For thousands of years Britain has been shaped by the sea, and our relationship with it has been a crucial part of the British identity and its development, history and culture. In BRITAIN AT SEA (Tuesday 29th – Friday 2nd, 8.30pm), David Dimbleby takes to the water in his beloved red-sailed boat in an attempt to chart Britain’s complex and passionate relationship with the sea, travelling along our coasts and waterways as he visits ports, forts and other places intimately associated with our waters, and explores art, music and literature inspired by it.
From Turner’s seascapes to traditional sea shanties, along the way he’ll uncover the artefacts and meet the people that tell the story of this island nation.

National Geographic invites you to embark on an African safari from the comfort of your living room, living the danger from home. As they take you across multiple planes of Africa, you can catch a glimpse of nature at her finest, seeing raw and real depictions of the beauty, exhilaration and excitement the continent has to offer.

With flora and fauna at the heart of this Safari, you’ll be strapped in for the adventure of a lifetime courtesy of BEST OF SAFARI LIVE (Sunday 27th, 7pm).

Argentina is the eighth largest country in the world, the fourth largest in the Americas, and the second largest in South America, after Brazil. This rich country has countless stories: from the bustling capital city of Buenos Aires to the majestic mountaintops of Patagonia.

Following the success of Aerial America, Aerial Britain, and Aerial Greece, new series AERIAL ARGENTINA (Monday 5th, 8pm) bring the richness of the Argentinian landscape to viewers.

For most of the 17th Century, the Stuart dynasty ruled a newly united Britain during a period of religious conflict, civil war and political revolution. When Elizabeth I died, her cousin James VI of Scotland was installed as James I of England. His son, Charles I, was beheaded following a civil war and his family forced into exile.

Even after the Restoration, the family’s fortunes ebbed and flowed; eventually James II was forced from
the throne by his own daughter, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange. Join Dr Clare Jackson for THE STUARTS (Monday 14th – Wednesday 16th, 8.45pm) as she takes viewers through the story of a family who, though an era of political violence and spiritual conflict, helped lay the foundations of the modern UK.

Using the 2022 sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as a peg, Smithsonian invite viewers on a fantastic voyage that celebrates this branch of African-American life in AFROFUTURISM: THE ORIGIN STORY (Thursday 10th, 9pm).

Beyond the aesthetic of cool clothes, trippy visuals, and Black protagonists in space, they examine an art form that was celebrated a century before it was even named in 1994.

Gordon Ramsay is about to embark on his most personal challenge yet, as National Geographic reintroduces him to those he once taught, both in the kitchen and at home.  In UNCHARTED SHOWDOWN (Wednesday 9th, 8pm), Gordon faces off against UK star chefs Paul Ainsworth and Matt Waldron, who got their first starts in Ramsay’s kitchen before embarking on their own culinary journey. 

Meanwhile in Costa Rica, Gordon faces his biggest challenge yet: going head-to-head with his daughter Tilly to see which Ramsay truly runs the kitchen.  Join the showdown this series, and see if Gordon Ramsay helped morph his students into the master.

Get into the Halloween spirit with these frightening films! Supernatural horror THE CRAFT (Monday 31st, 9pm) stars a pre-Scream Neve Campbell. Sarah (Robin Tunney) has always been different, so as the new girl at St. Benedict’s Academy she immediately falls in with the high school outsiders (Campbell, Fairuza Balk, Rachel True). But these girls won’t settle for being powerless misfits. They have discovered ‘the craft’ and they are going to use it.
Then, at 11.05, Emily Blunt stars in the creepy WIND CHILL. Just before their university campus goes quiet for the winter break, a young woman (Blunt) asks a classmate for a lift home. The two students set
off on their trip and begin to get to know each other. But, when a reckless motorist drives them off the road, they find themselves stranded in the snow on a remote highway. Bad enough, but as the night grows colder, the two are also confronted by a horde of menacing ghosts and struggle to escape with their lives.

When SS General Hans Kammler, a key figure in the Nazis’ secret weapons programme, vanished in 1945 he was said to have taken his own life. Yet recently discovered documents cast doubt on this claim. Although he oversaw a vast network of underground sites essential to the Nazi war effort, and was instrumental in the construction of concentration camps whose inmates were put to work as forced labourers, his disappearance meant he avoided prosecution for war crimes at Nuremberg.

Absorbing documentary HITLER’S SECRET WEAPONS MANAGER (November 2nd, 9.45pm) investigates the various rumours concerning Kammler’s fate, including the possibility that the Allies considered his knowledge valuable enough to have him covertly spirited away across the Atlantic, behind a convenient smokescreen of mystery and confusion.

Dr. Hodges and Dr. Ferguson return to WILD at 8pm on November 1st as CRITTER FIXERS – COUNTRY VETS brings on its second season.  With a list of 20,000 patients under their belts, the doctors are back and better than ever, ready to treat and protect all kinds of animals. 

