Historical documentaries
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- CreatorNick LondonStarsPaul McGannNigel AnthonyChris PlumleyHistorical events are extensively re-explored both through written records and systematic examinations in the field.
- DirectorDaniel JonesStarsPhilip GardinerO.H. KrillAmerica, a land of extremes, where wealth and poverty walk side by side. Thousands of amazing cities of light, full of multi-ethnic individuals all chasing the dream. Wild frontiers of natural beauty and danger. The world's biggest, smallest, loudest and fastest of everything. Incredible landscapes, incredible people, incredible history. A place where freedom of speech, thought, religion and politics are espoused and held dear. But is America truly the home of the brave and the land of the free? John F. Kennedy once said: "The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings." But is this really the truth? Is America the nation, the result of just a series of events or is it part of some grand design from some even grander architect? In "A Secret History," we uncover the true origin of the United States of America and explore the occult origins of its signs and symbols - discovering that Freemasonic and Illuminati secret societies are responsible for how we live our daily lives in this modern world. Discover the ruling elite who have been orchestrating the world we know for centuries and who sparked a global revolution and created the most powerful nation on the planet - a grand design put into action and still present today.
- StarsMegan McCormickEstelle BinghamJustine ShapiroMegan McCormick brings to us the beautiful and violent history of the Middle History. With her memories of her journeys to Egypt, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, and the help of Ian Wright (in Iran, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon), Justine Shapiro (in Turkey, Israel and Palestine) and Estelle Bingham (in Istanbul and Cairo), she remembers the most important events in the history of the Middle East: its empires, its religions, its wars, and its present day situation.
- StarsJosh BrolinRichard MachowiczJames MeigsFrom the power of science to how physics and biology combined to shape our shared journey, experience the human story like it's never been told before.
- 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.
- 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?
- StarsTerry JonesPeter BarberFaye GetzTerry Jones hosts this series that looks at the real facts about the Middle Ages and its roots.
- StarsTerry JonesPeter HeatherPope Benedict XVITerry Jones challenges the received Roman and Roman Catholic notion of the 'barbarian'.
- DirectorPhil GrabskyStarsTerry JonesJoann FletcherAzza Sarry el-DinBringing to life the everyday details of the ancients Egyptians - bizarre, hilarious or shocking - this wonderfully entertaining and factually revealing film is packed full of surprises. With Jones throwing informed yet sometimes crazed light on the subject, a previously hidden world of the ancient Egyptians is wonderfully brought to life.
- StarsTerry JonesMarcello WaltonKammy DarweishTerry Jones presents the history of the medieval religious wars in the middle-east known as the Crusades.
- 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.
- StarsMichael CarrollPeter WellerJ.J. HuckinA series of documentaries that go over the world's history and it's many accomplishments.
- StarsBettany HughesRay LonnenMargaret RobertsonA history of the ancient Spartans, featuring historian Bettany Hughes as presenter and narrator.
- StarsMary BeardIn this four-part series classicist and historian, Professor Mary Beard draws on her immense scholarship, unique viewpoints and myth-busting approach to Roman history, to give her definitive take on the Roman Empire. How and why did it happen? In search of answers, she takes us to the most telling sites and the most revealing artifacts, and she examines the legacy the Roman Empire has left behind.
- StarsBettany HughesMarcel DorianMarek LichtenbergHistorian Bettany Hughes selects eight pivotal days that defined the Roman Empire and its establishment as the world's first superpower.
- DirectorChristopher CasselStarsPhilip DaileaderKelly DeVriesBonnie EffrosThe History Channel examines the Dark Ages from the fall of the Roman Empire to the First Crusade.
- StarsMichael MosleySimon ChaplinFloor LagerweyMichael Mosley takes an informative and ambitious journey exploring how the evolution of scientific understanding is intimately interwoven with society's historical path.
- StarsJonathan PhillipsRoger CrowleyBarnaby RogersonThroughout history, great empires have come and gone, leaving behind great monuments. From the Roman Empire, to the earliest civilizations of the Americas, this ten part series investigates these mighty civilizations.
