About this season
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 can be found on US cable channels without the branding.
Episodes (12)
1. Grey Owl: The Great White Hoax
Aired 17 April 1999 • 50 min
In the thirties Grey Owl tricked the establishment into believing he was the world's first eco-warrior. Archie Belaney was in fact a Briton who had emigrated to Canada at 17 and set out on a mission to fool everyone that he was an American Indian.
2. The Crossing
Aired 24 April 1999 • 50 min
In 1944, American submarines attacked two Japanese boats in the South China Sea, unaware that the vessels were crammed with more than 2,000 Allied PoWs. Among more than 1,000 who survived the attack were British gunner Wilf Barnett and Australian engineer Ray Wheeler. In tonight's programme, the pair recall their harrowing ordeal and their friends who died.
3. Tales from the Oklahoma Land Runs
Aired 1 May 1999 • 50 min
A pistol shot at noon in 1889 signaled the start of the first race between thousands of desperate men and women to stake their claim on government land in north-western Oklahoma. Tonight's programme sifts through archival footage and meets descendants of those battling pioneers who still own the land today.
4. The Lost Temple of Java
Aired 8 May 1999 • 50 min
When English explorer Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles travelled to the heart of the Indonesian island of Central Java in the early 1800s, he found a jungle-covered hill littered with a few statues. Spurred on by stories of a lost temple, his careful excavation uncovered a massive structure in the shape of a pyramid. Now, following recent renovations, more questions about the temple's fascinating history can be answered.
5. Sleeping with the Enemy
Aired 22 May 1999 • 50 min
Marcelle and Elise are two elderly French women who live at opposite ends of the country but shared similar experiences in the Second World War. During the German occupation of France, when their husbands deserted them, they had affairs with German soldiers. In 1944, the women suffered public humiliation as punishment for their so-called collaboration horizontale. This alternative portrait of the occupation interweaves archive footage with testimony from Marcelle and Elise, neighbours, and resistance fighters.
6. Before the Titanic
Aired 29 May 1999 • 50 min
In 1909 the passenger liners Florida - carrying Italian immigrants to New York - and Republic - carrying American tourists to Europe - collided on a freezing north Atlantic night. The lives of over 1,500 passengers and crew were held in the balance as the ships became dependent on a new technology - the wireless. What happened played a crucial role in determining the outcome of the Titanic tragedy three years later.
7. The Forgotten Volunteers
Aired 5 June 1999 • 50 min
Two-and-a-half million Indians fought for Britain in Second World War campaigns from Egypt to the Far East. Subject to some of the most brutal attacks on the Allies and decorated for bravery, they were forgotten by the British and disowned by India. This film recreates the era and interviews survivors of the largest volunteer army in military history.
8. Letting the Genie out of the Bottle
Aired 26 June 1999 • 50 min
Danish politicians sparked a storm of controversy in 1969 by voting to legalise all forms of pornography, becoming the first country to approve such a move. Why did a traditionally religious nation take this step?
9. The Spies Who Fooled Hitler: MI5 at War
Aired 2 October 1999 • 50 min
The series returns. Captured German spies were turned into double agents and used by MI5 to deceive Hitler during the Second World War. Newly released MI5 documents and interviews with former members of MI5 and its top-secret interrogation centre, Camp 020, tell how the double agents played a crucial role in the Normandy landings.
10. Ivan the Terrible
Aired 6 November 1999 • 50 min
The title bestowed by history on Russia's first tsar has become synonymous with tyranny and mass bloodshed, his 16th-century reign characterised by conquest and cruelty. Yet many in Russia regard him as a national hero where he is known as the Grozny or 'awesome' tsar. Timewatch examines this man of contradictions and the contrasting reactions to his reign.
11. Tales of the Eiffel Tower
Aired 20 November 1999 • 50 min
Loathed by the intellectual establishment after its construction in 1889, the Eiffel Tower is now a cherished symbol of Paris. Tonight's film relates the story of the tower's construction and hears from people whose lives are linked to it.
12. A Very British Mutiny
Aired 4 December 1999 • 50 min
In September 1943, 191 men from Montgomery's 8th Army - who had helped to drive Rommel's troops out of Africa - refused to take part in the Allied fight for Salerno, Italy. Interviews, reconstructions, and previously classified documents show how errors forced the soldiers into a predicament that caused their war pensions to be reduced, their medals reclaimed, and their honour questioned.