Timewatch

Episode 1

HOW DO YOU DEMOCRATISE A NAZI? On the 50th anniversary of Hitler's elevation to the chancellorship of the Third Reich Si

Episode 2

In a new edition of THE DIARY OF SAMUEL PEPYS, editor Robert Latham has uncovered previously unknown details of Pepys's

Episode 3

THE PEACE MOVEMENT IN THE 1930s AND TODAY: Fifty years ago, British politics was dominated by campaigns for peace. What

Episode 4

THE LOVED AND HATED KING: Richard III - hunchback murderer of the princes in the Tower, or victim of Tudor propaganda? O

Episode 5

FRANCE AND THE NAZIS: Following the arrest of Klaus Barbie, butcher of Lyon, memories of Nazi collaboration have again r

Episode 6

BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE: During the Falklands war, the Argentinians made great capital of the last time they'd fought

Episode 7

SHADOW OF THE GALLOWS: After Parliament's vote on hanging, an investigation into the history of Tyburn and the mass publ

Special: Albert, Prince Consort

A special programme devoted to the life and historical reputation of Prince Albert, husband to Queen Victoria. From Osbo

Episode 9

THE BATTLE FOR MARTIN LUTHER: Martin Luther, the German priest who split the Catholic church and began the Reformation,

Episode 10

BEFORE THE NATIONAL HEALTH: A remarkable newly discovered archive of silent film reveals hospital life in the 1920s and

The Klagenfurt Affair / The Black Death

In May 1945, British soldiers near the Austrian border town of Klagenfurt handed over 26,000 Yugoslav anti-Communist ref

Episode 2

PREVENTING THE THIRD WORLD WAR: 1984 opens amid the greatest fears of international tension and nuclear holocaust since

Episode 3

THE LAST FÜHRER: Among the Nazi war leaders tried at Nuremberg, Hitler's successor Admiral Doenitz received the lightes

Episode 4

THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE: A meeting with the man who met the men who charged with the Light Brigade. Now aged 97,

Episode 5

SEX AND THE VICTORIANS: Did Victorian wives really 'lie back and think of England'? New research suggests they enjoyed a

Episode 6

THE BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION: In 1924, 28 million people visited the last of the great imperial exhibitions at Wembley

The Conquest and the Conqueror

THE CASE FOR KING WILLIAM: Why did William of Normandy believe the Crown of England was his right? What do we know of th

Episode 8

Two names that shaped Britain in two World Wars. SECRETS OF THE KAISER: The private papers of Germany's last Emperor, K

Episode 9

SIR WALTER RALEIGH: In North Carolina they are celebrating the 400th anniversary of the first settlement in North Americ

Episode 10

ELECTION 1784: It was the first modern General Election. Two parties, two national leaders - the King versus Parliament.

Episode 11

THE FIRST FOOTBALL HOOLIGANS: How new is soccer violence? Christopher Andrew uncovers new evidence that pitch invasions,

Episode 12

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: How true are historical novels? Gore Vidal's 'Lincoln' draws the political battlefield in Washington du

Episode 13

THE LAST UPRISING: In 1839, 7,000 Welsh miners and ironworkers marched on Newport to demand their democratic rights. The

Episode 14

NELSON: Heroes inevitably suffer at the hands of those who worship them, few more so than one of the most popular of all

Episode 1

REAGAN'S COWBOYS: Why have successive presidents celebrated the cowboy as all-American hero? THE AGE OF CHIVALRY IS DEA

Episode 2

TAFF VALE: In 1900 the railway workers of Taff Vale embarked on a strike which has political implications to this day. T

Special: The Age of Charles II

'Let not poor Nellie starve.' With those words Charles II, the 'Merry Monarch', died 300 years ago. Of all British sover

Episode 4

CHURCHILL AND ROOSEVELT exchanged 2,000 letters during the Second World War. Collected for the first time, they reveal t

Episode 5

THE UNUSED WEAPON: By 1945 the Allies and the Nazis had stockpiled five times more chemical weapons than had been used t

The Battle for Berlin

In April 1945, British and American troops were sweeping across Western Germany. Charles Wheeler was among them. They st

Aspects of War

This month's programme comes from the centre of Oxford where Peter France introduces three stories which have their root

Elements of Justice

SUMMER OF THE HANGING JUDGE: An examination of the life and times of Judge George Jeffreys 300 years after he presided o

Magic Circles

Film 1: As the world waits for Halley's Comet, a recently discovered diary written by a 17th-century merchant from Rye i

Episode 97

Episode 98

Episode 99

Matter of Record

Three films which reflect the way official records are preserved for future generations. Film 1: Christopher Andrew exa

Episode 2

Two stories shed new light on the life and times of Henry Tudor, who took the throne of England from Richard III 500 yea

The Master Builders

Three films presented from the British Museum reveal how visionaries and others dealt with the 'outsider' as they set ou

Episode 4

Three stories presented from the Virago bookshop in Covent Garden about the lives of women in worlds dominated by men.