No matter the shape or the size, Dr. Hodges and Dr. Ferguson are on hand to help nature’s most vulnerable, and the show’s exclusive behind the scenes access shows exactly what it takes for the men to aid our animals. From huskies to horses, and from snakes to squirrels, the Critter Fixers are always ready to get their hands dirty.

The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I, is told in David Lean’s Oscar-winning, sweeping epic LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (Sunday 23rd, 7pm).
With his knowledge of the local Bedouin tribes, British Lieutenant T.E. Lawrence (Peter O’Toole) is sent to Arabia to seek out Prince Faisal (Alec Guinness) and serve as a liaison between him and the British in
their fight against the Turks. Lawrence rebels against the orders of his superiors and strikes out on a
daring camel journey across the harsh desert to attack a well-guarded Turkish port.

Signed amid hopes that the mass carnage of the First World War would never be repeated, the
1919 Treaty of Versailles was, ironically, to open up seemingly irresolvable conflicts that fester
to this day. This attempt to ensure lasting peace by creating a new world order in which nations
would enjoy self-determination met with insurmountable problems, as this series explains. Noble ideals soon ran up against harsh realities.
Focusing on Eastern Europe and the Middle East, A BLOODY LEGACY (Monday 24th, 6.15pm) shows how ill-considered decisions arrived at a century ago would lay the groundwork for lasting strife. For any true understanding of many present-day conflicts in these regions and elsewhere, it is necessary to examine their roots in the resolutions agreed at Versailles.

At the heart of the US-Canada border sit The Great Lakes – the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem, containing as much as one fifth of the planet’s supply. The water’s journey from source to sea spans half a continent, two thousand miles, and takes more than three centuries to complete. These immense lakes each have their own character and moods. Cold, deep Superior can rage like a furious sea with waves 30ft high. Michigan, plunging far to the south, contains one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Huron, riddled with islands, is strewn with shipwrecks. Erie picks up the pace as the water hurtles
over Niagara Falls with a force so powerful it grinds 12 inches off the rock face each year. Then Ontario, the most densely populated at the end of the line, bears the brunt of pollution flowing downstream. Finally, the St Lawrence River drains into the largest estuary on Earth, with the mighty Ottawa River and its subterranean caves providing a final flush of freshwater.

This vast watershed nourishes a rich, diverse web of life, above the surface and below. Endangered loons and piping plovers flock here to breed. The surrounding forests and wetlands are home to beavers, wolves and great horned owls. Delicate monarch butterflies and millions of birds must cross the expanse of open water on their epic migrations south. And in the nutrient-rich waters of the Gulf of St Lawrence, fourteen species of whale come to feed. Learn more in GREAT LAKES UNTAMED (Wednesday 19th, 8pm).

Global Listings proudly announces today that it has been shortlisted for the prestigious ‘Advanced TV Innovation of the Year’ in the 2022 VideoTech Innovation Awards, for its game-changing technology, AGiLE (Access Global Listings Everywhere).

AGiLE is the cloud-based technology platform which Global Listings has developed: a unique, tailor-made solution to manage the growing demands from our TV clients: VOD / SVOD and linear.

AGiLE, launched in December 2021, allows our TV clients to send automated orders for translated metadata and images directly via API.

AGiLE is a fully automated system, allowing for efficiency, accuracy and volume.

To date, GL has fulfilled over 25 million translated words for just one single broadcast client.

Thalia Droussioti, CEO of Global Listings, said:

“I am very pleased that our ground-breaking innovation has been recognised by the VIAs. AGiLE has been a game-changer for our clients and is a smart and revolutionary system that provides our clients with an automated ability to request data from a single translation in one language, to a series translated across 50+ languages at the touch of a button – delivered directly into their own systems and within agreed timeframes via API.

“AGiLE has eliminated the need for email communications and the manual exchange of information via multiple supply chains with our TV clients.

“AGiLE is the ultimate TV service for BEST customer experience: delivering accurate, targeted and fully localised metadata and imagery that best showcases programmes to global TV audiences worldwide.”

The VideoTech Innovation Awards commented:

“The quality of the entries is better than ever and we can’t wait to honour the ground-breaking innovations that are transforming the business of video distribution globally.”

Other nominees at this year’s awards, along with Global Listings, include Orange, TiVo, Netgem, Comcast Technology Solutions and Altibox.

The winners of this year’s VideoTech Innovation Awards will be announced on 16 November in a glittering ceremony in Westminster, London.

@digitaltveurope #VIAwards22

In PARKER (Friday 7th, 9pm), based on the cult crime novels by Donald Westlake, action star Jason Statham plays a hardened professional criminal who lives by his own code – don’t steal from people who can’t afford it, and don’t hurt people who don’t deserve it. But when he’s double-crossed by his crew and left for dead, it’s time for payback.

He forms an unlikely alliance with a woman on the inside, played by Jennifer Lopez, and they hatch a plan to track down the gang and hijack the score of the crew’s latest heist. It’s the perfect film for the Friday Night Film Club!

