Timewatch

Last updated

Timewatch
Timewatch title card.jpg
Timewatch title card
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time60 min. (approx.)
Original release
Network BBC Two
Release29 September 1982 (1982-09-29) 
15 November 2011 (2011-11-15)

Timewatch is a long-running British television series showing documentaries on historical subjects, spanning all human history. It was first broadcast on 29 September 1982 and is produced by the BBC.

Contents

The Timewatch brandname is used as a banner title in the UK, but many of the individual documentaries are unbranded with BBC continuity outside the domestic British market.

Episodes

Viewer figures are taken from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board Ltd. website for the day that the episode was first broadcast. This is currently a list of some episodes, far from all.

1993

1996

1997

The following series has seven episodes.

The following series has eight episodes.

1998

The following series has six episodes.

The following series has six episodes.

2001

#EpisodeBroadcast DatePresenter/NarratorViewers (Millions)
1"The Empire State Story"12 January 2001 Samuel West 3.03
2"Himmler, Hitler and the End of the Reich"19 January 20013.35
3"The King's Servant"26 January 2001 John Guy
4"Nero's Golden House"2 February 20012.63
5"Public Enemy Number One"9 February 20012.69
6"Hitler, Churchill and the Paratroopers"16 February 20013.44
7"The Last Surrender"11 May 20012.50
8"Debutantes"18 May 2001 Samuel West
9"Strangeways Revisited"25 May 2001
10"Scharnhorst"1 June 20013.45
11"Roman Soldiers to Be"8 June 2001 John Shrapnel
12"Bombing Germany"23 August 2001 John Michie 3.00

2002

#EpisodeBroadcast DatePresenterViewers (Millions)
1"The Making of Adolf Hitler"4 January 2002 Bill Paterson 2.35
2"Mystery of the Iron Bridge"11 January 20022.90
3"Death of the Battleship"18 January 20022.82
4"Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea"1 February 2002
5"Jubilee Day"8 February 2002
6"Myths of the Titanic"19 April 2002 Bernard Hill 2.45
7"The Victorian Way of Death"4 May 2002 Dan Cruickshank
8"Battle for Berlin"10 May 2002 Bill Paterson 2.17
9"Stalin and the Betrayal of Leningrad"9 August 20022.17
10"The Myth of Custer's Last Stand"16 August 20022.12
11"Akhenaten and Nefertiti: The Royal Gods of Egypt"6 September 20022.62
12"Murder in Harvard"14 December 2002

2003

#EpisodeBroadcast DatePresenterViewers (Millions)
1"White Slaves Pirate Gold" [54] 10 January 20032.71
2"Lost Cities of the Maya"17 January 2003 Hugh Quarshie
3"Rocket and Its Rivals"24 January 2003John Shrapnel
4"Ramesses III: Behind the Myth"31 January 2003 Bill Paterson
5"1914: The War Revolution"7 February 2003 Bill Paterson
6"Chaplin and Hitler: The Tramp and the Dictator" (see The Great Dictator )28 February 2003 Kenneth Branagh
7"Concorde: A Love Affair"19 October 2003 Michael Praed 2.78
8"Zulu: The True Story" [55] [56] 24 October 2003 Michael Praed
9"The Greatest Storm"31 October 2003 Michael Praed 3.88
10"Mystery of the Missing Ace"14 November 2003 Michael Praed 3.24
11"Gallipoli: The First D-Day"28 November 2003 Michael Praed
12"Through Hell for Hitler"5 December 2003

2004

#EpisodeBroadcast DatePresenterViewers (Millions)
1"Britain's X Files"9 January 2004 Michael Praed
2"The Lost Liner and the Empire's Gold"21 January 2004 Michael Praed
3"The Secrets of Enzo Ferrari"23 January 2004 Michael Praed
4"The Mysteries of the Medieval Ship"30 January 2004 Michael Praed
5"How Mad Was King George?"6 February 2004 Michael Praed
6"Who Killed Rasputin?"1 October 2004 Michael Praed
7"The Lost Heroes"8 October 2004 Michael Praed
8"The Mystery of the Black Death"15 October 2004 Michael Praed
9"The Black Pharaohs"22 October 2004 Michael Praed
10"The Secrets of the Mary Rose"29 October 2004 Michael Praed
11"Julius Caesar's Greatest Battle"5 November 2004 Michael Praed

