Planet Ping Pong – a BBC documentary detailing the history of the sport – is available to watch online.

Originally broadcast in 2006, the documentary was repeated on BBC 4 this week and is now available on BBC iPlayer throughout September.

The programme is part of Timeshift, a documentary series which ranges widely over Britain’s social and cultural history.

The hour-long episode explores the story of table tennis and how it became the most popular sport in Asia.

Contributors include Britain’s world champion and former English Table Tennis Association President Johnny Leach, China’s former World and Olympic women’s champion Deng Yaping, and writers Howard Jacobson and Matthew Syed.

The episode has been repeated a number of times since it was originally aired in 2006. This is said to be down to its popularity.

To watch the programme, click here.