Montana naturalist and filmmaker Casey Anderson knows grizzly bears better than most. In his twenties, Casey rescued an orphaned cub and created a sanctuary near Bozeman for grizzlies in need of care. Yet Casey is a firm believer that it’s usually better to leave cubs in the wild and let nature take its course. But one day, a call from Alaska forces him to break his own rules. An abandoned cub there will be euthanized unless a home is found. Reluctantly, Casey agrees to take it into his sanctuary where it will live in captivity.

Meanwhile, in the Grand Tetons, Wyoming, a well-known “roadside” bear named Felicia has abandoned her cub, Pepper. With onlookers anxiously watching, Pepper’s struggle plays out when the little cub is forced to fend for himself. As the parallel dramas of Max and Pepper unfold in GROWING UP GRIZZLY (Wednesday 12th, 8pm), we’re forced to decide for ourselves which cub has the better chance of growing up grizzly.

Cobargo in South-East New South Wales was an unremarkable town until it became the focus of what has been described as ‘Australia’s Black Summer’ – the very human face of the terrible bushfires that tore through Australia in late 2019 and into 2020. Spreading with greater speed and intensity than anyone can remember in Australia’s modern history, the bushfires caused devastation across the continent, creating conditions that were unstoppable, and in many cases, un-survivable.

In HELLFIRE: BATTLE FOR COBARGO (Friday 7th, 7.40pm), eyewitness accounts and previously unseen video chart the progress of the fire, while investigative reporting uncovers the warning signs and inaction that contributed to the deadly bushfires, and document the heartbreaking stories told by those who faced the flames – and survived.

Smithsonian: Stunt – Saturday, 17 September from 4pm

From the large to the small, explore some the world’s wildest creatures, including:

CRAZY MONSTER FROGS – Mutants armed with regenerative powers, giants lurking in underground tombs, and prehistoric creatures with a taste for dinosaurs. These are not horror movie monsters, they’re the world’s wildest frogs.

OCEAN SUPER PREDATORS – From the Atlantic to the Pacific and from pole to pole, our oceans of full of predators with mighty appetites… and equally mighty brains. These wise assassins set elaborate traps, form unlikely alliances, and constantly evolve to improve their hunting skills and better protect themselves from new threats. Join us as we visit the waters off the coasts of Alaska, South Africa, Argentina and beyond to witness the age-old hunting strategies and newly discovered secrets of the ocean’s super predators… the geniuses of the sea.

PBS: UK Premiere Tuesday 13 September 7.20pm

For many, the Berlin Wall is the great symbol of Cold War division, an implacable barrier dividing Eastern Europe from the West. But it wasn’t the only border between Capitalism and Communism.

Between 1945 and 1989 280 people died trying to cross the 809 kilometre border that separated Czechoslovakia from the West, along with an estimated 600 guards, many of whom took their own lives. Today, those who died are receiving belated justice as investigators press charges against the people responsible.

Europe’s Forgotten Border follows some of these cases, as friends and relatives of the victims search for the truth, hoping that the answers to their questions will bring them peace, and help bring the Czech people together.

GREAT! Movies Christmas is back! Tune into some dreamy festive romances, every weekday at 2pm and 4pm!

Having left her small hometown for big city success, Rebecca returns ten years later for a friend’s Christmas Eve wedding having been fired from her job in A Christmas Wedding Date . When she discovers the old high school rivalries and relationships still exist after all this time, she is grateful she is only staying a night. However, the next day Rebecca finds herself caught in a “groundhog day” and must relive the same order of events over and over again until she gets it right!

Sarah Paulson stars in festive rom com, A Christmas Wedding . It was love at first sight for Emily and Ben when they met on Christmas Day. They now plan to marry each other almost two years later, but Emily and Ben soon find their best laid plans to marry coming apart at the seams. Perfectionist Emily is called away on a last minute business trip, just before the wedding so she has to leave the last of the wedding prep to clueless fiancé Ben.

A widow, Lindsay, has been reluctant to let herself get carried away by the Christmas spirit ever since her husband died during the holidays, three years previous in The Magic Stocking . But when her daughter is given a tattered old Christmas stocking at a holiday craft sale that is supposedly magical her view on the magic of the holidays begins to change.

WEEKDAYS AT 2PM AND 4PM
CHRISTMAS ROMANCE

Monday 12th September:
2pm A Christmas Wedding Date
4pm A Christmas Wedding

Tuesday 13th September:
2pm Christmas Mix
4pm Correcting Christmas

Wednesday 14th September:
2pm The Spirit Of Christmas
4pm The Magic Stocking

Thursday 15th September:
2pm The Christmas Contract
4pm A Fairytale Christmas

Friday 16th September:
2pm A Dogwalker’s Christmas Tale
4pm Love For Christmas

Smithsonian: Saturday, 10 September from 4pm

Revisit the history of the British monarchy with:

PRIVATE LIVES OF THE WINDSORS – Nearly 70 years ago, a new monarch ascended the British throne, Queen Elizabeth II. To succeed, she would need the full power and glamour of the Royal Family, but three key figures in her life would complicate that task: her rebellious sister, Princess Margaret; her husband Philip’s power-hungry uncle, Lord Mountbatten; and the royal matriarch: the Queen Mother. Using letters and diaries written by the Windsors, we delve into the stresses and strains of their relationships as the Royal Family faces new challenges in the modern age.

