Unsinkable: Japan's Lost Battleship (Musashi)

How did this unsinkable giant go down so fast? Was it overwhelming American air power? Or a fatal design flaw? Musashi was literally the King Kong of the sea— the largest and most heavily armed battleship of its time. Built in total secret Musashi was finally unleashed in the world’s largest sea battle, which began on October 24, 1944 in the Philippines. Japan’s navy gambled on winning a decisive victory to turn the tide of World War II. Instead Musashi, the pride of the Japanese fleet, ended up at the bottom of the ocean. How did this unsinkable giant go down so fast? Was it overwhelming American air power? Or a fatal design flaw? 70 years later American deep sea explorers and Japanese military experts are determined to solve this 70-year old mystery. But first they must find the missing Musashi.

The Remarkable Miss North

In the late 1800s, Marianne North traveled to the far corners of the world in search of exotic botanical life, paintbrush in hand. This documentary tells the life and adventures of this gifted Victorian trailblazer. Unbound by social convention she embarked on a project to paint the world’s plants, a legacy that is still as mesmerising today as it was when her gallery at Kew Garden was first revealed in 1882.

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.

Bettany Hughes' Lost Worlds: The Nabataeans

For decades, historian Bettany Hughes has been fascinated by the enigmatic kingdom of Nabataea. Petra, their iconic capital, was part of a vast empire that is only now revealing its secrets. Seemingly lost to history, it's time to tell their story and show they were as important as Ancient Greece, Rome, or Egypt. Bettany traces their incense trade routes from the Arabian Peninsula to the Mediterranean, accessing newly revealed research across Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Greece, Italy and Oman. From towering tombs to underwater temples, Bettany unveils the Nabataeans' spectacular story from the periphery of their world to its very centre.

The Dambusters

The story begins in Spring 1943 as squadron leader Guy Gibson assembles and trains a crack team of 133 young airmen whose mission is to destroy the great dams of Germany using a revolutionary new bouncing bomb. If successful they’ll deal a hammer blow to the Nazi war effort. Pushing human skill and engineering capabilities to limit, this is the story of the single mission that can change the course of the Second World War. Over the course of three episodes, historian Dan Snow relives the nail-biting countdown to the most daring and ingenious bombing raids in 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.

Tombs Of Egyptian Priestesses

A team of Egyptian archaeologists has discovered a previously unknown cemetery that opens a window onto a unique period in the history of ancient Egypt - a time when the country was ruled by rich and powerful princesses, "The God’s Wives of Amun." We follow the excavation of the tombs in real time and witness the discovery of amazing artifacts belonging to these elite women. It was a time when Egypt was ruled by the Kushites from Nubia. To cement their rule, the Nubian kings sent their wives and daughters to rule over their new Egyptian conquests. These women embraced the local culture and religion and became known by the name of the all-powerful Egyptian god Amun. They ruled like kings, but having female rulers empowered women throughout Egyptian society. Through the discoveries in the cemetery, we explore one of the most mysterious periods of Egyptian history, when power was in the hands of women.

The Lost Colony Of Roanoke: New Evidence

A definitive investigation into one of the biggest mysteries of all time - what happened to the English colonists of Roanoke Island who seemingly disappeared without a trace. This two part special follows the work of British archaeologists who try to weed through the conspiracy theories and speculation, and find the truth.

Secrets of the Exhibit

Hidden behind the staid atmosphere of most museums is a vibrant and exciting world that pits science and physical evidence against philosophy and conjecture. SECRETS OF THE EXHIBIT will take you deep into the fascinating world behind the orderly, perfectly-labeled displays. From chain mail to dinosaurs, from theft and authentication to forensics and fables, each episode will engage the audience with stories and timely visuals that will both surprise and intrigue.

Passage

PASSAGE charts the fatal true story of John Rae (1813-1893), The Hudson’s Bay Company doctor, who solved the two great mysteries of the 19th Century: the fate of the doomed Sir John Franklin expedition, and the location of the last navigable link in the North West Passage. Rae’s findings included the tragic news that the Franklin crew had resorted to cannibalism, and it was this truth that was his undoing.