First Civilizations

Extreme Archaeology

A new Channel 4 series takes archaeology to the edge this summer as a team of experts tackles sites across the country that are beyond the reach of normal investigations. In Extreme Archaeology, an eight-part series starting on 20 June, a team of archaeologists with help from top climbers, cavers and divers investigates amazing and unique archaeological sites throughout the UK. Many archaeological locations are beyond the reach of your average archaeologist. They are found in inaccessible caves, on treacherous cliffs, deep under water, or in locations simply too remote or dangerous for normal investigation. Their remoteness often means that their secrets are unique, but they can also be under threat from erosion or other factors and this adds a rescue element to any investigation. Using some of the most advanced scientific equipment available, and high-tech miniature cameras and communication systems to record the action, Extreme Archaeology's experts are dropped into extreme and inaccessible environments under time and other pressures that test their personal and professional skills to the limit.

Britain's Ancient Capital: Secrets Of Orkney

Neil Oliver, Chris Packham, Andy Torbet and Dr Shini Somara join hundreds of archaeologists from around the world who have gathered in Orkney to investigate at one of Europe's biggest digs.

Lost Treasures of Rome

This new series follows International teams of archaeologists on the front line, as they embark on a season of excavations to unravel the secrets of life in the Roman Empire. Crawling beneath Pompeii, unearthing an enormous lost coliseum, and hauling a 2000 year old battleship ram from the depths of the ocean, they race to unlock the secrets of this ancient civilization.

Viking Empires

Through new discoveries in science and archaeology, explorers take a look at the origins of the Vikings and how they influenced history.

Trajectoires d'Egypte

Ring of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey

The Ring of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey is a series of five documentary films following the decade-long Wanderjahr of the filmmaker/sibling partnership Lorne and Lawrence Blair.

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.

Rome's Chariot Superstar

In 90 A.D., ancient Rome played host to a sporting spectacle that attracted crowds three times the size of the Colosseum?s gladiator games: chariot racing. Every week, 150,000 fans packed the massive Circus Maximus, not just to cheer on the speed, fury, and danger of the races, but to witness the champion charioteer, Flavius Scorpus. Examine his improbable rise from young slave to arguably the most successful competitor in the sport?s history.

Adventure

Long-running travel programme

Jungle Atlantis

Millions of tourists visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia every year to marvel at its remarkable architecture, yet most are probably unaware that when it was built nearly 1,000 years ago it was even more impressive. Using remote sensing technology, scientists now know what is hidden beneath the nearby paddy fields and jungle: a sophisticated metropolis with an elaborate network of houses, canals, boulevards and temples covering 30 square kilometres that housed three-quarters of a million people. To put that into perspective, London at that time was home to just 18,000. These previously hidden finds tell us a great deal about life during the golden age of the powerful Khmer dynasty.

Jesus: The Evidence

1984 Channel 4 documentary series surveying the history of New Testament scholarship, giving an overview of the contemporary New Testament scholarship, and finally a tracing of the history of the development of Christianity.

Bible Secrets Revealed

It is said to be one of the oldest books in the world. Has it been altered? If yes why? A remarkable journey back in time to see what the Old Testament and the New Testament is hiding from us.

First Peoples

A five-part series that features the latest research exploring how early humans evolved. See how the mixing of prehistoric human genes led the way for our species to survive and thrive around the globe. Archaeology, genetics and anthropology cast new light on 200,000 years of history, detailing how early humans became dominant.

The Pyramids: Solving The Mystery

The construction of the Egyptian pyramids remains an enigma, an unsolved mystery. But today, Egyptologists and archaeologists have developed a new tool which uses aerial and satellite images to provide valuable fresh clues about the position, construction, and evolution of these edifices. This series sets out to decode the mysteries of the pyramids' construction, and to recreate Egypt as it was more than 5000 years ago.

Tales from the Explorers Club

At the world-famous Explorers Club, a gathering place for trailblazers, club member Josh Gates recounts the greatest adventures of all time.

The Celts: Blood, Iron and Sacrifice

Three-part documentary series in which anthropologist professor Alice Roberts and archaeologist Neil Oliver go in search of the Celts - one of the world's most mysterious ancient civilisations.

Tomb Hunters

It was an archaeological find that became global news. An extraordinary mega-tomb, filled with the largest concentration of coffins ever unearthed in Saqqara, Egypt. This four-part series places you at the site to witness this ground-breaking discovery as it happened and follows Egyptologists as they try to determine why all of these mummies were buried together and what this ancient cemetery can tell us about the Egyptian civilization's way of death 2,500 years ago.

Joanna Lumley's Japan

The British actress goes on a 2,000 mile journey across the four main islands of Japan, travelling from North to South meeting local people and absorbing the culture.

The First War for Western Civilization

The Greco-Persian War was pivotal in the creation of the modern world - yet all that is generally remembered are the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae. This documentary examines the whole history, from the Ionian Revolt (497BC) to the Peace of Callias (449BC), and also covers the legacies of the war - including Democracy.

War and Civilization

An eight-part chronicle of armed conflict from the beginning of recorded history to modern times, exploring the political and cultural motivations for---and consequences of---warfare.