Timewatch

- Season 26

(1982)

In July of 2007, an international crew of 61 sailors set off from Denmark for Ireland in a recreated 11th century Viking longboat. Braving rough seas and storms while confined to a one meter square space apiece for working, eating and sleeping in an open boat, the crew sailed 1000 miles in an attempt to reenact the Vikings' landfall at Dublin. 'Timewatch' cameras filmed the entire journey, recording their trials and triumphs.

More than 60 years on, researchers are still arguing about exactly why Omaha Beach was the hardest fought of all the landing points of D-Day. Presenter Richard Hammond and Dr Simon Trew of Royal Military Academy Sandhurst set out to look through the latest findings. Can new statistical research and fresh archaeological finds reveal the truth?

How far did British coastal inhabitants go to gain the cargo of ships in distress? Did communities really lure ships onto the rocks, or is it a ghoulish popular myth? Were crews left to die while their ships were pillaged? Bella Bathurst, author of 'The Wreckers: A Story of Killing Seas and Plundered Shipwrecks', explores the answers.

Before the medieval joust came the melee, a brutal free-for-all involving not two but hundreds of combatants. Dr Saul David explores this vicious sport and investigates the story of the hero of the melee - Sir William the Marshall.

In 1350 BC, Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten commanded his people to move 250 miles into the desert and build a brand new metropolis to house his revolutionary monotheistic religion. Professor Barry Kemp has studied the history of Akhenaten for the last quarter of a century. 'Timewatch' examines his findings and reveals a remarkable archaeological legacy hidden in the desert.