Saving Places

Saving history - one building at a time. SAVING PLACES documents the hands-on restoration of a threatened but historically meaningful building by a team of artisans who use the materials, designs and craftsmanship of a bygone era.

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.

China's Ghost Army

Uncovering the secret of how Emperor Qin Shihuangdi’s army of terracotta warriors was made reveals the true extent of the First Emperor’s power.

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.

Queen’s Coronation In Colour

This film takes us behind the scenes of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, arguably the most elaborate ceremony of the 20th century, to celebrate not only the Royal Family and those who masterminded the Coronation but the people from all walks of life who contributed to making it a unique occasion. Presented by British actor Alexander Armstrong.

Sex And Sensibility

The popularity of costume dramas showing Regency England as a hotbed of sexual tension, salacious gossip and extra-marital affairs continues to captivate audiences' imagination around the world. Sex and Sensibility lifts the lid on the racy real sex lives of Georgian and Regency gentry. Combining the locations of Netflix's Bridgerton with contributions from leading historians and drama reconstruction, we discover the sex, drugs and Georgian rock and roll were very much a part of Regency high society.

Emperor: The Rise & Fall of a Dynasty

Delve in to the most tumultuous era in Roman history with the stories of the cuthroat and turbulent years of the first five Emperors and the powerful women behind them. EMPEROR: THE RISE & FALL OF A DYNASTY charts the chaos that followed the assassination of Julius Caesar and the rise of one of history’s most notorious and scandal-ridden dynasties. Told through the eyes of Livia, the matriarch of the Caesar clan, this series unveils the saga of five power-hungry rulers - Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero - each embroiled in a brutal struggle for supremacy, driven by the hunt for power, sex and violence.

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 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.