Protecting Our Children: gruelling story of family turmoil could herald new dawn for documentary TV

Protecting Our Children, a hard-hitting series that follows a team of social workers, has been accused of exploiting a vulnerable family – and praised as the antidote to reality TV

The artists’ artist: wildlife film-makers

Five wildlife film-makers nominate their favourite living artist in their field

Grierson awards honour documentaries about cricket

Fire in Babylon and Storyville's Afghan Cricket Club take gongs at documentary awards. By Tara Conlan

BBC project aims to capture portrait of Britain in one day

People invited to submit pictures on 12 November for documentary to be broadcast as part of Cultural Olympiad

Paul McCartney 9/11 documentary to air on US TV

Film about former Beatle's experience in New York following 9/11 will air on eve of 10th anniversary of terrorist attacks

Adam Curtis to make TV project inspired by The Wire

Documentary-maker behind Power of Nightmares also calls Twitter a 'self aggrandising, smug pressure group'. By Ben Dowell

Viewers accept TV fakery, say documentary-makers

Programmes such as The Only Way Is Essex are watched by 'sophisticated' audiences, claim executives. By Ben Dowell

BBC documentary boss wants programmes that do more than entertain

Commissioning editor Charlotte Moore favours quality and craft over feelgood and populist. By Ben Dowell

In praise of… Adam Curtis

Editorial: A documentary film-maker who can link the colour revolutions of eastern Europe to the communes of California

Tonight’s TV highlights

The National Movie Awards | Julia Bradbury's Iceland Walk | McFly On The Wall | Justified | Wonderland: The Trouble With Love And Sex | 24 Hours In A&E

The inner orbit of Gustav Holst

Did a folksong-loving teacher really just happen to write England's most famous classical work? Film-maker Tony Palmer questions the myth

Reality TV squeezing out documentaries, says Kevin Macdonald

Oscar-winning director claims factual shows were 'must-see' in 1980s and 1990s but are now low priority in schedules. By Tara Conlan

Investigative journalism ‘dying a death’

Sheffield Doc/Fest: Panorama and Dispatches documentary-maker says financial pressures are curtailing newspapers' and broadcasters' reporting. By Josh Halliday

Joan Rivers film-makers faced ‘snobbery’

Sheffield Doc/Fest: Co-directors of Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work say parts of the industry questioned whether comedian was a 'worthy' subject. By Josh Halliday