About this season
Few topics in the history of human conflict capture the popular imagination more than the drama of siege warfare. Whether it is a city, a town, a battalion or a regiment, the blood is stirred by stories of those that have stood behind walls and barricades in a last stand against their attackers. This docuseries explores siege warfare and explains how those that are vastly outnumbered have stood behind walls and barricades in a last stand against their attackers.
Episodes (6)
1. Alesia
Aired 1 January 2004 • 48 min
As resistance to the Roman invasion, the Gallic warrior Vercingetorix marshalled troops against the Romans and their most inspired commander – Julius Caesar.
2. Ciudad Rodrigo
Aired 8 January 2004 • 47 min
Here at Ciudad Rodrigo, there was the bloody business of siege warfare – where civilians and soldiers share the same conditions and privations.
3. Petersburg
Aired 15 January 2004 • 47 min
Union forces should have seized Petersburg in June 1864, but through a mixture of confusion and incompetence they failed and a year-long siege followed.
4. Verdun
Aired 22 January 2004 • 47 min
Almost 700,000 French and German troops had been killed or wounded in this hellish protracted siege that earned the chilling nick-name "The Mincer."
5. Leningrad
Aired 29 January 2004 • 47 min
The grim, powerful story of the "Hero City" that lost one million of its citizens as it steadfastly withstood a 900-day German siege.
6. Newark
Aired 5 February 2004
The battles for the strategically-vital town in Nottinghamshire, England are classic examples of how a siege was conducted during the long and bitter English Civil War.