Documentaries Collection
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- StarsRobert BartlettThe story of England's longest ruling dynasty, starting with Henry II and ending with Richard III.
- StarsSimon SchamaMichael KitchenSamuel WestA comprehensive historical survey of the British Isles.
- StarsAlice RobertsNeil OliverMike LoadesAnthropologist Alice Roberts and archaeologist Neil Oliver embark on an expedition to unravel the enigmatic ancient Celtic civilization, tracing their footsteps across various regions.
- StarsDavid StarkeyMichelle BunyanImogen SlaughterThe life of Queen Elizabeth I of England
- StarsFrancis PryorHelen GeakeRobin CookFrancis Pryor reveals that the Roman invasion of Britain was a beneficial experience.
- StarsTony RobinsonTony Robinson walks our oldest roads to find the truth behind the megaliths, burial sites, ley lines and hidden caves along their path, and connect the clues they have left hidden in the British landscape.
- StarsDan SnowRobert HutchinsonZareer MasaniDan Snow travels through India in the footsteps of the company that revolutionized the British lifestyle and laid the foundations of today's global trading systems. 400 years ago British merchants landed on the coast of India and founded a trading post to export goods to London. Over the next 200 years, their tiny business grew into a commercial titan. Using the letters and diaries of the men and women who were there, this documentary tells the story of the East India Company, which revolutionized the British lifestyle, sparked a new age of speculation and profit and by accident created one of the most powerful empires in history. Yet inexorable rise ended in ignominy. Dogged by allegations of greed, corruption and corporate excess, by the 1770s the company's reputation was in tatters. Blamed for turning its back as millions died in the Bengal famine, and thrown into crisis by a credit crunch in Britain, the world's most powerful company had run out of cash, sparking a government intervention.
- StarsRobert BartlettProfessor Robert Bartlett examines the extraordinary expansion and unchecked ambition of the Normans, and shows how they transformed the history of Europe.
- StarsTony RobinsonCarl Wilson-DownieJonathan FoyleTony Robinson visits various periods in history, literally getting involved in the worst jobs our ancestors had to endure.
- StarsBettany HughesRay LonnenMargaret RobertsonA history of the ancient Spartans, featuring historian Bettany Hughes as presenter and narrator.
- StarsBrian CoxClive RussellDouglas RussellA docudrama telling the story of the events that unfolded when a Scottish army led by Robert Bruce tried to drive the English out of Scotland 700 years ago.
- StarsNeil OliverRonald HuttonJane DownesAt the edge of Europe, the British Isles is home to one of the world's richest collections of sacred sites. With stunning photography, Sacred Wonders of Britain tells stories of the landmarks that have attracted visitors not just today, but for thousands of years; from the Orkneys to Canterbury, and Stonehenge to Glastonbury. Exploring major new discoveries about what our ancestors believed, this illuminating series reveals how these ancient people's view of the sacred meets our own today.
- StarsNeil OliverScott GlynnJames FlemingA documentary charting the birth and growth of the Scottish nation.
- StarsNeil OliverDarren MitchellHannah YoungScotland's ancient clans are renowned as some of the most legendary warriors in history - fierce tribes forged by the country's wild mountains and glens. This is their thrilling story of heroism and villainy, featuring Scotland's most iconic characters - from Robert the Bruce to Mary, Queen of Scots. Find out how the united clans defeated Europe's greatest military power to claim Scottish independence, and how they used their influence to topple rulers and change the course of history. This is the real-life Scottish game of thrones: an epic struggle for power, told from the point of view of the feuding clans.
- StarsTom AsbridgeKate RaphaelKhader SalamehFrom its beginnings in 1096 until its final defeat in 1291, the Christian Crusaders fight intermittent battles against the Muslims for control of Jerusalem.
- StarsDavid StarkeyTony CottrellGerard HaylingA history of the English Crown from AD 400 to today.
