The True Story

On the 5th of December 1872, the American-registered brigantine, the Mary Celeste, was found drifting in the Atlantic. The ship was in good condition. Its cargo was intact. However the 10 people on board were missing without trace. An official inquiry in Gibraltar failed to find the cause of their disappearance and since then, rumour, wild speculation and many theories have been proposed. In the 135 years that have passed, the mystery of this "ghost ship" has never been solved - until now. This is not another re-telling of this famous story or another theory which cannot be proved. A four-year investigation for this programme has turned up new information including a transcript of the ship's lost log. Now, vital new clues have enabled an international team of experts to finally solve what is widely regarded as the greatest mystery of the sea.

You've seen Hollywood's version of this remarkable tale, now take the opportunity to look behind the scenes and find out how boisterous Texas congressman Charlie Wilson and aggressive CIA operative Gust Avrakotos (aka "Dr. Dirty") really armed the Afghan Mujahideen in the most expansive campaign in CIA history. The effects of Wilson and Avrakotos' efforts are still being felt around the globe nearly two decades after the fact, making their story as relevant in the new millennium as it was when they first began plotting together back in the 1980s.

True Grit has all the elements of a classic Western film – revenge, retribution and redemption. Based on the book by Charles Portis, True Grit was an instant sensation when it hit the silver screen the first time. The film starred the legendary John Wayne who gave a tour-de-force performance as Rooster Cogburn, earning him his only Oscar. Four decades later the Coen Brothers put their own unique spin on this classic and proved that audiences still have a big appetite for Westerns. The story centers on the unlikely partnership between Mattie, a prim, sharp-tongued 14 year-old girl and Rooster Cogburn, the grizzled, one-eyed deputy Marshal, who join forces to avenge her father’s death. Their hunt takes them deep into Indian Territory, a haven for murderers, thieves and rapists. Hangings, shoot-outs and kidnappings are only a few of the dangers they encounter in their quest for revenge. In traditional Westerns there’s no confusing who’s who - the good guys wear white hats and the bad guys wear black hats. The True Story will show how True Grit turns this archetype on its head. Its hero, Rooster Cogburn, always shoots first and asks questions later. He walks a fine line between good and evil and we discover that in the real Wild West outlaws and lawmen were often interchangeable. Rooster Cogburn is a larger-than-life character who couldn’t be anything other than fictional. But, The True Story will reveal that there was a one-eyed deputy Marshal who was just as nasty and ruthless as Rooster. In a time before feminism could someone like Mattie have existed – a headstrong young girl who has no compunction about hiring a ruthless man hunter like Rooster. The True Story reveals that the West attracted legions of non-conforming women because it offered them opportunities they couldn’t find anywhere else. Mavericks like Calamity Jane who dressed like a man and was just as tough and skilled with a gun as the best of them. The True Story travels to For

Historians, eye-witnesses, weapons and forensics experts provide compelling new insights into the facts behind the classic film.

Braveheart – Mel Gibson’s Oscar winning box office smash of 1995 tells the story of real life Scottish rebel and freedom fighter William Wallace. With savage battle scenes, a cast of thousands and a tragic love story at its heart, it is a sweeping historical epic brought to the screen with stunning photography set amongst the highlands of Scotland. But ever since it was first shown historians have asked questions about the accuracy of the movie. No one doubts that William Wallace was a real historical character - as was Edward 1st, Robert the Bruce, and many others who feature in the film. But was he really the “ordinary joe” made good portrayed by Mel Gibson, and did his life unfold in the way Braveheart depicts? Interviewing script-writer Randall Wallace we discover that the inspiration for the movie was the stories generated by an ancient Scottish poem about the life of Wallace. But an analysis by modern historian’s show that this poem, as much as any movie, was designed to create a legend rather than explain history. Scottish medieval expert Fiona Watson sets out to discover the story of the historical Wallace. With little to go on but a few mentions in ancient manuscripts, a weather-beaten sword, an eroded seal and a remarkable letter sent to the German city of Lubeck in 1297, she peels back the layers of legend to paint a compelling portrait of a man who is nothing like his Hollywood counterpart. Instead of a simple swash-buckling hero who will never bow down to the English and who takes up arms because of a lost love, the real Wallace is a much darker, more complex character. Caught up in the politics of the age, for a while fortune smiles on the real Wallace, but then he is confronted by a greater power, which brings about his ultimate destruction – and future martyrdom. Fiona is helped in her analysis by battlefield Historians Chris Brown and Michael Prestwich. They reveal just how the Scots triumphed against the odds to beat the Eng

