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Secret History was a long-running British television documentary series. Shown on Channel 4, the Secret History brandname was used as a banner title in the UK, but many of the individual documentaries can still be found on US cable channels without the branding. It can be seen as Channel 4's answer to the BBC's Timewatch.
1996
A look at the story of the St. Louis, the last ship to leave Germany carrying Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler. Sailing for Cuba, it left in May 1939 but was refused permission to dock at Havana. It sailed on to Florida, where Roosevelt was unwilling to givethe refugees asylum, and eventually they returned to Europe, to face a dangerous future.
1994
1998
1992
Developed by scientists in Britain and the USSR in the 1930s, deep sleep therapy was believed to be beneficial to people suffering from anxieties, depression and some forms of mental illness. The film suggests that these attempts to manipulate the human mind led to patients being subjected to brutal experimental treatment at a hospital in New South Wales
After the First World War, the newly formed RAF was used to bomb peasant villages as a cheap, quick, easy and casualty-free way to keep troublesome areas under control. Conveniently, it also tested new equipment and trained young airman. These included Sqdn-Ldr Kendall and Wing Commander Gale who describe the machine gunning and bombing of the Kurdish guerillas.
1991
A Zimbabwean writer and activist investigates the war against Mozambique and the assassinations of opponents of South African apartheid.
Looks at the history of the Ukraine from World War Two to the present, taking as its starting point the mass graves, people killed by Russians, Germans and the Ukrainians themselves.
An investigation into the escape of thousands of Nazi war criminals after World War II with the aid of the British, French, Italian and United States Governments and the Vatican. Looks especially at the case of Ante Pavelic a Croation leader during the war who was responsible for the death of 500,000 people.
An investigation into the actions of the Parachute Regiment and the protesters, Lord Widgery's subsequent inquiry.
On the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner on June 21 1964, also known as the 'Mississippi Burning murders'
In 1943, the Imperial Japanese Army Secret Service forced a group of Australian servicemen to appear in a film to show the 'exemplary conditions' under which prisoners of war were treated by Nippon, and also to soften up the Australian public for the anticipated occupation of their country by Japanese forces. For 40 years, the making of this film remained a mystery. This documentary tells why the film was made and how it has come to be forgotten.
1999
1997
2000
2001
The story of "Operation Baby-Lift", investigating the controversial "rescue" of Vietnamese orphans organised by the Daily Mail, as Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese in 1974. What happened to the orphans'?
2002
They would exterminate tens of thousands of homosexuals, and yet the National Socialist movement, with its mystic ideals of brotherhood between fighting men, was steeped in homoerotic imagery and practice. This is an examination of the complex sexual ambiguities of the Nazi party, and of Hitler himself.
2003
The programme reveals how close Britain came to winning the race to fly faster than sound - a race won by the Americans in 1947.
Documentary looking at the massacre of three Roman legions (numbering about twenty thousand men) in the forests of Northern Germany in 9 AD. Considers events leading up to the massacre and the deception and ambush that occurred and the impact it had on the Romans and Roman society. Also considers the legacy of this event on both Roman expansionism and German nationalism.
This documentary originally aired as part of Channel 4's Secret History series in 2002. Narrated by David Hemmings, it used computer graphics to reconstruct the charge itself, and several of the preceding battles from the Crimean War. It is based primarily on Mark Adkin's 1996 book, The Charge. Highly recommended for military history buffs.
New evidence showing that the revolutionary jet airliner was hurried into production even though it was thought to be unsafe.
The story of Matthew Hopkins (also known as The Witchfinder General) who led a massive witch-hunt in Essex during the English Civil War.
The Crucified Soldier refers to the widespread story of an Allied soldier serving in the Canadian Corps who may have been crucified with bayonets on a barn door or a tree, while fighting on the Western Front during World War I. Three witnesses said they saw an unidentified crucified Canadian soldier near the battlefield of Ypres, Belgium on or around 24 April 1915, but there was no conclusive proof such a crucifixion actually occurred. The eyewitness accounts were somewhat contradictory, no crucified body was found, and no knowledge was uncovered at the time about the identity of the supposedly crucified soldier. During World War II the story was used by the Nazis as an example of British propaganda.
