Timewatch Explained

Runtime:	60 min. (approx.)
Country:	United Kingdom
Language:	English
Network:	BBC Two

Timewatch is a long-running British television series showing documentaries on historical subjects, spanning all human history. It was first broadcast on 29 September 1982 and is produced by the BBC.

The Timewatch brandname is used as a banner title in the UK, but many of the individual documentaries are unbranded with BBC continuity outside the domestic British market.

Episodes

Viewer figures are taken from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board Ltd. website for the day that the episode was first broadcast. This is currently a list of some episodes, far from all.

1993

• Season 1993, Episode 13: The Mysterious Career of Lee Harvey Oswald. First broadcast 21 November 1993, eve of the 30th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as part of the BBC 2 channel's Kennedy Night. (Episode also broadcast 30 years later on the eve of the 60th anniversary of Kennedy's death.) This Timewatch feature was nominated for the BAFTA Awards Robert Flaherty Award in Content for a full length documentary in 1993.^[1] The feature was made to enable viewers to come to an informed opinion on the question of Oswald's involvement in the assassination, billed as having unearthed new evidence.^[2]

1996

• Special edition: Haig - the Unknown Soldier. Broadcast 3 July 1996. This episode is about Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig.^{[3] [4]}

1997

The following series has seven episodes.

• Episode 1: Love Story. First broadcast 25 February 1997. Repeated 13 March 1998.^{[5] [6]}
• Episode 2: Before Columbus. First broadcast 4 March 1997.^{[7] [8]}
• Episode 3: Secret Memories. First broadcast 11 March 1997.^{[9] [10]}
• Episode 4: The Boer War: The First Media War. First broadcast 18 March 1997.^{[11] [12]}
• Episode 5: Birth Story. First broadcast 25 March 1997.^{[13] [14]}
• Episode 6: Forgotten Allies. First broadcast 1 April 1997.^{[15] [16]}
• Episode 7: Back to the Iron Age. First broadcast 18 April 1997.^{[17] [18]}

The following series has eight episodes.

• Episode 1: The True Story of the Bridge on the River Kwai. First broadcast 28 October 1997.^[19]
• Episode 2: Lords of the Maya. First broadcast 4 November 1997.^{[20] [21]}
• Episode 3: Alison: A Personal History. First broadcast 11 November 1997.^{[22] [23]}
• Episode 4: The Gentlemen Spies. First broadcast 18 November 1997.^{[24] [25]}
• Episode 5: The African Trade. First broadcast 25 November 1997.^{[26] [27]}
• Episode 6: Lenin's Secret Files. First broadcast 2 December 1997.^{[28] [29]}
• Episode 7: Remember the Ugandan Asians. First broadcast 9 December 1997.^{[30] [31]}
• Episode 8: In Search of Cleopatra. First broadcast 16 December 1997.^{[32] [33]} Repeated 1 January 1998 as part of Day of the Pharaohs.^[34]

1998

The following series has six episodes.

• Episode 1: Hitler and the Invasion of Britain. Broadcast 7 April 1998.^{[35] [36]}
• Episode 2: Grammar School Boys. Broadcast 14 April 1998.^[37]
• Episode 3: The Oklahoma Outlaw. Broadcast 21 April 1998. This episode is about Elmer McCurdy.^{[38] [39]}
• Episode 4: The Roman Way of War. Broadcast 28 April 1998.^{[40] [41]}
• Episode 5: Las Vegas and the Mormons. Broadcast 5 May 1998.^{[42] [43]}
• Episode 6: Aborigine: a Collision of Conscience. Broadcast 12 May 1998.^{[44] [45]}

The following series has six episodes.

