Inside Porton Down.

Presenter Dr Michael Mosley is granted exclusive access to Porton Down (or, The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory) the UKs controversial military research base. Archived footage of warfare and medical experiments during WWI and WWII is interspersed throughout the programme. To begin, Mosley is given a bus tour of the grounds, in which he is talked through the various buildings on site. He then introduces Chief Executive Jonathan Lyle, whilst Mosley, Author Rob Evans, and Author and Professor Ulf Schmidt give a brief history of the establishment. Mosley visits an area that stores unexploded chemical weapons salvaged from old test sites. The destruction of one shell is shown, showing the analytical processes which lead to its explosion. He then visits an area that creates Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs). Vials of Sulfur Mustard (Mustard Gas) is exhibited. A short section of Wilfred Owens Dulce et decorum est is recited. Several historical gas masks are exhibited. Next, Mosley accompanies a test on the General Service Respirator (GSR). Dr Filippa Lentzos explains how biological weapons differ from poisonous gases. Mosley visits Gruinyard Island, where Bacillus Anthracis (Anthrax) was first developed in 1914. He recreates a safe version of an anthrax aerosol experiment. He then recounts the history of Sarin, and explains how it effects the body. Lyle defends Portons use of animals for research and experimental purposes. Evans recounts the events leading up to the death of RAF Volunteer Ronald Maddison in 1953, whilst Lyle explains the governmental malpractice surrounding this death. Historical clips are shown of Maddisons sister Lillias Craik speaking about her brothers death. A vial of Agent X (VX) is exhibited. Then, Lentzos discusses the development of the thermonuclear bomb. Mosley explains Saddam Husseins Sarin attack during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Next, Chemical Weapons Inspector for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Dominic Birch explains their inspection process. Mosley recounts various contemporary chemical attacks, interspersed with media footage of these events. Clips of former-UK Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama are shown. Mosley then moves through a series of contemporary efforts to counteract new threats, including silk harvesting from the Orb-Weaver Spider to counter warfare using pathogens.