WW1 Top Gun: Revealed

The birth of the fighter plane between 1914 and 1918, tracing how the development of aircraft technology during the pressure cooker of war changed what was an eccentric folly into a deadly weapon. The documentary explores the brave new world of dogfights, aerial reconnaissance and bombing missions, as British pioneers such as Geoffrey de Havilland competed to outdo Anton Fokker, the Dutchman whose planes helped Germany dominate the skies. The story is rounded out with experiments and demonstrations using the Vintage Aviators, film-maker Peter Jackson's fleet of replica First World War aircraft. Last in the series. The story of how a small band of pioneering aircraft designers and engineers invented modern warfare in the four years between 1914 and 1918, turning the aeroplane from an eccentric novelty to the decisive weapon of modern conflict. The programme includes a series of dazzling aerial experiments, as present-day test pilots push the meticulously re-created planes to the limit. On both sides of the war, experimental engineers scrabbled for superiority of the skies, with British pioneers like Geoffrey de Havilland competing to out do Anton Fokker, the Dutchman whose planes helped Germany to dominate the sky. These were men working in the dark with a brand-new technology, battling the scepticism of their superiors while the fate of thousands of men rested on their ability to beat the enemy to the next engineering breakthrough.

Silbury: the Heart of the Hill

Documentary following the final archaeological exploration of the interior of the largest man-made mound in Europe - Silbury Hill, one of our most mysterious prehistoric landmarks. It also tells the story of the people who built Silbury, people whose beliefs drove them to sculpt the landscape of the Avebury area, leaving a legacy of great structures. Major discoveries help us to understand the monument, revealing that it was built when prehistoric Britain was on the brink of great change.
645 MiB | 59mn | 1 527 Kbps | XVID | 560 x 320  | 25.000 fps

Killer Wave of 1607

In a BBC Timewatch programme, two experts have argued a tsunami could have caused the devastation. Eyewitness accounts of the disaster, published in six different pamphlets of the time, told of "huge and mighty hills of water" advancing at a speed "faster than a greyhound can run" and only receding 10 days later. Professor Simon Haslett, from Bath Spa University College, said: "There is an overall theme running through the pamphlets of a destructive event, very violent, disastrous, on a scale that is unprecedented." Australian geologist Ted Bryant, from the University of Wollongong, agreed: "The waves are described as mountainous - that's a description of a tsunami." During the programme, Mr Haslett and Mr Bryant revealed evidence from all around the Severn Estuary backing up their theory.

The Real Edward VII

2001 Channel 4. Documentary profiling King Edward VII, looking at his life, character, relations with his family, especially with his mother Queen Victoria, and at his abilities as a statesman and his reign as King.
515 MiB | 1h 14mn | bit rate   : 966 Kbps | 512 x 384 | 25.000 fps

The Queen's Wedding

The Royal Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten in November 1947 was a day of national celebration. But the young couple's path to the altar had been strewn with controversy and difficulties. Behind the smiling faces and the colourful regalia lay a story of political machination, public hostility and court intrigue. This documentary focuses on the young Princess Elizabeth, her handsome sailor suitor Philip, and his uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten, the matchmaker who wouldn't rest until the union was secure. The film captures the story of the princess's young life from the moment when her love life became a matter of dynastic and political importance. It shows how Philip's suitability was called into question: his 'fortune-hunting', his 'Teutonic strain' and how he was believed to have 'played the field'. The stakes could not have been much higher: the popularity and therefore the future of the monarchy itself.

The Queen Mother: A Woman of her Century

Starts with an old fashioned British Pathe' title card and plays just like an old extended newsreel. No controvers, no real questioning of QM's motives or choices, but an interesting first in depth look for someone who does not know anything about the actual QM. Labelled by Hitler as “the most dangerous woman in Europe” but known more affectionately as the “Little Duchess”, the Queen Mother reinvigorated the Royal Family. This is the story of how the “nation’s favourite grandmother” carved a place in her nation’s hearts forever.

