episodes
- 1. Grey Owl: The Great White Hoax In the thirties Grey Owl tricked the establishment into believing he was the world's first eco-warrior. Archie Belaney was in fact a Briton who had emigrated to Canada at 17 and set out on a mission t...
- 2. The Crossing In 1944, American submarines attacked two Japanese boats in the South China Sea, unaware that the vessels were crammed with more than 2,000 Allied PoWs. Among more than 1,000 who survived the attack w...
- 3. Tales from the Oklahoma Land Runs A pistol shot at noon in 1889 signaled the start of the first race between thousands of desperate men and women to stake their claim on government land in north-western Oklahoma. Tonight's programme s...
- 4. The Lost Temple of Java When English explorer Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles travelled to the heart of the Indonesian island of Central Java in the early 1800s, he found a jungle-covered hill littered with a few statues. Spurre...
- 5. Sleeping with the Enemy Marcelle and Elise are two elderly French women who live at opposite ends of the country but shared similar experiences in the Second World War. During the German occupation of France, when their husb...
- 6. Before the Titanic In 1909 the passenger liners Florida - carrying Italian immigrants to New York - and Republic - carrying American tourists to Europe - collided on a freezing north Atlantic night. The lives of over 1,...
- 7. The Forgotten Volunteers Two-and-a-half million Indians fought for Britain in Second World War campaigns from Egypt to the Far East. Subject to some of the most brutal attacks on the Allies and decorated for bravery, they wer...
- 8. Letting the Genie out of the Bottle Danish politicians sparked a storm of controversy in 1969 by voting to legalise all forms of pornography, becoming the first country to approve such a move. Why did a traditionally religious nation ta...
- 9. The Spies Who Fooled Hitler: MI5 at War The series returns. Captured German spies were turned into double agents and used by MI5 to deceive Hitler during the Second World War. Newly released MI5 documents and interviews with former members...
- 10. Ivan the Terrible The title bestowed by history on Russia's first tsar has become synonymous with tyranny and mass bloodshed, his 16th-century reign characterised by conquest and cruelty. Yet many in Russia regard him...
- 11. Tales of the Eiffel Tower Loathed by the intellectual establishment after its construction in 1889, the Eiffel Tower is now a cherished symbol of Paris. Tonight's film relates the story of the tower's construction and hears fr...
- 12. A Very British Mutiny In September 1943, 191 men from Montgomery's 8th Army - who had helped to drive Rommel's troops out of Africa - refused to take part in the Allied fight for Salerno, Italy. Interviews, reconstructions...