Special: All the King's Men

In January 1943 lone British agent Henri Dericourt was dropped over occupied France. His mission was to organise the rec

The Road to War

In 1936 'The Road to War' used newsreel to try to alert the American people to the mounting horror of war in China, Ethi

The Price of the Past

Peter France introduces three films exploring the backgrounds of historic items recently auctioned and the motivations o

A Medieval Affair

The Domesday Book was completed 900 years ago, but it says little about the daily worries and concerns of the people who

The Human Factor

Film 1: How a Bulgarian peasant farmer stumbled across the largest Thracian treasure ever discovered - more than 160 sil

Episode 97

Codes of Conduct

Peter France presents three films which reflect the extent to which codes of 'honour', allegiance' and 'behaviour' have

Faces of Cromwell

Views of Oliver Cromwell vary as much today as when Parliament asked him to become King in 1657: a tyrant, a repressed r

Symptoms of an Age

Two stories showing how previous generations have dealt with the problems of pollution and disease: DEVONSHIRE COLIC: I

Fateful Century

Mary Queen of Scots has come down to us as a tragic heroine - but what kind of respect does she command as a 16th-centur

Times of Change

1: The last attempt by central government to impose educational benchmarks on the majority of British schools. 2: Disin

Affairs of State

Christopher Andrew and Gabriel Ronay investigate two political mysteries. THE ZINOVIEV LETTER led to the defeat of the

Images of a Revolution

What really happened in Russia in October 1917? How far can we rely on the vivid films from the period to give us a true

The Art of Chivalry

Two films examine the reality behind the ideal. When MANFRED VON RICHTHOFEN died in 1918 he had become a figure of myth

Judgment in Jerusalem

Explores the trial of Nazi officer Adolph Eichmann through a controversial book, 'Eichmann in Jerusalem' by Hannah Arend

Episode 97

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Episode 102

Evidence of Neglect

Three films examine the ways our historical record is under attack. In fireproof vaults, millions of feet of film shot o

Wars of the Word

The control of national television is seen by regimes the world over as a necessary adjunct to their survival today. Pet

The Man in the Iron Mask

Henry Lincoln investigates the story of the 'Man in the Iron Mask' and - using evidence which only came to light last ye

The Hunger Winter

In September 1944, in retaliation for Dutch support of the Arnhem landings, the Nazis cut off all food supplies to the p

Dishonour and Death

Christopher Andrew presents two stories from the darker and more secret side of British history over the past 150 years.

Verdict on the Shroud

How old is the Shroud of Turin? To millions of believers it's the burial cloth of Jesus, to sceptics it's a clever medie

Shadow of the Ripper

Bizarre theories have surrounded the unexplained killings in Whitechapel since they hit the headlines in 1888. This film

A Woman's Story

One hundred years after the matchgirls strike, this dramatised documentary looks at the life of Annie Besant, strike lea

Visions of a Conqueror: The Glorious Revolution

Peter France examines the Glorious Revolution of 1688 from the perspective of William of Orange, unearthing the real mot

Bukharin and the Terror

Fifty years ago, Nikolai Bukharin, Lenin's right-hand man and favourite of the Bolsheviks, was shot by Stalin's henchmen

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Episode 97

Light in the Dark

During the Nazi occupation of eastern Poland, a small group of Jews in the city of Lvov tried to save themselves from th

An Age of Empire

What effect did Charlie Chaplin have on the sale of tea? What first caused the sudden and surprising popularity of tenni

Sacrifice at Pearl Harbor

For nearly 50 years the world has been led to believe President Roosevelt's statement that the attack was a total surpri

Playing with History

Two stories reflect the contribution made to history by non-professionals. BRITISH AND GUARANTEED: A look at those who

Witnesses

Two eyewitness accounts of the past - 500 years apart. The 15th-century letters of Margaret Paston push aside people's

The Night of the Long Knives

In July 1962, Harold Macmillan sacked a third of his Cabinet, including Chancellor of the Exchequer and some of his olde

Summer of the Bomb

Did the atomic bombs that fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki really shorten the war and save Allied lives? Based on American

The Land of Lost Content

England's land was green but never pleasant. So why do villages and fields conjure up a happy, wholesome past? This film

Trotsky

Leon Trotsky was one of the architects of the Russian Revolution and creator of the Red Army. Brilliant and eloquent, an

Fascist Legacy: 1: A Promise Fulfilled

During the Second World War, Italian forces in Yugoslavia murdered hundreds of thousands of civilians. Historians have n

Fascist Legacy: 2: A Pledge Betrayed

At the end of the Second World War, conclusive evidence of war crimes was presented against more than 1,200 high-ranking

An Edge of Conspiracy

Was the last prisoner of Spandau Prison in Berlin really Rudolf Hess, one time deputy to Adolf Hitler, or a doppelganger

Napoleon's Last Battle

Timewatch explores the myth of the man who had a vision of a united Europe 175 years ago.

