Timewatch

- Season 24

(1982)

'Timewatch' has exclusive access to the investigation conducted by the National Museum of Ireland. The bodies of 'Old Croghan Man' and 'Clonycavan Man' were preserved for 2300 years in an Irish peat bog and discovered within weeks of one another. Forensic evidence reveals much about their diet, social status, even hairstyle. It also gives brutal evidence that life -- and death -- in the Iron Age could be vicious.

On December 13th 1939, the first great naval battle of World War II took place off the coast of Uruguay. Known as the 'Battle of the River Plate', it set as rivals two great naval officers in a deadly psychological duel. The pocket battleship Graf Spee, the pride of the German fleet, was commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, a decorated hero from World War I. Opposing him was Commodore Henry Harwood, an exceptional naval tactician in charge of three smaller, lesser British cruisers; the Ajax, the Exeter and the Achilles. The documentary tells the full story of this ...

In Georgian England, in 1789, an all-female transport ship The Lady Juliana set sail for a penal colony in Australia. Incarcerated for prostitution or thievery, the women were saved from death sentences by a government plot to bring civilization to the male penal colony at Sydney Cove. 'Timewatch' follows as three modern Australian women trace their ancestors. Their descendants discover the tale by unearthing diaries, court records and documents of the feisty convict women who redeemed themselves with their entrepreneurial spirit, becoming the unlikely founding ...

'Timewatch' follows a special American military unit requested to identify the remains of two soldiers from World War I.

Almost forty years later, the US is trying to locate and identify pilots missing in action during the Vietnam War. 'Timewatch' follows an American military unit in search of two pilots who were shot down in the war.

The world's most famous warrior, Genghis Khan, rose from abject poverty to rule most of the known world. History records him as a brutal butcher, but for centuries his true story laid buried, forgotten in Chinese archives. Written nearly 800 years ago by Genghis Khan's adopted son, an extraordinary text reveals the secret history of Genghis Khan. Who was the real man behind the legend and how did he inspire his successors from beyond the grave to conquer the largest land empire the world has ever seen?

In 1179 a great Crusader castle was destroyed after a five day siege. Eight hundred of its garrison were killed and at least 700 enslaved. It was a catastrophe for the Crusader cause - but how did it happen? How did the great Muslim leader Saladin break into this 'state of the art' fortress and defeat its fearsome Knight Templar defenders in such a short time? 'Timewatch' reveals the true and savage story of 'Jacob's Ford'.

Ian Potts investigates the skeletal remains of 30 decapitated bodies found in a garden in Roman York.

The Warsaw Uprising of 1944 saw its citizens take on the might of the Nazis alone. 'Timewatch' tells how Britain abandoned these people to their fate in one of the most heroic military operations undertaken by any resistance movement in World War II.

On 9 March, 1862, a naval battle of the American Civil War featured the world's first combat between ironclad warships, 'The Monitor' and 'The Merrimack'. Without portholes, no electricity, and depending on their vessel for the trapped air they breathed, the crew of 'The Monitor' felt it resembled an iron coffin. What was it really like to live inside this great metal monster?

In the early hours of Wednesday 18 April, 1906, America's greatest natural disaster struck San Francisco, followed by devastating fires. Told through the words and images of those who were there, 'Timewatch' marks the centenary by revealing the true extent of the catastrophe, including evidence that the official death toll of 487 was closer to six thousand.

The privileged daughter of an American woman and a descendant of Indian royalty, Noor Inayat Khan was an unlikely war hero. Trained as a musician, she was slightly clumsy, dreamy, and wrote children's fairy stories in Paris. The Nazi invasion of France changed the direction of her life. Fleeing to England with her family, gentle Noor concluded that the fascists represented a great evil. She volunteered her services to the Allies despite her Sunni Muslim faith, which advocated pacifism. Extraordinarily conscientious and brave, Noor was the first female radio operator ...