Social & External
The people behind it
Micky Sébastian
Narrator
Myths die hard, and the history of the 20th century is no exception to this rule. Even today, we hold popular beliefs that we take for Evangelical truths. Thus, we believe that Hiroshima caused Japan to surrender, that the Marshall Plan saved Europe, that Adolf Hitler was a military genius, or that Mao Zedong was a necessary evil for China’s modernization. Of course, these judgements contain some truth; but, too broad-stroked to be accurate, they contradict the historical reality by denying its complexity. What if the truth was slightly different? Through an exploration of great national or international myths, this full archive documentary collection revisits the key moments of the 20th century with a new perspective in order to provide a new, smarter and more subtle interpretation, bringing elements to light that have been forgotten or sometimes overshadowed.
For centuries, explorers have searched for the Bible’s most sacred religious artefacts. One of the most mysterious of these objects is the famed Ark of the Covenant. The gold-plated wooden chest – one of the most instrumental symbols of faith and God's presence – was believed to house the two tablets bearing the Ten Commandments. The Ark’s exact whereabouts has long puzzled scholars. Where did it go? And why has it remained such a mystery?
A documentary which explores the remarkable parallels between the careers of Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill, as well as their personal rivalry and animosity.
Journalist and writer Graham Hancock travels the globe hunting for evidence of mysterious, lost civilizations dating back to the last Ice Age. He attempts to prove that a climatic event 12,000 years ago wiped out an entire civilization far more sophisticated than the simple hunter-gatherers some archaeologists believe lived at that time.
An original documentary series, which for the first time in Greece documents the journey of rescuing the ancient texts from the past until today. A journey of exploration full of adventure, travel, libraries, but also great disasters. Thodoris Papakostas, presenter of the series, is an archaeologist with a special eye and knowledge on the subject. With him, we travel everywhere and talk to philologists, paleographers, and historians. Experts illuminate the adventures of texts through the ages, present the means and techniques employed from era to era to save our written heritage and tell us fascinating stories of people and manuscripts.
Love, conflict, family - nobody's done it better. Acting legends reflect on the greatest writer who ever lived – and the dangerous, exciting world that ignited his creativity.
Explores the Third Reich from a contemporary perspective to investigate how the Nazis managed to conquer Germany and then half of Europe in the wake of World War I.
Invented 2700 years ago, closely linked to the destiny of empires and wars, money has changed the course of civilizations. From ancient Greece to contemporary America via ancient China and the French Revolution up to today's dematerialization of money initiated by Bitcoin, this documentary series deciphers the place it has played for millennia.
Unknown histories take center stage as the hitmakers themselves - from ABBA to T-Pain - explore dimensions of pop music you never knew existed.
Out of the ashes of World War I, a new generation of titan rises…Pierre Du Pont, Walter Chrysler, J.P. Morgan Jr., Henry Ford, and William Boeing. Their fight to reach the top will transform America as they compete to dominate new industries—from the highways to the skyways. After years of fighting each other, and FDR, these rivals must unite during World War II to defeat a greater enemy and save the world.
One of the most important historical investigations carried out by Rai, signed by the great Sergio Zavoli with the collaboration of Luciano Onder and Edek Osser and the scientific consultancy of Alberto Aquarone, Gaetano Arfé, Renzo De Felice, Gabriele De Rosa, Gastone Manacorda and Salvatore Valitutti. The six-part series, broadcast for the first time in the autumn of 1972, represented, half a century after the "March on Rome", a significant assessment of the years of the advent of the Mussolini regime, recalled with the rigor of the best television journalism (Saint-Vincent Award 1973) and through the direct testimonies of over fifty protagonists of the time, both fascists and anti-fascists.
"Mankind : The Story of All of Us" is an epic 12-hour television event about the greatest adventure of all time—the history of the human race. It takes 10 billion years for the ideal planet to form and 3 billion more for the right conditions to emerge before it finally happens: mankind begins. From there unfolds a fast-paced story told here through key turning points—stepping stones in our journey from hunter-gatherer to global citizen. It’s a tale of connections—why some ideas take hold and spread around the globe, and how the lives of people in one part of the world are shaped by events in another.
Dr Xand Van Tulleken and Raksha Dave investigate the Great Smog of 1952 - the deadliest environmental disaster ever recorded and one of the world's worst peacetime catastrophes. Lasting just over four days, the Great Smog plunged London into a terrifyingly murky gloom - the acrid pollution seeping into homes, leaving Londoners gasping for breath, shutting down transport and emergency services, and overwhelming hospitals and undertakers alike.
In this adaptation of the award-winning podcast, Slow Burn’s Leon Neyfakh excavates the strange subplots and forgotten characters of recent political history—and finds surprising parallels to the present.