Hungary: The End of Silence

The Communist party of Hungary has been forced to surrender its monopoly on truth, but it still controls access to the o

Accounts of a Forgotten Army

In 1945 the German State and its army disappeared. Recently, harrowing tales from Germans who were prisoners in American

Helping the Police with Their Enquiries

In the USA it is becoming standard practice for police to call in archaeologists and anthropologists with their skills a

The Sipan Affair

In January 1987 a band of grave robbers broke into a royal tomb at Sipan in northern Peru. The treasure they plundered w

I Don't Want to Be Remembered As a Chair

On the shore of Sabbathday Lake in Maine lives a religious community of nine men and women. They are the last practising

All the King's Jews

Seven hundred years ago tomorrow - on 1 November 1290 - the Jews were expelled from England. Christopher Andrew unfolds

A War Far from Home

In 1914-15 138,000 Indians fought on the Western Front. More than a quarter were casualties. We know what the ordinary s

One of the Reasons Why

Charles Wheeler tells how the colonial policy of the post-war Labour government led to the start of a 30-year war in Vie

White Man's Grave, Black Man's Grave

On January 23 1915, black insurgents broke into a house on the biggest plantation in British colonial Nyasaland. The reb

Episode 50

Episode 94

Savagery and the American Indian: 1: Wilderness

Historians and archaeologists have started to reassess some of the ingrained myths of American history. American Indians

Savagery and the American Indian: 2: Civilisation

Every year the Sioux nation of South Dakota pays homage to more than 300 unarmed Indians killed by US troops on 29 Decem

The Man Who Made the Supergun

The assassination a year ago of Dr Gerald Bull prevented Saddam Hussein from acquiring a 'supergun'. Bull designed the w

Reluctant Comrade

In 1934, Robert Robinson, a young black car worker from Detroit, was blacklisted by America after renewing a short-term

The Transmission of Roger Bacon

A death ray to combat the Antichrist; the effectiveness of astrology; the bizarre sexual practices of the Brahmins; and

Palestine: The First Intifada

For the last three years Palestinians have been involved in an Intifada against the Israeli occupation of their homeland

A Cold War

In 1945 Britain, America and the USSR were allies against Hitler; less than a year later Winston Churchill condemned Sov

Beside Franco in Spain

The story of how Britain abandoned Spain's democratically elected government during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 and ga

Charles Darwin - Devil's Chaplain

Charles Darwin lived in fear of disgrace because of his views. He believed that humans were just a better sort of ape, t

The Columbus Conspiracy

Was Columbus really the first to discover America? Five hundred years ago three ships sailed from Spain on the most famo

Harvests of Iron: 1: The Watch on the Somme

In the first of two programmes about the First World War, German writer Ludwig Harig makes a pilgrimage to the Somme, ho

Harvests of Iron: 2: The Theatre of Operations

The letters between military surgeon Georges Duhamel and his wife Blanche lay forgotten in a family attic for 75 years.

Suffer the Children

In the 1830s a pioneering social investigation into child labour uncovered an appalling picture of deprivation, poverty

The Spoils of War

During the Second World War, the Nazis took many art treasures for "care and safe-keeping", including the priceless coll

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Episode 130

Episode 140

Episode 220

Battle of the Styles

In October 1834 the Houses of Parliament burned down. Which architectural style would best express Victorian values? Arc

Kwai

Tells the full story of the "Death Railway", made famous by the 1957 film The Bridge on the River Kwai. In just 15 month

Tito: 1: Churchill's Man?

In late 1943 Winston Churchill made what he would later describe as one of the biggest mistakes of the war. On the advic

Tito: 2: His Own Man

When Marshal Tito imposed a communist dictatorship on Yugoslavia in 1945, the western allies regretted their support for

Woolly Al Walks the Kitty Back

Until now, the three-man Argentine junta which led the invasion of the Falkland Islands has kept its secrets. Tonight, f

The Story of Elisabeth Nietzsche: 1: Forgotten Fatherland

In Paraguay the blond, blue-eyed people of New Germany speak the same Saxon as their ancestors did when they arrived the

The Story of Elisabeth Nietzsche: 2: Mother of the Fatherland

In 1889, when her Aryan colony in Paraguay began to fail, Elisabeth Nietzsche returned to Germany to look after her dyin

SS-3: The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich

On Wednesday 27 May 1942, two assassins waited for a German staff car to round a hairpin bend in a suburb of Prague. The

Gladio: 1: The Ringmasters

For 40 years the Gladio - a secret network of former Nazis originally tasked with resisting the communist threat in occu

Gladio: 2: The Puppeteers

In August 1980, the left-wing Red Brigades were blamed for the bombing of a Bologna, Italy, railway station that resulte

Gladio: 3: The Foot Soldiers

Examines whether Italian Special Forces were involved in the kidnapping and assassination of Italian prime minister Aldo

The Un-Americans: 1: Five Minutes to Midnight

At the dawn of the Cold War, both communists and anti-communists in America thought the world was on the brink. This spe

The Un-Americans: 2: No Place to Hide

Mention McCarthyism and most people think of the Hollywood blacklist. In fact, tens of thousands of ordinary people's li

The Un-Americans: 3: To Hell with Truth

Contrasts the fame and fortune of HUAC witness Harvey Matusow, whose lies went unquestioned, with the experiences of tho

A Diplomat in Japan: 1: A Clash of Cultures

A documentary drama based on the memoirs of English diplomat Ernest Satow. Arriving in Japan at a time of political uphe

A Diplomat In Japan: 2: Witness to a Revolution

Satow's unique understanding of the forces struggling for supremacy in Japan enabled him to have a direct influence on t

Special: The Cuban Missile Crisis: 1: Defying Uncle Sam

30 years ago, American reaction against the Cuban Revolution led the world to the brink of nuclear war. Recounting the v