2005

#EpisodeBroadcast DatePresenterViewers (Millions)
1"Who Killed Ivan the Terrible?"29 January 2005 Michael Praed
2"Murder in Rome"4 March 2005 Michael Praed
3"Who Killed Stalin?"11 March 2005 Michael Praed
4"Princess Margaret: A Love Story"26 March 2005 Michael Praed
5"The Killer Wave of 1607"1 April 2005 Michael Praed
6"Britain's Lost Colosseum"20 May 2005 Michael Praed
7"The Year Without Summer"27 May 2005 Michael Praed
8"Emperor Hirohito"1 July 2005 Michael Praed
9"The Gunpowder Plot"4 November 2005Alice Hogge
10"Pol Pot: The Journey to the Killing Fields"11 November 2005 Michael Praed
11"Children of the Doomed Voyage"18 November 2005 Michael Praed
12"Inside the Mind of Adolf Hitler"18 November 2005 Michael Praed

2006

#EpisodeBroadcast DatePresenterViewers (Millions)
1"The Bog Bodies"20 January 2006 Michael Praed
2"Battle of the River Plate"27 January 2006 Michael Praed
3"The Floating Brothel"3 February 2006 Michael Praed
4"Unknown Soldiers"24 February 2006 Michael Praed
5"Missing in Action"3 March 2006 Michael Praed
6"The Secret History of Genghis Khan"10 March 2006 Michael Praed
7"The Crusaders' Lost Fort"14 April 2006 Michael Praed
8"The Mystery of the Headless Romans"21 April 2006 Michael Praed
9"Battle for Warsaw"28 April 2006 Michael Praed
10"The Iron Coffin"5 May 2006 Michael Praed
11"San Francisco's Great Quake"12 May 2006 Michael Praed
12"The Princess Spy"19 May 2006 Michael Praed

2007

#EpisodeBroadcast DatePresenterViewers (Millions)
1"The Hunt for U-864"5 January 2007 Michael Praed
2"Beatlemania"12 January 2007 Michael Praed
3"Killer Cloud"19 January 2007 Michael Praed
4"Hadrian's Wall"26 January 2007 Julian Richards
5"Zeppelin: The First Blitz"2 February 2007 Michael Praed
6"The Last Duel"9 February 2007 Brian Cox
7"Remember the Galahad"2 April 2007 Michael Praed
8"Hijack"13 April 2007 Michael Praed
9"The Wave That Destroyed Atlantis"20 April 2007 Michael Praed
10"The Hidden Children"27 April 2007 Michael Praed
11"Gladiator Graveyard"11 May 2007 Michael Praed
12"The People's Coronation"18 May 2007 Michael Praed

2008

#EpisodeBroadcast DatePresenterViewers (Millions)
1"Viking Voyage"5 January 2008 Michael Praed
2"Bloody Omaha"6 January 2008 Richard Hammond 2.61
3"In Search of the Wreckers"12 January 2008Bella Bathurst2.23
4"The Greatest Knight"19 January 2008 Saul David
5"The Pharaoh's Lost City"26 January 2008 Michael Praed 2.26
6"Ten Pound Poms"2 February 2008 Michael Praed 1.82
7"Stonehenge: The Healing Stones"27 September 2008 Tim Darvill and Geoffrey Wainwright 2.19
8"Britain's Forgotten Floods"4 October 2008 Vanessa Collingridge 1.68
9"The Boxer Rebellion"11 October 2008 Michael Praed
10"Young Victoria"18 October 2008 Kate Williams 2.22
11"Last Day of World War One"1 November 2008 Michael Palin 2.63

