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Documentary
The Crusades: Crescent and the Cross is a documentary that tells the story of the battles between the Christian Crusaders and the Muslims for the city of Jerusalem.
We will follow the two great waves of crusader armies - that of the nobility led by Count Raymond IV of Toulouse, and that of the commoners exhorted into mobilisation by Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless-en route to Constantinopole and from there across the Anatolian plains to Jerusalem. With CGI-enhanced visuals we will reconstruct key battles to learn how the crusaders would manage to conquer one city after another without supply lines.
Upon conquering Jerusalem, the crusader-settlers were faced with an entirely new dilemma: their survival in a hostile territory far from home. This programme will tell the untold story of the crusades--one that charts the complexity of Muslim-Christian relations. In the wake of conquest, the crusader-settlers embark on lavish building projects in their new territory, not only refurbishing the Christian holy sites such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but also constructing a fantastic chain of fortresses along the Mediterranean perimeter of the kingdom to protect it from invasion.
An enigma even in his own time, Saladin became a hero in the West long before his rediscovery in the Muslim world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His famous truce with Richard the Lionheart is the most iconic moment in the entire history of the crusades. But why did Saladin negotiate a truce when he won nearly every battle? This programme will tease out the hidden history of Saladin, Richard and the Third Crusade. Saladin unexpectedly rises to power upon the death of Nur Al-Din. Under him 'jihad', or Islamic counter-crusade, becomes a coherent rallying concept for the Muslim world. Unifying Syria and Egypt, he defeats the crusaders at Hattin to reconquer Jerusalem in 1187.
At the death of Saladin the Crusader kingdom has been reduced to a narrow strip of land and a handful of ports. A fourth crusade never reaches the Holy Land, setting its sights instead on Constantinopole. One crusade after naother is launched to shore up the faltering crusader territories. But finally the crusader settlers are evicted by the Mamluks in 1291. Through the eyes of Mongols, Mamluks and the beleaguered Crusaders we will witness the collapse of an empire of faith.
Narrator
With unprecedented and exclusive access, VICE News journalist and filmmaker Medyan Dairieh spent three weeks filming alone inside the self-proclaimed caliphate of the Islamic State. The Islamic State, a hardline Sunni jihadist group that formerly had ties to al Qaeda, has conquered large swathes of Iraq and Syria. Previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the group has announced their intention to reestablish the caliphate and declared their leader, the shadowy Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as the caliph.
Series in which intrepid presenter Kate Humble follows the ancient frankincense trade route of Arabia across the amazing modern world of the Middle East. Kate's journey along the 2,000-mile trail that first connected the Arab world with the West takes her on a quest that's steeped in history, searing with desert heat, and full of characters and adventure.
Ross Kemp journeys to the Middle East where the bitter conflict has cost tens of thousands of lives and forced millions to live in fear and misery. Ross visits Gaza one year on from Operation Cast Lead, a massive Israeli military assault on the Gaza Strip that saw as many as 1,400 Palestinians die, thousands of homes destroyed, and much of Gaza's infrastructure obliterated. He then travels to Israel and discovers a country divided, one that is surrounded by enemies and living under the constant fear of rocket attacks and suicide bombs from groups dedicated to its destruction.
Wildest Middle East explores the most remote and most surprising corners of this ancient land. Turkey’s vast and varied landscapes range from snow covered mountain passes, to spectacular coral reefs. Arabia is the world’s largest peninsular and harbours a wealth of wildlife in its seas and mountains. Egypt’s rich lands are nurtured by the life-giving waters of the iconic Nile, and the startlingly wide range of natural habitats in Jordan has resulted in a treasure chest of wildlife. This stunning series showcases the landscape and wildlife as never seen before.
From the streets of Afghanistan comes an all-new series profiling the U.S. military's most dangerous job. The first of its kind, Bomb Patrol Afghanistan is a groundbreaking docu-series giving viewers an unprecedented first person view of one of the most dangerous jobs in the world in one of the most dangerous places on earth. G4 embeds viewers within the U.S. Navy E.O.D. (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Unit as it trains state-side prior to deployment. Outside the wire in war-torn Afghanistan, helmet and body mounted cameras and state-of-the-art robotics bring you a never before seen look at the intensity of war. Viewers will witness as the elite team searches out, disarms and destroys an array of deadly explosives with one goal: to save civilian and military lives and return home safely. This is war like you've never seen before.