2004
2013
Nearly a century after Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun, Egyptologist Dr. Chris Naunton returns to Carter's vast excavation files; the notes suggest that the Boy King's mummy was burned.
Documentary revealing the secret childhood of Queen Victoria's eldest grandson, the future Kaiser Wilhelm II, through a long-hidden cache of intimate family letters. Wilhelm was born with a permanently paralyzed arm - a disability considered shameful at the time - and was subjected to a series of bizarre and often cruel attempts to cure the condition. These childhood experiences are believed to have helped create a highly dysfunctional connection between the boy and his mother, Victoria, Princess Royal, and to have shaped his love-hate relationship with her country.
The Hanging Garden of Babylon is the only one of the seven wonders of the ancient world for which no archaeological evidence has ever been found. Centuries of digging have turned up nothing, and many people assume it never existed. But has everyone simply been looking in the wrong place?
The discovery of China's Terracotta Army in 1974 revealed just a fraction of this extraordinary treasure. This documentary has exclusive access to the latest discoveries.
The extraordinary story of how two RAF squadrons sank Germany's most dangerous Second World War battleship, after 34 failed attempts
Bubonic plague is still around today, but kills in small numbers. Why did it kill so many people in 1348? The discovery of 25 medieval skeletons in London provides new answers.
2014
Know what this is about
Hitler's Hidden Drug Habit Documentary discussing Hitler's fraudulent physician, his poor health and possible drug dependency.
Former Royal Marines commando Arthur Williams embarks on a journey to explore the experiences of nearly two million British soldiers who suffered life-changing injuries and disabilities during the First World War.
With access to the first nationwide survey and state-of-the-art drones mapping the Great Wall of China, this documentary offers new evidence that reveals its extraordinary magnitude, rewrites its millennia-long history and decodes its complex signals system. Using cutting-edge chemistry, the programme also finds out what has kept the wall standing for so long - a simple cooking ingredient found in kitchens across the world.
2015
Engineers from the Crossrail construction project have uncovered a 300-year-old graveyard that reveals intriguing new information about the people who built London.
Documentary telling the inside story of the plans by Louis Mountbatten to manoeuvre his nephew and heir to the Greek throne, Philip, into marrying the future queen Princess Elizabeth and the tensions that that unleashed.
Secret History has exclusive access behind the scenes of the momentous expedition that found HMS Erebus: the Royal Navy ship that disappeared in 1845 while searching for the Northwest Passage
Documentary following the discovery of fossilised remains in a deep and nearly inaccessible cave in South Africa. The bone fragments recovered were found to have come from a previously unknown species of human ancestor.
An insight into the pioneering work of criminal lawyer-turned-archaeologist Dr Kathleen Martinez, who has made it her life's mission to locate the final resting place of Cleopatra, Egypt's last queen.
A look at the relics found in the tombs of China's Han Dynasty - an era that is generally considered the golden age of ancient China. It's up there with the Roman Empire in terms of international power at the time and has been a defining influence on the country's cultural identity ever since, with China's majority ethnic group referring to itself as the "Han people" and the Chinese scripts referred to as "Han characters". This programme examines how the emperors arranged to have their dead bodies mummified in the search for immortality and looks at a newly discovered version of the famous terracotta army - sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.
Michael Dillon and Roberta Cowell’s pioneering sex change operations caused a press sensation in 1950s Britain, but ultimately ended in tragedy.
This chilling documentary brings together medieval manuscripts, new archaeological finds and a shocking interview with a vampire slayer to cast new light on medieval beliefs in vampires
2016
Documentary focuses on investigating mysteries of burial grounds of William Shakespeare led by noted historian Dr. Helen Castor.
Engineers digging for Crossrail have made a chilling discovery: dozens of skulls under London's Liverpool Street station. It's clear the skulls are from Roman London, but nothing like this has been found before. This documentary unravels the mystery, using ground-breaking archaeological investigation. Who are these people and how did their skulls get there? There are many theories: they could be victims of a massacre, or gladiators; they could have naturally washed out of cemeteries in times of peace or be executed rebels; they could even be the victims of some grisly, long-lost ritual. Now the tools are available to solve the mystery. The investigation covers Boudicca's rebellion, the bloody gladiatorial arena, and head-hunting sites in France. Does the investigation answer the mystery of the Crossrail skulls?