2009

#EpisodeBroadcast DatePresenterViewers (Millions)
1"Queen Elizabeth's Lost Guns"21 February 2009 Saul David 2.20
2"QE2: The Final Voyage"28 February 2009 Michael Praed 2.03
3"The Real Bonnie and Clyde"7 March 2009 Michael Praed 2.06
4"Captain Cook: The Man Behind the Legend"14 March 2009 Vanessa Collingridge
5"WWI Aces Falling"21 March 2009 Michael Praed 1.90
6"Pyramid: The Last Secret"28 March 2009 Bob Brier 2.32
7"In Shackleton's Footsteps "4 April 2009 Michael Praed 1.75
8"The Prince and the Plotter"4 July 2009 Huw Edwards

2010

#EpisodeBroadcast DatePresenterViewers (Millions)
1"Atlantis: The Evidence"2 June 2010 Bettany Hughes

2011

#EpisodeBroadcast DatePresenterViewers (Millions)
1"Code-Breakers: Bletchley Park's Lost Heroes"25 October 2011 Keeley Hawes
2"The Most Courageous Raid of WWII"1 November 2011 Paddy Ashdown
3"Dam Busters: The Race to Smash the German Dams"8 November 2011 James Holland
4"Double Agent: The Eddie Chapman Story"15 November 2011 Ben Macintyre

See also

Related Research Articles

Desert Island Discs is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942.

<i>Radio Times</i> British weekly listings magazine for radio and television

Radio Times is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manager of the British Broadcasting Company, it was the world's first broadcast listings magazine. Consequently, in September 2023 it became the first broadcast listings magazine to reach and then pass its centenary.

Face to Face was a BBC interview television programme originally broadcast between 1959 and 1962, created and produced by Hugh Burnett, which ran for 35 episodes. The insightful and often probing style of the interviewer, former politician John Freeman, separated it from other programmes of the time. Face to Face was revived in 1989 with Jeremy Isaacs as the interviewer and ran until 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Wicks</span> British actress (born 1959)

Victoria Wicks is a British actress. She is known for her role as Sally Smedley in Channel 4's comedy series Drop the Dead Donkey (1990–1998), Mrs. Gideon in The Mighty Boosh (2004), and the College Director in Skins (2007–08). Her film appearances include The Imitation Game (2014) and High-Rise (2015). She is an associate of Howard Barker's theatre company, The Wrestling School.

Future Fantastic was a British documentary television series which premiered in 1996. This show looked at the how science and science fiction complement each other, and how ideas and technologies from the past are helping to shape our future. The series was narrated by Gillian Anderson and co-produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation, The Learning Channel and Pro Sieben.

One Foot in the Past is a British television series on BBC2 that ran from 1993 to 2000. It considered conservation in, and the architecture, heritage and history of, the British Isles and, in three episodes, France, Italy and India. The series was a magazine programme. Each programme ran for 30 minutes.

Secret History is a long-running British television documentary series. Shown on Channel 4, the Secret History brandname is still used as a banner title in the UK, but many of the individual documentaries can still be found on US cable channels without the branding. It can be seen as Channel 4's answer to the BBC's Timewatch. The series returned to Channel 4 on 10 November 2013 after a nine-year break.

War Walks is a BBC television documentary series presented by the historian Richard Holmes, then Professor of Military and Security Studies at Cranfield University. The series is about battlefields, which are visited by Holmes, and is also about the corresponding battles. The series covers twelve battles. Both the first and the second series are about battles fought by British or English forces. Nine of these were fought against German, French or Norman forces. The other three are from British or English civil wars.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current state with its current name on New Year's Day 1927. The oldest and largest local and global broadcaster by stature and by number of employees, the BBC employs over 21,000 staff in total, of whom approximately 17,900 are in public-sector broadcasting.

CNN Millennium or Millennium: A Thousand Years of History or MM Millenium or Millennium is a CNN Perspectives television series or miniseries about world history during the 2nd millennium from the 11th to the 20th centuries.

This is a list of British television related events from 1998.

This is a list of British television related events from 1988.

This is a list of British television related events from 1982.

<i>Crimewatch</i> British television programme produced by the BBC

Crimewatch is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was originally broadcast once a month on BBC One, although in the final years before cancellation it was usually broadcast roughly once every two months.