- StarsJoann FletcherChris NauntonGlenn GodenhoJoann Fletcher presents the extraordinary story of Ancient Egypt, from its beginnings to the great pyramid builders and on, to the last of the pharaohs.
- StarsDerek PartridgeJohn Anthony WestChance GardnerGrowing evidence is suggesting a missing chapter in human history. West explores evidence of a sophisticated science behind the unexplainable accomplishments of Ancient Egypt, the inheritor of knowledge from an even earlier civilization?
- CreatorUwe KerskenStarsTom ZahnerKent WeeksSalima IkramPlanet Egypt recounts the epic history of Ancient Egypt and its Pharaohs, from the pre-dynastic period through to the late dynasties. Each episode addresses one aspect of Egypt's enormous success, including the unlikely rise of its first powerful rulers, the wars they fought, the spiritual grounding that held the society together and the grand quest for immortality pursued by the Pharaohs.
- DirectorPhil GrabskyStarsTerry JonesRick JonesElizabeth FentressWho better to scrutinize and investigate the quirkier achievements of the impressive and expansive Roman Empire than co-creator of the brilliantly accomplished question; 'What have the Romans ever done for us'? Terry Jones is in search of an answer. Unearthing the secrets of the Roman world in his own idiosyncratic and bizarre way, he reveals how ordinary people really lived in ancient Rome.
- StarsTerry JonesHave you ever wondered what inspired the first flame thrower, or when the first brain surgery was performed? Have you ever wondered who invented the kiss, or how humans changed once cities were invented? Ancient Inventions dives deeply into these thought provoking subjects - and some of the answers aren't what you'd expect!
- DirectorAlan EreiraPhil GrabskyStarsTerry JonesJoann FletcherBill DeverExploring the radical change in social and religious attitudes towards sex, this award-winning documentary takes a look throughout history and traces the shift in social attitudes and practices. Terry traces an unexpected route of how sex got from strict social repression to the full-frontal glossies of today.
- 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.
- This is a series of 6 episodes on the European Middle Ages. Each documentary deals with a different subject and develops from a philological reconstruction and a general historical framework to go into detail and focus on the protagonists, the places, the events, the customs, always trying to provide new and exciting details and anecdotes , thanks to the involvement of experts and historians of international renown (such as Franco Cardini, Duccio Balestracci, Aldo Settia) who are responsible for focusing on and analyzing the subject matter. Fiction makes the story more alive than ever and drags the spectator into an enchanted atmosphere of banquets, investiture, horseback riding, but also ceremonies, trades and everyday life. Betting: 1) Lights and Shadows: Faith, Science and Magic. 2) By the way: cities, merchants and artisans. 3) Mater Land: Villages, Rites and Tradition. 4) Value And Amor Cortese: tournaments, knights and ladies. 5) Oppidum Repugnat: castles, sieges and contests. 6) Medieval man: thought, culture and fear.
- StarsRobert BartlettProfessor Robert Bartlett examines the extraordinary expansion and unchecked ambition of the Normans, and shows how they transformed the history of Europe.
- StarsRobert BartlettThe story of England's longest ruling dynasty, starting with Henry II and ending with Richard III.
- StarsMichael MosleyMark MiodownikCassie NewlandEvery time we switch on a light or boil a kettle we rely on power - but most people don't stop to think about the inventions and discoveries that allow us to live the way we do. In an exciting new four-part series for BBC Two, The Genius of Invention reveals the fascinating chain of events behind inventions that make everyday life possible.
- StarsJohn RomerJohn Romer recreates the glory and history of Byzantium. From the Hagia Sophia in present-day Istanbul to the looted treasures of the empire now located in St. Marks in Venice.
- StarsMary BeardAntoni Pugi PalermSilvia OrlandiThe acclaimed British historian Mary Beard fell in love with the intrigue of classical Rome as a child - here she delves deep into the heart of that society to meet the real Romans.Embracing the latest archaeological evidence, she reveals what went on behind closed doors and in public baths 2000 years ago. Join us and Meet the Romans.
