Four kings from the House of Stuart sat on the English throne from 1603 to 1688. It was a time of great religious struggle and political instability. The Gunpowder Plot nearly wiped out King James I. The Thirty Years War broke out on the continent. A civil war erupted which led to the public beheading of King Charles I and the birth of a commonwealth headed by Oliver Cromwell. London was ravaged by the plague and the Great Fire of London. Throughout this series we look at the reign of the Stuarts through the powerful Wynn family at Gwydir Castle in North Wales, one of the best time capsules from that era. The story of the Wynn family reflects the turbulent history of this Stuart era. They had close connections with this new royal house and their status would rise and fall with the successes and failures of Stuart rule.
Actor and British national treasure Sir David Jason travels around the UK and beyond to reveal the secret places and people who act as guardians and gatekeepers of the incredible but true story of Britain’s spy history.
A documentary which explores the remarkable parallels between the careers of Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill, as well as their personal rivalry and animosity.
The Nazi era from 1993 to 1945 is illustrated through archived material, with insights and anecdotes provided by world-leading experts and commentators.
At the time World War I broke out, the King of England, the Czar of Russia, and the Kaiser of Germany were first cousins. This two-part series looks at the role played by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and King George V of England, and their relationships with each other, in the outbreak of war. Mismanaging their countries and mishandling foreign policy, they failed to adapt to the forces of nationalism and democracy, and so brought tumbling down their own ideal of a Europe governed by the descendants of Queen Victoria. While it was war that delivered the final blow, this fascinating series shows how the problems had set in much earlier. A two part miniseries.
One month after the outbreak of World War I, Paris is bombarded by German airplanes. Parisians witness a whole new type of warfare. Five pilots from France, Germany, and Britain take us into the world of the greatest "flying aces" of the First World War.
An elegantly produced documentary divided into eight parts and running nearly seven hours in length, The Romanovs beautifully encapsulates the epic story of the Russian Dynasty over the course of over three hundred years.
As 40 Spitfires and Hurricanes assemble for a unique flypast marking the 75th anniversary of Battle of Britain Day, two special programmes commemorate the heroes Churchill famously called 'The Few'.
The decline of Hitler’s empire from the inside out by exploring the decline of the Nazis through the perspective of Hitler's bumbling generals and a paranoid Fuhrer.
During the 1999 Russian Presidential elections, the two leading candidates are Igor Komarov, a former Colonel of the KGB, and Nikolai Nikolayev, a retired General of the Russian Army. When a car bomb explodes outside one of Komarov's pharmaceutical companies, and a virus is stolen from inside, an investigation by the FSB ensues headed by FSB agents Sonia Astrova and Andrei Kasanov. Their investigation is obstructed by the Director of the FSB, Anatoly Grishin.
Power, terror, performance. These notions define our perception of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party at the height of the Third Reich. But behind these impressions Hitler was a rather ordinary man. This compelling new series tells the story of one of the most comprehensive, wide-reaching, and successful marketing campaigns in modern history. It describes in a whole new way the rise of Adolf Hitler.
Nearly 1,000 years ago, the Vikings left Scandinavia and settled across Europe - giving their name to Normandy along the way - before their Norman descendants seized the English throne at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. But what do we really know about them? By combining expert analysis with compelling drama, 'The Last Journey of the Vikings' (Swedish title: 'Vikingarnas sista resa') tells a new and often surprising story about this complex people.
At the outset of the Yalta Conference on February 4, 1945, the «Big Three» were all optimistic: victory was in no doubt, and the accord that they had achieved seemed likely to preserve the values they had fought for.
However, in just a few months, nothing would remain of this agreement apart from irreconcilable differences. United in war, the Allies would reveal themselves as divided and rivals in peace. How can such a rapid failure of a real effort at entente be explained? With the Yalta Conference in 1945 to 1953, discover a new world order drawn up by three men, looking for a lasting peace... that would lead inevitably to the Cold War.
Combining archive footage, photographs, original letters and unique testimonies, these two episodes revisit this crucial period in History. A full immersion into postwar years and an emerging new world order.