The Real Hunt For Red October

This two part docu-drama reveals, for the first time, the astonishing secret story behind the Russian submarine, Red October. The blockbuster movie The Hunt for Red October tells the story of a rogue Soviet nuclear submarine attempting to defect to the US while being hunted by both the American and Soviet Navies. Based on the best-selling novel by Tom Clancy, it reveals the technology, drama and character of an underwater battle. What few realise is that the book and film were inspired by a classified nuclear confrontation that some believe changed the course of world history.

Jack The Ripper: Written In Blood

From leading producer Nutopia, JACK THE RIPPER: WRITTEN IN BLOOD is a gripping drama-documentary series that reveals a shocking new angle on the infamous Whitechapel murders: how a gang of ruthless reporters at The Star Newspaper created the legend of Jack the Ripper, and helped him get away with murder. Across three hours, we’ll go inside the real-life thriller of how penny-a-line journalist Fred Best and his colleagues at The Star, including its cunning editor TP O'Connor, manipulated the gruesome murders to sell papers. They actively misled the police investigation by planting false leads and fabricating evidence, and printing speculation as fact. With every lurid headline and forged letter, in which they pertained to be the killer, Fred and his cohorts steered the hunt away from the real murderer and made a fiasco of Scotland Yard’s investigation. By identifying false suspects, The Star whipped up mass hysteria and turned the streets of Whitechapel into a battleground, fuelling mob justice and violent suspicion. The city spiralled into panic, with the police chasing shadows while the real killer slipped through their grasp. In their relentless pursuit of headlines, Fred and his colleagues at The Star, didn’t just create the myth of Jack the Ripper, they ensured he would never be caught. They made him the story, guaranteeing he became a sensation, whilst the tragic stories of the murderers victims were lost amidst the press hysteria. The Star’s underhand tactics laid the foundation for modern tabloid journalism, a legacy of scandal, fear, and media-fuelled frenzy, that still shapes our world today.

Curse Of The Ancients

From wars to earthquakes and floods to famines – these are the events that have helped shape our modern world. In each episode, Professor Alice Roberts takes viewers on a journey across Europe and North Africa to discover epic sites and landmarks - cities abandoned, battlefields long forgotten and civilisations toppled and lost to the mists of time. To our ancient ancestors, suffering these catastrophic events, it must have seemed they were cursed, but science is now exploding those myths and re-writing history.

The First World War: The People's Story

THE FIRST WORLD WAR: THE PEOPLE’S STORY draws on an extraordinary and little known archive of two hundred interviews with the last survivors from the battlefields and the home front, filmed over the past twenty-five years. Vivid and heart breaking accounts are told from the main theatres of war - such as Passchendaele and the Somme - as well as on the home front where families were devastated by the loss of loved ones. One of the most catastrophic wars in human history is seen and heard as never before, as emotional testimonies are combined with digitally restored WWI footage to tell THE PEOPLE'S STORY.

The Black West: A Counter History Of The Wild West

It is one of the West’s most powerful myths. The story of how the American West was won - by great heroes and white men. BLACK WEST tells the flip side of that myth. In 1875, one of four American cowboys was Black—Black sheriffs, Black trappers and Black soldiers. Some were adopted by Native American tribes, while others became slaves. These anonymous heroes were the inspiration for many great Westerns; yet Hollywood has erased them from the silver screen. Pieced together from archives, carefully crafted re-enactments and first-hand historical accounts, BLACK WEST restores these invisible heroes to their rightful place in history.

Auschwitz Untold: In Colour

AUSCHWITZ UNTOLD: IN COLOUR tells the real story of the liberation of Auschwitz, for the first time in colour. By bringing colour to the original black and white archive and telling survivors’ stories, this special really brings to life and commemorates the memory of those who were murdered in the name of bigotry and hate. It acts as both a memorial to their passing and a warning to the world at a time when the memory of the Holocaust becomes increasingly abstract and remote. AUSCHWITZ UNTOLD: IN COLOUR creates a sense of “re-lived present tense” – with both testimony, and colourised archive working in unison to deliver a riveting, humanised narrative that will compel and move audiences.

Cracking The Code

CRACKING THE CODE uncovers some of the world’s most famous – and infamous – encryptions. From bizarre ancient markings to random numbers and letters, codes and ciphers have been used for millennia to send secret messages, hide identities and operate outside the law. Unravelling these codes can unlock military secrets, unmask deadly enemies and even decode lost civilizations.

USS Indianapolis: The Last Chapter

This scientific detective story details the discovery of the USS Indianapolis wreck site three and a half miles below the Philippine Sea. The ship’s sinking in the final days of Second World War was the largest loss of life in US Naval history, and the harrowing survival story of 316 sailors drifting in failing life preservers is legendary. The programme combines never-before-seen archival footage and CGI with the moving accounts of the few remaining survivors, testimony of historians and spectacular footage of the well-preserved wreck.

Style in Steel

Explore the multiple and complex roles that automobiles have played in our lives. Celebrate the automobile, its enduring beauty, and the art that has been inspired by the influences of 20th century designers.

Trains That Changed The World

In this series, we reveal how four iconic trains revolutionised rail travel – and inspired incredible railway projects the world over. For over 200 years, trains have transformed our lives. They have changed the way we travel, the way we work…even the way we holiday. In this series, we reveal how four iconic trains revolutionised rail travel – and inspired incredible railway projects the world over. We’ll journey aboard legendary railway engines such as The Flying Scotsman and Stephenson’s Rocket. Each episode will explore an area of life that saw dramatic transformation thanks to the train. We’ll learn how trains made us go faster; how they transformed our cities; how they powered industry and how they helped us to get away.