Best Historical Documentaries
I love history and here is a list of the best documentaries I have seen.
In no order.
In no order.
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- StarsRuth GoodmanPeter GinnTom PinfoldHistorian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold learn about living in the medieval world and help rebuild a castle.
- StarsJim HowickSimon FarnabyMathew BayntonA group of British comedians show the sides of history they don't teach you in school. From the 'Savage Stone Age' to the 'Troublesome 20th Century', you see the full side to history.A comedy but still great to learn history from!
- StarsGeraldine JamesRuth GoodmanPeter GinnHistorian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold turn the clock back 500 years to the early Tudor period to become tenant farmers on monastery land.
- StarsRobert BartlettHugh GilbertIn Inside the Medieval Mind, one of the world's greatest authorities on the Middle Ages, Professor Robert Bartlett of St Andrews University, investigates the intellectual landscape of the medieval world. In this series he opens up the often surprising discontinuities and similarities between the medieval age and our own as he remarks: "In many ways these were people very much like us, in terms of family, ambitions for children and the world of emotions. On the other hand, they inhabited a very different world, in which it was believed the dead visited the living, and where somewhere there lived a race of people with the heads of dogs." The series comprises four one hour programmes, each on a different aspect of medieval thinking: Belief; Sex; Power; Knowledge. During the series he visits numerous medieval locations, from Westminster Abbey to Pluscarden Abbey near Inverness, with wide use of readings from original medieval sources.
- StarsStephen NoonanNick BarberRuth GoodmanLife in a 19th-century pharmacy is re-created in this four-part documentary. Historian Ruth Goodman, professor Nick Barber and doctorate student Tom Quick discover how people attempted to cure common ailments beginning at the time of Queen Victoria's reign in 1837, when remedies such as leeches, oil of earthworm and opium potions were commonly used.
- StarsWaldemar JanuszczakShaun GreenhalghChristianity slowly emerged from being a persecuted minority to the state religion of the Roman Empire. This episode is a history of the ways believers grappled with a way to depict Jesus. Simple symbolic meaning developed into splendid art and churches.As well as "Baroque! - From St Peter's to St Paul's" by Waldemar Januzczak which was strangely not on record on IMDB.
- StarsHugh BonnevilleJuliet GardinerGregg WallaceThree families live for a week at a time in three adjoining houses on Albert Road, Morecambe over 5 episodes. First episode has them living as Edwardians with servants in 1900s. Second episode has them living in 1920s. Third episode has same families living as though during the 1939-45 World War. Fourth episode has a new coloured family instead, living through 1960s.
- StarsTony RobinsonCarl Wilson-DownieJonathan FoyleTony Robinson visits various periods in history, literally getting involved in the worst jobs our ancestors had to endure.
- CreatorTim TaylorStarsTony RobinsonPhil HardingJohn GaterA group of archaeologists have 3 days to discover historical artifacts in different sites around Britain.
- StarsTerry JonesPeter BarberFaye GetzTerry Jones hosts this series that looks at the real facts about the Middle Ages and its roots.
- StarsTony RobinsonZac SpielvogelTony Robinson travels across Australia, giving an insight into the history of Australia.
- StarsAngela Palmer-HaibachDiarmaid MacCullochDiarmaid MacCulloch, an Oxford history professor, travels to historical points of interest relevant to Christianity discussing the origins and spread of Christianity in a span of 6 episodes.
- StarsNeil deGrasse TysonChristopher EmersonKeythe FarleyAn exploration of our discovery of the laws of nature and coordinates in space and time.
- StarsStephen NoonanPeter GinnRuth GoodmanIn this unique project, historian Ruth Goodman as well as archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn immerse themselves in the life of the Victorian farmer as he would have lived on the Acton Scott Estate.