Special: The Cuban Missile Crisis: 2: Eyeball to Eyeball

October 1962: The US naval blockade, the shooting down of a US spy plane, and the Soviet preparations for a nuclear resp

Sold Down the River

When white men fell out in 1861, Black Americans gained a measure of freedom. But by 1915, 50 years after the end of the

Roger Casement - Heart of Darkness

A personal account by actor Kenneth Griffith of the rise and fall of Irish nationalist hero Roger Casement. Knighted by

Allied to the Mafia

The extraordinary story of one of the war's most secret alliances - between the US Naval Intelligence and the Mafia. Den

The Sparks That Lit the Bonfire

Examines the origins of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and reveals startling new evidence of the Irish government's cr

The Stolen Child

During the Second World War the Nazis snatched 200,000 Aryan-looking Polish children from their mothers to replenish the

The Secret File on J. Edgar Hoover

A new profile of the man who was director of the FBI for nearly 50 years. This investigation of Hoover's private life re

The Pill: Prescription for Revolution

Described as "the greatest invention since the wheel" by novelist Angela Carter, the contraceptive pill played a crucial

Buffalo Bill

A new look at the legend of William F Cody. From 1883 to 1916, millions of people throughout the world thrilled to the a

Special: Battle of the Bombers

Fifty years ago Bomber Command launched a massive campaign against Nazi Germany - the Battle of the Ruhr. In this specia

On Behalf of the State: Memories of Hanging

On 23rd August, 1964, the last person in Britain was hanged. To those involved in it, the process of judicial execution

True Story of the Roman Arena

Julius Caesar courted popular support with spectacular displays of gladiatorial combat. But new archaeological research

The Mother of All Battles

It cost more lives than the British Army lost in the entire Second World War. The Battle of Kursk, south of Moscow, was

Hunger Strike: A Hidden History

On 5 May 1981, Bobby Sands died on hunger strike at the Maze prison in Northern Ireland. Nine more prisoners starved the

Children of the Third Reich

In April, a group of 18 people met in a small town halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Some were Jewish, the sons an

The Mysterious Career of Lee Harvey Oswald

Was Lee Harvey Oswald a mentally disturbed gunman acting alone, as the report of the Warren Commission suggested? Was he

Chairman Mao the Last Emperor

Mao Tse-tung ruled China from 1949 until his death in 1976, and this film examines for the first time on television the

Forgotten Heroes

One In four British merchant seamen died during the Second World War. Life on board ship was dangerous, poorly paid and

The Real Rasputin

When Grigorii Efimovich Rasputin was murdered in 1916, rumour and political expediency set to work to paint him as a vil

Spies in the Sky

Since 1949, dozens of planes and up to 200 US, British and allied air-crew have been lost in an undeclared aerial espion

Presumed Guilty - A Women's History of Divorce 1945-1969

In the decades leading up to reform of the divorce laws in 1969, thousands of women suffered the injustices of a system

Racism or Realism? - A History of Immigration

While the British government publicly operated an open-door policy to immigrants, in private it was terrified about the

Seeds of War

The question of how the First World War was started has been one of the great controversies of the 20th century. The fla

The Myth of the Spanish Inquisition

An entire popular mythology has made the Spanish Inquisition a byword for human evil - sadistic, fanatical and omnipoten

Hitler's Secret Weapons

In the final few months of the Second World War, Hitler's revolutionary V1 and V2 missiles terrorised southern England.

Flames of War

A film about the horrors of the English Civil War, using letters, diaries and memoirs of ordinary people in 17th-century

Age of the Sphinx

The tale of one man's attempt to rewrite the history of the world by redating Egypt's greatest mystery, the Sphinx. Unti

Khrushchev - The Peasant Premier

In the centenary year of his birth, and using previously unseen home movies, this film explores the contradictions of th

Memo from Machiavelli: How to Succeed in British Politics

Niccolo Machiavelli's name is synonymous with political intrigue, but recent analysis of his work suggests that he was a

Typhoid Mary

Story of the woman judged to be such a danger to public health that she was incarcerated by the city of New York for 23

Episode 96

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Episode 99

Out of the Ashes

Three children of victims of the Holocaust tell the almost unbelievable stories of their parents' survival. From ghetto,

Uncle Ho and Uncle Sam

Using unique archive material from Vietnam and interviews with US agents, this programme tells the story of the friendly

The BBC in Vietnam

The reports of young journalists like Martin Bell, David Jessel, Brian Barron, and Julian Pettifer brought the front lin

The Life and Loves of Oscar Wilde

A candid portrait of Oscar Wilde and his remarkable family, including revelations by his grandson Merlin Holland and Lad

Special: Biafra - Fighting a War without Guns

On the 25th anniversary of the end of the 1967-70 Biafran war, Timewatch examines the doomed struggle of the Ibos, known

Evidence of Vikings

The modern view of Vikings is that they were not very different from anyone else at the time. Timewatch travels to Icela

The True Story of Pocahontas

Pocahontas was the first heroine of American history. Disney has released a romanticised cartoon version of her story, b

Kamikaze

The word kamikaze is synonymous with death. But not every kamikaze who vowed to die in the Second World War fulfilled hi

Quiet Revolution

One of the most important revolutions of the 20th century has taken place not on the battlefield but in the home. In 190

The Projection Racket

The 1930s were a golden age for Hollywood and its gangster films. But behind the screen, the Mob was turning a small-tim

Tanks - Wonder Weapon of WW1?

