Timewatch

Leading criminologist David Wilson reopens one of the most compelling mysteries of all time: the death of Russia's first dictator. He was a man who took what he wanted and ruled his huge empire by terror - but was Ivan the Terrible himself murdered? David Wilson's investigations begin with age-old rumours that Ivan was strangled by enemies in his court, his search takes him across Russia, back to London, unravelling a story of intrigue centring around the English Queen Elizabeth I. Timewatch gathers medical experts and forensic scientists to prove that Ivan was in fact poisoned, and by someone he trusted, but there's one final twist in the tale...

Forget the Colosseum and the Circus Maximus, the greatest public spectacle in ancient Rome took place in the Forum, where trials were packaged as entertainment, with life or death outcomes. Thousands flocked to see the spectacles, drawn by the prospect of lurid tales of murder, intrigue and violence. After all, there was no state prosecution service so the law was only open to the rich and famous, meaning the trials were a fascinating window on a world of debauched privilege. The stars of these bloody shows were the lawyers and the greatest of them all was Cicero (Paul Rhys). Proud of his achievements, Cicero kept a record of his most famous case. This dramatisation of his trial transcripts makes for compulsive viewing, packed full of numerous twists and intriguing characters such as Sextus Roscius Junior (Mark McGann). Accused of his father’s murder, the odds are stacked against him: not only did he have the means, motive and opportunity but the prosecutor is Erucius (Owen Teale) – one of the finest in the city. Nevertheless, by the time Cicero has finished, not only is Sextus Junior absolved, but Cicero has unmasked a conspiracy that reaches right to the top of Roman society.

A complete re-appraisal of the death of this notorious 20th Century dictator. Was the official account of Stalin’s death a cover-up for what really happened? Secret KGB files are examined for the first time to discover the truth.

Documentary that looks back to the furore caused by Princess Margaret's affair with Peter Townsend, a divorced commoner. Billed as a constitutional crisis, Margaret's dilemma was the first modern royal scandal which would shape the future of royal relations with the media. In 1955 she chose to sacrifice love for duty by ending the affair, but new evidence presented here suggests that hers was a needless sacrifice.

At 9am on 20 January 1607, a massive wave devastated the counties of the Bristol Channel. It came without warning, sweeping all before it. The flooding stretched inland as far as the Glastonbury Tor. Two hundred square miles of Somerset, Devon, Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire were inundated. Up to 2,000 people died. Yet for 400 years, the killer wave of 1607 has been forgotten. Timewatch relives the terror and the human tragedy of 1607 and follows the research of two scientists who are increasingly convinced that the wave was not simply a freak storm but a tsunami.

Archaeologists Tony Wilmott and Dan Garner lead us through three months of hard graft, excavating Britain's largest Roman ampitheatre in Chester, possibly built by Emperor Vespasian, the man who built the Colosseum in Rome. With the help of computer animation, they bring Chester's magnificent ampitheatre back to life.

Two experts try to piece together how the biggest volcanic eruption ever recorded, at Mount Tambora in eastern Indonesia in 1815, brought about worldwide climate change and altered the lives of hundreds of thousands of people

At the end of World War II Japan was under American control. It was widely anticipated that Emperor Hirohito would face trial for war crimes, but no trial ever took place. This film sets out to explore why, and to ask whether the Emperor escaped his responsibility. The film's archival footage provides powerful testimony about a nation on the verge of war, the atrocities committed during the war in the name of the country, the fierce and tragic battles fought by the people, and the country's post-war management. Based on his aide's diaries and other records, the dramatisation sheds light on the Emperor's decisions to go to war, continue the war and end the war.

Documentary which re-examines the attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605 - one of the most famous, yet least understood events in British history. It shows how the plot was almost England's 9/11, and asks why a group of young Englishmen became so radicalised and so hell-bent on terrorism. Computer graphics recreate what the Houses of Parliament looked like in 1605, and show just how close the plotters came to success.

There have been many ruthless dictators in the last century, who have killed millions in their quest for power, but few have managed to inflict such enormous damage on one small country. During Pol Pot's four-year reign of Cambodia he exterminated nearly a third of his own people. Between one and three million Cambodians died during the three years, eight months and 20 days of Pol Pot's rule. Timewatch examines the history behind the horror

The tragic loss of the SS City of Benares was the worst disaster involving British children in World War Two. Timewatch producer and director Steve Humphries tells their story.

Timewatch producer David Stewart describes filming the story of the men who put the Führer on the psychoanalyst's couch at the height of World War Two.