- StarsMichael MosleyDruin BurchWalter SneaderThe discoveries that revolutionized medicine In this "entertaining medical series" (The Sunday Times, U.K.), Dr. Michael Mosley shows how drugs have revolutionized medicine and changed the course of human history. Unfolding over a period of 200 years, it's an extraordinary tale of daring, self-experimentation, revelation, genius, and outright luck. In three episodes, Mosley recounts how humans have learned to fight back against disease and death--from unleashing the power of nature's medicine cabinet to the mass production of modern pharmaceuticals. With his characteristic enthusiasm, sense of fun, and hands-on approach, Mosley takes you on a journey of discovery and scientific breakthrough that has saved millions of lives and transformed our world--and that promises a personalized, genetic approach to medicine in the future. Dr. Michael Mosley is a physician, award-winning science journalist, and accomplished television presenter. He has hosted programs including Inside the Human Body and The Story of Science, and he is the author of the nutrition book The Fast Diet.
- DirectorRussell BarnesStarsDerren BrownDeepak ChopraRichard DawkinsScientist Richard Dawkins turns a hostile eye on the world of alternative medicine.
- DirectorRussell BarnesStarsYousef Al-KhattabRichard DawkinsTed HaggardRichard Dawkins' highly critical documentary attacks the pulsing heart of all mainstream religion- faith; with special focus on Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Contains repeated references to sectorial schools as child abuse and faith as the stepping stone to terrorist activity.
- StarsMassimo MarinoniPeter GuinnessRoss KingFrom a small Italian community in 15th-century Florence, the Medici family would rise to rule Europe in many ways. Using charm, patronage, skill, duplicity and ruthlessness, they would amass unparalleled wealth and unprecedented power. They would also ignite the most important cultural and artistic revolution in Western history--the European Renaissance. But the forces of change the Medici helped unleash would one day topple their ordered world.
- StarsMorgan FreemanSean CarrollMichio KakuHosted by Morgan Freeman, Through the Wormhole will explore the deepest mysteries of existence - the questions that have puzzled mankind for eternity. What are we made of? What was there before the beginning? Are we really alone? Is there a creator? These questions have been pondered by the most exquisite minds of the human race.
- StarsMark StrongPhil DavisCherie LunghiCelebrities study their lineages and family trees, usually learning surprising secrets they never knew about their families.
- StarsLucy WorsleyJustin ChampionRonald HuttonWomen life in 17th century.
- StarsTerry JonesPeter HeatherPope Benedict XVITerry Jones challenges the received Roman and Roman Catholic notion of the 'barbarian'.
- StarsJames FoxBill AndersDavid WatkinDr James Fox explores how, in the hands of artists, the colors gold, blue and white have stirred our emotions, changed the way we behave and even altered the course of history.
- StarsFi GloverTyger Drew-HoneyZöe LuckerIn this historical docuseries, six celebrities experience the relentless graft of Victorian Britain.
- StarsAnnie GrayAlex LanglandsHarpreet BauraFour professional bakers leave their modern businesses behind to experience what their profession was like in the past as they bake their way through the Victorian era.
- StarsPhilip GlenisterPeter GinnRuth GoodmanHistorians Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn bring back to life the golden age of steam, exploring how Victorian railways helped to shape modern Britain.
- StarsMichael MosleyA group of 15 volunteers aged between 10 and 59 are transported back to Victorian London as they spend three weeks living and working in a recreation of the notorious Old Nichol slum in Bethnal Green in London's East End.
- StarsDan Cruickshank
- DirectorSuzanne PhillipsStarsSuzannah LipscombJudith FlandersKate WilliamsSuzannah Lipscomb takes a tour of the Victorian home and unveils the hidden dangers that posed a deadly threat to Victorian life.
- StarsAmanda ForemanNguyen Thi Thanh HòaIan HodderThis series uncovers key stories of women that have made and changed human history from 10,000 BCE to the present day.
- StarsWaldemar JanuszczakIn this three-part documentary series Waldemar Januszczak discovers paintings, sculptures and architecture of the Baroque period. Starting from the square of Saint Peter's Basilica in Italy to St Paul's Cathedral in England.
- Where did syphilis come from?
- DirectorNick WattsStarsIfor Ap GlynRon CutlerDafydd Davies-HughesDocumentary looking at the role of the toilet in our culture, exploring its social history in Britain and abroad, and finding possible future solutions to global sanitation issues.