Mega Pit Stops

Everyone knows the pit stops from Formula 1 races: choreographed and rehearsed to perfection - each team member is a cog in an unbelievably complex machine. But let’s put things into perspective: pit stops during races are one thing, but they can’t hold a wrench up to the mega pit stops this show´s got for you. Mega Pit Stops documents how stressful the fight against the clock is when a cruise ship descends to the pit stop or one of the fastest trains in the world has to be completely overhauled in just ten days.

Engineering Repurposed

Extraordinary structures, buildings and machines around the world have been transformed from their original function into something completely different. Experts reveal how.

Tales of the Gun

In the centuries since the gun was invented, hundreds of innovators, engineers and inventors have brought their vision together to create what has become one of the most perfectly produced items ever made. Tales of the Gun chronicles the long history of firearm design and construction from the first, primitive weapons to today's computer-controlled, high-tech factories. From the gunslingers of the Wild West to the newest technology being developed for tomorrow's super-weapons, guns have etched a place in today's culture for their masterful combination of form, function and beauty.

Engineering the World Rally

Signing up for the 2006 season of the most extreme and exciting motorsport, six-part series Engineering the World Rally joins the Subaru World Rally Team as they and 2003 champion, Petter 'Hollywood' Solberg, fight for the championship through six countries and 11 months of intense competition. This ultimate off-road challenge pits massively powerful four-wheel drive rally cars - in the hands of some of the world's greatest drivers - against the toughest and most varied terrain on the planet. These guys hurtle down narrow twisty roads, along bumpy, dusty tracks, through deep water and across solid ice at speeds exceeding 130mph. They're supported by teams of dedicated engineers and mechanics, together with their straight-talking bosses and success-hungry sponsors. It's a world of fragile egos, high emotions and constant human drama. With unprecedented access, Engineering the World Rally gets under the skin of the Subaru WRC team and follows their every move as they engineer and prepare the cars for each event, test and shakedown, and enjoy the highs and suffer the lows of each three-day rally. It is an emotional rollercoaster of action both behind-the-scenes and on the rally stage.

Pubs, Ponds and Power: The Story of the Village

Archaeologist Ben Robinson explores the story of the village from Norman times to the present day. With ancient churches, castles, market places and cottages, the English village is a magnet for tourists. This cosy, picture postcard image is a snapshot of England which is recognised across the globe. But the story of the village from ancient times to the present day is not one of sleepy rural idylls. It is a story of purpose, persistence and power. ‘Pubs, Ponds and Power – The Story of the Village’ looks at how some of England’s greatest villages have evolved over time.

World War II: Total War

A Total War is all encompassing, a war without boundary or limitation. It is a war of material and morale. A war that mobilizes, destroys and displaces civilian populations. The Second World War was a war in which massive armies advanced, confronting whole populations with impossible choices. The manufacture of weapons transformed industry and the workforce; area bombing campaigns reduced cities to rubble; sieges doomed populations to starvation; racial policies sponsored campaigns of genocide. Told through archive footage and expert interviews, we learn how WWII shattered the boundaries between home-front and battlefield.

The Jumbo Jet: 50 Years in the Sky

Based on archival footage, appreciates engineering genius and celebrates the long-term survival of the ‘jumbo jet’.

Cornwall: A Year by the Sea

Exploring Cornwall as a thriving county all year round. There may be a bountiful tourism industry, but Cornwall's proud and hard-working locals still farm the land and fish the sea, coming together for traditional celebrations throughout the year.

Ingmar Bergman Makes a Movie

The year is 1961 and Ingmar Bergman is making a movie. While planted on the scene as apprentice to Bergman, Vilgot Sjöman (director, I Am Curious–Yellow, 1967), suggests to Swedish Television that they take the opportunity to record with the acclaimed director. In August, Sjöman and the television crew begin to capture what would become a comprehensive five-part documentary on the making of Winter Light, offering views of script development, set construction and lighting, rehearsals and editing, as well as intimate conversations with Bergman and members of his cast and crew. Footage from the film’s Swedish premiere delivers immediate audience reactions and the critics’ reviews the following day.

How to Build

Britain's iconic and 'secretive' engineering companies reveal how they build the world's most amazing machines. The first part of the series "How to build a nuclear submarine" a documentary following the construction of the Astute nuclear submarine. The second part of the series "How to build a jumbo jet engine", the story of the thousands of people who design, build and test engines at Rolls-Royce’s manufacturing plants in Derby and across the UK, making Rolls-Royce a central part of life for the people of places like Derby. The third and final part of the series "How to build Britain's secret engineers" when the documentary team follows workers at a leading British company on a global journey, as they reveal a handful of their secretive projects including getting Chinook helicopters ready for front line service.

MythBusters

MythBusters is a science entertainment television program created and produced by Australia's Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The show's hosts, special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, use elements of the scientific method to test the validity of rumors, myths, movie scenes, adages, Internet videos, and news stories.

Wunderstoffe

Once Upon a Time... Life

Attention please! Are you ready for an adventurous tour through the human body? With a lot of humour, our physical appearance is being introduced from head to toe along cells and organs in an educational way. The heart, blood, nerves and kidneys, each single one is a miracle which renders life possible.

RBI Unlocked: Beyond the Rupee

From unprecedented access of gold vaults to the working of currency presses, take an unfiltered look at India's Central Bank - The Reserve Bank of India.

That'll Teach 'Em

That'll Teach 'Em is a British reality television documentary series produced by Twenty Twenty Television for the Channel 4 network in the United Kingdom. Each series follows around 30 teenage students as they are taken back to a 1950s/1960s style British boarding school. The show sets out to analyse whether the standards that were integral to the school life of the time helped to produce better exam results, to the current GCSE results and to compare certain contemporary educational methods with modern ones. As part of the experience, the participants are expected to board at a traditional school house, abiding by strict discipline, adopting to 1950s diet and following a strict uniform dress code. After four weeks, the students then take their final exams, produced to the same standard as contemporary GCE O Levels. There were three series of the show, the first airing in 2003, the second in 2004 and the third and final series in 2006.

Time Team

Time Team is a British television series which has been aired on British Channel 4 from 1994. Created by television producer Tim Taylor and presented by actor Tony Robinson, each episode featured a team of specialists carrying out an archaeological dig over a period of three days, with Robinson explaining the process in layman's terms. This team of specialists changed throughout the series' run, although has consistently included professional archaeologists such as Mick Aston, Carenza Lewis, Francis Pryor and Phil Harding. The sites excavated over the show's run have ranged in date from the Palaeolithic right through to the Second World War.

The Gestapo: Hitler's Secret Police

During the darkest days of the Third Reich, the most dreaded sound was a knock at the door after dark. Everyone who lived under Nazi rule lived in fear of the secretive agents known colloquially as "V-Men". Hitler called them his "deadliest weapon", and without them the Fuhrer's ambition could never have been realized.

Queen Victoria and Her Nine Children

Documentary series charting the story of Queen Victoria after the death of her beloved husband Albert in 1861, examining how one-by-one her children rebelled against her and the family were touched by tragedy.

Private Lives of the Monarchs

Tracy Borman reveals the intimate details of the monarchs, to find out what really went on in their private lives.

Constructions sauvages