowledge gained from the discovery ...
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 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
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 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.
03: Food on the Brain | The Secrets of Your Food
03: Food on the Brain | The Secrets of Your Food
Michael Mosley and James Wong explore the effect that our food has on our most important and, in terms of energy consumption...
Chris Packham: Asperger's and Me
Chris Packham: Asperger's and Me
Chris Packham invites us inside his autistic world to try to show what it is like being him. Chris explores the question of whether Asperger...
My Body: No Limits | We Are England
My Body: No Limits | We Are England
Disabled model Sian Green explores the barriers to amputees getting active. She’ll face a new challenge – going to the gym on her own for...
Katie Price: What Harvey Did Next
Katie Price: What Harvey Did Next
Harvey Price, who is disabled, is off to college. As he makes new friends and learns to be independent, his mum Katie learns to adjust to l...
Mental Health: Young Lives in Crisis | Panorama
Mental Health: Young Lives in Crisis | Panorama
With unique access to the biggest mental health service in the UK, Panorama reveals the challenges faced daily by clinicians ...
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...
Diabetes: The Hidden Killer | Panorama
Diabetes: The Hidden Killer | Panorama
An investigation into the health epidemic that afflicts almost one in ten people in Birmingham and can lead to heart failure, blindnes...
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...
Making Babies
Making Babies
Documentary following three couples as they each undergo a round of IVF. We find out what it is really like to put your hopes of having a baby in the hands of ...
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...
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...
01: Vaccines | Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer
01: 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 small...
Episode 1 | The Big Hospital Experiment
Episode 1 | The Big Hospital Experiment
Fourteen young people start their first week volunteering for a radical social experiment at the Royal Derby Hospital to deliver pati...
What Are We Feeding Our Kids?
What Are We Feeding Our Kids?
Is ultra-processed food causing obesity in children, and could it even be addictive? Dr Chris van Tulleken investigates as he undergoes an expe...
S02E06 | GPs: Behind Closed Doors
S02E06 | GPs: Behind Closed Doors
Observational documentary series going behind the scenes at a GP practice in Putney. This week, the mental health of patients and GPs at th...
S03E02 | Trust Me, I'm A Doctor
S03E02 | Trust Me, I'm A Doctor
Going behind the headlines to give the definitive answers to health questions. Michael discovers whether just changing your diet can lower ch...
Caring for an elderly resident | Rhod Gilbert's Work Experience
Caring for an elderly resident | Rhod Gilbert's Work Experience
Rhod helps wash and clothe 90-year-old Merv as a carer for the day and finds it to be a rewarding experience.
More from David Olusoga
Social housing development | A House Through Time
Social housing development | A House Through Time
A new block of social housing is built next to 10 Guinea Street, in space left from the Blitz.
Joint-Stock Companies | Empire with David Olusoga
Joint-Stock Companies | Empire with David Olusoga
This clip discusses the joint-stock companies set up under Elizabeth I.
03: The Two Nations | Union with David Olusoga
03: The Two Nations | Union with David Olusoga
The 19th-century union appears secure, but beneath the surface run deep divisions, leading to the emergence of a new working-c...
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 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...
08: The Cult of Progress | Civilisations
08: The Cult of Progress | Civilisations
David Olusoga explores the artistic reaction to imperialism in the 19th century.
Shifting historical opinions on the British Empire | A Timewatch Guide
Shifting historical opinions on the British Empire | A Timewatch Guide
David Olusoga explains how historical perspectives of the British Empire have shifted through time.
Neil Kenlock - Photographing the black British experience | Black and British: A Forgotten History
Neil Kenlock - Photographing the black British experience | Black and British: A Forgotten History
David Olusoga talks to Neil Kenlock about his photographs of the experienc...
01: Profit and Loss | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners
01: Profit and Loss | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners
In 1834 Britain abolished slavery, a defining and celebrated moment in our national history. What has been largely for...
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...