• Episode 1: Sex and War. Broadcast 29 September 1998.^{[46] [47]}
• Episode 2: Lloyd George's War. Broadcast 6 October 1998.^[48]
• Episode 3: The Pilgrim Obsession. Broadcast 13 October 1998.^[49]
• Episode 4: Banking with Hitler. Broadcast 20 October 1998.^[50]
• Episode 5: The British in India. Broadcast 27 October 1998.^[51]
• Episode 6: An American Firefight. Broadcast 3 November 1998.^{[52] [53]}

2001

	Episode	Broadcast Date	Presenter/Narrator	Viewers (Millions)
1	"The Empire State Story"	12 January 2001	Samuel West	3.03
2	"Himmler, Hitler and the End of the Reich"	19 January 2001		3.35
3	"The King's Servant"	26 January 2001	John Guy
4	"Nero's Golden House"	2 February 2001		2.63
5	"Public Enemy Number One"	9 February 2001		2.69
6	"Hitler, Churchill and the Paratroopers"	16 February 2001		3.44
7	"The Last Surrender"	11 May 2001		2.50
8	"Debutantes"	18 May 2001	Samuel West
9	"Strangeways Revisited"	25 May 2001
10	"Scharnhorst"	1 June 2001		3.45
11	"Roman Soldiers to Be"	8 June 2001	John Shrapnel
12	"Bombing Germany"	23 August 2001	John Michie	3.00

2002

	Episode	Broadcast Date	Presenter	Viewers (Millions)
1	"The Making of Adolf Hitler"	4 January 2002	Bill Paterson	2.35
2	"Mystery of the Iron Bridge"	11 January 2002		2.90
3	"Death of the Battleship"	18 January 2002		2.82
4	"Kill 'Em All: American War Crimes in Korea"	1 February 2002
5	"Jubilee Day"	8 February 2002
6	"Myths of the Titanic"	19 April 2002	Bernard Hill	2.45
7	"The Victorian Way of Death"	4 May 2002	Dan Cruickshank
8	"Battle for Berlin"	10 May 2002	Bill Paterson	2.17
9	"Stalin and the Betrayal of Leningrad"	9 August 2002		2.17
10	"The Myth of Custer's Last Stand"	16 August 2002		2.12
11	"Akhenaten and Nefertiti: The Royal Gods of Egypt"	6 September 2002		2.62
12	"Murder in Harvard"	14 December 2002

2003

	Episode	Broadcast Date	Presenter	Viewers (Millions)
1	"White Slaves Pirate Gold"^[54]	10 January 2003		2.71
2	"Lost Cities of the Maya"	17 January 2003	Hugh Quarshie
3	"Rocket and Its Rivals"	24 January 2003	John Shrapnel
4	"Ramesses III: Behind the Myth"	31 January 2003	Bill Paterson
5	"1914: The War Revolution"	7 February 2003	Bill Paterson
6	"Chaplin and Hitler: The Tramp and the Dictator" (see The Great Dictator)	28 February 2003	Kenneth Branagh
7	"Concorde: A Love Affair"	19 October 2003	Michael Praed	2.78
8	"Zulu: The True Story"^[55]	24 October 2003	Michael Praed
9	"The Greatest Storm"	31 October 2003	Michael Praed	3.88
10	"Mystery of the Missing Ace"	14 November 2003	Michael Praed	3.24
11	"Gallipoli: The First D-Day"	28 November 2003	Michael Praed
12	"Through Hell for Hitler"	5 December 2003

2004

	Episode	Broadcast Date	Presenter	Viewers (Millions)
1	"Britain's X Files"	9 January 2004	Michael Praed
2	"The Lost Liner and the Empire's Gold"	21 January 2004	Michael Praed
3	"The Secrets of Enzo Ferrari"	23 January 2004	Michael Praed
4	"The Mysteries of the Medieval Ship"	30 January 2004	Michael Praed
5	"How Mad Was King George?"	6 February 2004	Michael Praed
6	"Who Killed Rasputin?"	1 October 2004	Michael Praed
7	"The Lost Heroes"	8 October 2004	Michael Praed
8	"The Mystery of the Black Death"	15 October 2004	Michael Praed
9	"The Black Pharaohs"	22 October 2004	Michael Praed
10	"The Secrets of the Mary Rose"	29 October 2004	Michael Praed
11	"Julius Caesar's Greatest Battle"	5 November 2004	Michael Praed

