Trailer
Synopsis
Timewatch is a long-running British television series showing documentaries on historical subjects, spanning all human history. It was first broadcast on 29 September 1982 and is produced by the BBC, the Timewatch brandname is used as a banner title in the UK, but many of the individual documentaries can be found on US cable channels without the branding.
Episode 12 : A Very British Mutiny
December. 04,1999
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.
Watch Free
30-Day Free Trial
Episode 11 : Tales of the Eiffel Tower
November. 20,1999
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.
Watch Free
30-Day Free Trial
Episode 10 : Ivan the Terrible
November. 06,1999
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.
Watch Free
30-Day Free Trial
Episode 9 : The Spies Who Fooled Hitler: MI5 at War
October. 02,1999
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.
Watch Free
30-Day Free Trial
Episode 8 : Letting the Genie out of the Bottle
June. 26,1999
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?
Watch Free
30-Day Free Trial
Episode 7 : The Forgotten Volunteers
June. 05,1999
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.
Watch Free
30-Day Free Trial
Episode 4 : The Lost Temple of J-a-v-a
May. 08,1999
When English explorer Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles travelled to the heart of the Indonesian island of Central J-a-v-a 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.
Watch Free
30-Day Free Trial
Episode 3 : Tales from the Oklahoma Land Runs
May. 01,1999
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.
Watch Free
30-Day Free Trial
Episode 1 : Grey Owl: The Great White Hoax
April. 17,1999
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.
Watch Free
30-Day Free Trial