The Queen's Hidden Cousins

The sad but true story of Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, the Queen's cousins who were born with learning disabilities and spent most of their lives all but forgotten in an institution. Two of four daughters of John Bowes-Lyon (the Queen Mother's older brother), Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon were born in 1919 and 1926; Katherine is only three months younger than her cousin Elizabeth, the girl who would one day be crowned Queen. From the ages of 15 and 22, respectively, they were sent to live at the Royal Earlswood Hospital, an institution for the learning disabled in Surrey, which was built in 1855 as an 'Asylum for Idiots'. While their two other sisters enjoyed lives of privilege and inclusion in the social world of the aristocracy and the royal family, Katherine and Nerissa were all but forgotten.

The Pendle Witch Child

Simon Armitage presents the extraordinary story of the most disturbing witch trial in British history and the key role played in it by one nine-year-old girl. Jennet Device, a beggar-girl from Pendle in Lancashire, was the star witness in the trial in 1612 of her own mother, her brother, her sister and many of her neighbours and, thanks to her chilling testimony, they were all hanged. Armitage explores the lethal power and influence of one child's words - a story of fear, magic and demonic pacts retold partly with vivid and innovative hand-drawn animation. He discovers how Jennet's appearance in the witness box cast its shadow way beyond Lancashire, impressing lawyers, politicians, clerics and even King James I himself, and setting a dark precedent for child testimony in witch trials as far away as America.

The Last Days of Osama Bin Laden

After the United States successfully mounted a covert mission to eliminate America’s number one terrorist target, celebration turned to mounting questions. How did the terrorist mastermind elude capture for nearly a decade, only to be discovered hiding in plain sight just yards away from Pakistan’s most prestigious military academy? Peter Bergen, the famed journalist and author on Islamist terrorism who also produced bin Laden’s first television interview, obtains rare access to interview former CIA agents, Navy SEAL operatives and a Black Hawk pilot who reveal how the U.S. gathered the intelligence needed to pull off the surprise attack. He’ll talk to White House and Pakistani intelligence officials as well as neighbors of the Pakistani compound and eyewitnesses to the raid.

The Man who Discovered Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was vandalised by tomb raiders and treasure hunters until one Victorian adventurer took them on. Most of us have never heard of Flinders Petrie, but this maverick genius underook a scientific survey of the pyramids, discovered the oldest portraits in the world, unearthed Egypt's prehistoric roots - and in the process invented modern field archaeology, giving meaning to a whole civilisation.

The Queen Mother in Love

Channel 4's High Society season of documentaries begins with The Queen Mother in Love, which tells how this iconic royal figure of the 20th Century was first swept up into the company of the dashing but damaged sons of King George V. The woman who came to be one of the most popular royals of all time, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was a dazzling debutante, with her pick of eligible young men. She almost didn\'t marry the future George VI at all, turning him down at least twice. The film reveals that at the same time she was romantically linked to a bigger prize: his elder brother, the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII. Once married though, she took to the life a minor royal with relish, creating the perfect image of the happy royal family. Elizabeth and her husband were thrown onto centre stage with Edward VIII's infatuation with the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson and his abdication.

The Great Falklands Gamble: Revealed

On April 2nd 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, in the South Atlantic, 8,000 miles from the UK. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher decided to send a naval taskforce to liberate the islands. In this programme, senior officers who served in the campaign, among them Major-General Julian Thompson, reveal how appalling weather, overstretched British air defences, poor communications and even incompetence sometimes stacked the odds heavily against the British. Veterans of some of the bloodiest battles talk us through the fighting. Their personal accounts reveal how professionalism and sheer courage overcame these problems.

The Girl Who Would be Queen

The Girl Who Would be Queen is about Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and there are rare as well as unseen footage of the queen when she was a princess.  Furthermore, there are stories told from the queen’s closets friends and family including her cousin, Margaret Rhodes, and much more.

Prince Eddy: The King We Never Had

This revealing film uses newly discovered letters written by Prince Eddy himself to explore whether his early death saved Britain from a monster, or cheated the nation of a good king. For the first time, Eddy's own words serve in his defence in a fresh investigation of the remarkable kind Britain never had

Tutankhamun - Secrets Of The Boy King: Revealed

Lord Carnarvon, the greatgrandson of one of the men who discovered the tomb, travels across Egypt on a quest to reexamine the life of the Boy King. With the help of archaeological discoveries, computer graphics and new historical research, he presents a portrait of Tutankhamun that challenges pre-conceived wisdom about the famous but enigmatic pharaoh. On the eve of the Tutankhamun exhibition at the 02 Arena in London – which will bring priceless artefacts to the UK for the first time in 30 years – this timely documentary provides a comprehensive review of the pharaoh’s life.

