B29 Frozen in Time

Travel on a perilous mission to repair and refly a rare B-29 bomber stranded on a Greenland icecap for almost 50 years.
Gleaming like a jewel, this well preserved bomber from World War II rests on the Arctic tundra where it was abandoned when it crash landed in 1947. This plane has long been a legend, and now, facing incredible hardship, a team of adventurers struggle to bring the frozen warbird back to life.
In February 1947, a B-29 bomber nicknamed Kee Bird became lost above the Arctic Circle while on a secret Cold War reconnaissance mission. After crash landing in northern Greenland, the crew was rescued, but the Kee Bird was left behind. Although nearly 4,000 B-29s were built in the 1940s, by 1994 the Kee Bird was one of only a few such planes left in the world.
Its historical significance and well-preserved condition attracted the attention of Darryl Greenamyer, an experienced salvage pilot. After surveying the plane and its location, Greenamyer decided to repair the Kee Bird and fly it back to the United States. He and a team of dedicated enthusiasts take up the impossible challenge of bringing the frozen legend back to life.
NOVA follows bold pilot Darryl Greenamyer and his team on two expeditions to revive Kee Bird and make it fly again in one of the most isolated and harshest environments on Earth-- -endurance, improvisation and experience. Despite severe weather illness and difficulties with the shuttle plane in 1994 Greenamyer returns in May 1995 with a larger crew a more reliable shuttle plane and a new plan to bring Kee Bird back to life and back home. An amazing and enthralling story, superbly filmed and documented.
Written, Produced, and Directed by Mike Rossiter ; A Debonair Production Co. Ltd. for NOVA/WGBH in association with Channel Four Television and SVT Sveriges Television

Meet the Roman Emperor with Mary Beard

Mary Beard explores what it was really like to be emperor of Rome, taking us behind palace walls to reveal the hidden world of the Roman imperial court and lifestyle.
Deciphering rare surviving inscriptions and imperial-era artefacts, and exploring epic locations, including the imperial palace on Rome's Palatine Hill, Hadrian's vast villa at Tivoli and even the underwater ruins of Claudius's pleasure palace on the Bay of Naples, Mary gives us her unique insights into the emperors' lives behind the scenes: their homes, entourages, sex lives and health.
And she reveals why, ultimately, these most powerful men in the ancient world could be vulnerable to assassination in their own palaces and how with absolute power came absolute paranoia.

Michael Palin in Nigeria

Michael Palin's latest adventure takes him on a 1300-mile journey across the West African country.
Chapter 1:
He visits Makoko, which is often characterised as the biggest slum in Africa, and drops in at the luxury bars of Lekki, where music business insider Idara Idemeko explains the ambition of a generation now living the high life. He also travels to the coastal town of Badagry, which was once a slave port.
Chapter 2:
Michael continues his journey by climbing Dala Hill in the centre of the ancient city of Kano in northern Nigeria. He travels to the open-air stadium with Mohammad Adamu - who's lived in Kano all his adult life. The two explore the Hausa sport of dambe, an ancient form of boxing. Michael also meets Amina Ali Nkeki, one of the 276 schoolgirls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014.
Chapter 3:
In the last leg of his journey, Michael heads to the city of Benin, where he learns about the 1897 Raid on Benin, viewing a commemorative statue and visiting Igun Street to see bronze statues being made. Onboard a boat on the River Ethiope, he meets Nigerian filmmaker Chuko Esiri. They discuss Nigeria's wildlife and the inspiration that Chuko gets from this location.

Railways: Then and Now

How the railways have changed over the years from the days of steam to diesel and electric.
Chapter 1: Great Western Railway
A nostalgic look at the Great Western Railway and a reminder of the brilliant engineers and designers from the company who brought us such wonderful locomotives as King George V and Gloucester Castle.
Chapter 2: Southern Railway
We see evocative footage of the engines and lines on the Southern Railway, including commuter and holiday routes of London and South East England.
Chapter 3: London Midland and Scottish Railways
We look at the largest railway company in the country, and the diverse ways that it covered its needs from heavy workhorses for long distance freight work to steam engines.
Chapter 4: London North Eastern Railway
Archive film of the second largest of the Big Four companies. We look at the high speed locomotives of Sir Nigel Gresley and views of King's Cross and York Stations in the days of steam.
Chapter 5: British Rail
We travel along the Woodhead Route, a flagship electrification project for BR and the Metropolitan Line running out of London to the suburbs and beyond.

