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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 13 : Through Hell for Hitler
December. 05,2003
In a dramatised account, Timewatch follows a German soldier caught up in the most destructive conflict in history - Hitler's invasion of Russia. We travel the route that idealistic young Nazi Henry Metelmann took and see how the choices he made meant he emerged from the war a brutalised man.
Last in series, which returns in January.
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Episode 12 : Gallipoli: The First D-Day
November. 28,2003
The Second World War Normandy landings helped seal Winston Churchill's reputation as a great wartime leader, but 29 years earlier his first D-Day - the disastrous assault on Gallipoli in 1915 - almost finished his military career. Underwater footage of sunken battleships in the Dardanelles and revealing evidence left on the Turkish beaches are reminders of the bitter lessons learnt prior to the successful invasion of Normandy in 1944.
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Episode 11 : Britain's Greatest Hoax
November. 21,2003
For 40 years the science world was hoodwinked by a forged "missing link" between ape and man. But who was responsible for the infamous "Piltdown Man" hoax? Timewatch lines up the suspects, including the relic's "discoverer" Charles Dawson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and even staff at the Natural History Museum.
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Episode 10 : Mystery of the Missing Ace
November. 14,2003
Revealing the extraordinary detective story behind the disappearance in 1944 of highly decorated pilot Wing Commander Adrian Warburton, whose vanishing at the age of 26 sparked a 60-year mystery. In 2002 a diverse group of historians, archaeologists, and air-crash investigators began to piece together the puzzle through a series of seemingly unrelated investigations.
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Episode 9 : The Last Tomb Raider
November. 07,2003
Circus strongman-turned-adventurer Giovanni Belzoni filled the British Museum with some of ancient Egypt's greatest treasures, including the seven-ton head of Rameses II. But as a result of a bitter feud he died in obscurity, never gaining the recognition he deserved. This docudrama advances the case for Belzoni as one of Egyptology's founding fathers.
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Episode 7 : Zulu: The True Story
October. 24,2003
The Battle of Rorke's Drift is routinely presented as a significant British victory of the Zulu wars. Yet on the same day, at the nearby Battle of Isandlwana, heavily equipped British troops were crushed by Zulu warriors bearing little more than spears. Battle re-enactments shot on location and dramatisation of Queen Victoria's journals explore one of the most effective cover-ups in British military history.
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Episode 6 : Concorde: A Love Story
October. 19,2003
Due to be taken out of service on Friday, the world's only supersonic passenger plane is finally brought to ground. But our love affair with Concorde looks set to endure for years to come. Celebrity frequent fliers, engineers, pilots, and stewardesses tell the story of an icon.
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Episode 5 : 1914: The War Revolution
February. 07,2003
The first action involving the British in the First World War was a cavalry skirmish - German lances against British swords. Within eight weeks, it was transformed into a bloody trench stalemate that would last for three years. Why did the whole nature of warfare change so dramatically during this one brief period?
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Episode 4 : Ramesses III - Behind the Myth of a Pharaoh
January. 31,2003
Ramesses III is remembered as Egypt's last great pharaoh, but the truth was very different. With the help of papyrus that was never intended to survive, the dark workings of a pharaoh in crisis are revealed. It's a story of conspiracy, vengeance, and murder that belies the positive image of his reign that Ramesses III wanted future generations to believe.
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Episode 3 : Rocket and Its Rivals
January. 24,2003
Stephenson's Rocket is famous because of the contest it won in 1829. Few realise it triumphed by default when its two rivals had to withdraw because of faulty parts. Using replica engines, Timewatch gives the rivals a second opportunity to beat The Rocket in a full-scale restaging of the Rainhill Trials. Throughout the event, the story of the world's first intercity railway is relayed.
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Episode 2 : Lost Cities of the Maya
January. 17,2003
For over 1,000 years, Maya kings ruled Central America's jungles. While Europe was just emerging from the Dark Ages, they were great architects, artists, and mathematicians. Then, at the height of their power, they abandoned their cities and vanished. Follow archaeologist Kathryn Reese-Taylor on an expedition to unravel the mystery.
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Episode 1 : White Slaves, Pirate Gold
January. 10,2003
A shipwreck off Devon uncovered much more than a haul of Islamic coins and jewellery - it also revealed a forgotten time when coastal Europe lived in terror of the "Barbary pirates". The story behind the ship, and why over a million Europeans vanished into North Africa in the 250 years from 1570.
First of six new installments.
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