Episode 2 • 2026 • episode "S1E2" • Michael Jackson: An American Tragedy

53:07

Drug trafficking was not invented by a mafia but by the European colonial powers in the 19th century. Opium use spread throughout Asia, promoted by colonial powers. Meanwhile, the western pharmaceutical industry was developing some miraculous products, such as morphine, cocaine, and heroin. Addiction became a global scourge, and prohibition gradually became the norm. But outlawing these substances at the beginning of the 20th century gave rise to the first drug-trafficking networks, which often sought to operate under state protection, in Mexico, France and China… These networks underwent unprecedented growth during the Cold War, when secret services used the drug trade as a geopolitical instrument. The United States paid the price for this: In 1970, one third of their troops in Vietnam were addicted to heroin. A year later, in an historic speech, President Richard Nixon launched the war on drugs.

S1E1 • The Story of Drug Trafficking • 2020 • People

88:41

Tells the remarkable story of a charlatan art dealer who swindled over $50 million from the art establishment before going on the run. Michel Cohen, a popular and charming New York art dealer was originally from France. A high school drop-out from a poor background, Cohen was a self-invented man who went on to become a rich and successful art dealer, with homes in Malibu and New York. Throughout the 1990s, he sold paintings by artists such as Picasso, Monet and Chagall to America’s wealthiest elite. Cohen was living the high life until he began trading recklessly in the stock market and ran up considerable debts. In an attempt to recoup his losses, he swindled private collectors, auction houses and other art dealers out of more than $50 million. When his swindles were discovered, he fled the USA with his wife and two small children and went on the run. In 2003, he was found by Interpol in Brazil and was imprisoned in Rio de Janeiro, but seven months later, whilst awaiting extradition to the USA, he escaped from prison and vanished off the face of the earth. Sixteen years later, filmmaker Vanessa Engle has managed to track him down and persuade him to tell his extraordinary story - a highly entertaining crime caper that is also a rich exploration of greed, motive and morality.

2019 • People

45:48

A riveting story that captures the immense draw that Antarctica has had on dreamers, explorers and travelers alike over the last 200 years. Explorer Geoff Wilson attempts a challenge that may see him travel further than any explorer before.

2020 • People

59:14

Using state-of-the-art 3D graphics and the timing of a stand-up comedian, world-famous statistician Professor Hans Rosling presents a spectacular portrait of our rapidly changing world.

People

91:15

On the day of Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday, this unmissable event honours one of the most influential figures in broadcasting and natural history storytelling. Broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall in London, this 90-minute special celebrates Sir David's groundbreaking career, taking audiences on an extraordinary journey through a century of exploration and discovery in the natural world, seen through the prism of Sir David's remarkable life and work. The programme combines some of the most memorable wildlife moments from the BBC's natural history archive with live music drawn from Sir David's most iconic television series, alongside reflections from public figures and leading voices in conservation and wildlife film-making. Accompanied throughout by the BBC Concert Orchestra, the programme features iconic music associated with some of television's most unforgettable sequences from landmark series including Planet Earth, Blue Planet and Frozen Planet. And we hear from those who have worked with and been inspired by Sir David over the years.

2026 • People

52:29

More than five centuries ago, Michelangelo Buonarroti was the darling of the Catholic Church. Throughout his masterful career, the Papacy commissioned him to create many of its most important pieces, including the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. He spent his life glorifying the Church, etching Catholic ideals into masterpieces that defined religion for the masses. Yet when he died, his body was secretly shepherded off to Florence, and the Church was denied the opportunity to honor him with a grand funeral in Rome. Historians have long wondered about the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death, but now, five hundred years after his death, new finds are revealing a darker side to the master artisan. While restoring Michelangelo's sculptures in the tomb of Julius II, art historian Antonio Forcellino noticed some strange inconsistencies in the famous statue: "The Moses." Forcellino believes he has pieced together evidence of a deep rift between the Church and the esteemed artist. The cause: Michelangelo's belief in Protestant ideals. The imperfections in the statue started him on a careful scientific and historical investigation that exposed remarkable evidence of Michelangelo's involvement with a clandestine fellowship trying to put an end to the decadence and corruption of the Clergy and reform the Church from within. The group's radical ideas and accusations of corruption were considered heretical and punishable by death. Michelangelo's involvement put him at dangerous odds with powerful officials who held his livelihood - and life - in their hands. "Michelangelo Revealed" takes us back over 500 years to the dangerous political climate of papal Rome, vividly portrayed through dramatic reconstruction. We are thrown into the heart of a fierce battle for religious control between the cardinals, and the resulting injustices of the Inquisition, shedding new light on the angst surrounding Michelangelo's "Last Judgement" in the Sistine Chapel and his previously shrouded connections to a subversive religious group and persecuted religious beliefs. "Secrets of the Dead: Michelangelo Revealed" deconstructs the puzzling discrepancies between the sculptures Michelangelo created and the way he described them, revealing an intricate effort to carve his own beliefs into stone, while protecting himself from the wrath of a powerful Cardinal who viewed him as a heretic. MICHELANGELO REVEALED paints a stunning new picture of brave religious expression, personal vendettas, careful cover-ups and a most gifted artist desperately trying to reconcile his loyalty to the church with his own personal belief about the road to salvation.

Secrets of the Dead • 2008 • People