Explore TV Series

Documentary series using dramatic reconstructions and testimony from witnesses to reveal the 'behind closed doors' politics of the Second World War.

Two-part documentary following World War I's biggest archaeological dig, taking place at Messines in Belgium, uncovering some of the best-preserved trenches, bunkers and tunnels ever discovered on the Western Front and revealing the realities of trench warfare, a Christmas football match and poison gas.

Gripping historical footage and expert commentary give detailed insights into the leading figures and decisive turning points of World War II.

The story of the Convoys is a tale of compelling drama, full of bravery and tragedy. It takes us into the lives of hundreds of thousands of unheralded men whose incredible everyday courage, played out in the cruel seas and cold skies of the North Atlantic changed the course of the war.

The Devil's Crown was a BBC limited series which dramatised the reigns of three medieval Kings of England: Henry II and his sons Richard the Lionheart and John. It was broadcast in thirteen 55-minute episodes between 30 April and 23 July 1978. Henry Plantagenet (latterly Henry II), sees his opportunity to seize the crown of England and create a kingdom of law and order. He cuts a deal with King Stephen in which Stephen will name him his heir, excluding his sons Eustace and William in exchange for a fragile truce. Stephen's sudden death elevates Henry to the throne. He may have been King of England, but the bulk of the Angevin Empire was in France, and it was this that Henry regarded as the Jewel in his Crown, maintained through a series of political marriages and complex allegiances. Henry pays homage to Louis VII, King of the Franks, for these lands, but it is clear that Henry is the shrewder and more ambitious of the two kings, having married Louis' ex-wife Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Using the latest research across the course of Hitler’s life, world-renowned experts investigate the man behind the monster and pinpoint the key moments in his meteoric rise and ultimate downfall.

Andrew Marr, former BBC political editor, interviews key newsmakers and shines a light on what's happening in the world. Includes a review of the Sunday newspapers, weather forecast and news bulletin.

This hit podcast turned TV show features four of the BBC's wittiest political commentators, bringing you the most digestible explanations of Brexit along with Westminster gossip, trivia, running gags, and daft small-talk.

The training programme of one of World War Two's most covert organisations, the Special Operations Executive or SEO, is resurrected.

Covers the 1941 Japanese military strike on a Hawaiian naval base in never before seen detail.

Historian Lucy Worsley debunks popular myths and royal as well as anti-royal propaganda about key events from British royal history including the English Reformation, the attack of the Spanish Armada and Queen Anne's forgotten legacy.

A new documentary series chronicling the decisions that have shaped Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past two decades.

Meet the architects behind the Nazi war machine. The Führer's most prominent planners, designers, architects, and builders tried to downplay their role in the Holocaust, but the truth is now exposed.

Written and presented by Martin Gilbert, Sir Winston Churchill's official biographer and the author of Churchill: A Life, The Complete Churchill is a treasury of rare newsreel clips and interviews with Churchill's family, staff, and political contemporaries, both the supporters and the detractors.

Remote sensing techniques tell the stories of WWII battles and campaigns, the details of which have been lost in the fog of war, misinterpreted or overtaken by the landscape.

Garth Barnard has a lifelong passion and unshakeable resolve to investigate how thousands of young Airmen from the Second World War died in catastrophic air accidents and training crashes.

In Britannia in 130, a young Roman officer named Marcus Flavius Aquila and his freed slave Esca search for the Ninth Legion's gold eagle standard, which vanished with the legion 13 years earlier.

How Vladimir Putin has used his experience as a spy to create and lead modern Russia: arrogance, anger and betrayal; military interventions, cyber-attacks and political assassinations.

Each episode explores a decisive clash that forged pharaonic power and sparked cultural exchanges that helped build one of the greatest empires in history.

Documentary series recounting the exploits of the Special Operations Executive in World War Two.

Michael Cockerell tells the inside story of Tony Blair's controversial ten years at the top. Candid interviews with Downing Street insiders, Cabinet colleagues and rivals cast new light on key events and on the Prime Minister's complex character.

