12 episodes · 17th April 1999
In the thirties Grey Owl tricked the establishment into believing he was the world's first eco-warrior. Archie Belaney was in fact a Briton who had emigrated to Canada at 17 and set out on a mission to fool everyone that he was an American Indian.
In 1944, American submarines attacked two Japanese boats in the South China Sea, unaware that the vessels were crammed with more than 2,000 Allied PoWs. Among more than 1,000 who survived the attack were British gunner Wilf Barnett and Australian engineer Ray Wheeler. In tonight's programme, the pair recall their harrowing ordeal and their friends who died.
A pistol shot at noon in 1889 signaled the start of the first race between thousands of desperate men and women to stake their claim on government land in north-western Oklahoma. Tonight's programme sifts through archival footage and meets descendants of those battling pioneers who still own the land today.
When English explorer Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles travelled to the heart of the Indonesian island of Central Java in the early 1800s, he found a jungle-covered hill littered with a few statues. Spurred on by stories of a lost temple, his careful excavation uncovered a massive structure in the shape of a pyramid. Now, following recent renovations, more questions about the temple's fascinating history can be answered.
Marcelle and Elise are two elderly French women who live at opposite ends of the country but shared similar experiences in the Second World War. During the German occupation of France, when their husbands deserted them, they had affairs with German soldiers. In 1944, the women suffered public humiliation as punishment for their so-called collaboration horizontale. This alternative portrait of the occupation interweaves archive footage with testimony from Marcelle and Elise, neighbours, and resistance fighters.
In 1909 the passenger liners Florida - carrying Italian immigrants to New York - and Republic - carrying American tourists to Europe - collided on a freezing north Atlantic night. The lives of over 1,500 passengers and crew were held in the balance as the ships became dependent on a new technology - the wireless. What happened played a crucial role in determining the outcome of the Titanic tragedy three years later.
Two-and-a-half million Indians fought for Britain in Second World War campaigns from Egypt to the Far East. Subject to some of the most brutal attacks on the Allies and decorated for bravery, they were forgotten by the British and disowned by India. This film recreates the era and interviews survivors of the largest volunteer army in military history.
Danish politicians sparked a storm of controversy in 1969 by voting to legalise all forms of pornography, becoming the first country to approve such a move. Why did a traditionally religious nation take this step?
The series returns. Captured German spies were turned into double agents and used by MI5 to deceive Hitler during the Second World War. Newly released MI5 documents and interviews with former members of MI5 and its top-secret interrogation centre, Camp 020, tell how the double agents played a crucial role in the Normandy landings.
The title bestowed by history on Russia's first tsar has become synonymous with tyranny and mass bloodshed, his 16th-century reign characterised by conquest and cruelty. Yet many in Russia regard him as a national hero where he is known as the Grozny or 'awesome' tsar. Timewatch examines this man of contradictions and the contrasting reactions to his reign.
Loathed by the intellectual establishment after its construction in 1889, the Eiffel Tower is now a cherished symbol of Paris. Tonight's film relates the story of the tower's construction and hears from people whose lives are linked to it.
In September 1943, 191 men from Montgomery's 8th Army - who had helped to drive Rommel's troops out of Africa - refused to take part in the Allied fight for Salerno, Italy. Interviews, reconstructions, and previously classified documents show how errors forced the soldiers into a predicament that caused their war pensions to be reduced, their medals reclaimed, and their honour questioned.
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