HENRY VIII & THE KING’S MEN – To many, the legacy of King Henry VIII begins and ends with his six wives. But remarkable though his marital history is, it is not what defines him. Just as influential were the men who surrounded him before and during his 37-year reign as King of England. Join host Dr. Tracy Borman as she reveals the story of Britain’s most famous monarch and how his male advisors, ministers, family, and friends moulded his views, shaped his destiny, suffered his ruthlessness, and, in the end, exploited his vulnerability.

PBS America: Spying On Hitler’s Army: Monday 5 September at 7.35pm

The Second World War would see enormous numbers of captured combatants on both sides confined to POW camps. Officers fared better than ordinary soldiers – some higher-ranking Germans in British custody were even lucky enough to end up incarcerated in former stately homes.

However, unbeknown to these particular captives, their conversations were being monitored through hidden microphones, and they let slip far more than just name, rank and serial number. With their guard down, their inner thoughts were carefully recorded, as was their complicity in crimes against humanity.

From this clandestine campaign emerged military secrets that would help the Allies gain victory. Over 70 years on, historic transcripts reveal the startling extent of this information gleaned from eavesdropping on the enemy.

‘Classic with Love’ SUNDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER FROM 2.15 PM

Catch a GREAT! line up of classic favourites from across the eras with

Where Angels Fear To Tread is based on the provocative 1905 novel by E. M. Forster and stars Helena Bonham Carter, Judy Davis, Rupert Graves, and Helen Mirren. In the early 20th century, the wealthy widow Lilia Herriton (Mirren) impulsively marries a very young handsome man while visiting Tuscany, Italy.

The man is a poor dentist, and her wealthy English family are disapproving of him and his lack of family name. Lilia dies giving birth to their son, so her two English relatives travel to Italy to take care of and gain custody of the baby. The pair expect everything to go smoothly with no trouble from the father, but that’s far from what the pair find when they arrive in Italy.

Hey there, Georgy Girl! This charming comedy drama, set in 1960s swinging London, is both hilarious and heart breaking. Lynn Redgrave got a well deserved Best Actress nomination for playing the title role, a somewhat dowdy, but incredibly vivacious young woman who is just itching to explore life. But she faces a dilemma when she’s pursued by her father’s older employer and the young lover of her promiscuous, pregnant flatmate . Also starring great British talent including Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, and James Mason, the film features the infectious theme song “Georgy Girl” by the Seekers.

2.15pm: Where Angels Fear to Tread
4.35pm: Georgy Girl
6.45pm: Cover Girl
9pm: Priest of Love

PBS: AUSTRALIA IN COLOUR – SERIES 1 & 2 Starts Tuesday 23 August at 6.20PM

Discover fascinating archive footage from Down Under, painstakingly restored and brought to vivid life with the addition of colour for a 21st-century audience.

Offering valuable insights into Australia’s social, political and economic history, this celluloid treasure trove tells the story of a nation gradually gaining confidence, producing its own sporting heroes and cultural icons.

By including the voices of Indigenous and other women, people all but absent from the traditional historic record, AUSTRALIA IN COLOUR presents a clearer picture of the sometimes harsh reality of the past. It shows how a society that started out as a penal colony faced numerous challenges as, during the course of a century, it grew into a unique, complex and cosmopolitan country.

DÉJÀ VU (2006)
GREAT! MOVIES SATURDAY 20TH AUGUST AT 9PM

Denzel Washington, Paula Patton, Jim Caviezel

Highly trained special agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) is thrown into the midst of a special assignment to capture a terrorist responsible for bombing a ferry, leaving hundreds dead.

Ground breaking technology lets the exceptional task force rewind time four days back into the past, allowing them to see the culprit’s movements as he plots to kill a woman who could reveal his identity. Carlin realises that the technology within his grasp could allow him to do what enforcement officers have only dreamt of go back in time to prevent crime!

Aviation Stunt – Saturday, 27 August 27 from 4pm

Fly through the skies and discover how some of the fastest and biggest planes in aviation get off the ground, featuring episodes of:

AIR WARRIORS – The British bomber that broke the back of Nazi Germany with a fearless crew and an earthquake bomb. The ugly-duckling fighter aircraft that transformed into one of the most versatile and effective military planes of the late 20th century. The “Little Bird” chopper, able to land in places no helicopter can—or should—land. This series takes you behind the scenes to reveal the origin stories of the military’s most iconic aircraft. We examine the unique features that make them so deadly and effective, meet the men and women who fly and maintain them, and show through rare, archival footage and compelling testimonies how they’ve overcome incredible obstacles to become kings of the sky.