Eighty years ago, a secret new weapon was born - the tank. From its inauspicious debut on the Somme in 1916 to the masse

Karnak - A Hidden History

The temple at Karnak in Egypt, founded around 1500 BC, was the greatest religious shrine of the ancient world, taking 2,

Russia's Secret War

Some historians have always suspected that Stalin was behind the Korean War, but the Soviets have denied involvement. By

Drake's Last Voyage

Four hundred years ago today, Sir Francis Drake was buried at sea off the coast of Panama after unsuccessfully trying to

Bad Boys

A 1973 documentary from the 'Man Alive' series portrayed the lives of six teenage male offenders and their time in Peper

Voices of Victorian London

Had documentary film-makers roamed the streets of London in the mid-19th century, they would have encountered an extraor

Special: Haig - The Unknown Soldier

A special edition of the historical documentary series. Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig has been lampooned as the worst

Hannibal and Desert Storm

When General Norman Schwarzkopf planned and executed the Gulf War's "Desert Storm", he looked to the history books for h

The History of a Mystery

Rennes-le-Chateau in southern France is home to one of the century's greatest conspiracy theories. For over a century th

Gold Rush Memories

A hundred years ago, gold was discovered on a tributary of the Klondike River in north-west Canada, sparking off an extr

Stalin's Foreign Slaves

For half a century the Soviet Union's labour camps made virtual slaves of millions of Russians. Tens of thousands of for

Baiting the Bear

From 1948-64 Curtis E LeMay and Thomas Power controlled the nuclear bombers and missiles of the USA's Strategic Air Comm

Remember Aberfan

Tonight's documentary visits the small mining village in South Wales where, in October 1966, disaster struck when a coal

Cry Hungary

Forty years ago this week, thousands of Hungarians demonstrated on the streets of Budapest in protest against Soviet occ

Love Story

A Second World War love affair between German housewife Lilly Wust and young Jewish lesbian Felice Schragenheim.

Before Columbus

Christopher Columbus is popularly believed to have been, in 1492, the first European to discover America. However, some

Secret Memories

A wireless operator who survived torture and a Nazi concentration camp, a 20-year-old sabotage expert, and an MI6 agent

The Boer War: The First Media War

The Boer War of 1899-1902 saw correspondents and cameramen play a major part in war propaganda for the first time. Diari

Birth Story

For centuries babies were born at home, their mothers assisted through the birth by other women. But 50 years ago, child

Forgotten Allies

When war broke out in South East Asia in 1941, one hill tribe - the Christian, English-speaking Karen - distinguished it

Back to the Iron Age

Tonight's documentary reassesses a project from 1977 designed to find out more about prehistoric life. For over a year a

The True Story of the Bridge on the River Kwai

Forty years ago a war movie created a legend. Timewatch now tells the story of Lieutenant Colonel Toosey, the British of

Lords of the Maya

As Christianity became a dominant religious force in Europe, a religious movement was shaping the ancient Mayan civilisa

Alison: A Personal History

In 1988 the third film about the inspirational life of Alison French, who has cerebral palsy, saw her get married to Mar

The Gentlemen Spies

The first secret documents released by MI5 to the Public Records Office cover its establishment by the mysterious Vernon

The African Trade

Transatlantic slavery was responsible for the largest long-distance forced migration in history. Europeans did not ventu

Lenin's Secret Files

Secret files documenting the life of Lenin were hidden away for decades by Soviet authorities in a labyrinth of vaults d

Remember the Ugandan Asians

Twenty-five years ago the Ugandan Asians arrived in Britain, having been expelled from their own country. Greeted warmly

In Search of Cleopatra

Explores the myths that still surround the legendary Egyptian queen, and attempts to unravel the truth behind a life - a

Hitler and the Invasion of Britain

Examines why Hitler abandoned plans to invade Britain in 1940 and prepared, instead, to attack the Soviet Union. NEW SEA

Grammar School Boys

Nine grammar school boys recall their schooldays and reflect on how that system affected their lives. With former Chance

The Oklahoma Outlaw

In 1976 the chance discovery of a mummified body inside a ghost ride in Long Beach, California, unearthed a chain of eve

The Roman Way of War

Roman Emperor Trajan led two great wars against the people of Dacia. No written documentation of this campaign survives,

Las Vegas and the Mormons

Las Vegas, the world's gambling capital: Over 30 million people visit each year, most of them unaware that clean-living

Aborigine: A Collision of Conscience

As the Aborigine people fight for their land rights, Australia's historians extract revelations from the archives. Lette

Sex and War

An estimated quarter-million homosexuals fought for Britain during the Second World War. At the time homosexuality was s

Lloyd George's War

Eighty years ago the end of the First World War was celebrated as a triumph for democracy, yet some would later dismiss

The Pilgrim Obsession

It is accepted in American history that the Pilgrim Fathers were a group of religious separatists who founded the first

