Documentary AreaSimply the best Documentaries

Professor Jim Al-Khalili sets out to discover whether nuclear power is safe. He begins in Japan, at the former Fukushima nuclear plant, where he meets some of the tens of thousands of people who have been evacuated from the exclusion zone. He travels to an abandoned village just outside the zone to witness a nuclear clean-up operation. Jim draws on the latest scientific findings from Japan and from the previous explosion at Chernobyl to understand how dangerous the release of radiation is likely to be and what that means for our trust in nuclear power.

Blue Planet II explores parts of the ocean that nobody has ever visited, encountered extraordinary animals, and discovered new insights into life beneath the waves. In Our Blue Planet, Sir David Attenborough examines the impact of human life on life in the ocean. In this final episode, we uncover the impact that our modern lives are having on our best-loved characters from across the series, including devoted albatross parents unwittingly feeding their chicks discarded plastic and mother dolphins potentially exposing their new born calves to pollutants through their contaminated milk. Scientists have even discovered that increasing noise levels may stop baby clownfish finding their way home.

Madinat al-Zahra was given its Arabic name, which means "The Shining City," by the 10th century caliph Abd al-Rahman III, who had it built. Nicknamed the "Versailles of Andalusia", Medina Azahara, located in Cordoba, Spain, is today one of the most important Islamic archaeological sites. This unique capital city, built four centuries before the Alhambra in the mid-10th century, is the object of a new excavation campaign.
Five years ago, a team of European archaeologists began a new excavation project at this World Heritage site. For over 100 years, excavations here have concentrated inside the Caliph's palace. This new excavation project is focused outside the palace walls, in areas of the city never before studied. A massive new building came to light, its function unknown. Beyond the mystery of this building, the very location of this city is an enigma in itself. Why was a Muslim city of such importance built in a then primarily Christian area? The site is a complete urban complex including infrastructure, buildings, decoration, and objects of daily use. By following this mission and revealing the mysteries of this lost city, this film traces the history of the golden age of al-Andalus.

We have become too comfortable in societies that are immensely wasteful. As a consequence across the globe, the natural world about us is now suffering from the waste we throw away. Is it possible for us to keep what we have and continue to progress without generating waste? This film will expose the root causes of our wastefulness, highlight people around the world working on incredible solutions and it willl introduce you to the new projects shortlisted for the fifth goal of the Earthshot Prize.

A thrilling deep dive into the creative storm that brought a cultural phenomenon to life. This anniversary documentary explores the wild and often unpredictable journey behind Spielberg’s 1975 masterpiece — from Peter Benchley’s novel to the birth of the modern blockbuster. Featuring rare outtakes, unearthed behind-the-scenes footage, and candid interviews, it reveals how a troubled production, a malfunctioning mechanical shark, and a visionary young director came together to ignite a worldwide obsession with the ocean’s most misunderstood predator. Both a tribute and a revelation, it offers the most definitive look yet at how cinematic history was made.

Against the backdrop of Cold War tensions and a global race for supremacy, this riveting film unveils a deeply unsettling chapter in space history. It reveals how the triumph of the 1969 Moon landing was made possible through the morally contentious recruitment of former Nazi scientists—most notably Wernher von Braun—who had engineered Germany’s V‑2 rockets during World War II through Operation Paperclip. As America navigated the ethical maze of enlisting men with dark pasts, these scientists became pivotal in crafting the mighty Saturn V rocket and ushering in the age of space exploration. This documentary invites viewers to confront the unspoken complexity behind progress: the collision of ambition, conscience, and the weight of history.