BREAKING THE SOUND BARRIER – Sleek, powerful and bullet fast, the Bell X-1 was designed to accomplish one feat: break the sound barrier. In the years before this top-secret aircraft was built, the race to reach Mach 1 resulted in many destroyed planes and claimed lives. But these rocket scientists and military flyers refused to be denied. This is the story of how, against all odds, this little, lightning-fast plane forged the mythology of the American test pilot and blazed a trail for experimental aircraft everywhere.

YAAAS!: AVAILABLE ON FREEVIEW PLAY THROUGHOUT AUGUST

Bakugan Battle Planet follows the adventures of Dan Kouzo and his best friends: the first kids on Earth to bond with the mysterious creatures known as Bakugan!

PBS: Friday 5 August 2022 at 7.15pm

It’s the American equivalent of Britain’s Victoria Cross, a military medal awarded for ‘Conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against any enemy’.

The highest award that can be given to America’s armed forces, since it was created in 1862 the Medal of Honor has been awarded 3,475 times – 627 of those times posthumously, to those who paid the ultimate price serving their country.

MEDAL OF HONOR tells the story behind three of the medals, one for each branch of the armed services. Drawing on clips and archive photography, along with interviews with recipients, discover true accounts of outstanding American valour.

SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY (1991)

GREAT Moves: FRIDAY 5TH AUGUST AT 9PM

This tense and terrifying romantic thriller delivers plenty of chills and is shown as part of the Friday Night Film Club.

In her follow up lead role to Pretty Woman, Roberts doesn’t disappoint as a wife desperately trying to escape her abusive husband.

Laura is a young woman who thinks she’s found the man of her dreams in Martin (Patrick Bergin). But after they are married, she discovers the “real” Martin is controlling and dangerously violent. Laura eventually escapes by faking her own death and relocating to a small Midwestern town. But even with a new identity, Laura lives in fear, stalked by the memory of Martin’s brutality… a memory that comes back to terrorise her!

DIRECTOR:
Joseph Ruben
STARRING:
Julia Roberts, Patrick Bergin, Kevin Anderson

PBS: Starts Thursday 4 August at 6:05PM

Enter a new world, as this two-part documentary series China On FIlm draws on five decades of footage preserved and digitised by the British Film Institute to reveal a previously unseen China.

Narrated by Christopher Doyle, it’s a journey that stretches from the final decade of the Qing Dynasty to the years before the Communist victory of 1949. Capturing every element of life in the Chinese Republic, it includes foreign troops parading through Shanghai, the death of Dr Sun Yat-Sen and the first colour footage ever shot in China.

From the birth of the Chinese Communist Party to Shanghai in the jazz age, prepare to see China as you have never been seen it before.

SMITHSONIAN Stunt – Saturday, 6 August from 4pm

Revisit the historic battles that changed the course of history, including:

BATTLE OF MIDWAY: THE TRUE STORY – It’s June 1942 and the world’s fate is about to be decided by a handful of pilots and their untested aircraft. Experience an inside look at the Battle of Midway, captured through rarely seen battle footage and firsthand accounts from its hero dive bombing pilot, “Dusty” Kleiss. This is an hour-by-hour recount of one of the most pivotal conflicts of the 20th century. Take a closer look at how this desperately needed victory came about through the design of U.S. airplanes, the skill of the pilots, the element of surprise, and a stroke of luck.

THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY: 85 DAYS IN HELL – On the morning of June 6, 1944, thousands of ships reached the French coast of Normandy as part of an Allied operation to take back France from the Germans. For the next 85 days, U.S., British, and Canadian soldiers engaged in conflicts of unimaginable violence, conquering and liberating the region’s cities, but at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives. From the D-Day invasion to the final Nazi surrender in Argentan, this is the definitive story of the three-month Battle of Normandy as it’s never been seen before.

GREAT! MOVIES CLASSIC WEDNESDAY 26TH JULY AT 9 PM

Evita triumphs! The impressive musical stage show by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Tim Rice is brought to the big screen in this stunning adaptation directed by Alan Parker.

There may have been controversy over the casting of Madonna in the lead role, but she breathes new life into the part of Eva Peron, a woman who was loved and hated in equal measure.

Written by Parker and Oliver Stone, Evita also stars Jonathan Pryce as Eva’s husband Juan Perón, and Antonio Banderas as Ché, an everyman who is cleverly worked in to all the scenes to act as the film’s narrator. The acclaimed film depicts the life of Eva Perón, detailing her beginnings, rise to fame, political career and death at the age of 33.

EVITA (1996)
DIRECTOR:
Alan Parker
STARRING:
Madonna , Antonio Banderas, Jonathan Pryce

Stunt – Saturday, 30 July from 4pm

Venture back to the days of samurais and Vikings and explore the civilizations of the past, including:

SECRETS OF THE CELTIC GRAVE – The Roman Empire’s invasion of Britain in 43 A.D. marked one of the most violent and transformative periods in the nation’s history. Tales of how Claudius’ armies defeated kingdom after kingdom are well known, but a recent discovery of an ancient burial site in Wales has changed the story of the Roman conquest and shed light on the strength of the Celtic resistance. Follow archaeologists as they unearth evidence buried in the ground for 2,000 years and reveal new secrets about Britain’s transition from the Iron Age to Roman rule.