Banking with Hitler

Swiss banks stand accused of collaborating with the Nazis before and during the Second World War. But 60 years ago, when

The British in India

Tonight's programme follows historian Andrew Roberts across the Indian subcontinent as he argues that Britain should tak

An American Firefight

In October 1993 elite units of the US army were pinned down on the streets of Mogadishu in Somalia by forces of Mohammed

Operation Sealion

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 w

The Crossing

In 1944, American submarines attacked two Japanese boats in the South China Sea, unaware that the vessels were crammed w

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

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

Sleeping with the Enemy

Marcelle and Elise are two elderly French women who live at opposite ends of the country but shared similar experiences

Before the Titanic

In 1909 the passenger liners Florida - carrying Italian immigrants to New York - and Republic - carrying American touris

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 s

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 f

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 S

Ivan the Terrible

The title bestowed by history on Russia's first tsar has become synonymous with tyranny and mass bloodshed, his 16th-cen

Tales of the Eiffel Tower

Loathed by the intellectual establishment after its construction in 1889, the Eiffel Tower is now a cherished symbol of

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

The Germans We Kept

In 1946 almost half-a-million German prisoners of war were still being held in Britain, with the ban on fraternisation l

Myths of Nelson's Navy

The Empire State Story

Opened 70 years ago, the Empire State Building remains one of the enduring symbols of New York City. Tonight's programme

Himmler, Hitler, and the End of the Reich

Heinrich Himmler was regarded as Hitler's most loyal henchman. But in the last days of the war, his role in a plot to ma

The King's Servant

Hollywood's portrayal of Thomas More, Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor, is that of a saint but in truth he was a much more c

Nero's Golden House

Ten years into his reign, the notorious emperor Nero attempted to build the largest palace the Romans would ever see, th

Public Enemy Number One

During the Great Depression the American public looked for real-life anti-heroes to match the gangster movies - and foun

Hitler, Churchill, and the Paratroopers

In 1941 the first large-scale paratroop attack took place when Hitler ordered the invasion of Crete. Within a week Churc

The Last Surrender

For Japanese officer Hiroo Onoda, the Second World War continued until 1974. Now 78 years old and living in Brazil, Onod

Debutantes

Archive footage and interviews, with among others the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, help recapture the balls, dresses,

Strangeways Revisited

Rex Bloomstein returns to find out what happened to some of the prisoners featured in the award-winning documentary seri

Scharnhorst

A documentary examining the mystery behind the demise in December 1943 of Germany's supposedly unsinkable warship, and a

Roman Soldiers to Be

Following guidelines described by the ancient author Vegetius nearly 2000 years ago, and supervised by historian Kate Gi

Bombing Germany

Towards the end of the Second World War, many German towns with minimal strategic or industrial importance suffered "sat

The Making of Adolf Hitler

Investigates new research on the early years of the Nazi leader, which have always been mired in controversy. Surprising

The Mystery of the Iron Bridge

The Iron Bridge is an icon of the Industrial Revolution - the world's first metal structure and an outstanding example o

Death of the Battleship

The sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse in December 1941 is recognised as one of Britain's greatest maritime

Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea

In July 1950, No Gun Ri in Korea witnessed one of the largest civilian massacres in US military history. This film, base

Jubilee Day

From the Sex Pistols' trip down the Thames to the royal bonfire in Windsor Great Park, from street parties in Fulham to

The Queen and Her Lover

Love, greed, murder, rape, and political treachery were ingredients in the doomed 16th-century relationship between Mary

Myths of the Titanic

No maritime tragedy has captured the public's imagination like the sinking of the Titanic. In the week that marks the 90

Battle for Berlin

Rape, murder, pillage, and destruction ensued when, in early 1945, the Red Army avenged Germany's invasion of Russia som

Stalin and the Betrayal of Leningrad

Over 1,500,000 people died from starvation and disease when Germany besieged Leningrad for 900 days in one of the Second

The Myth of Custer's Last Stand

The Little Bighorn in Montana is the site of one of the most famous battles in the history of the American West. For mor

Akhenaten and Nefertiti: The Royal Gods of Egypt

Using dramatic reconstructions and filmed throughout Egypt, this documentary unravels the story of King Akhenaten, the c

Murder at Harvard

In 1849 American society was shaken by the grisly news that a prominent and wealthy Bostonian, George Parkman, had been

Episode 90

White Slaves, Pirate Gold

A shipwreck off Devon uncovered much more than a haul of Islamic coins and jewellery - it also revealed a forgotten time

Lost Cities of the Maya

For over 1,000 years, Maya kings ruled Central America's jungles. While Europe was just emerging from the Dark Ages, the

Rocket and Its Rivals

Stephenson's Rocket is famous because of the contest it won in 1829. Few realise it triumphed by default when its two ri

Ramesses III - Behind the Myth of a Pharaoh

Ramesses III is remembered as Egypt's last great pharaoh, but the truth was very different. With the help of papyrus tha

1914: The War Revolution

The first action involving the British in the First World War was a cavalry skirmish - German lances against British swo

Concorde: A Love Story

Due to be taken out of service on Friday, the world's only supersonic passenger plane is finally brought to ground. But

Zulu: The True Story

The Battle of Rorke's Drift is routinely presented as a significant British victory of the Zulu wars. Yet on the same da