<i>Doctor Who</i> season 1 1963–64 season of television programme

The first season of British science fiction television programme Doctor Who was originally broadcast on BBC TV between 1963 and 1964. The series began on 23 November 1963 with An Unearthly Child and ended with The Reign of Terror on 12 September 1964. The show was created by BBC Television head of drama Sydney Newman to fill the Saturday evening timeslot and appeal to both the younger and older audiences of the neighbouring programmes. Formatting of the programme was handled by Newman, head of serials Donald Wilson, writer C. E. Webber, and producer Rex Tucker. Production was overseen by the BBC's first female producer Verity Lambert and story editor David Whitaker, both of whom handled the scripts and stories.

<i>In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great</i> British TV series or programme

In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great is a BBC documentary television series, first shown in 1998. Written and presented by historian and broadcaster Michael Wood, it retraced the travels of Alexander the Great, from Macedonia to the borders of India and back to Mesopotamia.

<i>Inside No. 9</i> BBC TV dark comedy series

Inside No. 9 is a British black comedy anthology television programme written and created by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. It aired on BBC Two from 5 February 2014 to 12 June 2024, running for 9 series and 55 episodes. Each 30-minute episode is a self-contained story with new characters and a new setting, almost all starring Pemberton or Shearsmith. Aside from the writers, each episode has a new cast, allowing Inside No. 9 to attract a number of well-known actors. The stories are linked only by a setting related to the number 9 in some way, and a brass hare statue that is hidden in all episodes. Themes and tone vary from episode to episode, but all have elements of comedy and horror or perverse humour, in addition to a plot twist.

Match of the Seventies is a British sports documentary television series broadcast on BBC1 in two series between 26 July 1995 and 2 September 1996. Presented by Dennis Waterman it featured highlights of the English football seasons during the 1970s. It begins in the summer of 1970, shortly after England's defeat in the World Cup in a season in which Arsenal won the double and concludes at the end of the 1979-1980 season with an increasingly dominant Liverpool side retaining their league title.

Alien Empire was a documentary television series about insects produced by the BBC, and first broadcast by PBS in 1996. It was subtitled Inside the Kingdom of the Insect.

