Social & External
Exploring defensive strategies, weapons and structures used across Europe over 2,000 years, shedding light on forgotten histories that shaped modern borders.
National identity, social class, inequality. David Olusoga shines a light on our fractured modern society through the lens of the past, exposing the fault lines dividing the UK.
The Vasa was built for war but also to impress the enemy and display power. However, she sank on her maiden voyage, taking about thirty people with her to the depths. Many were rescued from the water by small boats that were in Stockholm’s ström to witness the proud vessel. Today, 400 years later, researchers study this unique time capsule from the early 17th century. How powerful were Vasa’s 64 cannons? Who do the countless, colorful sculptures on the ship actually depict? And the big question: what was the reason the ship sank?
The Kids of Degrassi Street is a Canadian children's TV show that aired from 1979 to 1986, and is the first in the Degrassi series, about the lives of a group of children living on Degrassi Street in Toronto, Canada. It grew out of four short films: Ida Makes a Movie, Cookie Goes to the Hospital, Irene Moves In and Noel Buys a Suit, which originally aired as after-school specials on CBC Television in 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982, respectively. The show was acclaimed for its realistic depiction of every day children's lives and tribulations, and remains memorable to many Canadians because of this. Kids of Degrassi Street featured many of the same actors who would later appear on Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High, including Stacie Mistysyn, Neil Hope, Anais Granofsky, Sarah Charlesworth and others. However, their character names and families were different, so this series cannot technically be seen as an immediate precursor to the later shows.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau was one of the most striking, well-spoken and controversial leaders in Canadian history. He brought with him an almost rock-star aura of popularity to office in the 1960s, marking what was known as "Trudeaumania" in Canada during one of the country's most exciting and important times. Yet Trudeau's eccentricities were regularly mistaken for arrogance and he was often considered a traitor, particularly by those who wanted to see Quebec separated from the rest of Canada. With the province rocked by terrorist bombings and the nation disturbed by civil unrest, Trudeau was determined to "put the country in its place." Through hours of archival footage and interviews with Trudeau himself, Memoirs details the story of a man who used intelligence and charisma to bring together a country that was very nearly torn apart.
Set during the 18th century Napoleonic Wars, Horatio Hornblower, a young and shy midshipman, rises through the ranks to become an admiral.
Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure is a 1999 BBC television documentary presented by Michael Palin. It records Palin's travels as he visited many sites where Ernest Hemingway had been. The sites include Spain, Chicago, Paris, Italy, Africa, Key West, Cuba, and Idaho. After the trip was over Michael Palin wrote a book about the journey and his experiences. This book contains both Palin's text and many pictures by Basil Pao, the stills photographer who was on the team.
In the past, there was only one path to success in Mexican politics: the path of the PRI. But the PRI is not just a political party; it is the institution that shaped Mexico's public and political behavior. It survived armed uprisings, student movements, economic crises, electoral defeats, and corruption scandals, but it was arrogance, corruption, inconsistency, and abuse of power that ultimately brought it down.
Far from reality-show caricatures, this is true documentary filmmaking that brings viewers into the authentic and visceral experience of weekly therapy with four couples. World-class therapist Dr. Orna Guralnik deftly guides the couples through the minefield of honest confrontation with each other and with themselves, revealing the real-life struggles — and extraordinary breakthroughs — typically hidden behind closed doors.
A Very British Coup is a British political thriller series based on the novel by Chris Mullin. It stars Ray McAnally as the newly elected left-wing prime minister Harry Perkins, who soon finds himself up to his neck in conspiracy.
The untold secret story of war production that shaped the Second World War.
A group of history experts from London's King's College has created this documentary series that tries to assess the key political figures of WWII.
The story follows the Castaño Gil family, a prosperous cattle ranching family marked by the kidnapping and murder of patriarch José Castaño by the guerrilla. This event triggers the decision of brothers Fidel, Vicente, and Carlos to form a self-defense army to fight the guerrillas, intensifying the armed conflict in Colombia. However, what seemed like a unified struggle is threatened by betrayal.
A unique drama anthology series for our time, inspired by true events which happened in Kyiv in the first few weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. As the brutal war got underway, every second person left Kyiv. Yet every second person remained. These are their stories – variously moving, funny, sad, stark, unsettling, and uplifting.
On the 22nd June 1921 King George V and Queen Mary arrived in Belfast for the official opening of the first Northern Ireland parliament. Fearful for their lives, they had come to a city scarred by bitter sectarian violence. The King’s visit to Belfast was the culmination of three centuries of history – and three years of political brinkmanship and brutal communal violence. The occasion marked the creation of the new state of Northern Ireland. A line had been drawn on the map – a new border that separated the north and south of the island. One hundred years on, this is the story of the dramatic events that led to the partition of Ireland. A story that continues to reverberate to the present day - and dominate relationships between the islands of Britain and Ireland.