2005

	Episode	Broadcast Date	Presenter	Viewers (Millions)
1	"Who Killed Ivan the Terrible?"	29 January 2005	Michael Praed
2	"Murder in Rome"	4 March 2005	Michael Praed
3	"Who Killed Stalin?"	11 March 2005	Michael Praed
4	"Princess Margaret: A Love Story"	26 March 2005	Michael Praed
5	"The Killer Wave of 1607"	1 April 2005	Michael Praed
6	"Britain's Lost Colosseum"	20 May 2005	Michael Praed
7	"The Year Without Summer"	27 May 2005	Michael Praed
8	"Emperor Hirohito"	1 July 2005	Michael Praed
9	"The Gunpowder Plot"	4 November 2005	Alice Hogge
10	"Pol Pot: The Journey to the Killing Fields"	11 November 2005	Michael Praed
11	"Children of the Doomed Voyage"	18 November 2005	Michael Praed
12	"Inside the Mind of Adolf Hitler"	18 November 2005	Michael Praed

2006

	Episode	Broadcast Date	Presenter	Viewers (Millions)
1	"The Bog Bodies"	20 January 2006	Michael Praed
2	"Battle of the River Plate"	27 January 2006	Michael Praed
3	"The Floating Brothel"	3 February 2006	Michael Praed
4	"Unknown Soldiers"	24 February 2006	Michael Praed
5	"Missing in Action"	3 March 2006	Michael Praed
6	"The Secret History of Genghis Khan"	10 March 2006	Michael Praed
7	"The Crusaders' Lost Fort"	14 April 2006	Michael Praed
8	"The Mystery of the Headless Romans"	21 April 2006	Michael Praed
9	"Battle for Warsaw"	28 April 2006	Michael Praed
10	"The Iron Coffin"	5 May 2006	Michael Praed
11	"San Francisco's Great Quake"	12 May 2006	Michael Praed
12	"The Princess Spy"	19 May 2006	Michael Praed

2007

	Episode	Broadcast Date	Presenter	Viewers (Millions)
1	"The Hunt for U-864"	5 January 2007	Michael Praed
2	"Beatlemania"	12 January 2007	Michael Praed
3	"Killer Cloud"	19 January 2007	Michael Praed
4	"Hadrian's Wall"	26 January 2007	Julian Richards
5	"Zeppelin: The First Blitz"	2 February 2007	Michael Praed
6	"The Last Duel"	9 February 2007	Brian Cox
7	"Remember the Galahad"	2 April 2007	Michael Praed
8	"Hijack"	13 April 2007	Michael Praed
9	"The Wave That Destroyed Atlantis"	20 April 2007	Michael Praed
10	"The Hidden Children"	27 April 2007	Michael Praed
11	"Gladiator Graveyard"	11 May 2007	Michael Praed
12	"The People's Coronation"	18 May 2007	Michael Praed

2008

	Episode	Broadcast Date	Presenter	Viewers (Millions)
1	"Viking Voyage"	5 January 2008	Michael Praed
2	"Bloody Omaha"	6 January 2008	Richard Hammond	2.61
3	"In Search of the Wreckers"	12 January 2008	Bella Bathurst	2.23
4	"The Greatest Knight"	19 January 2008	Saul David
5	"The Pharaoh's Lost City"	26 January 2008	Michael Praed	2.26
6	"Ten Pound Poms"	2 February 2008	Michael Praed	1.82
7	"Stonehenge: The Healing Stones"	27 September 2008	Tim Darvill and Geoffrey Wainwright	2.19
8	"Britain's Forgotten Floods"	4 October 2008	Vanessa Collingridge	1.68
9	"The Boxer Rebellion"	11 October 2008	Michael Praed
10	"Young Victoria"	18 October 2008	Kate Williams	2.22
11	"Last Day of World War One"	1 November 2008	Michael Palin	2.63