- CreatorNick WardStarsTony RobinsonAlistair MoffatKate WilliamsTony Robinson embarks on spectacular walks through some of Britain's most historic landscapes in search of the richest stories from our past.
- StarsAndrew MarrAndrew Marr presents a history of Britain from the end of the Second World War to the start of the third millennium.
- DirectorBill LockeStarsBettany HughesRomany WagenaarKostas DervenisBritish historian Bettany Hughes tours the eastern Mediterranean in search of facts behind the legends of "the face that launched a thousand ships," exploring the ways Greeks made love and war circa 1300 B.C.
- StarsAndrew MarrPhilip PerryAlan GarnerAndrew Marr deconstructs detective fiction, fantasy epics and spy novels - the books we really read. He unpicks their conventions to show how these books keep us turning the page.
- StarsNeil OliverAlison SheridanFrancis PryorNeil Oliver tells the epic story of how Britain and its people came to be over thousands of years of ancient history - the beginnings of our world forged in ice, stone, and bronze.
- StarsNeil OliverVikings is a documentary series written and presented by Neil Oliver charting the rise of the Vikings from prehistoric times to the empire of Canute.
- StarsFergal KeaneRoy FosterTom Ó LoughlinShowcases Irish history, charting the origin and impact of the myths that have been passed off as history in the past.
- DirectorAndy TwaddleScotland was the Roman Empire's toughest Militarychallenge. At the height of its power, Rome dominated millions of people and vast tracts of lands . Visiting Scotland's most extraordinary Roman sites, historian Dr. Fraser Hunter shows how Scotland defied Roman imperial might for over a century.
- StarsAdam JamesClive RussellJuliet StevensonDrama-Documentary in which historian Dan Snow explores the political intrigues and family betrayals between Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and Normans that led to the Battle of Hastings.
- StarsAndrew MarrKatie HardwickAndrew looks at the first period of the 20th century, in the wake of the death of Queen Victoria - a new dawn for Britain.
- StarsTerry JonesPeter BarberFaye GetzTerry Jones hosts this series that looks at the real facts about the Middle Ages and its roots.
- StarsMarie BouvetDan JonesReenactments of key events during the multiple wars of royalty in Europe.
- StarsTerry JonesMarcello WaltonKammy DarweishTerry Jones presents the history of the medieval religious wars in the middle-east known as the Crusades.
- StarsDan JonesChristophe LombardiJay DeeHistorian Dan Jones explores the millennium of history behind six of Great Britain's most famous castles: Warwick, Dover, Caernarfon, the Tower of London, Carrickfergus, and Stirling.
- DirectorNick Gillam-SmithStarsBettany HughesSalima IkramColin ClementBettany Hughes goes to Alexandria, Egypt, too look at one of the great cities of history. Founded by Alexander the Great, Alexandria was once one of the intellectual and culture hubs of the world. It was home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the immense Library of Alexandria.
- StarsHelen CastorCarol RawcliffeRoberta GilchristIn Medieval Lives: Birth, Marriage, Death, historian and author Dr. Helen Castor (She-Wolves: England's Early Queens) examines how the people of the Middle Ages handled three of life's great rites of passage birth, marriage, and death. Why were physicians of no help to women enduring the pains of labor and the dangers of childbirth? Why were newly married couples "put to bed" by the priest on their wedding night? What did it mean to "die well" and why was death such a communal affair, both before and after it happened?
- StarsAndrew MarrPierre MaraisJoe VazAndrew Marr explores key events across 70,000 years of human civilization, from ancient empires to modern technological marvels, through re-enactments and global filming in this thought-provoking documentary series.
