U-Boat Wargamers
Starts 8/03, Wednesdays 23:00
6x60’
Starts 8/03, Wednesdays 23:00
6x60’
World War II. The Battle of the Atlantic. Admiral Karl Dönitz, head of the Nazi’s U-boat fleet, brings Britain to the brink of starvation by sinking their merchant ships. His U-boats strike without warning and disappear immediately. Dönitz’s deadly tactics are mystifying. If the vital transatlantic shipping route is cut off, Britain will be forced to surrender, and the Allies will lose their last foothold in Western Europe. The Royal Navy must find a way to defeat Dönitz. They turn to retired war gamer Gilbert Roberts.
Roberts is set a daunting task – to use war gaming to decipher Dönitz’s tactics and find a way to sink the U-boats. To do this, he needs a team, but the navy can’t spare any men. He is forced to turn to a group of women from the Women’s Royal Navy Service (WRNS), popularly known as the Wrens. With Jean Laidlaw, one of Britain’s first female-chartered accountants, and a small team of bright young women, Roberts acts out naval battles and war game scenarios on a linoleum floor using chalk and wooden model ships.
By putting themselves into the minds of the U-boat captains, Laidlaw and the Wrens decipher Dönitz’s tactics and turn the tables on the U-boats, developing countertactics to destroy them. Their work enabled the Allies to turn the tide of the war, outthink the U-boats and defeat Nazi Germany. The Wrens were some of the greatest war gamers of their generation, but their legacy has been ignored. Now the story of these forgotten war gamers can be told.
Evidence Of the Unexplained
Starts 7/03, Tuesdays 21:00 (Part of the Mystery Winter)
10x60’
Every year there are over 6,000 sightings of unexplained aerial phenomena and hundreds more so-called first contact moments. There are myriad accounts of strange flying objects, weird deep space phenomena and bizarre messages received from distant galaxies. And with the declassification of the US’s top-secret UFO files in 2021, there is now too much evidence to ignore.
This modular series examines the very latest sightings which are supported by credible eyewitness accounts or clear video footage: and examines recently released declassified evidence which casts new light on historic cases. We interrogate this evidence of the unexplained. But as we discover, while some mysteries can be unexplained using science, many defy explanation.
Royal Autopsy
Starts 23/03, Thursdays 21:00
2x60’
Starts 23/03, Thursdays 21:00
2x60’
In this graphic, ground-breaking two-part TV series, Professor Alice Roberts investigates the cause of death of two of Britain’s most famous monarchs, King Charles II and Queen Elizabeth I.
Alice’s investigations bring together, for the first time, a unique blend of expertise to provide new insight and conclusions that challenge the received wisdom of how and why they died. At the heart of each investigation is a detailed ‘as real’ autopsy led by Forensic Pathologist Dr Brett Lockyer. Together they search for any clues on the monarch’s body surface, then cut open the corpse to study their internal organs. Alice takes her findings to leading medical and historical experts for further detailed analysis, exploring the cause and symptoms of any diseases, and how each ailment would have affected the regent, both in life and eventual death.
Using eye-witness accounts sourced from the time of their deaths, the final dying days are brought to life in vivid detail with exquisite scripted dramatic scenes, starring Mark Wingett as Charles II and Linda Marlowe as Elizabeth I.
In both episodes, Alice opens a new cold case investigation to examine the life and death of our most celebrated monarchs. The gruesome facts are separated from wild fiction, the diseases and the health issues they lived with are investigated and are embedded in a broader historical context of their lives.
Based on the evidence, Professor Alice Roberts and Dr Brett Lockyer deliver their findings to reveal what they believe really did kill King Charles II and Queen Elizabeth I.