Part detective story, part true-life drama, long-running series explores some of the most iconic moments in history to debunk myths and shed new light on past events. Using the latest investigative techniques, forensic science and historical examination, it shatters accepted wisdom, challenges prevailing ideas, overturns existing hypotheses, spotlights forgotten mysteries, and ultimately rewrites history.
Biography is a documentary television series. It was originally a half-hour filmed series produced for CBS by David Wolper from 1961 to 1964 and hosted by Mike Wallace. The A&E Network later re-ran it and has produced new episodes since 1987. The older version featured historical figures such as Helen Keller and Mark Twain, or long-dead entertainment figures such as Will Rogers or John Barrymore. The A&E series has placed the emphasis on such people as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Plácido Domingo, Freddie Mercury, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Eric Clapton, Pope John Paul II, Gene Tierney, Selena, Diego Rivera, Mao Zedong and Queen Elizabeth II, and fictional characters like The Phantom, Superman, Hamlet, Betty Boop, and Santa Claus. The program ended up profiling enough figures that in 1999, A&E spun it off into an entire network, The Biography Channel.
Based on the popular BBC series running since 1979, the PBS Antiques Roadshow combines history with discovery. Each year, the show visits a handful of cities to appraise items brought in by viewers. Are these items worth a lot of money, more than the visitors expect?
Millions of years ago, incredible forces ripped apart the Earth’s crust creating seven extraordinary continents. This documentary series reveals how each distinct continent has shaped the unique animal life found there.
Filmed across six continents, this docuseries uses cutting-edge camera technology to capture animals' nocturnal lives, revealing new behaviours filmed in full color like never before.
Have you ever wondered how the products you use every day are made? How It's Made leads you through the process of how everyday products, such as apple juice, skateboards, engines, contact lenses, and many more objects are manufactured.
Journeying to the far reaches of our planet, this eight part series follows some of the world's most amazing species, telling extraordinary stories that are dramatic, thrilling, funny and sometimes heart-breaking, but always full of hope.
An insider's look at the engineering and scientific miracles behind the things that form the modern world.
This six part documentary draws attention to the most extraordinary — almost supernatural — accounts of animals that have adapted to the cruelest evolutionary curveballs.
Consistently stunning documentaries transport viewers to far-flung locations ranging from the torrid African plains to the chilly splendours of icy Antarctica. The show's primary focus is on animals and ecosystems around the world. A comic book based on the show, meant to be used an as educational tool for kids, was briefly distributed to museums and schools at no cost in the mid-2000s.
Deadliest Warrior was a television program in which information on historical or modern warriors and their weapons are used to determine which of them is the "deadliest" based upon tests performed during each episode. The show was characterized by its use of data compiled in creating a dramatization of the warriors' battle to the death. The show ran for three seasons.
An immersive, action-packed and discovery-led series following International teams of Egyptologists as they unearth the world's richest seam of ancient archaeology - Egypt's Valley of the Kings.
Experience the wonders of our world like never before in this epic series from Jon Favreau and the producers of Planet Earth. Travel back 66 million years to when majestic dinosaurs and extraordinary creatures roamed the lands, seas, and skies.
Did intelligent beings from outer space visit Earth thousands of years ago? From the age of the dinosaurs to ancient Egypt, from early cave drawings to continued mass sightings in the US, each episode gives historic depth to the questions, speculations, provocative controversies, first-hand accounts and grounded theories surrounding this age old debate.
Natural World is a nature documentary television series broadcast annually on BBC Two and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history brand. It is currently the longest-running series in its genre on British television, with more than 400 episodes broadcast since its inception in 1983. Natural World is produced by the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, but individual programmes can be in-house productions, collaborative productions with other broadcasters or films made and distributed by independent production companies and purchased by the BBC. Natural World programmes are often broadcast as PBS Nature episodes in the USA. Since 2008, most Natural World programmes have been shot and broadcast in high definition.
RAFA retraces Nadal's remarkable journey with cinematic scope, combining testimonies from those who know him best—on and off the court—with unseen moments that reveal what lies behind the legend.
A rare look at warring animal clans battling for survival in a remote region of Africa, which is drying up after years of flood-soaked abundance.
30 for 30 is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This currently includes four "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series under the ESPN Films Presents title in 2011–2012, and a series of 30 for 30 Shorts shown through the ESPN.com website. The series has also expanded to include Soccer Stories, which aired in advance of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and audio podcasts. This entry refers to the main Volumes of the series presented by ESPN
The history of the sport of baseball in America, told through archival photos, film footage, and the words of those who contributed to the game in each era. Writers, historians, players, baseball personnel, and fans review key events and the significance of the game in America's history.
Maritime mysteries—old and new—come to life in this series, combining scientific data and digital re-creations to reveal shipwrecks, treasures, and sunken cities on the bottom of lakes, seas and oceans around the world.