David Attenborough's 100 Years on Planet Earth • 2026

85:27

Documentary about Elizabethan peer Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, who some believe is the person who wrote the works attributed to William Shakespeare.

2018 • People

49:59

If this episode teaches us anything it’s that revolutionaries come in many different forms. All thirteen of our subjects have been pioneers and leaders in their fields and have changed everything, from the way we watch films to how we connect and work. For some the word revolutionary might only be a title but for others, such as Castro and Ghandi, it is far more real. This episode of heroes and villains features some of the most famous and infamous faces of the twentieth century.

S1E5 • The 101 People who Made the 20th Century • 2016 • People

46:48

Bin Laden's on the run and plotting an audacious plan to strike at the US. Bin Laden returns to Saudi Arabia from Afghanistan, where he is hailed as a war hero after the Soviets left because he believes he made a significant contribution to the military victory. 18 months later, Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait, prompting worried Saudi authorities to turn to the US for protection. Horrified by what he perceives as an invasion of the holy places by the American army, bin Laden publicly opposes the Saudi royal family declaring Jihad against the US and is eventually forced to flee to Sudan. There he reinvents himself as a major agricultural producer of sunflowers and watermelons, while expanding al-Qaeda's work and setting up training camps that attract recruits from across the region. Under pressure from Saudi Arabia and the United States, bin Laden finally has to give up his refuge in Sudan. Stateless and without much prospect of alternative quarters, he returns to Afghanistan in 1996. Just a few months later, he issued a 30-page fatwa declaring holy war against the Americans who occupied the Arabian Peninsula. He surrounded himself with increasingly radical extremists, and in the summer of 1996 finally suggested piloting planes to American targets. The plan to attack the Twin Towers is born. This compelling history documentary looks at the factors that transformed Bin Laden from a renowned freedom fighter to a devoted enemy of America and the West. What drove him to plot his most audacious attack?

S1E2 • Bin Laden: The Road to 9.11 • 2021 • People

80:40

A moving and inspiring account of loss, rebirth and renewal - and the discovery of 'a world beyond sight'. In 1983, after decades of steady deterioration, John Hull, a professor at the University of Birmingham, became totally blind. To help him make sense of the upheaval in his life, he began documenting his experiences on audio cassette. Over three years he recorded over sixteen hours of material. This beautifully crafted documentary takes John's original recordings as the template for the film, incorporating lip-syncing by actors in evocative reconstructions. The technique allows the viewer to immerse themselves in John's world as he comes to terms with his deteriorating sight, and learns to experience the world in different ways. As John explains about his redemptive journey: 'I knew that if I didn't understand blindness, it would destroy me.'

2017 • People

18:27

Political correctness can sometimes feel like a tug-of-war between inclusivity and free speech. Experts discuss the concepts behind the fraught term.

S1E17 • Explained • 2018 • People

5:15

Believing in God generates soothing "juices" in the brain that make us feel good.

People