Apollo 13, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks grossed 62 million dollars at the box office and was nominated for nine academy awards. The movie tells the story of America’s ill-fated third mission to the moon in the summer of 1970. Based on the book co-written by Apollo 13 commander James Lovell, the film enshrined in the English language the phrase “Houston, we have a problem”. And it changed forever the way people relate to what has been called the most successful failure in the history of space exploration. The True Story shows how Hollywood plucked this amazing story from obscurity and turned what NASA feared would be an embarrassing stain on its reputation into a fascinating tale of how 3 astronauts, with the support of a group of brilliant engineers, overcame staggering odds and survived. The documentary explores the amazing feat of heroism and ingenuity that rescued the three astronauts from their crippled spacecraft two hundred thousand miles from earth and brought them home. It reveals the almost unbearable conditions the astronauts had to suffer through: Intense cold, dangerous levels of carbon dioxide and crushing physical exhaustion. But how close to the truth was Hollywood’s portrayal of the story? The True Story will investigate the real cause of the explosion that killed Apollo 13. It was not, as the movie tells us, the result of a damaged coil in one of the oxygen tanks. It was a spectacular blunder; a mistake that no one at NASA caught. We’ll show how one of the cheapest and simplest components on the spacecraft caused its undoing. Well put some of those big movie moments to the test: How close were the astronauts to succumbing to carbon dioxide poisoning? And who was the real hero who rigged up the air filter that saved their lives? Ultimately, the Apollo 13 movie succeeded in telling audiences a great deal about the actual mission. But you won’t know what really went on until you watch The True Story.

Made famous by Hollywood movie, the bridges of the River Kwai emblematize one of the most misunderstood events in history. Contrary to the romanticized film version, the structures represent a period of terror, desperation, and death for over 16,000 POWs. The Thailand - Burma Railway was the vision of the Japanese Imperial Army: a 250-mile track cut through dense jungle that would connect Bangkok and Rangoon. To accomplish this nearly impossible feat, the fanatical and ruthless Japanese engineers used POWs and local slaves as manpower. Candid interviews with men who lived through the atrocity - including Dutch, Australian, British, and American POWs - illuminate the violence and horror of their three-and-a-half-year internment. From Britain's surrender of Singapore the enduring force of friendship, The True Story Of The Bridge On The River Kwai narrates a moving and unforgettable account of a period in history that must be remembered.

Arguably the most brilliant and courageous warrior in recorded history, a man whom many considered not a mere mortal, but a god. The True Story of Alexander the Great. One of conquest, love, hate, revenge and ultimately tragedy... In the year 334 BC, a 20 year old military commander from Northern Greece set out to conquer what was then the known world. His name was King Alexander of Macedon. During the next 12 years, he led 40,000 troops more than 20,000 miles, defeating the most powerful ruler on Earth, King Darius of Persia, and conquering all of Asia. He died of a battle wound at the age of 32, but his legendary conquests have been celebrated and studied for more than 2000 years. Today, we know him as Alexander the Great. Hosted by Peter Woodward, the program takes viewers to the Greek locations of Alexander's youth: his father King Philip II's palace in Macedonia, the caves where he was tutored by the famous philosopher Aristotle, the battlefields where he fought by his father's side, the amphitheatre where Alexander watched helplessly as Philip was assassinated. Guided by accounts of ancient historians portrayed by actors, and interviews with the world's most respected modern-day Alexander scholars, this journey continues with visits to the actual battlefields in Turkey and Lebanon where Alexander's troops, though heavily outnumbered, emerged victorious. Alexander's signature battle plans and weaponry are examined and demonstrated using re-enactors and state-of-the art computer graphics.