Series tracing the events of 1940, when Britain faced alone the threat of invasion and defeat by Hitler's forces.

Docuseries that presents the story of June 6th, 1944 in an original and revelatory way.

As April 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the death of Adolf Hitler, this documentary investigates the before, during and final days of the most terrifying dictator of the western world.

Historian Dan Snow relives the story of a crack team of 133 young airmen whose mission is to destroy the great dams of Germany in World War Two using a revolutionary new bouncing bomb.

Secrets to Civilisation is a groundbreaking History series which explores the recent explosion in data about our planet's past, offering a completely fresh perspective on the ancient world from the Bronze Age to the fall of Rome.

A documentary about the Korean War by Thames Television that aired in the Summer of 1988 and in the US in November 1990 through WGBH Boston.

The irresistible rise and dramatic downfall of Margaret Thatcher. Her inner circle reveal how a political outsider won power and dominated British life through a turbulent decade.

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.

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.

The story of Hitler’s war on the Eastern Front – an attempt to liquidate the Russian people and gain living space for his superior Aryan race. It is a conquest that takes the Nazis all the way to the gates of Moscow and back to the heart of Berlin, and culminates in the collapse of the Third Reich. The series reveals the cunning strategy, defensive megastructures and military technology deployed in this devastating war of brutality between giants.

This 9-episodes documentary series extensively examines the history of Poland in the 20th Century, telling the story through archival films, newsreels, interviews, and readings from novels and poems.

The Second World War In Colour [1999] is a three-part documentary which reveals hours of previously unseen colour film of World War II. As almost all newsreel film was shot in black and white, this DVD offers a completely new portrait of the war. Dramatic colour footage from as early as 1933 shows home movies of Adolf Hitler and his cohorts, the devastation wrought by the Blitzkrieg, life on the home front, D-Day and the Allied invasion of France, British bombers defying German fighters, the horror of the Holocaust that troops met as they entered Germany, and the jubilation of the final Allied victory. With John Thaw's narration intercut with spoken accounts from the letters and diaries of those who fought, those who survived, and those the war claimed as victims, this documentary is an extraordinary remembrance of a monumental time in world history.

This series explores the facts and investigates the truth behind the British Redcoat Army's campaign in Zululand during 1879. The war was started by a country at the height of it's imperial powers and prosecuted by an army charged with the responsibility of implementing a policy known as Confederation - a proposal to unite various black and white factions in South Africa under British authority. Interviews, on-location footage and new geological surveys all help to reconstruct the conflicts and give insight into the tactics used in these epic battles.

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'.

Abdulrahman Thaher satirically discusses his experiences in Palestine and throughout the Arab world during the turbulent 1990s and early 2000s in this studio television program.

A documentary which explores the remarkable parallels between the careers of Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill, as well as their personal rivalry and animosity.

Explores the desperate struggle for survival on a hostile ocean during the longest and bloodiest battle of the Second World War.

As morning broke on the 1st of September 1939 and the first invasion force of German troops crossed the Polish border, few could have imagined the sheer scale of devastation, misery and bloodshed that the following years of war would bring. World War II saw the mobilisation of over 100 million military personnel as all corners of the globe were thrown into a state of 'total war', where each nation involved drained every resource at their disposal - human, natural, economic, industrial and military. The result was the conflict to end all conflicts. With over 500 minutes of footage, this gripping documentary series covers all the major events, people and machinery involved in the 20th Century's most terrible conflict and examines the roles of all three branches of the armed forces - navy, air force and army.

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL NAVY begins with King Henry VIII’s first fleet, moves on to the exploits of Sir Francis Drake, the showdown with Spain’s “invincible” Armada in 1588, Nelson’s success at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the Dreadnought in 1906, the sinking of the Bismark in WWII, and the Falklands War in 1982.

A hard hitting ITV series that follows Royal Marines recruits from day one of training, through 32 weeks of the longest and hardest military training in the world and then to the front line in Afghanistan.