LEGEND OF THE CRYSTAL SKULLS – The Hollywood blockbuster “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is a fictionalised account of the legend of the crystal skulls. Now this exciting docudrama traces the true story of the world’s celebrated crystal skulls and state-of-the-art technology finally reveals their ancient secrets. Crystal skulls have a devoted following who believe in their mystical (and perilous) powers and a Mayan legend of 13 skulls coming together in a time of great peril to save mankind by divulging the secret knowledge of all ages. Today there are a handful of crystal skull relics, including one at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.  This is the story of curator Jane MacLauren Walsh’s 16-year quest to trace the origins of the 31-pound crystal skull mailed anonymously to the museum in 1992. Walsh’s investigation takes her from ancient Mesoamerica to archives across Europe and the Americas, where she traces legend and makes comparisons to other skulls and to pre-Columbian Aztec and Mixtec rock crystal artefacts. But the skulls are perfectly designed to confound researchers. Made of quartz crystal, they contain no carbon, essential to dating. Walsh and her colleagues faced a formidable challenge, pitting science against the supernatural. Join them as they uncover the truth behind one of the world’s most enduring mysteries… that of the mythical crystal skulls.

MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE (2011) SUNDAY 17TH JULY AT 9PM
DIRECTOR:
Sean Durkin
STARRING:
Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson

The channel premiere of the gripping thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene is written and directed by Sean Durkin and stars Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy.

Martha (Olsen) runs away from an abusive cult in the Catskill Mountains where she had been living as Marcy May for two years. Martha turns to her sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson), who along with her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy), offers to take her in. During her stay with them, Martha seems unfocused about what she will do with her life and struggles to re assimilate. Martha starts to spiral, struggling to separate her dreams from reality and dealing with the haunting memories of her past uncontrollably resurfacing.

Lucy and Ted soon realise that she may need more help than anyone is able to give her and consider that Martha could be a risk to not only themselves but to herself.

Olsen is electrifying in her first feature film debut.

PBS: UK PREMIERE Friday 15 July at 6.45pm

What happens when the world hits pause? Nature reboots! From the Canadian wilderness to urban America and the backyards of Britain, scientists reveal unexpected and astounding discoveries from the year of the pandemic. This ambitious and provocative film explores the lockdown’s silver lining – many species benefit immediately when humanity slows down.

Christine Nielsen’s absorbing film examines a positive legacy of lockdown, showing how, during that extraordinary period in modern history, many of our fellow species stood to benefit from the sudden and prolonged slowdown in human activity.

In all kinds of ways, the natural world was soon demonstrating its remarkable ability to rebound. Focusing on environments ranging from the Canadian wilderness to urban America and Britain’s back gardens, scientists share all manner of surprising discoveries, each a consequence of our planet’s recent respite from the hustle and bustle of twenty-first-century civilisation.

Smithsonian: Stunt – Saturday, 23 July from 4pm

As we pass the six-month mark to the holiday season, get in the holiday spirit with a Christmas in July celebration, featuring episodes of:

INSIDE THE CHRISTMAS FACTORY – People are already working around the clock in festive factories across the U.K. to ensure shoppers have all the tinsel, ugly Christmas sweaters, and mince pies they’ll need. But how exactly are these items produced, packaged, and distributed without the help of magic elves? Join us as we take exclusive tours though these busy plants, highlighted by a visit to the Premier Foods Factory in South Yorkshire, where we discover the challenges of producing 2,000 perfect mince pies every minute.

AN AMERICAN ARISTOCRAT’S GUIDE TO GREAT ESTATES – Christmas is the time of year when Britain’s historic manor houses feel their most magical. And right now, Julie Montagu, Viscountess Hinchingbrooke needs some of that yuletide spirit. She has to deck the halls of Mapperton’s 45-room house, host a carol service in the estate’s church, and prepare a grand feast for 110 guests.

For inspiration, she visits the real Downton Abbey’s Christmas display and heads to a local tavern for some pub carol singing before heading back home to whip up a goose meal once served for Queen Victoria.

GREAT MOVIES: FRIDAY 8TH JULY AT 9PM

DIRECTOR:​​

David Fincher 

STARRING:​​

Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer

The superb and chilling psychological thriller, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, premieres on the channel this week. It’sbased on the 2005 novel by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson and directed by David Fincher with a screenplay by Steven Zaillian. 

Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist(Daniel Craig) accepts an invitation to surreptitiously investigate a forty-year-old unsolved murder on behalf of the victim’s uncle, Swedish industrialist Henrik Vanger(Christopher Plummer). Meanwhile, tattooed hacker Lisbeth Salander(Rooney Mara), hired to investigate Blomkvist, discovers the truth behind the conspiracy that led to his fall from grace. 

