The Great Escape The True Story

For everyone who believes that fact is stranger than fiction there can be nothing in the world more fascinating than the search for the truth behind the most extraordinary mysteries and myths of the Twentieth Century.

Beginning with the 1929 stock market collapse, The 1930s looks at the creation of FDR's Tree Army; construction of one of the greatest engineering projects of the modern era; the impact of the drought that transformed the plains; and an unlikely hero that gave downtrodden Americans hope. This collection of films examines America's response to the unprecedented threats facing the nation during one of history's most tumultuous decades.

Writer Adam Nicolson is granted rare access to the ruins of the whaling stations on the remote British island of South Georgia. Amazing rarely seen archive footage and first-hand testimony from the last of Britain's whale hunters reveals what it was really like to have been a whale hunter in Antarctica, providing Europe with essential oils for soap and food. Putting our modern environmental guilt to one side, this provocative series looks at how and why whale populations were so drastically reduced in the 20th century and attempts to see whaling through the eyes of the time.

A young woman (Meiko Kaji), trained from childhood as an assassin and hell-bent on revenge for the murders of her father and brother and the rape of her mother, hacks and slashes her way to gory satisfaction in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Japan. Rampant with inventive violence and spectacularly choreographed swordplay, Toshiya Fujita’s pair of influential cult classics Lady Snowblood and Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance are bloody, beautiful extravaganzas composed of one elegant widescreen composition after another. The first Lady Snowblood was a major inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill saga, and both of Fujita’s films remain cornerstones of Asian action cinema.

From popular revolt to the obsession with the self, even to modern nationalism, Simon Schama explores the enduring and powerful legacy the romantics have left on our modern world.

David Dimbleby takes to his wooden sailing boat to explore Britain's rich maritime heritage.

Martin Luther: The Idea that Changed the World Narrated by Hugh Bonneville (Downtown Abbey), the film brings to life the great adventure story of Luther's struggle. Undoubtedly, Martin Luther was one of the last most influential and interesting people of the last millennium. The film vividly portrays the key moments in his story: the massive lightning storm that nearly killed him, the bleak self-punishment of his time in the monastery, the corruption that unleashed his anger, the theological breakthrough that reset Christian thought, his trial before the most powerful man in Europe, the staged kidnapping that helped him escape the death penalty, and his ongoing drive to reform the church.

This outrageously entertaining fantasy flick stars 1980s action hero Barry Prima. He plays Jaka Sembung, a kind of Robin Hood figure who possesses mystical powers. As a figurehead for his country's rebellion against oppressive invaders, Jaka is captured, tortured and left for dead. But he returns, even more powerful than before. In desperation, the invaders resurrect an evil wizard and set him against Jaka Sembung in a fierce fight to the death.

Told exclusively through interviews of prisoner of war veterans, this unique documentary uncovers first hand accounts of survival, heroism and bravery. The airmen and soldiers who found themselves thrust into the bizarre and dangerous world of Nazi prison camps faced an unreal struggle against hunger, boredom and their unknown fate. These are the stories of the Prisoners of the Reich.

Working in Dr. Cranley's laboratory, scientist Jack Griffin was always given the latitude to conduct some of his own experiments. His sudden departure, however, has Cranley's daughter Flora worried about him. Griffin has taken a room at the nearby Lion's Head Inn, hoping to reverse an experiment he conducted on himself that made him invisible. Unfortunately, the drug he used has also warped his mind, making him aggressive and dangerous.