- StarsMartin MayAchim BuchVijak BayaniHaving lived as mobile foragers for 99 percent of our time on Earth, why did humans set out on the road to civilization? How did they create villages, towns, cities, and states, and establish the blueprint for the modern world? First Civilizations identifies four cornerstones of civilization - war, religion, cities and trade - and explores each in the context of a different location, from Mexico, Guatemala, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, India, and Pakistan, to Oman, Morocco, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Unearth the latest archeological discoveries, test new theories, and uncover original information as dramatic reconstructions and computer graphics visualize the lost world of the first civilizations.
- StarsGregg BradenGraham HancockDavid WilcockExplore ancient sites and delve deeper into the forgotten codes hidden throughout ancient mythology to unlock new understanding of humanity's origins.
- StarsJohn GreenStan MullerDanica JohnsonAn educational series hosted by the Brothers Green. John leads us through the humanities while Hank takes us on a journey through the sciences.
- StarsJim Al-KhaliliDanielle GeorgeJames MeigsTake a mind-blowing journey through human history, told through six iconic inventions that modern people take for granted, and see how science, invention, and technology built on one another to change everything.
- StarsJeremy ClarksonRobin SebastianJames MellorA five part BBC 2 TV documentary series, presented by Jeremy Clarkson, that took a look at some of the inventions that have helped to shape the modern world. First broadcast on Thursday 15 January 2004, 8p.m., the series looked at 1) the gun; 2) the computer; 3) the jet plane; 4) the telephone; and in the final part, 5) television.
- StarsPatrick BoucheronFrançois-Xavier Fauvelle-AymarEtienne NodetRevisit historical dates of monumental proportion through the prism of memory. Driven by the accessible and passionate delivery of historian Patrick Boucheron, history comes to life with bold, entertaining, and informative graphics and data.
- StarsMark DeNicolaSteve HerringerChristopher O'NeillGo on a decade-by-decade voyage of discovery through life-changing inventions, like the radio that made the world smaller, the machine gun that made it more dangerous, or the parking meter that made it more expensive.
- StarsNigel AnthonyBBC documentary about the prehistoric origin, slow evolution and turbulent history of human civilizations in Europe.
- StarsRageh OmaarRageh Omaar visits Spain, Sicily and France to discover the history of Islam in Europe.
- StarsBernard HillAlessandra MussoliniDario FoAn exploration of each of the twelve member states of the European Community.
- StarsChristopher ClarkIvan BarnevTeo ChepilovWhat is Europe? How did this continent, which actually is not a continent geographically, develop? What keeps Europe with its many nations and peoples together? Is there the "typical European"? How did Europe shape our thinking, how did Europe enrich the world - and where did Europe plunge the world into disaster? Questions that Australian-born Sir Christopher Clark will engage in during his journey through the culture and history of Europe. Like no one else the renowned historian can take a curious and entertaining look at our continent "from outside" and in his personal presentations at Europe's most beautiful and fateful places sort out our confusingly diverse history. Europe is not a straight line from the ancient Greeks to the EU, but rather a story with many fractures. Where today 740 million people gather from different backgrounds and culture, there already was a hive of activity during early human history. And our world has been shaped by people from Europe, by the imagination of the Greeks and the organizational skills of the Romans, by Vikings and Celts, by dynasties like the Habsburgs and Tudors, by explorers like Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus, conquerors like Napoleon and of course the great geniuses like Michelangelo and da Vinci. Their historical influence is undisputed - but what so they say to us today? Ever and anon Clark directs us to look at the current legacy and scrutinises the patterns: Does Europe still see itself today as the Christian Occident? Are we actually children of democracy? And is Islam really part of it? What is at stake with Europe today? Christopher Clark repeatedly looks into this crucial question, marks the dividing aspects and sheds light on the courage and visions of those who, after centuries of violence, want to make Europe a peaceful place.
- StarsEvan AdamsCarmen ThompsonKim CameronThis 8 part series tells us about indigenous peoples of the Americas before the Spanish explorer Columbus arrived. Each episode shows us via re-enactments about a particular subject. We learn about their art, architecture, archaeology, Science and Technology etc.
