Popular Documentary TV Shows on Disney Plus

Modern Marvels

1993

Modern Marvels

1993
7.9
HISTORY’s longest-running series moves to H2. Modern Marvels celebrates the ingenuity, invention and imagination found in the world around us. From commonplace items like ink and coffee to architectural masterpieces and engineering disasters, the hit series goes beyond the basics to provide insight and history into things we wonder about and that impact our lives. This series tells fascinating stories of the doers, the dreamers and sometime-schemers that create everyday items, technological breakthroughs and manmade wonders. The hit series goes deep to explore the leading edge of human inspiration and ambition.
Ancient Aliens

2010

Ancient Aliens

2010
6.9
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.
Life Below Zero

2013

Life Below Zero

2013
7.5
Viewers go deep into an Alaskan winter to meet six tough and resilient residents as they try to stay one step ahead of storms and man-eating beasts to make it through to spring. The closest neighbor to Sue Aikens is more than 300 miles away. Eric Salitan subsists solely on what he hunts and forages. Chip and Agnes Hailstone catch fish for currency in bartering for supplies, and Andy and Kate Bassich use their pack of sled dogs for transportation.
The Incredible Dr. Pol

2011

The Incredible Dr. Pol

2011
8.6
Set in Central Michigan's farm country, this reality series follows the work done at Pol Veterinary Services. Specializing in large farm animals, Dr. Pol treats horses, pigs, cows, sheep, alpacas, goats, chickens and even an occasional reindeer. The program also features Dr. Brenda Grettenberger, who has worked with Dr. Pol since 1992.
The UnXplained

2019

The UnXplained

2019
6.5
Explore the world’s most fascinating, strange and inexplicable mysteries. Each episode features compelling contributions from scientists, historians, witnesses and experiencers—each seeking to shed light on how the seemingly impossible actually can happen.
Science of Stupid

2014

Science of Stupid

2014
6.1
This show combines cold hard science with some of the craziest, most spectacular and painful user generated clips ever recorded. Richard Hammond introduces all manner of mishaps featuring brave, if misguided individuals from around the world and then explains the science behind their failure and humiliation with the use of bespoke animations and super slo-mo cinematography. Every episode features between 50 and 60 clips of misadventure – ordinary folk making extraordinary mistakes. Each week watch stunts involving weightlifting, shooting guns or jumping over cars, that have gone wrong, paused, re-wound, and re-played and analysed to determine exactly what went wrong and why. Richard explains the physics, chemistry and biology at play, then presents forensic details to explain the stupidity that resulted in failure. He’ll look at everything including weight, volume, momentum, combustion and even how the brain operates. This is misadventure explained. This is the Science of Stupid.
LIGHT & MAGIC

2022

LIGHT & MAGIC

2022
7.7
Granted unparalleled access, Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan takes viewers on an adventure behind the curtains of Industrial Light & Magic, the special visual effects, animation and virtual production division of Lucasfilm. Learn what inspired some of the most legendary filmmakers in Hollywood history, and follow their stories from their earliest personal films to bringing George Lucas’ vision to life.
Science of Stupid

2014

Science of Stupid

2014
Hosted by Jochen Schropp, this series combines hard data and scientific observations with some of the most outrageous, hilarious and spectacularly painful bloopers ever recorded on video.
The Food That Built America

2019

The Food That Built America

2019
7.8
The fascinating stories of the families behind the food that built America, those who used brains, muscle, blood, sweat and tears to get to America's heart through its stomach, those who invented new technologies and helped win wars.
Marvel Studios Legends

2021

Marvel Studios Legends

2021
7.4
Revisit the epic heroes, villains and moments from across the MCU in preparation for the stories still to come. Each dynamic segment feeds directly into the upcoming series — setting the stage for future events. This series weaves together the many threads that constitute the unparalleled Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Drain the Oceans

2018

Drain the Oceans

2018
7.4
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.
History's Greatest Mysteries

2020

History's Greatest Mysteries

2020
7.4
Investigates a wide range of historically compelling topics and the mysteries surrounding each including the Titanic, D.B. Cooper, Roswell, John Wilkes Booth, and more. Fresh, new evidence and perspectives will be showcased, such as never-before-released documents, personal diaries and DNA evidence.
Stan Lee's Superhumans

2010

Stan Lee's Superhumans

2010
6.8
Stan Lee's Superhumans is a television series that debuted August 5, 2010 on History. It is hosted by comic book superhero creator Stan Lee and follows contortionist Daniel Browning Smith, "the most flexible man in the world", as he searches the globe for real-life superhumans – people with extraordinary physical or mental abilities. Many of the segments are fraudulenty manipulated and these appear side by side with other segments that are valid. For example, one segment shows a person applying an electric drill to their body[ after it is used to drill a hole in wood], except the direction of rotation of the drill is fraudulently reversed in the process.
Europe from Above

2019

Europe from Above

2019
7.3
Using the very latest in drone and aerial photographic technology, tour across countries and their seasons, getting a unique view from above.
The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch

2020

The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch

2020
7.9
The investigation of the world’s most mysterious hot spot for UFO and “High Strangeness” phenomena with astrophysicist Dr. Travis Taylor who joins real estate tycoon Brandon Fugal, along with his team of scientists and researchers on Utah’s notorious Skinwalker Ranch. The team utilizes cutting edge technology to investigate the 512-acre property to uncover the possibly “otherworldly” perpetrators behind it all. With everything from mysterious animal deaths to hidden underground workings and possible gateways that open to other dimensions, witness the close encounters that go beyond conventional explanation, as the team risks everything to finally reveal the ultimate secret of Skinwalker Ranch.
Brain Games

2011

Brain Games

2011
7.4
Get ready to have your mind messed with! "Brain Games" is a groundbreaking series that uses interactive experiments, misdirection and tricks to demonstrate how our brains create the illusion of seamless reality through our memory, through our sensory perception, and how we focus our attention.
Ice Road Rescue

2015

Ice Road Rescue

2015
7.7
Reality series following a group of truck drivers in the mountain passes of Norway, some of the most dangerous roads in all of Europe.
Africa's Deadliest

2011

Africa's Deadliest

2011
7
Africa is a land sculpted by time where animals have evolved complex weapons to arm them in the battle to live another day. An elephant's tusks can defend, or attack. An octopus uses camouflage to find food, or hide from an enemy. A Cape Fur Seal's speed and agility are valuable tools to catch a penguin, but ineffectual against a Great White Shark. A single hippopotamus holds a pride of twelve lions at bay with his sheer bulk, but backs down when faced with the piercing teeth of another hippo. With lethal weapons wielded by fearsome predators and prey, animals walk a precarious path, here among Africa's Deadliest.
Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted

2019

Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted

2019
7.6
Follow Gordon Ramsay as he meets with indigenous people around the globe to learn about the cultures, dishes and flavors unique to each location. Each episode concludes with Ramsay challenging himself with a local food legend by his side - putting his newfound skills to the test as they cook a feast together for the natives.
Mars

2016

Mars

2016
7
The maiden crew of the Daedalus spacecraft must push itself to the brink of human capability in order to successfully establish the first sustainable colony on Mars. Set both in the future and in the present day, this series blends scripted elements set in the future with documentary vérité interviews with today’s best and brightest minds in modern science and innovation, illuminating how research and development is creating the space technology that will enable our first attempt at a mission to Mars.