References

  1. Dafydd Sills-Jones (9 April 2009). "History Documentary on UK Terrestrial Television, 1982-2002". Student PhD Thesis of Aberystwyth University. Aberystwyth University . Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  2. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  3. For a review of this episode, see Thomas Sutcliffe, "review", The Independent, 3 July 1996.
  4. Radio Times, Issue 3779, 29 June 1996, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further today's choices, and "This Week", Radio Times, Issue 3779, 29 June 1996, p 10.
  5. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Love Story" in "Choice", The Times, 25 February 1997, p 47; Matthew Bond, "If not unbelievable, then truly unspeakable", The Times, 26 February 1997, p 47; and "Television: Today's pick", The Independent, 13 March 1998.
  6. Radio Times, Issue 3812, 22 February 1997, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further "This Week", Radio Times, Issue 3812, 22 February 1997, p 8.
  7. For a review of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Before Columbus" in "Choice", The Times, 4 March 1997, p 51.
  8. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  9. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Secret Memories" in "Choice", The Times, 11 March 1997, p 51; and Peter Barnard, "No reason to panic: you are not a clone", The Times, 12 March 1997, p 47.
  10. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  11. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: The Boer War - The First Media War" in "Choice", The Times, 18 March 1997, p 55; and Matthew Bond, "When the film cameras first went to war", The Times, 19 March 1997, p 47.
  12. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  13. For a review of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Birth Story" in "Television Choice: Spiky in body and mood", The Times, 25 March 1997, p 50.
  14. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  15. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Forgotten Allies" in "Television Choice: A double helping of fame", The Times, 1 April 1997, p 42; and Matthew Bond, "Playing the fool, but it's no laughing matter", The Times, 2 April 1997, p 47.
  16. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  17. For a review of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Back to the Iron Age" in "Television Choice: Do you remember when...?", The Times, 18 April 1997, p 46.
  18. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  19. Radio Times, Issue 3847, 25 October 1997, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  20. For a review of this episode, see Elizabeth Cowley, "Timewatch: Lords of the Maya" in "Television Choice: On the road to equality", The Times, 4 November 1997, p 50.
  21. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  22. For a review of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Alison - A Personal History" in "Television Choice: Alison French revisited", The Times, 11 November 1997, p 54; and Matthew Bond, "The return of a woman with strong views", The Times, 12 November 1997, p 51.
  23. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  24. For a review of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: The Gentlemen Spies" in "Television Choice: MI5's shadowy origins", The Times, 18 November 1997, p 54.
  25. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  26. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: The African Trade" in "Television Choice: Slavery's black secret", The Times, 25 November 1997, p 50; and Matthew Bond, "Joanna's plum pudding needed pruning", The Times, 26 November 1997, p 51.
  27. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  28. For a review of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Lenin's Secret Files" in "Television Choice: Lenin's secrets unmasked", The Times, 2 December 1997, p 50.
  29. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  30. For a review of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Remember the Ugandan Asians" in "Television Choice: Advice for the unwary", The Times, 9 December 1997, p 50.
  31. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  32. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: In Search of Cleopatra" in "Television Choice: Solid second-hand advice", The Times, 16 December 1997, p 46; Peter Barnard, "A nice little runner with two careful owners", The Times, 17 December 1997, p 43; and Peter Waymark, "Day of the Pharaohs" in "Television Choice: An Egyptian celebration", The Times, 1 January 1998, p 38.
  33. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  34. Radio Times, Issue 3855, 20 December 1997, reprinted at BBC Programme Index: .
  35. For commentary on this episode, see Rupert Cornwell, "Hitler's children - the spawn of the twentieth century", The Independent, 8 April 1998
  36. Radio Times, Issue 3869, 4 April 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further today's choices.
  37. Radio Times, Issue 3870, 11 April 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further Polly Toynbee, Radio Times, Issue 3870, 11 April 1998, p 10.
  38. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: The Oklahoma Outlaw" in "Television Choice: Lost in a cold, dark place", The Times, 21 April 1998, p 54; Joe Joseph, "Oxford warmly welcomes faithful retainers", The Times, 22 April 1998, p 43; and Nancy Banks-Smith, "A showbusiness career to die for", The Guardian Weekly, vol 158, no 18: week ending 3 May 1998, p 26.
  39. Radio Times, Issue 3871, 18 April 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  40. The Times, 28 April 1998, p 51
  41. Radio Times, Issue 3872, 25 April 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  42. For reviews of this episode, see W Stephen Gilbert, "Timewatch: Las Vegas and the Mormons" in "Television Choice: Wish you'd been elsewhere?", The Times, 5 May 1998, p 50; Joe Joseph, "Out in the desert, beyond reach of parody", The Times, 6 May 1998, p 43; and David Aaronovitch, "Television: Why I'm loving the alien", The Independent, 9 May 1998.
  43. Radio Times, Issue 3873, 2 May 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further John Peel, Radio Times, Issue 3873, 2 May 1998, p 9.
  44. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch" in "Television Choice: Bricks and mortar of time", The Times, 12 May 1998, p 54; and Thomas Sutcliffe, "TV", The Independent, 12 May 1998.
  45. Radio Times, Issue 3874, 9 May 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further today's choices.
  46. For a review of this episode, see Nicholas Lezard, "Television Review", The Independent, 29 September 1998.
  47. Radio Times, Issue 3894, 26 September 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further today's choices.
  48. Radio Times, Issue 3895, 3 October 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further today's choices.
  49. Radio Times, Issue 3896, 10 October 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  50. Radio Times, Issue 3897, 17 October 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further today's choices.
  51. Radio Times, Issue 3898, 24 October 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  52. For a review of this episode, see Robert Hanks, "Television Review", The Independent, 4 November 1998
  53. Radio Times, Issue 3899, 31 October 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
  54. Maev Kennedy (6 January 2003). "Seabed gold 'clue to white slavers'". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  55. Saul David (17 February 2011). "British History in depth. Zulu: The True Story". BBC History . BBC. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  56. Zulu - The True Story (Timewatch 2003) on YouTube