In Ottomans Vs. Christians: Battle for the Mediterranean, Presenter Julian Davison leads us on a swashbuckling adventure to some of the most extraordinary destinations in the Mediterranean.
We travel back in time to a world of magnificent galleys laden with riches and merciless pirates who prowl the seas, of spectacular battles and bloodied acts of treachery and revenge. With the help of esteemed historians, re-enactment groups and actors portraying some of the periods most remarkable figures, we relive the most dramatic and pivotal moments of this legendary clash of civilizations and uncover its rich and potent legacy.
This 3x I hr documentary tells the story of the famous WW2 battle and the four year German occupation of the Greek island of Crete that followed.
With the help of documentary footage from the day, CGI, expert contributors, and survivors re visit the island of Crete and it’s battlefields to tell the story of this unique and bloody battle and its aftermath.
Explore the impact on our planet of viral diseases across the ages. Covid 19, which struck with such devastating impact in the early months of 2020, is just the latest in a long line of pandemics that have devastated, and in some cases, destroyed societies throughout time.
‘Hope and Fear’ looks at the circumstances that have caused these diseases; hygiene, poverty, overcrowding, urbanisation or the growth of cities – and how travel has impacted on their rapid transmission, resulting in pandemics.
Nautical Antiquities looks at the life and times of Bill Boeing Sr., an early lumber baron and airline frontiersman creating Boeing Airlines after seeing the Wright Brothers initial flight. We follow the family right up to his retirement and leaving the aviation world behind to sail the Inside Passage on his beloved yacht Taconite. The story continues with the history of the yacht almost to present day. It’s an intriguing story from the waters of the Pacific Northwest. Nautical Antiquities takes you far beyond the yachting world and into the heart of a fantastic early businessperson Bill Boeing Sr.
The extraordinary story of how a mysterious gem in one of Tutankhamun’s necklaces led to the discovery of a dramatic new cosmic threat. Italian archaeologist and geologist Vincenzo de Michele was walking through the Egyptian Museum in Cairo when he spotted a strange, unidentified, yellow-green stone in a piece of jewellery recovered from Tutankhamun’s tomb. When he applied for permission to test the gem, he discovered that it was in fact a type of glass. What’s more he was able to show that the glass was of natural origin, and came from a remote location in the middle of the Great Sand Sea in the Egyptian Sahara. But how and why is this mysterious and beautiful glass scattered about in this area of the desert?
The discovery in Jerusalem in 2007 of a tomb said to belong to the family of Jesus of Nazareth is just the latest in a long line of extraordinary finds which have recently come to light in the Holy Land. But not all these finds are quite what they seem. Both a stone tablet said to come from the Temple of Solomon, and an ossuary apparently belonging to the brother of Jesus, have been declared fakes. The official investigation then uncovered dozens of other fakes, and attention eventually focussed on one of the most revered objects in Israel: the ivory pomegranate. This artefact has been in the Israel Museum for nearly twenty years. Like the stone tablet, it too was linked to the Temple of Solomon – and astonishingly it too, investigators concluded, was fake. As forensic scientists now turn their attention to the ossuaries from the ‘Jesus family tomb’, Israeli archaeologists are left fearing that history and science is being repeatedly distorted, and they face a challenge to separate fact from fiction.
The current campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan are the world’s first Robotic War, with over 7,000 robots in the air and 12,000 on the ground. Warfare has been revolutionised in a monumental shift. Mankind’s five thousand year monopoly on war is breaking down. Robotic war is here.
This series takes a fascinating look into Guns That Changed The Game. It profiles the significant evolution of firearms in modern history and looks back on the guns that proceeded them. Discover the designers who invented them and the pioneering journey that ultimately led to superior firepower. Learn about gun powder, and explore the incredible lifespan of the Colt 45. Examine the Russian AK47 and trace its origins to a German predecessor. Delve into specialist firearms and the conflicts they have served in. It’s a business of patents and profits born from a fear of war; these are the guns that changed the game.
What stories lay buried beneath the surface, waiting to be revealed?
200 years on from Raffles’ landing, archaeologists are digging deep and unearthing new artefacts that reshape what we think we know about Singapore. From uncovering evidence of an ancient settlement, to discovering forgotten relics from the lives of people in colonial Singapore and World War 2, they are piecing together new evidence that will paint a story of Singapore over seven centuries.
In this three-episode series, teams of archaeologists will look to the land and seas for clues to seek out these lost chapters of history that are forgotten by time, only to be uncovered today.