WW2 Treasure Hunters pairs Britain's foremost amateur WW2 detectorist with Madness frontman Suggs, as they uncover historical finds from across the UK. Using state-of-the-art technology, original WW2 archives and maps, the pair work together to identify the best places to dig at forgotten sites, including former military bases, airfields, POW camps and barracks. Once located, they then go on to perform extensive digs to excavate the relics. As the artefacts are unearthed, the presenters turn detective, revealing the stories and people behind the finds. They meet with survivors, experts and historians to understand what happened at each of the locations.

The Secret War was a six–part television series produced by the BBC in conjunction with the Imperial War Museum documenting various technical developments during the Second World War. It was aired during 1977 and presented by William Woollard. The programme opening music was an excerpt from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. The closing music was by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The 'seventh' episode often included with video versions of the series was not part of the original series but produced separately.

Series following an epic struggle for power in medieval Scotland, told from the point of view of the feuding clans.

Heroes Of The Skies is a new six-part documentary series, which airs on Channel 5 from Thursday 20th September at 8pm. Presented by Lord Ashcroft, Heroes Of The Skies is an ambitious, ground-breaking programme that tells the stories of some of the most heroic airborne combat missions from history. Using vintage aircraft such as Spitfires fighters and Lancaster bombers, aerial stunt teams and state-of-the-art camera technology, the series brings to life the exploits of the world's greatest military air heroes. The series features realistic mid-air combat sequences, revealing interviews with the last surviving veterans, rare archive footage and cutting-edge CGI to transport viewers back in time to experience the reality of air combat.

Experience the liberation of Western Europe from every angle, as astonishingly colourised and expertly restored footage bring the historic turning point of World War II back to vivid life.

For Whom the Bell Tolls is a British television series first aired by BBC in 1965, based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway. It stars John Ronane, Ann Bell, Julian Curry, Glynn Edwards and Joan Miller. The film was adapted for television by Giles Cooper and was directed by Rex Tucker. It consisted of four 45-minute episodes, the first of which aired on 2 October 1965. According to the BBC archives none of the episodes of the film still exist.

Court Martial is an ITC Entertainment and Roncom Productions co-production crime drama television series set during World War II. The series details the investigations of a Judge Advocate General's office. It aired for one 26-episode season from September 5, 1965 to April 4,1695 on London's Associated Television (ATV). Twenty episodes were shown on ABC in the United States between April 8 and September 2, 1966. The series had its genesis in a two-part episode of NBC's Kraft Suspense Theatre, "The Case Against Paul Ryker", which was later re-edited into a 1968 theatrical feature, Sergeant Ryker. The series won the1966 British Society of Film and Television TV award for Best Dramatic Series.

Politics Now was a Scottish political programme produced and broadcast by STV in northern and central Scotland. The programme, broadcast for 40 weeks of the year, on a Thursday evenings after the main ITV news, covered all of the big Political developments in Westminster, Brussels and Holyrood in detail. The programme was presented by STV's political editor Bernard Ponsonby with features reports and contributions from the rest of STV's political unit - Westminster correspondent Harry Smith, political correspondent Jamie Livingstone and freelance reporter David Torrance. The programme was originally presented by former political correspondent Michael Crow until his departure from the station in January 2009. The series was replaced in 2011 by Scotland Tonight, which broadcast Mondays to Thursdays on STV covering current affairs and politics.

On 6th June 1944, 156,000 men took part in D-Day, the largest amphibious invasion in history. Its aim: to land in France and liberate Europe from four years of Nazi domination. In this series, the first 24 crucial hours of this incredible story is told — minute by minute — by the last surviving men who witnessed the horrors and victory unfold. Diaries and stories, told by those left behind, recount the personal experience of the men who were there. It was a day that not only changed their lives, but changed the course of the Second World War.

Rory Stewart tells the story of foreign intervention in Afghanistan from the 19th century to the present day.

In this immersive, gripping documentary, journalist Christo Grozev - famous for exposing Putin's murder machinery - discovers that he's under threat and goes on the run.