Thrown together by fate, the unlikely duo uncovers a secret history of murder and sexual abuse festering beneath the veneer of Sweden’s industrial past, all the while drawing closer to a quiet evil waiting to engulf them both.

THE ODESSA FILE (1974) – GREAT! MOVIES CLASSIC TUESDAY 28TH JUNE AT 9PM

A suspenseful thriller based on Frederick Forsyth’s best-seller which follows the adventures of a young German reporter attempting to find a former SS concentration-camp commander and stars Jon Voight, Maximilian Schell and Maria Schell.​​​​​

Following the suicide of an elderly Jewish man, investigative journalist Peter Miller sets out to hunt down a former concentration camp SS commander.​​

He soon discovers that, despite allegations of war crimes, the former commander is now a man of importance in post-war Germany and is being protected by a powerful organisation of former SS members called Odessa.

Ancient Skies on PBS – Monday 27 – Wednesday 29 June at 7.35PM

Discover the night skies as our ancestors saw them, as three-part series ANCIENT SKIES journeys through past visions of the heavens from across the world to chart our changing views of the cosmos throughout history.

From hunter-gatherers, Babylonians, Mayans to Edwin Powell Hubble, discover the different ways that we have observed and chronicled the movements of the heavens, and the science behind the phenomena that our ancestors sought to explain through mythology.

From the dawn of civilisation to the recent past, historians, international experts, astronomers, along with cutting-edge CGI, beautiful landscape footage and important astronomical artefacts, demonstrate our ever-evolving understanding of our universe and our place in the cosmos.

AVAILABLE NOW ON YAAAS! Freeview Channel 212

Dennis and Gnasher are on a mission to menace as they do their best to beat boredom and turn life into one big party.

Stunt – Saturday, 18 June from 1pm

Venture on a globe-trotting mission to discover the ways in which the world works all around us, including episodes of:

HOW DID THEY BUILD THAT? – Across the globe, radical architects, ingenious engineers, and skilled builders are creating structures so outrageous, they defy logic and often even gravity. From a Manhattan skyscraper that looks like a Jenga tower to a Singapore glass dome big enough to house a mountain to a high rise in Italy with a built-in forest, we examine the world’s most extraordinary buildings, bridges, and lifts, reveal their design secrets, and discover the incredible stories of their construction.

IMPOSSIBLE REPAIRS – A high-risk/high-reward heli-logging job aboard a chopper that can haul 48,000 tons a mission. A refurbished military vessel that is the heart and soul of a massive open ocean fish farm operation. A freight run that pulls over 50 million tons of cargo a year through Europe. On land, sea, and air, mind-blowing machines are making do-or-die deliveries. Meet the engineers, technicians, and maintenance teams who prep these jobs, complete the repairs, and fix the problems to keep the monster vehicles running.

Jewish GIs of WWII PBS

Thursday 23 June at 9.50pm

When America entered the Second World War in 1941, 16 million troops joined the struggle. But many weren’t just fighting for peace. They were fighting to save their families in Europe, and their people.

JEWISH GIs OF WWII tells the story of the 550,000 brave Jewish-American men and women who served their country in WW2. Fighting against fascism, they were amongst the first to assist the survivors of the Nazi concentration camps liberated by American troops.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and director Mel Brooks are among the veterans who share their experiences of how they fought for their nation and people, emerging transformed after years of struggle, determined to continue the fight for equality and tolerance at home.

THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES (1965) Great Movies Classic

SATURDAY 11TH JUNE AT 2.20PM

“With their up-diddly-up up…” This goofy film’s famous theme song and fun flying machines make it a winning watch!​

Featuring an international ensemble cast including Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, Robert Morley, Terry-Thomas, James Fox, Benny Hill, Jean-Pierre Cassel and Gert Fröbe, the zany film is set during the craze of early aviation.​

In 1910, newspaper mogul Lord Rawnsley (Morley) decides to offer a large cash prize to the first pilot to successfully fly over the English Channel.​

Aviation whizzes enter the race, including the deceitful Percy Ware-Armitage (Terry-Thomas), wild American flyer Orvil Newton (Whitman) and British ace Richard Mays (Fox). ​

Orvil and Richard emerge as the front-runners, but both men soon fall head-over-heels for Rawnsley’s beautiful daughter, Patricia (Miles).​

It’s all magnificent fun!

Smithsonian: Premiere – Wednesday, 25 May at 8pm

Welcome to the wild side of Miami, where peacocks strut in the streets, giant iguanas throng the canal banks and colourful parakeets wreak havoc in the power lines. The melting pot of Miami is home to myriad species hailing from distant shores, many of which aren’t welcome.

Here, invasive species—often released as unwanted pets or arriving as unwitting stowaways in international cargo — vie for space alongside the locals, all thriving in the tropical climate of Southern Florida.

Set in a neighbourhood park, Miami Wild follows a diverse cast of furry, feathered, finned and scaly characters struggling to carve out territory, find new mates and raise their families.

Voiced by Miami’s own Gloria Estefan, this tale of international immigrants plays out to an up-tempo score inspired by Miami’s rich musical heritage.

