Documentary
Two-part documentary telling the story of the battle for control of the North Sea during the First World War.

As the Great War began, the Royal Navy rushed to Orkney's great natural harbour, Scapa Flow. David Hayman uncovers the compelling characters of the little-known naval war - the cautious Admiral Jellicoe and the playboy Admiral Beatty. The story of great technologies and epic battles for control of the North Sea.
In the second of this two-part series, David Hayman explores Germany's World War One U-boat threat and the fascinating and dastardly ploys Britain used against the submarines.

Self - Presenter

Mount Kologet, Goldsboro, Palomares, Thule… Four nuclear accidents, four stains on the history of the Cold War. Four names that are now forgotten. These events lay undiscovered for years having been classified as official secrets. Now published, the files show how the relentless standoff between the two superpowers spiraled out of control and led us to the brink of obliteration.

Blueprints of War will strive to encompass the most famous military conflicts, leaders and weapons throughout time. From the beaches of Normandy to the fields of Gettysburg and the minefields of Vietnam, Blueprints of War will traverse the battlefields of the globe telling the story hour-by-hour and minute-by-minute

For two weeks, the aircraft carrier strike group Carrier Strike Group 8 is conducting one of the toughest exercises in the US Navy. The tactical cooperation of several crews from three different nations is paramount in this training exercise. The 7,000 sailors on board are repeatedly subjected to gunfire and attacks. Fires are extinguished and evacuations are practiced.

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.

Myths die hard, and the history of the 20th century is no exception to this rule. Even today, we hold popular beliefs that we take for Evangelical truths. Thus, we believe that Hiroshima caused Japan to surrender, that the Marshall Plan saved Europe, that Adolf Hitler was a military genius, or that Mao Zedong was a necessary evil for China’s modernization. Of course, these judgements contain some truth; but, too broad-stroked to be accurate, they contradict the historical reality by denying its complexity. What if the truth was slightly different? Through an exploration of great national or international myths, this full archive documentary collection revisits the key moments of the 20th century with a new perspective in order to provide a new, smarter and more subtle interpretation, bringing elements to light that have been forgotten or sometimes overshadowed.

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.

February 1916. World War I has been raging for two years and has killed over three million people, neither side gaining the upper hand. The Germans mobilize more artillery and men in Verdun than in any other offensive -- for three hundred days -- but the French hold out. Constructed from over five hundred hours of restored, colorized archival footage.

Colorized historical footage in ascending order of World War 1. Not only the relatively known Flanders and France battles, but also the generally unknown Italian-Austrian, German-Polish-Russian, Japanese-German, Ottoman Empire- Allied and African German Colonies, and other unknown or forgotten fronts and battles.

Sir Tony Robinson, the history presenter and former Black Adder star, tells the story of the Great War. How it started, how it changed the world and how it finished with a 100 day flourish of military brilliance, which finally put an end to four years of incompetence and slaughter. With the aid of hundreds of amazing archived 3D images of the Great War which chronicle WWI from start to finish and breathe new life into the story, Tony Robinson's World War I allows modern audiences to see the war in a completely new way. Robinson will also show how the Great War changed British people for generations to come – liberating large portions of the working class, powering the rise of the Labour party and breaking the old ties of service to the aristocracy.