2020

Even during the brutality of the Dark Ages, the Vikings of Northern Europe were considered particularly fearsome, ruthless, and dangerous. For centuries, historians believed all Viking warriors were men, but new archaeological discoveries on a small island in central Sweden have revealed evidence that some of the fighters were women. See how modern forensic testing helped identify the sex of one female war chief.

In a small fishing community on the west coast of Denmark, over 900 Thai women are married to local fishermen. The trend started 25 years ago when Sommai, a former sex worker from north east Thailand, married Niels. She became a matchmaker for lonely Danish locals and impoverished women from her village in Thailand. At first, these stories seem straightforward: white men from a wealthy country marrying Asian women looking for a way out of poverty, but a different, far more complex and surprising tale unfolds in the film.

Over the past 30 years, roughly half of the planet’s coral has been lost. These vital underwater ecosystems are being damaged by pollution and overfishing. But rising water temperatures due to climate change are having the most catastrophic effect of all. Coral bleaching is a global epidemic that reduces vibrant and thriving reefs to rubble. At the current rate of loss, scientists predict that we will lose nearly all of the world’s coral in another 30 years.

Five times, Earth has faced apocalyptic events that swept nearly all life from the face of the planet. What did these prehistoric creatures look like? What catastrophes caused their disappearance? And how did our distant ancestors survive and give rise to the world we know today?

A cargo jet plummets to earth in the Swedish Arctic. And as investigators pore over the evidence, a terrifying picture of chaos and confusion emerges.

In a quarter of a century, Amazon has propelled Jeff Bezos from online bookseller to tech titan. He's the richest man on the planet, and the company he founded is one of the most powerful. Panorama investigates Amazon's rise to corporate superpower and asks whether there is a dark side to our love affair with the company. Former high-level insiders describe Amazon's huge, obsessive data-gathering operation, which enables the company to use what it knows about us to shape not only the future of retail but the workplace and technology too.

Boys Club: Private school privilege and a culture of cover up. "As soon as you put the blazer on you feel like you belong somewhere and you're part of something. I think that's what makes it so appealing." Class of 2017 student The glossy brochures and slick websites of private schools promise nothing less than the best. In return for tens of thousands of dollars in fees, these schools pledge to turn out fine young men and women. Given the investment parents make, protecting a school's good name is vital.

“Girl Power and all that, well I’m the original Girl Power. For a start I was headlining and I had an all-male bill underneath me and there was nobody doing that. I was the original women’s libber. Trust me, I was.” Cilla Black, 2002 audio recording Singer, actor, presenter, icon, Cilla Black was a talent who defined British television for over four decades. In the years following her death, Cilla’s family made a startling discovery - buried in the loft of her family home was a stash of never seen before films and behind the scenes footage from Cilla’s personal video collection, along with hours of audio recording of Cilla telling her own life story.

Florida is well-known for its beaches, blue water and year-round sun, but it also has a surprising wild side. It is home to pine forests, coral reefs and the Everglades wetland, the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States. Here, manatees swim in crystal-clear rivers, baby alligators practice their hunting skills and miniature deer roam free. But every year, this state faces the full forces of nature: from wildfires to flooding to powerful hurricanes.

The Sanriku Railway Rias Line runs 163km the length of Iwate Pref. in Japan's northeast, from Kuji Station in the north through Sakari Station in the south. The only way to conquer the rugged coastline was to go through it, with no fewer than 80 tunnels. Brilliant scenery and the sea awaits when you exit each tunnel. Travel the Sanriku Railway that was the beacon of hope for the region's quick recovery after the Sanriku coastline suffered major damage during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.