Bettany Hughes Treasures Western Turkey
Sunday 9 July 7:30 PM
Boarding a traditional gullet yacht, historian Professor Bettany Hughes sets sail along the coast of Mediterranean Turkey.
At modern day Bodrum, ancient Halicarnassus, Bettany uncovers the story of a remarkable ruling family from the 4th century BCE and gains unprecedented access to the recently unearthed tomb of the head of the dynasty.
(Bettany Hughes’ Treasures of the World - Series 2: Episode 4)
Pompeii: The Discovery With Dan Snow
Sunday 9 July 8:30 PM
In the shadow of the mighty volcano Vesuvius lies the greatest archaeological time capsule ever discovered, an entire city and its people frozen in time - Pompeii.
Dan Snow travels to Italy in search of Pompeii’s gripping story of rediscovery, as treasure hunters and archaeologists battled for centuries to uncover (and sometimes plunder) the lost city.
He retraces the amazing first finds, hidden deep beneath the rock-hard volcanic debris, where miners burrowed 25 metres down to a forgotten theatre that was once filled with Roman audiences, and he enters the spectacular gladiatorial arena whose discovery opened the floodgates to the excavation of Pompeii - revealing a fascinating lost world of life and death in ancient Rome.
My Brilliant Friend
From Monday 10 July 11:05 PM
A critically acclaimed, global smash hit series, My Brilliant Friend is the remarkable television adaptation of the Neapolitan novels that took the world by storm, by Elena Ferrante. We meet best friends Lila (Gaia Girace) and Elena (Margherita Mazzucco) as they navigate the complex social politics of the 1950s Neapolitan suburb in which they grow up.
The series brings the books magically to life, with all the charm and intelligence that made them so astoundingly successful. The result is a prestige series, with exquisite performances charting a complex female friendship with which viewers around the world have fallen in love.
In Italian with English subtitles.
Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy
From Thursday 13 July 8:30 PM
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy is a six-part series that follows Academy Award nominee Stanley Tucci as he travels across Italy to discover the secrets and delights of the country’s regional cuisines.
Viewers will go along with him as he enjoys the luxurious creamy carbonara of Rome, the delicious simplicity of Sicily’s pasta alla Norma, the saffron-infused silkiness of risotto in Milan, the crispy tenderness of bistecca alla fiorentina, the perfect classic ragu alla bolognese and the world’s best pizza in Naples.
Tucci comes prepared with a bottomless appetite for it all, showing us how the diversity of Italian cooking offers a gateway through which you can glimpse Italy’s history and culture.
Paris: Mystery Of The Lost Palace
Friday 14 July 8:30 PM
It was Versailles before Versailles: a spectacular palace in the heart of Paris, with a history spanning 2000 years – from Julius Caesar’s invasion of Gaulle to Marie Antoinette’s imprisonment as she awaited execution.
So how has it been erased from memory and built over by successive government buildings?
To determine exactly when, and why, this lost masterpiece was built the experts will strip away layers of political, military, and religious history long hidden from view with a single goal: to gather clues beginning as far back as 52 BC in order to digitally reconstruct the Lost Palace, piecing together the size, shape and texture of the palace and discover its hidden surprises by interacting with scientists and historians.
Amazing Railway Adventures Nick Knowles
From Saturday 15 July 8:30 PM
From digging up ancient artefacts to swimming in the freezing Arctic Circle, Nick Knowles is experiencing the wonders of the world, by train.
Over six fantastic globe-trotting trips he immerses himself in the people, landscapes and culture of Peru, Mexico, Alaska, Norway, Vietnam, and Malaysia, hopping aboard some incredible trains as he undertakes some of the most breath-taking railway journeys in the world.
From Los Mochis in Sinaloa to Creel in Chihuahua, Nick Knowles’ railway adventure across Mexico is jam-packed with incredible sights and people.
Nick Knowles is on a railway journey of a lifetime across Mexico on a route from the Pacific coastline at Sinaloa through the incredible Copper Canyon to Creel in Chihuahua.
Before boarding his train, Nick visits Topolobampo, a coastal port, where freight trains carrying goods to and from container ships join the railway line through the Copper Canyon.