
Neil Oliver is given exclusive access to a team of historians and scientists investigating the final resting place of Alfred the Great. Alfred's bones have been moved so many times over the centuries that many...


Neil Oliver is given exclusive access to a team of historians and scientists investigating the final resting place of Alfred the Great. Alfred's bones have been moved so many times over the centuries that many...
2014-01-21
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A small island, a great history. Long before giving its name to the country, the Mozambique island had a fundamental role in the Indian Ocean during centuries. Anchor point for caravels, meeting point for pirates, it is a melting pot of races. It raises its walls in the middle of the sea. Its winding streets full of life reveal small palaces, churches and white houses. Its inhabitants are eccentric characters, proud of the island's past history. As we wander through the streets we meet an historian, a maritime archaeologist, a fisherman, the "doorman" of the island, a dancer, many spirits...
5.2England, 11th century. William the Conqueror (ca. 1027-1087) wins the Battle of Hastings (1066), changing the shape of medieval Europe and the course of English history. An account of the life of the extraordinary Norman warrior who became king.
7.6What is true and what is false in the hideous stories spread about the controversial figure of the Roman emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (12-41), nicknamed Caligula? Professor Mary Beard explains what is accurate and what is mythical in the historical accounts that portray him as an unbalanced despot. Was he a sadistic tyrant, as Roman historians have told, or perhaps the truth about him was manipulated because of political interests?
0.0Windsor Castle is a wonderful living example of the power and tradition of the Royal Family. For nearly 1,000 years it has stood as a symbol of the monarchy's strength, it is the largest working castle in the world and is still a cared for home of the Royal Family. But on one fateful day all that was threatened. On the morning of November 20th, 1992, fire broke out in the castle.It was a threat that nearly destroyed a building that centuries of warfare and change had not even dented. The blaze raced through state apartments, the Royal Chapel, St George's Hall, bedrooms and corridors, wiping out almost everything in its path. This is the story of that fire, as told by those who witnessed it and by those for whom Windsor Castle is a home. But it is also the amazing story of the astonishing effort that was made to restore the castle to its former glory and prove that there was life for Windsor Castle after the fire.
0.0Documentary looking at a century of cycling. Commissioned to mark the arrival of the 2014 Tour de France in Yorkshire, the film makes full use of stunning British Film Institute footage to transport the audience on a journey from the invention of the modern bike, through the rise of recreational cycling, to gruelling competitive races. Award-winning director Daisy Asquith artfully combines the richly-diverse archive with a hypnotic soundtrack from cult composer Bill Nelson in a joyful, absorbing watch for both cycling and archive fans.
6.8Why has letterpress printing survived? Irreplaceable knowledge of the historic craft is in danger of being lost as its caretakers age. Fascinating personalities intermix with wood, metal, and type as young printers save a traditional process in Pressing On, a 4K feature-length documentary exploring the remarkable community keeping letterpress alive.
"You who enter, leave all your hope behind." Själö was Finland's first mental hospital. The hospital opened in 1622. Intended for those suffering leprosy. But Själö hospital also had a secret ward. A house for the insane. The ungodly and mentally ill were deposited here forever and their property fell to the church. In 1889 Själö became a storage area for women with "unbearable insanity".
5.1Mohawk archaeologist Baptiste Asigny engages in a search for his ancestors following a tragic terrain slump in the Percival Molson Stadium.
0.0The exquisite Rosslyn Chapel is a masterpiece in stone. It used to be one of Scotland's best-kept secrets, but it became world-famous when it was featured in Dan Brown's the Da Vinci Code.
Music documentary about Billo Frómeta by director Rafael Marziano Tinoco from Venezuela.
7.6Using home videos recorded by her voice coach, Diana takes us through the story of her life.
0.0In Uganda, AIDS-infected mothers have begun writing what they call Memory Books for their children. Aware of the illness, it is a way for the family to come to terms with the inevitable death that it faces. Hopelessness and desperation are confronted through the collaborative effort of remembering and recording, a process that inspires unexpected strength and even solace in the face of death.
7.5A history of the French Revolution beginning from the decision of the king to convene the Etats-Generaux in 1789 in order to deal with France's debt problem. Part one spans the event until August 10, 1792 (when the King Louis XVI lost all authority and was imprisoned). Part two carries the story through the end of the terror in 1794.
9.0The story of Tasmanian-born actor Errol Flynn whose short & flamboyant life, full of scandals, adventures, loves and excess was largely played out in front of the camera - either making movies or filling the newsreels and gossip magazines. Tragically he was dead from the effects of drugs and alcohol by the time he was only 50 & the myths live on. But there is another side of Flynn that is less well known - his ambitions to be a serious writer and newspaper correspondent, his documentary films and his interest in the Spanish Civil War and Castro's Cuba
7.1In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance.
0.0A documentary about the concrete sections of the Berlin Wall that have been acquired by institutions or individuals since 1989 and are now scattered across the USA. Cherished or abandoned, they have become silent witnesses to recent history.
8.1The Institute of National Remembrance, Fish Ladder and Juice present “The Unconquered” – an animated film that shows the fight of Poles for freedom, from the first day of World War II to the fall of communism in 1989.
6.9In 1940, the Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle against the might of the Luftwaffe for control of the skies over Britain, thus preventing an attempted Nazi invasion.
6.8Summer 1936 - The Berlin Olympics, organized by the Nazi regime on the eve of World War II, acted as a grand showcase for a Germany that was athletic, peaceful and rejuvenated. The violence and hate that until then had reigned in the streets of Berlin suddenly vanished. Adolf Hitler became the triumphant host of European countries he would soon try to invade or face in a deadly global conflict.