- StarsGraham PowellSamantha IlesScott ZeissBill Nye "The Science Guy" hosts a new series that highlights the greatest scientific discoveries of all time, from the earliest time to the present day. The series features nine episodes: Evolution, Earth Sciences, Medicine, Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry, Genetics and Biology, plus a wrap up episode featuring the top 10 discoveries of all time. This is a fun and instructive series, with a lot of historical re-creations, archival footage, visits to interesting scientific research facilities and interviews with present-day scientists including several Nobel laureates - all presented with the flair and humor associated with television's "Science Guy" Bill Nye.
- StarsJim Al-KhaliliJon AgarPatricia FaraUntil recently, electricity was seen as a magical power. It could slay the living, revive the dead, and bend the laws of nature. It is now the lifeblood of the modern world, fueling our lives and underpinning every aspect of technological advancement. Without it, we would be lost. Professor Jim Al-Khalili tells the electrifying story of our quest to master nature's most mysterious force.
- StarsJim Al-KhaliliAnnabel TroostIrving FinkelProfessor Jim Al-Khalili unwraps the evolutionary histories responsible for the modern human condition, as currently represented by our sophistication in energy manipulation and information technology.
- StarsJim Al-KhaliliAndrea SellaHal SosabowskiSeries in which Jim Al-Khalili traces the story of how the elements, the building blocks that make up our entire world, were discovered and mapped.
- StarsToby Leonard MooreBettany HughesEdith HallThey were an extraordinary people born of white rock and blue sea. They invented democracy, distilled logic and reason, wrote plays to plumb the deepest recesses of the soul, and captured the perfection of the human form in athletics and art. Quite simply, the Greeks created our world. ¶ Today, of course, Greece conjures very different images: civic unrest, financial meltdowns, long ATM lines. But as its ancient history attests, strife and discord are often incubators for greatness. From their beginnings as hunter-gatherers in harsh, unforgiving landscapes; to surviving the worst collapse in human history; to facing off against the greatest empire the world had ever known, the Greeks would have to overcome incredible odds to pave the way for the modern West. ¶ In National Geographic's landmark event series "The Greek's", historians and archaeologists, actors and athletes, scientists and artists launch a groundbreaking exploration into the ancient Greeks' journey - not just to better understand their past, but to discover how their legacy illuminates our present, and will shape our future. The story of the Greeks is the story of us.
- The rise and fall of the Habsburg Empire, one of the most powerful European empires in history, which lasted throughout the second millennium and had a major impact on Europe's cultural boom and ethnic cohesion.
- StarsMichael EalyBarry StraussRichard RiddellRome. The greatest empire the world has ever known. This docudrama tells the story of Rome through the eyes of the empire's many adversaries who battled to see its destruction.
- StarsRichard BrilliantShelley HaleyKeith HopkinsAs Rome began to rise in prominence, it sought to remake its own past to match not only its martial grandeur but its moral superiority.
- StarsSimon Sebag MontefioreVienna - a pivotal city in the story of Europe. Home to the Holy Roman Emperors and target of Ottoman aggression, the city nurtured the architectural style of the Gothic and the music of the Baroque while being coveted, cultured and decadent. From its Roman origins until now, its strategic position has made it witness to war, intrigue and deceit. This is its story.
- StarsSimon Sebag MontefioreSaul DavidSimon BartonSimon Sebag Montefiore embarks on a fascinating journey to unlock 2,000 years of Spain's history.
- StarsMichael WoodTao Tao LiuFrank ChingMichael Wood embarks on a great historical adventure, exploring the stories, people and landscapes that have helped create China's distinctive character and genius over four thousand years.
- 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.
- StarsScott GrimesDamian LewisRon LivingstonThe story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day.
- DirectorEvgeny AfineevskyStarsHis Beatitude SviatoslavSaid IsmagilovBishop AgapitA documentary on the unrest in Ukraine during 2013 and 2014, as student demonstrations supporting European integration grew into a violent revolution calling for the resignation of President Viktor F. Yanukovich.
