Christened 'The Beast' by Churchill, Tirpitz was Nazi Germany's most powerful and dangerous battleship. Protected by an elite squadron of German fighters, it was seen as invincible. After 34 attempts to sink it in its Norwegian lair had failed, the RAF sent in the 617 'Dambusters' Squadron and 9 Squadron; in a spectacular raid on 14 November 1944 they managed to slip through German defences and sinkTirpitz. With eyewitness accounts from surviving RAF crew, one of the Luftwaffe fighter pilots, and German sailors who were on Tirpitz that day, this documentary tells this extraordinary story from a uniquely intimate and personal perspective and offers new and intriguing evidence to explain the raid's improbable success.
Tony Robinson embarks on spectacular walks through some of Britain's most historic landscapes in search of the richest stories from our past.
The second of the programmes about the perils of social media. What happens when a troll goes too far, when private photos end up where they shouldn't, or when one young boy finds himself in a truck load of trouble? Social media sites have become an integral part of our online existence. Many of us have multiple accounts over a variety of networks, and this documentary was aimed at those who don’t realise that the world is watching. Far from the fails of brands and big labels that we covered in our 2012 round up, this show concentrated on individuals and how their lives had been changed (for the worse) by the way they used sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
On 12 October 1984, the IRA carried out the most audacious terrorist attack in its history. At 2:53am, a huge explosion ripped through the front of Brighton's Grand Hotel, in an effort to kill Margaret Thatcher and decapitate her administration. It was the first attempt to wipe out an entire government in Britain since the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. The programme features interviews with the victims of the bomb, those charged with the rescue effort, the aides who were with Mrs Thatcher on that fateful night, and a former member of the IRA. What emerges is the terrifying real tale of a historic event, including a dramatic assessment of just how close the IRA came to achieving their primary aim: the assassination of the Prime Minister.
This series aims to show people what the constituent parts of music do: melody, harmony, rhythm – and how the pieces fit together. It’s for anyone who’s ever tried to learn their favourite song at the piano, or who’s tried to pick up the guitar or the trombone, for every kid who’s starting out with music, or the merely curious to know why one piece of music might resemble another.