Thousands of British sailors died in the Battle of Jutland. It has been plagued by controversy ever since. This Secret History film joins a landmark expedition to uncover the truth about the battle.
For 1300 years, Wu Zetian - China's only female Emperor - has been remembered as a callous tyrant who brought calamity to China. But new discoveries paint a very different picture of her reign.
A century on from the last offensive in the Battle of the Somme, this documentary tells the rarely-told story of the men who helped spur Britain towards victory, in a key World War I turning point First shown: 13 Nov 2016
Academic experts and military veterans give their opinions on whether the attack was a cock-up or conspiracy
2018
The story of a remarkable secret group of Holocaust survivors who decided to avenge the Holocaust by poisoning German cities' water supplies, to kill millions of German civilians.
Follows the UK's most ambitious and cutting-edge ancient DNA project to date. For the first time, a team of top scientists at the Natural History Museum and University College London have analysed the DNA of Britain's oldest complete skeleton. Known as Cheddar Man, this human male fossil was originally unearthed over 100 years ago in Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset. Building on the advanced genetic testing of his 10,000-year-old bones, two of the most acclaimed palaeontological model makers in the world, Dutch identical twins Adrie and Alfons Kennis, have recreated Cheddar Man's entire head to give his extraordinary skeleton a real identity for the first time.
The story of Carthaginian general Hannibal crossing the Alps with an army of 40,000 men, 9000 cavalry and 37 elephants is one of history's greatest legends. But the details of the journey - what route he took and how he and his entourage managed to conquer the treacherous mountain terrain - were a mystery, until now. For the first time, an international team of scientists is searching for clues hidden deep beneath the Alps' rocky soil, and their extraordinary discoveries are shedding new light on Hannibal's almost-impossible journey. The scientists are joined by paleobiologist Dr Tori Herridge and historian Dr Eve MacDonald, who follow in Hannibal's footsteps to experience what it must have been like as this ancient army battled raging rivers, hostile tribes and mighty mountains.
The traditional story of the birth of Christianity is dominated by men. Only men could be priests, and only men were close disciples of Jesus. But now Bible experts Helen Bond and Joan Taylor lay out a striking alternative version of events, with women central to the origins of Christianity. But why has this pivotal role played by women disappeared from history? In a journey that takes them to ancient caves in Israel and catacombs in Italy, Helen and Joan question centuries of Christian thought. Were female disciples crucial to Jesus' mission, preaching, healing, baptising and even financing the movement? Helen and Joan believe that what they've found will mean that millions of Christians will have to rethink the origins of their faith.
This documentary has exclusive access to a startling research project that is revealing an ancient hidden civilisation in Central America and transforming what we thought we knew about the Maya
Streaming availability information not available
2017
Why, when the Titanic received several warnings of icebergs ahead, did the captain steam full speed towards them without changing course? Two hours after the collision, the Titanic was safely afloat before she inexplicably gave way and took hundreds of passengers to their deaths. What happened to make her sink so rapidly? For the first time, investigative journalist and Titanic expert Senan Molony can reveal the real story. In a television exclusive, Titanic: The New Evidence draws on new evidence to reveal that a fire was raging in Titanic's boiler rooms before she left port, that it was kept secret and, it's now believed it led to the tragedy.
The soldiers were rescued from the beaches and taken safely back to Britain. But behind the Miracle of Dunkirk there's another, hidden story. Soldiers and mariners, angry that they'd apparently been left undefended against the Luftwaffe, blamed the RAF. Historians have long viewed Dunkirk as the RAF's poorest hour. But now, recently released MoD files reveal that, far from being absent, the RAF were suffering massive losses supporting the evacuation.
The world's largest palace, the Forbidden City, stands at the heart of Chinese history, as the home to the emperors for 600 years. And it's full of secrets. This documentary goes behind closed doors to explore this extraordinary palace-city and to discover the clues to its creation. Unique access to the latest conservation works uncovers evidence hidden in locked halls and high in the mighty roofs, revealing a ruler who governed by fear but also created an exquisite and enormous work of art and technology.