2009

	Episode	Broadcast Date	Presenter	Viewers (Millions)
1	"Queen Elizabeth's Lost Guns"	21 February 2009	Saul David	2.20
2	"QE2: The Final Voyage"	28 February 2009	Michael Praed	2.03
3	"The Real Bonnie and Clyde"	7 March 2009	Michael Praed	2.06
4	"Captain Cook: The Man Behind the Legend"	14 March 2009	Vanessa Collingridge
5	"WWI Aces Falling"	21 March 2009	Michael Praed	1.90
6	"Pyramid: The Last Secret"	28 March 2009	Bob Brier	2.32
7	"In Shackleton's Footsteps "	4 April 2009	Michael Praed	1.75
8	"The Prince and the Plotter"	4 July 2009	Huw Edwards

2011

	Episode	Broadcast Date	Presenter	Viewers (Millions)
1	"Code-Breakers: Bletchley Park's Lost Heroes"	25 October 2011	Keeley Hawes
2	"The Most Courageous Raid of WWII"	1 November 2011	Paddy Ashdown
3	"Dam Busters: The Race to Smash the German Dams"	8 November 2011	James Holland
4	"Double Agent: The Eddie Chapman Story"	15 November 2011	Ben Macintyre

See also

• Time Team - a British Channel 4 programme focusing on archaeology

External links

• Official Timewatch Homepage at bbc.co.uk

Notes and References

1. Web site: History Documentary on UK Terrestrial Television, 1982-2002. Aberystwyth University. Student PhD Thesis of Aberystwyth University. 2009-04-09. 22 November 2023. Dafydd Sills-Jones.
2. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
3. For a review of this episode, see Thomas Sutcliffe, "review", The Independent, 3 July 1996.
4. [Radio Times]
5. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Love Story" in "Choice", The Times, 25 February 1997, p 47; Matthew Bond, "If not unbelievable, then truly unspeakable", The Times, 26 February 1997, p 47; and "Television: Today's pick", The Independent, 13 March 1998.
6. Radio Times, Issue 3812, 22 February 1997, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further "This Week", Radio Times, Issue 3812, 22 February 1997, p 8.
7. For a review of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Before Columbus" in "Choice", The Times, 4 March 1997, p 51.
8. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
9. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Secret Memories" in "Choice", The Times, 11 March 1997, p 51; and Peter Barnard, "No reason to panic: you are not a clone", The Times, 12 March 1997, p 47.
10. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
11. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: The Boer War - The First Media War" in "Choice", The Times, 18 March 1997, p 55; and Matthew Bond, "When the film cameras first went to war", The Times, 19 March 1997, p 47.
12. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
13. For a review of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Birth Story" in "Television Choice: Spiky in body and mood", The Times, 25 March 1997, p 50.
14. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
15. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Forgotten Allies" in "Television Choice: A double helping of fame", The Times, 1 April 1997, p 42; and Matthew Bond, "Playing the fool, but it's no laughing matter", The Times, 2 April 1997, p 47.
16. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
17. For a review of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Back to the Iron Age" in "Television Choice: Do you remember when...?", The Times, 18 April 1997, p 46.
18. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
19. Radio Times, Issue 3847, 25 October 1997, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
20. For a review of this episode, see Elizabeth Cowley, "Timewatch: Lords of the Maya" in "Television Choice: On the road to equality", The Times, 4 November 1997, p 50.
21. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
22. For a review of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Alison - A Personal History" in "Television Choice: Alison French revisited", The Times, 11 November 1997, p 54; and Matthew Bond, "The return of a woman with strong views", The Times, 12 November 1997, p 51.
23. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
24. For a review of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: The Gentlemen Spies" in "Television Choice: MI5's shadowy origins", The Times, 18 November 1997, p 54.
25. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
26. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: The African Trade" in "Television Choice: Slavery's black secret", The Times, 25 November 1997, p 50; and Matthew Bond, "Joanna's plum pudding needed pruning", The Times, 26 November 1997, p 51.
27. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
28. For a review of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Lenin's Secret Files" in "Television Choice: Lenin's secrets unmasked", The Times, 2 December 1997, p 50.
29. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
30. For a review of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: Remember the Ugandan Asians" in "Television Choice: Advice for the unwary", The Times, 9 December 1997, p 50.
31. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
32. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: In Search of Cleopatra" in "Television Choice: Solid second-hand advice", The Times, 16 December 1997, p 46; Peter Barnard, "A nice little runner with two careful owners", The Times, 17 December 1997, p 43; and Peter Waymark, "Day of the Pharaohs" in "Television Choice: An Egyptian celebration", The Times, 1 January 1998, p 38.
33. Radio Times, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
34. Radio Times, Issue 3855, 20 December 1997, reprinted at BBC Programme Index: https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/c89962bb6632430dbd57ab21d35eb109 https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/81f6d228c48c4d4e8faca686e0d0ed3b https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/9023ba51600c46b3b5ba727396768dc0.
35. For commentary on this episode, see Rupert Cornwell, "Hitler's children - the spawn of the twentieth century", The Independent, 8 April 1998
36. Radio Times, Issue 3869, 4 April 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further today's choices.
37. Radio Times, Issue 3870, 11 April 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further Polly Toynbee, Radio Times, Issue 3870, 11 April 1998, p 10.
38. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch: The Oklahoma Outlaw" in "Television Choice: Lost in a cold, dark place", The Times, 21 April 1998, p 54; Joe Joseph, "Oxford warmly welcomes faithful retainers", The Times, 22 April 1998, p 43; and Nancy Banks-Smith, "A showbusiness career to die for", The Guardian Weekly, vol 158, no 18: week ending 3 May 1998, p 26.
39. Radio Times, Issue 3871, 18 April 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
40. The Times, 28 April 1998, p 51
41. Radio Times, Issue 3872, 25 April 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
42. For reviews of this episode, see W Stephen Gilbert, "Timewatch: Las Vegas and the Mormons" in "Television Choice: Wish you'd been elsewhere?", The Times, 5 May 1998, p 50; Joe Joseph, "Out in the desert, beyond reach of parody", The Times, 6 May 1998, p 43; and David Aaronovitch, "Television: Why I'm loving the alien", The Independent, 9 May 1998.
43. Radio Times, Issue 3873, 2 May 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further John Peel, Radio Times, Issue 3873, 2 May 1998, p 9.
44. For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "Timewatch" in "Television Choice: Bricks and mortar of time", The Times, 12 May 1998, p 54; and Thomas Sutcliffe, "TV", The Independent, 12 May 1998.
45. Radio Times, Issue 3874, 9 May 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further today's choices.
46. For a review of this episode, see Nicholas Lezard, "Television Review", The Independent, 29 September 1998.
47. Radio Times, Issue 3894, 26 September 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further today's choices.
48. Radio Times, Issue 3895, 3 October 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further today's choices.
49. Radio Times, Issue 3896, 10 October 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
50. Radio Times, Issue 3897, 17 October 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index. See further today's choices.
51. Radio Times, Issue 3898, 24 October 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
52. For a review of this episode, see Robert Hanks, "Television Review", The Independent, 4 November 1998
53. Radio Times, Issue 3899, 31 October 1998, reprinted at BBC Programme Index.
54. Web site: Seabed gold 'clue to white slavers' . The Guardian . 6 January 2003 . 14 July 2017 . Maev Kennedy . Maev Kennedy .
55. Web site: British History in depth. Zulu: The True Story . BBC . . 2011-02-17 . 14 July 2017 . Saul David . Saul David .