A Very British Sex Scandal: The Love Child and the Secretary

Edwina Currie, Matthew Parris and Ian Hislop lead politicians and journalists, who share personal memories of Cecil Parkinson and the scandal that ended his political ambitions. In 1983, the politician's 12-year affair with his secretary, Sara Keays, was revealed in a media storm that overshadowed the Conservative Party's Conference, forcing him to resign in disgrace.

Pompeii: The New Dig

Following the most extensive archaeological excavation in Pompeii for a generation. Over the course of a year, an all-Italian team of archaeologists excavate an entire city block, Insula 10, in the north of the city. The team aims to unearth the buildings, their purpose, who lived there and what happened to them during the eruption.
Chapter 1: The Bodies
The excavation begins with the discovery of a large brick-built oven. It begins as a mystery, as it is too big to be just for a private residence. But further investigations reveal it was part of a thriving commercial bakery, selling its bread wholesale to the people of Pompeii.
Chapter 2: Escape
The dig continues and the all-Italian team of archaeologists discover the remains of a horse harness. As they cannot find any remains of the horse, they wonder if it managed to escape Pompeii as the eruption began.
Professor Steven Tuck of Miami University joins the team as he seeks to trace those who might have escaped the city and determine the number of people who lived in Pompeii.
Chapter 3: The Final Hours
The archaeologists complete the excavation of a wealthy residence, a bakery and a laundry and, in doing so, discover evidence of what people were doing in the city during its final hours.
Nineteen hours after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius begins, most of Pompeii is buried in metres of pumice. All over the city, roofs have collapsed, killing many, but some residents survive. As the eruption begins to subside, are they over the worst?

Where and How to Look for Fossils

Having learned about sediments, sedimentary environments, and how fossils are preserved, you are ready to go fossil hunting! Professor Cotter prepares you with background on rules and regulations, strategies for finding the best sites, and how to photograph and collect specimens. He closes with a quiz, challenging you to predict the types of fossils associated with different geologic formations.

Reading Fossils Life in the Geologic Past

Fossils are an exciting component of field geology. The term covers not only preserved ancient life-forms, but also evidence of their activity, such as footprints. Look at different ways nature has of preserving fossilsby encasing in amber, freezing, pickling, chemical alteration, and other natural processes. Ask what life-forms are likely to be fossilized and in what environments.

Stalking: State of Fear

Speaks to the victims of stalkers about how being targeted has destroyed their lives, and how some women under threat are taking on the criminal justice system to hold the culprits to account.
The documentary features exclusive access to stalking victims, along with the family of Gracie Spinks, who was murdered by her stalker, this documentary also includes 999 calls and police interview footage to paint a vivid picture of the situation.
Women tell the programme how hard it can be to get the police to take them seriously, with only one in 20 reports leading to a conviction, and asks if the justice system is prepared to take stalking more seriously while victims feel abandoned by a process that's supposed to protect them.

Reading Strata through Geologic Time

Starting with the concept of strataparallel layers of sedimentary rock lying one atop the otherlearn how to look at a cliff face and read the strata like an epic adventure. The story can encompass hundreds of millions of years, involving advancing and retreating glaciers, falling and rising seas, the ebb and flow of life, and much else. Work up to the paragon of stratigraphy, the Grand Canyon.

Limestone and Karst What Deep Time Can Do

Check out limestone, one of nature's most amazing rocks, with medical, economic, and sightseeing benefits. Not to mention, limestone provides insight into environments eons ago. Examine its chemistry and the ways it forms. Survey different kinds of limestone, including types that preserve detailed fossils. Finally, look at sinkholes and caves, which occur in limestone karst topography.

Ice Glacial Landforms and Gravel Exposures

Investigate glaciers, which now cover about 10 percent of Earth's land area; 25,000 years ago, they covered 30 percent. Learn how to spot evidence of past glaciationfrom sculpted valleys in Yosemite National Park, to the cliffs at Vicksburg, Mississippi (which formed far from glaciers), to Minnesota's 10,000 lakes. Dig into the physics of glaciers: how they develop and the forces they exert.