- DirectorTimothy CopestakeStarsBettany HughesAntonio AlmagroMoussa AouniThis program contends that the popular perception of the Muslim occupation of Spain toward the end of the first millennium is largely wrong. The eighth century Muslim invasion of the Iberian Pennisula was largely welcomed by the locals and rejuvenated the area with advanced technology, agriculture and a construction boom. This program describes these innovations. All this changed in the eleventh century when the regional government fragmented. That set the stage for the Christian invasion and the Islamic fundamentalist resistance leading to more of a civil war than a holy war that decimated the region with corruption, destruction and exile.
- DirectorMelanie ArcherTim KirbyStarsBettany HughesNicholas FarrellGeorge TsonevBest known for the myth of the Minotaur, Crete gave birth to Europe's first civilization. Yet little is known about those who inhabited the island. But now, with fresh archeological evidence, light is finally being shed on this ancient culture.
- StarsFrank DelaneyProinsias Mac CanaGwyn A. WilliamsThis TV documentary series was produced by the BBC back in 1986 and is about the people known as The Celts who lived in many areas of Europe around 2000 years ago.
- StarsMelvyn BraggMichael CroninDavid GwillimThe history of the English language.
- StarsRobert BartlettHugh GilbertIn Inside the Medieval Mind, one of the world's greatest authorities on the Middle Ages, Professor Robert Bartlett of St Andrews University, investigates the intellectual landscape of the medieval world. In this series he opens up the often surprising discontinuities and similarities between the medieval age and our own as he remarks: "In many ways these were people very much like us, in terms of family, ambitions for children and the world of emotions. On the other hand, they inhabited a very different world, in which it was believed the dead visited the living, and where somewhere there lived a race of people with the heads of dogs." The series comprises four one hour programmes, each on a different aspect of medieval thinking: Belief; Sex; Power; Knowledge. During the series he visits numerous medieval locations, from Westminster Abbey to Pluscarden Abbey near Inverness, with wide use of readings from original medieval sources.
- DirectorTimothy CopestakeStarsBettany HughesSue BlundellPaul CartledgeBettany Hughes searches for the truth about the 'Golden Age' of Ancient Athens, investigating how a barren rock wedged between the East and West became the first democracy 2,500 years ago. Democracy, liberty and the freedom of speech are trumpeted as the bedrock of western civilization, but what was Athens really like? Bettany goes deep underground to explore a treasure trove of prehistoric bones and ancient artifacts. In silver mines and tombs she uncovers evidence for what this society was really like. This was a democratic city built on slave labor, manipulated by aristocrats, where women wore the veil and men pursued a bloody foreign policy, slaughtering thousands in the pursuit of the world's first democratic empire. The program reveals amazing, sophisticated voting systems but also a society where smooth-talking politicians used spin, and where those who didn't vote were known as 'idiotes'. This first episode charts the epic story of Athens' victory in one of the greatest sea battles of the ancient world, when the Athenian triremes defeat Xerxes' mighty Persian fleet at Salamis, and reveals the real story of the building of the greatest monument of this first democracy - the Parthenon - as a symbol of Athenian power.
- StarsDavid DimblebyGwendoline ChristieDamien HirstTraces 2,000 years of Britain's history through the arts - both as objects that have often played a decisive part in events and as marvels of their age.
- StarsAlice RobertsKlaus SchmidtClive FinlaysonThis series explains the evidence for the theory of early human migrations out of Africa and subsequently around the world, supporting the Out of Africa Theory.
- StarsAubrey Manning
- StarsArdal O'HanlonRory O'NeillComic actor Ardal O'Hanlon, explores the Emerald Isle and Irish life as he goes off the beaten track around his beloved homeland. Using a series of Victorian guidebooks written by Mr & Mrs S C Hall to tempt the English over to Ireland, Ardal meets the people who make the country the great nation it is. He roams from small towns to idiosyncratic attractions, detours from pulpit to pub and rejoices in the unique festivities and characters you can only find in Ireland. Ireland with Ardal O'Hanlon unearths and reveals an Ireland you could only know by having grown up there.
- StarsSimon SchamaAllan CordunerPaul PopplewellFocusing on eight iconic works of art, Power of Art reveals the history of visual imagination through the ages.