In 2049, the only remaining data center "Black Box" on the planet rendered uninhabitable by climate disaster. The recorder who resides in "Black Box" accidentally brings out the documentary made by 2023 musicians... The last record on earth left with music on the fast-destroying earth, "The Black Box on Earth"!
The coming of age events and everyday life-lessons of Cory Matthews, a Philadelphian who grows up from a young boy to a married man.
In 1988, renegade filmmaker Robert Altman and Pulitzer Prize–winning Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau created a presidential candidate, ran him alongside the other hopefuls during the primary season, and presented their media campaign as a cross between a soap opera and TV news. The result was the groundbreaking Tanner ’88, a piercing satire of media-age American politics.
This summer, prepare to see Donald Trump as you’ve never seen him before. Enter the world of Trump’s 2024 campaign and witness firsthand moments the American media will never show you.
The documentary series explores different political figures throughout history.
In a quest for world domination, the Nazis built some of the biggest and deadliest pieces of military hardware and malevolent technology in history. This is the stories of the engineers who designed them and how these structures sparked a technological revolution that changed warfare forever.
Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II wages an epic campaign to take the Byzantine capital of Constantinople and shapes the course of history for centuries.
Surviving power struggles, betrayals and plots, Hitler's inner circle of Nazi leaders seizes control of Germany and designs its disastrous future.
WWII in HD is a 10-part American documentary television miniseries that originally aired from November 15 to November 19, 2009 on the History Channel. The program focuses on the firsthand experiences of twelve American service members during World War II, including an Army nurse, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, a second generation Japanese American and prisoner of war, and an Austrian Jewish immigrant. The twelve members recorded their time in both theaters and some had later interviews; found footage from the battlefield was paired with the stories of the twelve service members. The episodes premiered on five consecutive days, with two episodes per day. The series is narrated by Gary Sinise and was produced by Lou Reda Productions in Easton, Pennsylvania, United States.
The American Revolution was at once a war for independence, a war of conquest, a civil war, and a world war, fought by neighbors on American farms and between global powers an ocean or more away. It impacted millions from Vermont’s Green Mountains to the swamps of South Carolina, from Indian Country to the Iberian Peninsula. In defeating the British Empire and giving birth to a new nation, the American Revolution turned the world upside-down. Thirteen colonies on the Atlantic Coast united in rebellion, won their independence, and established a republic that still endures. The American Revolution will present the story of the men and women of the Revolutionary generation, their humanity in victory and defeat, and the crisis that they lived through.
Antiques Roadshow is a British television show in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979. There are also international versions of the programme.
World War II In Colour is a 13-episode television documentary miniseries recounting the events of World War II narrated by Robert Powell. The show covers the Western Front, Eastern Front, and the Pacific War. It is on syndication in America on the Military Channel. This series is in full color, combining both original and colorized footage.
This captivating docuseries examines Winston Churchill's pivotal role in World War II and the formative events that made him an ideal leader for the era.
An immersive 360-degree narrative telling the epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never before been told on film. Featuring testimony from nearly 80 witnesses, including many Americans who fought in the war and others who opposed it, as well as Vietnamese combatants and civilians from both the winning and losing sides.
This ten-part docuseries tells the comprehensive story of the First World War, featuring excerpts written by Winston Churchill, Karen Blixen, Georges Clémenceau, David Lloyd George, Siegfried Sassoon and Rudolf Hess.
This documentary-series examines Grant's life story using his perspective and experiences to explore a turbulent time in history: the Civil War and Reconstruction.
A documentary on the American Civil War narrated by Ken Burns, covering the secession of the Confederacy to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Using highly advanced colourisation techniques, critical moments from World War II, from Stalingrad to The Battle of Britain, are shown in a whole new light.
The story of the Second World War through the personal accounts of a handful of men and women from four American towns. The war touched the lives of every family on every street in every town in America and demonstrated that in extraordinary times, there are no ordinary lives.
Will Smith hosts this look at the evolving, often lethal, fight for equal rights in America through the lens of the US Constitution's 14th Amendment.
Chronicles the lives of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, three members of the most prominent and influential family in American politics. It is the first time in a major documentary television series that their individual stories have been interwoven into a single narrative. This seven-part, fourteen hour film follows the Roosevelts for more than a century, from Theodore’s birth in 1858 to Eleanor’s death in 1962.
A documentary series that gives a historical account of the events of World War II, from its roots in the 1920s to the aftermath and the lives it profoundly influenced.
Through vividly enhanced archival footage and voices from all sides of the conflict, this docuseries brings WWII to life like never before.
The story of three decades of war told through the eyes of various men who were its key players: Roosevelt, Hitler, Patton, Mussolini, Churchill, Tojo, DeGaulle and MacArthur. The series examines the two wars as one contiguous timeline starting in 1914 and concluding in 1945 with these unique individuals coming of age in World War I before ultimately calling the shots in World War II.
