History

History is taking to the seas and walking in the footsteps of Captain James Cook. 250 years after Cook began his epic exploration of the Pacific, Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, The Piano) journeys in his wake uncovering stories that resonate from those times on both sides of the beach. Sam begins with a disclaimer – he is merely an actor – but the story of Cook, and the impact he has had on the Pacific in the 250 years since his first voyage, has always fascinated him.

Two world wars tore the heart out of the twentieth century. Between these two tragedies was an age that nostalgia views enthusiastically – a time of jazz, prohibition, the talkies, radio and the motor car. A time that was in reality an age of anxiety. Twenty years of peace that produced war. A peace that failed. Impossible Peace.

The history of mankind is a never-ending story of change, revolution, and evolution, but surely no span of a hundred years can claim to have changed the world so dramatically as the Twentieth Century. In this series we examine the 101 Events which, in the judgment of experts, including those who contribute to the series, most influentially shaped the century, our world, and our way of life.

The 8 part series reveals a raft of great Australian inventors who turned game-changing ideas into a reality and forever changed how we live.

Tony Robinson of Time Team fame, takes us on a journey through time and places across Australia, offering a revealing and unique perspective on Australian society and history. In this 6 part series Tony introduces us to locations where deeds great and grotesque, heralded and hidden took place. There will be surprising stories of conflicts, hardship, notoriety and discovery as Tony brings fascinating new insights into the impact the British have had on Australian life. The series will roughly follow a chronology: from the earliest sightings of Terra Australis Incognita through to today. Each era will be defined by a theme (rather than equal blocks of time). The characters who left their fingerprints on Australia’s formative years were predominantly English and Irish.

This landmark documentary series explores the most iconic crimes of Australia's colonial history. These are stories of violent murder and gun toting mayhem, foundation tales of those that make and break the law. From the birth of the Ned Kelly legend to the brutal death of Ben Hall, these pivotal events are shrouded in mystery and folklore. Using archaeology and the latest forensic methods to test the historical evidence, Mike Munro and the team illuminate a fact-based version of our history.

Through graphics, archive, oral history and travels across the scenes of past battles, Neil Pigot and Dr Peter Pedersen explain where, why and how the ANZACs fought in France and Belgium almost 100 years ago.