- StarsTony RobinsonTony Robinson brings his inquisitive storytelling approach to Australia's diverse suburbs and towns. His mission is to uncover the hidden history that lies behind, below and above the places we walk every day. In each episode we find a different postcode laden with stories. They're all established walks that tourists and locals frequently do, but Tony digs deeper to draw out the drama of the past. He'll roam through the streets and lane-ways; divulging the tales of crimes, recounting acts of bravery, notable characters and showdowns that have shaped the area.
- StarsFrancis Pryor
- From Braveheart to barbarians, we're going medieval on myths and legends.
- StarsTerry JonesPeter HeatherPope Benedict XVITerry Jones challenges the received Roman and Roman Catholic notion of the 'barbarian'.
- StarsAndrew MarrPrincess AnnePrincess EugenieA landmark documentary series to mark the 60th year of HM Queen Elizabeth II's reign, filmed over a year and a half.
- StarsSamuel WestAdolf BuchnerJutta RüdigerAn examination of how a cultured people could have allowed Adolf Hitler's rise to power.
- StarsJanina RamirezThe art historian travels in the footsteps of some of the world's greatest explorer-archaeologists revealing how our understanding of the sites they excavated are still shaped by their interpretations.
- DirectorAndy RobbinsStarsJanina RamirezKim SiddornDavid SymondsArt historian Dr Janina Ramirez reveals the codes and messages hidden in Anglo-Saxon art.
- DirectorAlexandre O. PhilippeStarsJoe NussbaumDaryl FrazettiDoug JonesAn examination of the widespread fan disenchantment with George Lucas.
- DirectorPauline LawStarsAlan CummingChristopher BrookmyreIan ChristieA documentary exploring the various ways that Scotland has been portrayed on screen. From the Hollywood tartanry of Brigadoon (1954) and Bonnie Prince Charlie (1948) to the harsh reality of Trainspotting (1996). 'Alan Cumming', who despite his more recent Hollywood credentials was born in the Highlands, tours the locations used in various films. Meeting people who live there and asking how the films compare with their reality, talking to film-makers and academics. Some merging of scenes from the films with the footage shot for the documentary gives a "then & now" comparison and even appears to put Alan into scenes from the films he's talking about.
- StarsEdward MulhareDonald CyrJohn AndresonAn examination of unnatural phenomena, such as UFOs, serial killers, dream interpretations, etc.
- StarsNed KellyJulian RichardsBirthe Kjølbye-BiddleThe Vikings were an ambitious, daring and frightening people who left an indelible mark on the British psyche. Yet archaeology has revealed very little about their time in Britain and even less about what happened to them afterwards. Archaeologist Julian Richards finds new evidence about what really happened during the dramatic period when Vikings roamed the seas around Britain. And in a ground-breaking genetics research project designed specially for the BBC series, internationally renowned geneticist, Professor David Goldstein, sets out to answer some of the most intriguing questions about the Vikings. Samples taken from around 2,000 people in Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia and Northern Europe have been processed and the results are revealed during the series.
- DirectorFrank PavichStarsAlejandro JodorowskyMichel SeydouxH.R. GigerThe story of cult film director Alejandro Jodorowsky's ambitious but ultimately doomed film adaptation of the seminal science fiction novel.
- DirectorLee FulkersonStarsLee FulkersonMatthew LedermanAlona PuldeExamines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.
- DirectorStellan OlssonStarsBenjamin BagbyFinally, the long awaited recording is made! Since 1990, Benjamin Bagby has been performing the great epic Beowulf at major festivals and venues around the world. Now we have his remarkable performance on DVD, beautifully filmed by the award winning Swedish director Stellan Olsson.
- DirectorGabe PolskyStarsViacheslav FetisovVladislav TretiakScotty BowmanThe story of the Soviet Union's famed Red Army hockey team through the eyes of its players.
