Doran has directed and produced numerous documentaries, including:
The Red Bomb (1994)
A three-part documentary on the Soviet Union's first nuclear bomb, built in 1949, years before the West thought the Soviet Union had the capability to build such a bomb. Features interviews with former Soviet spies and scientists.
Sexpionage (1997)
The story of the young women who were forced by the KGB to seduce foreign military personnel, businessmen and diplomats in order to elicit secrets from them. Includes first-hand testimony from former KGB agents, some of the women involved, as well as American intelligence analysts.
Starman (1998)
A sixty-minute biographical film for BBC Television of Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. Doran also co-wrote a book on Gagarin with the popular-science writer, Piers Bizony.
City of Murder and Mayhem (2001)
Life in post-Soviet era Moscow: The film documents a month in the life of one of Russia's new breed of oligarch bankers, and shadows an elite police unit tasked with tackling organised crime.The theme music for this was written and produced by Danny de Matos and Ronnie Johnston and scored and recorded at www.shushstudio.com
The Android Prophecy (2001)
Documentary history of robots in the cinema that draws dark conclusions about the future of mankind. Featuring contributions from Arthur C. Clarke, Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott.
Afghan Massacre: Convoy of Death (2002)
Interviewees presented as eyewitnesses state that several thousand Taliban prisoners of war were transported to Sheberghan prison in sealed containers and that hundreds or thousands of prisoners died. Afghans interviewed in the film claim that U.S. personnel were present and involved in mass killings.
A short preliminary version of the documentary was shown to the European Parliament and the German Parliament in June 2002, under the title
Massacre at Mazar, prompting calls for investigations from human rights bodies. The Pentagon denied allegations of U.S. involvement and released a statement, saying "U.S. Central Command looked into it a few months ago, when allegations first surfaced when there were graves discovered in the area of Sherberghan prison. They looked into it and did not substantiate any knowledge, presence or participation of US service members." An August 2002 report in
Newsweek, based on a UN memo, described a mass grave site in the Dasht-i-Leili desert, but said there was no evidence that U.S. personnel had been involved.
The story resurfaced in July 2009, when U.S. President Barack Obama asked his national security team to look into allegations that the Bush administration had resisted calls to have the matter investigated.
The Need for Speed (2003)
Follows the investigation of two U.S. pilots in relation to a friendly-fire incident in the war in Afghanistan in which four Canadian soldiers died. The pilots' defence stated that they were flying under the influence of amphetamines given to them by the U.S. Air Force. Interviewees include former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, General Merrill McPeak. The pilots' amphetamine usage was also covered by the BBC and the
New York Times.
Guinea Pig Kids (2004)
Shown on BBC2, this programme alleged that anti-HIV drugs were tested on "vulnerable and poor children at a New York care home ... who had no choice in whether or not to take part in trials and no proper advocates to speak on their behalf". Describing HIV medicines given to the children as "futile" and "dangerous", the programme also alleged that children had been taken from their families to enable the "experimental" drug treatment to continue. Critics' charges that the programme was "lurid, untrue" and contained "dangerous lies" led to "serious concerns" at the BBC over fears that the programme "deceived viewers by 'playing fast and loose with the facts'." A BBC investigation did not uphold all the complaints made against the programme, but concluded that the documentary did breach editorial guidelines on accuracy and impartiality in a number of ways, acknowledging that it made false claims and was biased towards the views of AIDS denialists. The film triggered a public inquiry in New York, which established that there had been some breaches of regulations and policies in the conduct of the trials, but found no evidence that children had been taken from their families, had died as a result of treatment, or had been preferentially selected for the trials because of their race, or their status as children in foster care. The
HIV Treatment Bulletin called the incident "inappropriate and inflammatory".S. Collins, "Report refutes HIV denialist claims on children's HIV trials" HIV Treat Bull - 2009 Jan-Feb;10(1/2): 34"... probably one of the most inappropriate and inflammatory HIV-related stories to (be) picked up by mainstream media who themselves failed to appropriately research the real issues: that children are generally denied access to potentially life-saving pipeline compounds until after they have been approved for adult care."
Jimmy Johnstone: Lord of the Wing (2004)
A film on Jimmy 'Jinky' Johnstone, a Celtic and Scotland football hero of the '60s and '70s who struggled with motor neurone disease.
Whiskey in the Jar (2007)
Documenting life on the remote Irish island of Tory; the only place in Ireland with an appointed sovereign.
Africa Rising (2009)
This film documents the failure of Western development policy in Africa, and shows how a community of impoverished Ethiopian farmers are working themselves out of poverty through collectivization and micro-finance initiatives. It won the 2010 One World Media MDGs Award, being described by judges as "superbly shot and uplifting ... a compelling piece of work that drew the viewer into the heart of a community as it struggled to shake off a dependency culture" .
Afghanistan: Behind Enemy Lines (2010)
Broadcast in February, 2010, as an episode of Dispatches on the British television network, Channel 4, this film shows how fighters from the proscribed extremist Islamic group, Hezb-e-Islami, are opening a new battlefront in Northern Afghanistan . Filmed by the Rory Peck Award winning British-Afghan journalist, Najibullah Quraishi, who spent 2 weeks with these fighters,
Afghanistan: Behind Enemy Lines includes footage of the fighters constructing, planting and detonating roadside bombs (or IED). Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor of the Guardian newspaper, described the film as "An extraordinary and intimate documentary depicting the lives of fighters within the Taliban's insurgency in Afghanistan". This film was broadcast on PBS Frontline as
Behind Taliban Lines in February 2010 . This film was nominated for a British Film and Television Academy Award in the Best Current Affairs programme category. In June 2010 it won the One World Media Award for best TV documentary.
The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan (2010)
This highly controversial and widely acclaimed
film shows how former [[Northern Alliance]] [[warlords]] and powerful businessmen are preying on impoverished young boys in Afghanistan. The ancient tradition of [[Bacchá|Bachi Bazi]] (translation: ''boy-play'') was banned under the Taliban, but has resurfaced since they were routed by [[International Security Assistance Force|ISAF]] in late 2001; boys as young as 11 are bought and sold like slaves, dressed up like women and made to dance before audiences of men. ''The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan'' exposes how these boys are systematically sexually abused, and frequently murdered by jealous rival owners. Despite these practices being illegal under Afghan law, the film shows that the men committing the abuse do so with impunity. This film premiered at the [[Royal Society of Arts]] on 29th March 2010 . It was aired on [[PBS Frontline]] in the United States, and [[True Stories]] in the UK on 20th April 2010.