Fri, Jan 5, 2007
Only once have two submarines dueled, with one submerged submarine sinking another. In February 1945, HMS Venturer hunted down and sank the U-Boat U864 off the coast of Norway. The WWII German submarine was loaded with 65 tons of mercury destined for use in Japanese weapons. 'Timewatch' examines the u-boat's final hour from both sides of the conflict and explores the dangers of the toxic wreck today.
Fri, Jan 12, 2007
In the 1960s, the Beatles inadvertently revolutionized the music industry, instigated the birth of youth culture and then, at the height of their popularity, inexplicably retired from the stage. Using unseen home movies, the Fab Four are shown during their touring years and lets the viewer see the record-setting musicians at work from the vantage of their road crew.
Fri, Jan 19, 2007
In 1783, thousands in Britain died as a result of an environmental disaster, choking on poisonous gases from a huge volcanic eruption in Iceland. The ensuing winter was one of the harshest ever recorded and claimed even more lives. This forgotten disaster has remained a mystery for the past 200 years. 'Timewatch' reveals the evidence and reviews the likelihood of a repetition.
Fri, Feb 2, 2007
Long before World War II, in WWI in fact, Germany began the world's first strategic bombing campaign. In an attempt to demoralize the people of Britain, in early 1915 a German zeppelin airship dropped bombs on the Norfolk town of Great Yarmouth. It was the start of a campaign lasting two-and-a-half years which killed 1,500 people. Timewatch reexamines the forgotten Blitz.
Fri, Feb 9, 2007
After quarreling over a bank loan, two men took part in the last fatal duel staged on Scottish soil. BBC News's James Landale retraces the steps of his ancestor, who made that final challenge. On 23 August 1826, two men met at dawn in a field just outside Kirkcaldy in southern Fife. Only one walked away alive. One was David Landale, a linen merchant and pillar of the community. The other was George Morgan, a soldier-turned-banker with a fiery temper. The pair had quarreled over a bank loan, an argument that had led the banker to spread rumours about his client's creditworthiness. The merchant had in turn taken his accounts elsewhere and written a stiff letter of complaint to the Bank of Scotland headquarters in Edinburgh. And that is where it would have stayed had not Morgan's temper got the better of him one morning when he struck Landale about the head with an umbrella in Kirkcaldy High Street.
Top-rated
Mon, Apr 16, 2007
In July 1942 the French authorities willingly collaborated with the Germans to round up Jews to be sent to concentration camps. It was a betrayal on a huge scale. Yet many ordinary French people risked their own lives to save thousands of Jewish children. Told in their own words, these are the hair-raising stories of four young Jewish children secretly hidden from the Nazis. Today, they look like anyone's grandparents. Their stories are of narrow escapes, incredible adventures, and great heroism. Also of painful loss, and guilt. As these survivors return to the places in the French countryside where they were hidden 60 years ago, powerful emotions are released; what happened cost them their parents and their childhoods, - and shaped the rest of their lives.
Fri, Apr 20, 2007
A team of archaeologists and scientists comb Crete for conclusive evidence that Europe's first great civilization, the Minoans, was destroyed by a devastating natural disaster. Is it possible that the sudden fate of the Minoans was the origin of Plato's tale of Atlantis, the fabulous city that was swallowed by the sea?
Fri, May 11, 2007
Thanks to the revolutionary work of forensic anthropologists Dr Fabian Kanz and Professor Karl Grossschmidt, 'Timewatch' has been able to establish a detailed picture of how gladiators may have lived, fought and died 2000 years ago in Ephesus. A tombstone identified one 50 year-old body as gladiator trainer Euxenius. His remains, and the skeletons of 68 other gladiators nearby, reveal much about the diet, lifestyle, medical care and fighting conditions of the legendary warriors.
Fri, May 18, 2007
In June 1953 Britain was still suffering from the privations imposed by World War II. Despite the hardships, the country was excited by a once-in-a-lifetime event. A young queen was beginning her reign. Thanks to television, the common Briton was able to see his monarch crowned for the first time in Britain's 1000 year history. Observers and participants shared their memories of the historic occasion.