The Greatest Storm

Freak weather conditions on 31 January 1953 led to a storm that cut a destructive swathe across the North Sea coastlines

The Last Tomb Raider

Circus strongman-turned-adventurer Giovanni Belzoni filled the British Museum with some of ancient Egypt's greatest trea

Mystery of the Missing Ace

Revealing the extraordinary detective story behind the disappearance in 1944 of highly decorated pilot Wing Commander Ad

Britain's Greatest Hoax

For 40 years the science world was hoodwinked by a forged "missing link" between ape and man. But who was responsible fo

Gallipoli: The First D-Day

The Second World War Normandy landings helped seal Winston Churchill's reputation as a great wartime leader, but 29 year

Through Hell for Hitler

In a dramatised account, Timewatch follows a German soldier caught up in the most destructive conflict in history - Hitl

Britain's X-Files

Examining the UFO phenomenon in Britain since the 1950s, when alleged sightings began and Clement Attlee formed the Flyi

The Lost Liner and the Empire's Gold

On 30 December 1915 the Persia, a passenger ship loaded with gold bullion bound for Bombay, was torpedoed by the notorio

The Secrets of Enzo Ferrari

Glamour, money, sex, and danger are all synonymous with the Ferrari brand, and all were evident in the life of its creat

The Mysteries of the Medieval Ship

The well-preserved remains of an 80ft medieval merchant ship came to light in 2002 on the banks of the River Usk in Newp

How Mad Was King George?

He's best known for having suffered bouts of mental illness and losing the American colonies, but what was King George I

Who Killed Rasputin?

Could the British Secret Service be linked with a murder that, for nearly 90 years, has been attributed to self-confesse

The Lost Heroes

When a handful of British volunteers were pitted against the might of the German battleship Tirpitz in 1943, official re

The Mystery of the Black Death

Could the Black Death - killer of up to half of Europe in the 14th century - be lying dormant, ready to strike again? Ne

The Black Pharaohs

Could a set of hieroglyphs be about to change the face of Ancient Egypt for ever? Doctor Viv Davies claims that this rec

The Secrets of the Mary Rose

The story of the men who served on board the Tudor warship, which sank in Portsmouth harbour during a battle with French

Julius Caesar's Greatest Battle

A journey through modern France in the footsteps of Julius Ceasar. Reconstructions provide an insight into the climax of

Who Killed Ivan the Terrible?

Criminologist David Wilson conducts an investigation into the death of Russia's first dictator, who ruled the country du

Murder in Rome

Rome, 81 BC: Sextus Roscius is accused of patricide. If found guilty, he faces a brutal execution. Defending him is a yo

Who Killed Stalin?

When Stalin's death from a brain hemorrhage was announced in March 1953, the true details surrounding his death were imm

Princess Margaret: A Love Story

Her romance with a dashing fighter pilot was the stuff of fairy tales - yet the prospect of marriage between the Queen's

The Killer Wave of 1607

It's 9am on 20 January 1607: a 12ft-high wall of water devastates the counties of the Bristol Channel, killing in the re

Britain's Lost Colosseum

A love of bloody spectacle led the Romans to build amphitheatres all over their Empire. In Britain there were at least 2

The Year Without Summer

Mount Tambora in eastern Indonesia unleashed the biggest volcanic blast ever in April 1815, a cataclysmic event that cou

The Gunpowder Plot

In 1605 a group of angry young Catholic men decided to wipe out the monarchy and government by blowing up the Houses of

Pol Pot: The Journey to the Killing Fields

A focus on the man responsible for the deaths of almost two million Cambodians. Dramatic reconstructions, the testimony

Children of the Doomed Voyage

On 17 September 1940 a German U-boat attacked the evacuee ship SS Benares en route to Canada, killing 258 of the 401 on

Inside the Mind of Adolf Hitler

Psychological analysis of the biggest madman of the 20th century. How in 1943, a team of Harvard psychologists arrived a

The Bog Bodies

Eighteen months ago, National Museum of Ireland archaeologists set out to solve a pair of ancient murder mysteries after

The Battle of the River Plate

A deadly duel at sea - featuring one of the Second World War's great tactical bluffs - is the focus of this dramatised d

The Floating Brothel

In 1789 the first all-female transport ship set sail from Britain for the struggling colony at Sydney Cove. Three of tod

The Unknown Soldiers

France 2003: A unit of the American military that aims to bring home all missing US servicemen sifts through the remains

Missing in Action

Over 1,300 American pilots were declared missing in action as a result of the Vietnam War. Nearly 40 years on, a special

The Secret History of Genghis Khan

Reputed to have been written by Khan's adopted son, 'The Secret History of the Mongols' reveals a very different man to

The Crusaders' Lost Fort

1179: The Crusaders build a new and supposedly impregnable fortress at a crossing on the Jordan called Jacob's Ford. Wit

Mystery of the Headless Romans

When 30 decapitated Romans were found buried in York in February 2005, archaeologists were baffled by their presence. Ha

Battle for Warsaw

For two months in 1944, the men, women and children of Warsaw faced incredible odds in a bid to liberate the Polish city

The Iron Coffin

The first ever exchange of fire between iron-clad ships took place on 9 March 1862 and changed the course of the America