PBS: UK PREMIERE Thursday 19 May at 19:30

When the tomb of Tutankhamun was opened on 17 February 1923, the world was awed by the
thousands of items discovered in the young king’s burial chamber, such as his golden mask and solid
gold coffin.

Now, almost 100 years after the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, documentary THE TRUE STORY OF
KING TUT’S TREASURE casts new light on the familiar story, using 2D and 3D imagery to reconstruct the tomb, the mummy, the funerary objects and the topography of the famous Valley of the Kings.

Additionally, it will also reveal what the artefacts tell us about Tutankhamun and his world, as well as exploring the circumstances in which they were
discovered and then taken from the pharaoh’s tomb.

AT 6.40PM FRIDAY 20TH MAY – SHOWN AS PART OF 90s WEEK ON GREAT! MOVIES

This endearing fantasy romance comes straight from the brilliant mind of director Tim Burton.

Edward Scissorhands tells the story of an unfinished man-made humanoid with scissors for hands, Edward (Johnny Depp), who after his elderly inventor’s untimely death has been left lonely in his gloomy mansion sitting on top of a hill overlooking a perfect pastel suburbia.

That is until Avon lady Peggy Boggs (Dianne Wiest) comes to call. Venturing up to the castle, Peggy invites lonely Edward down and dazzles her placid suburban neighbours with Edward’s extraordinary
ability for topiary design and flair for hair styling. Edward becomes a town celebrity and soon finds himself drawn to Peggy’s weary but sympathetic daughter, Kim (Winona Ryder), who happens to be dating Jim (Anthony Michael Hall), the neighbourhood bully who takes a strong dislike towards Edward.

After a robbery frames Edward as the culprit, things in his life begin to go downhill, with Edward’s new friends turning against him.

LIVING IN GERMANY AT WAR

PBS: UK PREMIERE Monday 9 May & Tuesday 10 May at 7.35pm

When the Second World War began in September 1939, the idea of war was deeply unpopular amongst the German population. Yet by April 1945, when the war was clearly lost, they were fighting to the bitter end for the Nazi regime.

Jerome Prieur’s award-winning documentary series attempts to understand the seismic shift in German public opinion, drawing exclusively on archive material to recount the daily lives of both civilians and soldiers during the six years of World War 2.

From soldiers writing to their fiancées to World War I veterans, members of Hitler Youth to persecuted Jews, letters, diaries and eyewitness accounts reveal what it was like for the men and women living in Germany at war.

Smithsonian: Premiere – Monday, 9 May at 8pm

A fresh slate of six Air Warrior aircraft roars into life as this successful series returns with a new look, new graphics, new tales of heroic pilots battling against the odds to survive in war zones around the globe, new new-human interest stories revealing the true dedication and the emotions of men and women pilots and aircrew, and, of course, an awesome new cast of machines. The series will fascinate and delight the current fanbase of this long running series and will recruit and serve new viewers: an audience attracted by the stories of these awesome flying weapons of war, and the bravery and skill of the men and women who fly them.

WOMEN IN LOVE (1969)

GREAT! MOVIES CLASSIC SATURDAY 7TH MAY AT 9PM

Ken Russell directs this classic adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s novel starring Alan Bates, Oliver Reed, Jennie Linden and Glenda Jackson. ​​​

Set in the Midlands mining town of Beldoverin the 1920s, the film follows the relationships between sisters Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen (Linden and Jackson) and their husbands Gerald Crich (Reed) and Rupert Birkin (Bates).​​​

Following their courtship, the quartet spend time together discussing the meaning of life and love, but when they holiday together in the Alps the complex and fiery relationship between Gerald and Gudrun begins to boil over with devastating implications for all involved.

DIRECTOR:

Ken Russell

STARRING:

Alan Bates, Oliver Reed, Glenda Jackson, Jennie Linden

THE WAR
Easter Sunday from 13:30 and Easter Monday from 14:05

Produced and directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, this acclaimed award-winning multi-part documentary series chronicles the Second World War from an American viewpoint.

Spanning the European, African and Pacific theatres, it draws on personal accounts from the citizens of four US towns, with actors including Tom Hanks and Samuel L. Jackson giving voice to contemporary newspaper articles, telegrams and letters from the front to bring home the often harrowing human cost of warfare.

From the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor through to eventual victory over Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1945, THE WAR examines the impact of the global conflagration at a grass-roots level upon individuals, families and communities.

THE REAL JESUS OF NAZARETH
Stack – Saturday, 16 April from 4pm and Sunday 17 April from 2pm

Celebrate Easter with actor Robert Powell, star of TV miniseries “Jesus of Nazareth,” who is on a journey across the Holy Land to discover the real story of the role he played decades ago. Guided by the Gospels and the latest archaeological and historical research, Powell will travel to Israel, new shedding light on a famous tale. With the help of scholars and theologians, he will examine Jesus’s lost adolescent years, the start and growth of his ministry, and his death and believed resurrection, which would spark the birth of one of the largest religions on the planet.