Terry Jones The Story of 1

The story of the number one is the story of Western civilization. Terry Jones ("Monty Python's Flying Circus") goes on a humor-filled journey to recount the amazing tale behind the world's simplest number. Using computer graphics, "One" is brought to life, in all his various guises, in STORY OF 1. One's story reveals how celebrated civilizations in history were achieved, where our modern numbers came from and how the invention of zero changed the world forever - and saved us from having to use Roman numerals today. How old is One? A precise answer is impossible, but a notched bone (called the Ishango bone) found in the Congo proves that he's been around for at least 20,000 years.

The Genius of Mozart

An enlightening and enveloping reconstruction of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756–1791) life. Masterfully written and directed, every aspect of the film has been given thorough thought in order to ensure an accurate historical reconstruction. Inspirational performances from the main actors and actresses foster captivation, while regular narrative interjections from the popular composer and conductor Charles Hazlewood brings an insightful, educational dimension. The story begins with the composer’s father Leopold with whom Mozart conducted a passionate and tortured correspondence. It is Leopold who knows Mozart’s secrets. And there is another voice: that of the music itself. Music is the key to unlocking the emotions of Mozart, starting in this film with the great piano works. Without this key, how can we ever understand the emotions that gave birth to some of the most beautiful sounds the world has ever heard?

The Genius of Beethoven BBC Documentary

A powerful, moving and accurate docudrama based on the life of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Paul Rhys’s masterful portrayal of Beethoven is particularly noteworthy, doing well to vividly convey the isolation and despair Beethoven experienced throughout his life, while insightful narration from the popular conductor, composer and presenter Charles Hazlewood does well to add a sophisticated educational dimension to the series. Beethoven was the grandson of a musician of Flemish origin who was also named Ludwig van Beethoven (1712–1773).

Executioner Pierrepoint

This groundbreaking programme uncovers the amazing life of the UK’s most famous hangman Albert Pierrepoint. It charts his 24-year career and features some of the infamous and notorious criminals he lead to the gallows. ‘Executioner Pierrepoint’ reveals for the first time ever on TV the exact number of people Albert executed and talks of a previously unknown visit to the grave of Ruth Ellis, who he hanged in 1955 for the murder of her boyfriend. Just what was going through his mind after so many years in this macabre profession? The hour-long documentary was commissioned by the History Channel group and is currently being broadcast on both the History Channel and The Crime and Investigation Network.

The Blood of the Sun God

In 1532, Pizarro defeated the great Incan emperor Atahualpa. This is the story of a poor, uneducated swine herdsman whose goal was gold and glory.At the time of the Spanish conquest of what is now Peru, the empire that the Incas had built up was the largest and most sophisticated to be found in the New World. Before Pizarro's capture of the Inca emperor, Atahualpa, there had been little contact between the new and old worlds of Europe and the Andean region. However, once the contact was made there was no stopping the destruction that quickly followed. In the footsteps of Cort?s, Francisco Pizarro and the men who followed him managed to bring about the overthrow of an entire civilization in just seven short years Francisco Pizarro was the man mostly responsible for the conquest of the Incas, though he was partnered with two others. They were Diego de Almagro and the priest Hernando de Luque.

Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire

This is the story of some of the most powerful rulers in history – a story of greed, lust, decadence and bloody ambition. Starting in 146 BC, the series begins with Rome finally destroying its ancient enemy Carthage; leading to the celebrated victory of Julius Caesar and the overthrow of the Republic; the dramatic story of how Emperor Nero descended into madness; the story of the biggest rebellion in Imperial history – the Jewish Revolt; how Constantine brought Christianity to the Empire; and finally the downfall of Rome, told through the tale of Alaric the Goth. Factually accurate and based on extensive historical research, this revealing series portrays Roman life as it really was: gritty, sordid and magnificent. Never before has the true story of Rome been presented with such dramatic reality. CGI is mixed with compelling drama, a stunning cast and spectacular live-action battles to create the definitive television history of how the Empire was formed, how it achieved maximum power, and why it eventually failed. These six engrossing tales come together to tell one epic story – the real story of the Roman Empire.