In episodes 7 and 8 of Season 2, rivalries harden and new alliances begin to reshape the balance of power on both sides of the sea. Ragnar and King Horik clash over the fate of Jarl Borg and over who should control their next expedition to England. While Horik argues that they still need Borg’s ships and warriors, Ragnar finds an unexpected new ally in Lagertha, now commanding warriors of her own. With that obstacle removed, Ragnar carries out one of the most terrifying punishments in Viking tradition: the blood eagle. At the same time, King Ecbert welcomes King Aelle to Wessex and seals an alliance between their kingdoms through marriage, preparing England for the Vikings’ inevitable return. The tension only increases when Aslaug’s dark prophecy appears to come true with the birth of Ragnar’s son Ivar, while the Viking fleet once again sails for Wessex. Ragnar wants negotiation and sees the possibility of something more lasting than simple plunder, but Horik is driven by revenge and increasingly resents Ragnar’s independence. Ecbert, meanwhile, prepares both for peace and war, using Athelstan as a link to the man he knows is unlike any other Viking leader. When Ragnar discovers that Athelstan is still alive and Ecbert offers talks under safe conduct, the possibility of a historic agreement suddenly emerges—but distrust, ambition and bloodshed threaten to destroy it before it can even begin.
Dan Snow follows the route of Odysseus across the Mediterranean, beginning with the world of Troy and the Bronze Age warriors who inspired Homer’s epic. Sailing through Greece and the Ionian islands, he explores places traditionally associated with the Cyclops, Circe, the Sirens and other episodes of the hero’s long journey home, while examining the archaeology and historical evidence behind the legends. Along the way, Dan asks how much of the story may preserve memories of real places, peoples and events from the ancient Greek world. His voyage ends at Ithaca, where Odysseus’s struggle to return to his family reaches its climax. Combining myth, history, archaeology and travel, this documentary reveals how one ancient story became one of the most influential adventures ever told.
What begins as a dream Mediterranean holiday turns into an unimaginable fight for survival. On the night of January 13, 2012, passengers aboard the luxurious Costa Concordia are dining and putting children to bed when the ship sails dangerously close to the Italian island of Giglio and strikes underwater rocks. As the vessel loses power and begins to flood and tilt, confusion spreads through its glittering corridors. Passengers are initially told there is only an electrical problem, while precious minutes pass before an evacuation is ordered and lifeboats become increasingly difficult to launch. Through extraordinary footage recorded by those on board, black-box communications and deeply personal survivor testimony, the disaster unfolds almost minute by minute: Families desperately searching for a way off the ship, crew members risking their lives to help strangers, passengers trapped as corridors become walls, and rescuers entering the enormous wreck while it threatens to shift beneath them. Behind the terrifying struggle to survive emerges an equally disturbing question—how could a modern cruise ship carrying thousands of people end up on its side just metres from shore? The deaths of 32 people, the actions of Captain Francesco Schettino and the investigation that followed transform one catastrophic night at sea into a gripping story of human courage, fatal decisions and the consequences of failure when every second matters.
In the final three episodes of the series, Chris Packham follows three extraordinary evolutionary journeys to discover how the relentless demands of survival transformed simple early animals into some of the most remarkable creatures alive today. In Borneo, the voracious appetite of the bat leads back more than half a billion years to the origins of the through-gut, the first anus, heads and jaws, revealing how the need to find and consume food helped reshape animal life and ultimately produced the bat’s extraordinary powers of hearing. In the Bahamas, the intelligence of dolphins opens an even deeper story: from ancient cells able to sense light to the evolution of eyes, complex brains, sophisticated senses and the remarkable minds of modern dolphins. The journey culminates with one of nature’s supreme athletes. Tracing the horse’s ancestry through hundreds of millions of years, Packham reveals how primitive muscle cells evolved into increasingly powerful systems for movement, how beating hearts supplied those muscles with oxygen, and how limbs became ever more effective tools for locomotion. Slithering, swimming, walking and running eventually converge in an animal built for extraordinary speed and endurance. Together, these final episodes reveal a breathtaking truth: hunger, perception and movement were not merely necessities of survival—they were powerful evolutionary forces that helped create the astonishing complexity of animal life.
From ordinary mounted warriors to the legendary figures who came to embody courage, honour and chivalry, medieval knights dominated European life for centuries. Through dramatic reconstructions, historical experiments and surviving evidence, this series reveals the harsh reality behind the romantic image: brutal battles and personal feuds, swordsmanship and tournaments, the construction and defense of castles, courtly love and the strict codes of honour that could turn an insult into a fight to the death. It also follows knights to the Holy Land, where crusaders risked everything in pursuit of glory, wealth and salvation, while figures such as John of Bohemia and Joan of Arc show how courage and legend became inseparable from the medieval warrior. Presented here as all three episodes consecutively in a single video, the complete story also reveals how the world that created the knight eventually destroyed him. The rise of robber knights such as Götz von Berlichingen, the spread of mercenary warfare and increasingly spectacular tournaments mark the final years of an old order, while longbows, cannon, artillery and massed infantry transform the battlefield forever. Emperor Maximilian, celebrated as the “Last of the Knights,” embraces these new weapons even as he glorifies the traditions of chivalry. By the end, the armoured horseman who had ruled castles, battlefields and entire communities for centuries has become obsolete in war—but immortal in legend.
Tom Hiddleston returns to the ancient city that first awakened his fascination with the Roman world, determined to uncover a story far more human than the familiar tale of sudden destruction. Drawing on new archaeological evidence, expert analysis and vivid dramatic reconstruction, he follows three real Romans through the final hours before and during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius: Avianius, a headstrong young apprentice searching for his mother; Julia Felix, a wealthy and independent businesswoman responsible for an entire household; and a veteran soldier who risks everything to help others escape. As earthquakes intensify, ash begins to fall and burning avalanches race towards Pompeii and Herculaneum, every decision becomes a struggle between fear, loyalty and survival. Who understood the warning signs? Who fled, who stayed behind—and whose courage gave others a chance to live? Presented here as one uninterrupted feature containing all three episodes, this extraordinary journey allows viewers to experience the complete disaster from its first tremors to its devastating final surge, revealing Pompeii not simply as a city of death, but as an unforgettable story of ordinary people facing the end of their world.
The tension only increases when Aslaug’s dark prophecy appears to come true with the birth of Ragnar’s son Ivar, while the Viking fleet once again sails for Wessex. Ragnar wants negotiation and sees the possibility of something more lasting than simple plunder, but Horik is driven by revenge and increasingly resents Ragnar’s independence. Ecbert, meanwhile, prepares both for peace and war, using Athelstan as a link to the man he knows is unlike any other Viking leader. When Ragnar discovers that Athelstan is still alive and Ecbert offers talks under safe conduct, the possibility of a historic agreement suddenly emerges—but distrust, ambition and bloodshed threaten to destroy it before it can even begin.