- DirectorSergey LoznitsaA look at the 2013 and 2014 civil unrest in the Ukrainian capital's central square.
- DirectorSergey LoznitsaStarsTamara YatsenkoIrina ZayarmiukGrigory MasliukIn eastern Ukraine, society begins to degrade as the effects of propaganda and manipulation begin to surface in this post-truth era.
- DirectorMark Jonathan HarrisOles SaninBREAKING POINT: The War for Democracy in Ukraine looks at people transformed by a democratic revolution, who give up their normal lives to fight a Russian invasion, in a war which has killed 10,000 and displaced 1.9 million Ukrainians.
- DirectorAleksey SolodunovDmitry StoykovOleksandr TechynskyiStarsStuart D. LathamAleksey SolodunovDmitry StoykovWhat does the violent heart of revolution feel like? A visceral documentary from Maidan square in the violent Ukrainian winter of 2013-14.
- DirectorJohn Beck HofmannMaidan Massacre is an investigative documentary into the shootings which occurred on February 20th, 2014, when nearly 50 people were gunned down on the streets of Kyiv's Independence square.
- DirectorBradley ParkerStarsJesse McCartneyJonathan SadowskiOlivia Taylor DudleySix tourists hire an extreme tour guide who takes them to the abandoned city Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. During their exploration, they soon discover they are not alone.
- CreatorCraig MazinStarsJessie BuckleyJared HarrisStellan SkarsgårdIn April 1986, the city of Chernobyl in the Soviet Union suffers one of the worst nuclear disasters in the history of mankind. Consequently, many heroes put their lives on the line in the following days, weeks and months.
- DirectorJames JonesStarsLyudmila IgnatenkoOleksiy BreusLeonenko VitaliyNewly-discovered archive footage and witness accounts to lay bare the tragedy and heroic efforts made to prevent another explosion.
- DirectorKostiantyn KliatskinStarsYuriy ChmelykVolodymyr DubovyiMykola LytvynenkoA story of the officers, soldiers and seamen who have not betrayed their oath of loyalty to the people of Ukraine during the takeover of Crimea. This is a film about a military honor, in the midst of undeclared war.
- DirectorAleksey PimanovStarsRoman KurtsynEvgeniya LapovaPavel KraynovThis is a story of love, faith and honor, the strength of spirit and true friendship against the backdrop of the real events of the Crimean spring of 2014.
- The shocking facts behind battles that were fought covertly. Digging deep into archives and quizzing experts and journalists, this series uncovers some of the most controversial, covered up and shocking military operations since the Second World War. This first episode begins in Crimea, when the Crimean Peninsula was annexed from Ukraine by the Russian Federation between February and March 2014.
- StarsAlisdair SimpsonMary-Ann OchotaIszi LawrenceAncient Apocalypse investigates six catastrophic stories of how the world's greatest civilizations collapsed.
- StarsMelissa BerryHermione NorrisJonathon MichaelsThroughout the ages, civilisations have risen up and then disappeared. Ancient Apocalypse seeks to explain how human achievements were destroyed by the forces of nature.
- StarsAngela Palmer-HaibachDiarmaid MacCullochDiarmaid MacCulloch, an Oxford history professor, travels to historical points of interest relevant to Christianity discussing the origins and spread of Christianity in a span of 6 episodes.
- StarsTimothy George6-part course on the history of Christianity, from the early days to modern times.
- StarsMichael WoodDocumentary series retracing the journey of Alexander the Great across sixteen countries.
- StarsWaldemar JanuszczakShaun GreenhalghChristianity slowly emerged from being a persecuted minority to the state religion of the Roman Empire. This episode is a history of the ways believers grappled with a way to depict Jesus. Simple symbolic meaning developed into splendid art and churches.
- StarsSimon SchamaPiotr AnderszewskiHarriet WalterHistorian Simon Schama explores the enduring and powerful legacy that the Romantics have left on the modern world.
- StarsPeter AckroydMartin SavageJason WatkinsVisionary looks at a group of writers who changed the way we see the world and examines tales of bloodshed, political turmoil and poetry.