San Francisco's Great Quake

One of America's worst natural disasters struck in the early hours of 18 April 1906. This film marks the centenary of th

The Princess Spy

In 1943 the daughter of an Indian mystic was sent into France by the SOE (Churchill's secret service) to provide a vital

The Hunt for U864

The fascinating story of how, in February 1945, HMS Venturer hunted down and sank the U-boat U864 - a sub on a deadly se

Beatlemania

By 1966 the Beatles had played over 1400 gigs and sold 200 million records. At the height of their popularity, the Fab F

Killer Cloud

A huge volcanic eruption in Iceland in 1783 spewed out poisonous gases that enveloped Europe, killing thousands of Brito

Hadrian's Wall

A stone barrier 74-miles long, up to 15ft high, and 10ft thick: Hadrian's Wall stood as the Roman Empire's most imposing

The First Blitz

Unlikely as it seems now, the first aerial bombardment of Britain was a Zeppelin raid on the unfortunate Norfolk town of

The Last Duel

Timewatch recalls the last days of the 600-year-old ritual of duelling, telling the story of two men who set out with pi

Special: Remember the Galahad

Almost a quarter of a century ago, 50 British servicemen lost their lives at Fitzroy inlet in the Falkland Islands when

Hijack

September 1970: A BOAC flight with 20 school children on board was hijacked in the name of a Palestinian guerrilla group

The Wave That Destroyed Atlantis

New evidence from the island of Crete suggests that Europe's first great civilisation, the Minoans, was destroyed by a c

The Hidden Children

By 1945 Vichy France had deported 76,000 Jews to Nazi concentration camps. Told in their own words, these are the storie

Gladiator Graveyard

For centuries gladiators have been seen as legendary figures of the ancient world, based largely on speculation. For fiv

The People's Coronation

Timewatch celebrates its 25th anniversary with a return to the family that featured in its first programme, the Windsors

Viking Voyage

In July 2007, 61 men and women set off on an extraordinary voyage to sail the world's largest reconstructed Viking ship

Bloody Omaha

The D-Day landing at Omaha Beach in Normandy on 6 June 1944 is widely regarded as a great victory, but the operation was

The Wreckers

In January 2007 the MSC Napoli ran aground, spilling its cargo on a Devon beach. Opportunists plundered the ship's booty

The Greatest Knight

The medieval mêlée tournament was a brutal free-for-all with sharpened weapons, few rules, and one undisputed champion

The Pharaoh's Lost City

More than 3,000 years ago the rebel Pharaoh Akhenaten marched his people from Thebes to a desert plain beside the Nile.

Ten Pound Poms

Some 30,000 Brits head for Australia each year - just a fraction of the one million who gambled on the ten-pound assiste

Stonehenge

Experts have always believed that Britain's most iconic ancient monument was designed as a burial site. Two years ago a

Britain's Forgotten Floods

The Asian tsunami of 2004 was a devastating natural disaster of epic proportions. Many believe a huge wave on this scale

The Boxer Rebellion

Peking, June 1900: The "Society of Right and Harmonious Fists", known by Europeans as the Boxers, entrapped more than 3,

Young Victoria

How did an unassuming little girl become the most powerful woman in the world? At her birth, few believed Princess Victo

The Last Day of World War One

Michael Palin tells the explosive, poignant story of the First World War's final day, which marks the start of the BBC's

Queen Elizabeth's Lost Guns

A mile off the coast of Alderney in the Channel Islands lies a 16th-century shipwreck that could rewrite England's naval

QE2: The Final Voyage

Over 40 years after the QE2's launch, the world's longest-serving cruise ship is set to embark on her final voyage. This

The Real Bonnie and Clyde

The tale of outlaws Bonnie and Clyde enjoyed a renaissance during the 1960s - Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway portrayed t

Captain Cook: The Man Behind the Legend

In the late 18th century, Captain James Cook embarked on three great voyages that pushed the borders of the British Empi

WW1 Aces Falling

They rose from modest backgrounds to become two of Britain's greatest First World War fighter pilots. But as the number

Pyramid: The Last Secret

For centuries archaeologists have been trying to work out how the ancient Egyptians raised huge stone blocks to the top

In Shackleton's Footsteps

A small group of British men have some unfinished family business in Antarctica. A century ago their ancestors, under th

The Prince and the Plotter

Forty years ago on 1 July, Wales was celebrating one of the great royal events of the 20th century - the investiture of

Atlantis: The Evidence

Historian Bettany Hughes unravels one of the most intriguing mysteries of all time. She presents a series of geological,

Code-Breakers: Bletchley Park's Lost Heroes

Documentary revealing the secret story of how two men hacked into Hitler's personal super-code machine. Their break turn

The Most Courageous Raid of World War II

Lord Ashdown tells the story of the Cockleshell Heroes, who took part in one of the most audacious commando raids of Wor

Dam Busters: The Race to Smash the German Dams

James Holland presents an analysis of the 1943 mission to destroy German dams with a brand-new weapon - the bouncing bom

Double Agent: The Eddie Chapman Story

Ben MacIntyre reveals the true story of Britain's most extraordinary wartime double agent, Eddie Chapman. Featuring rema