- StarsAlain de BottonA self-help guide which applies the teachings of philosophers to dealing with life's everyday problems.
- StarsMichael WoodAdjoa AndohSasha BeharMichael Wood explores four of the world's most famous myths: Shangri-La, the Golden Fleece, the Queen of Sheba and King Arthur.
- DirectorPenelope SpheerisStarsEugene TatuAlice Bag BandBlack FlagA look into the Los Angeles punk rock scene, that was largely ignored by the rock music press of the time.
- DirectorDinesh D'SouzaJohn SullivanStarsJay BastianJoe BidenCait BraselA documentary that examines the question, "If Barack Obama wins a second term, where will we be in 2016?"
- StarsMark GatissJohn CarpenterMichael RobertsMark Gatiss examines the history of the horror film, from classic Hollywood monsters to Hammer's glory days and beyond.
- DirectorAlex GibneyStarsLance ArmstrongReed AlbergottiBetsy AndreuA documentary chronicling sports legend Lance Armstrong's improbable rise and ultimate fall from grace.
- DirectorAnthony PowellStarsAnthony PowellGenevieve BachmanWilliam BrotmanA visually stunning chronicle of what it is like to live in Antarctica for a full year, including winters isolated from the rest of the world, and enduring months of darkness in the coldest place on Earth.
- DirectorSimon KloseStarsGottfrid SvartholmPeter SundeFredrik NeijAn intellectual freedoms documentary based around the interpersonal triumphs, and defeats of the three main characters against the largest industry in the known universe. The media industry.
- DirectorMark MoriStarsBettie PageHugh HefnerOlivia de BerardinisThe world's greatest pinup model and cult icon, Bettie Page, recounts the true story of how her free expression overcame government witch-hunts to help launch America's sexual revolution.
- StarsStan BernardTate SteinsiekScott A. MellorCovers many of the ancient Greek and Norse Gods, monsters and heroes including Hades, Hercules, Medusa, Minotaur, Odysseus and Zeus.
- DirectorFrank H. WoodwardStarsRobin Atkin DownesNeil GaimanPeter StraubA chronicle of the life, work and mind that created the Cthulhu mythos.
- StarsPeter GuinnessStephen BeckettBenjamin Till"Days That Shocked the World" is a British documentary television series that premiered on BBC Two on 17 September 2003 and ran for three series. Each 60-minute episode explores one or two major events in history through a combination of dramatization, archival footage and eyewitness accounts.
- DirectorTim DunnStarsSimon Armitage
- StarsAndrew MarrSprawling, noisy, and often downright dangerous, the world's megacities buzz with energy and innovation. Today, there are more than 20 metropolises with over 10 million inhabitants. Some of them are sleek, modern, and high-tech; others filled with slums and blighted by poverty; all of them fragile places constantly on the edge. Together they are the greatest shift in human civilization since the birth of agriculture--and man's biggest and most dangerous social experiment yet. BBC journalist Andrew Marr visits five megacities: one of the oldest (London, United Kingdom), the fastest growing (Dhaka, Bangladesh), the largest (Tokyo, Japan), among the most hazardous (Mexico City, Mexico), and one that considers itself the new world capital (Shanghai, China). Marr discovers how the cities' structures define every aspect of their inhabitants' daily lives, and how these great urban centers represent the human future of the planet.
- StarsSimon SchamaRaphael G. WarnockNita GonzalezTo coincide with the US elections of 2008 comes this refreshing antidote to the whir of sensationalist spin and scandal, measuring up to the seriousness of the moment without diluting the excitement of campaign politics. After 9/11, Katrina, Enron and Baghdad, the robustness of American optimism is struggling to reassert itself against the sobering reality of military frustration and domestic anxieties. This is an America grappling with an un-American sense of its own limits. This series offers a timely and gripping vision of the United States - past and present - facing its moment of truth.