SBS Documentaries

Nowhere in the British Isles was the Viking connection longer-lasting or deeper than in Scotland. Hundreds of years after their first hit-and-run raids, the Norsemen still dominated huge swathes of the country. But storm clouds were gathering. In 1263 the Norwegian king Haakon IV assembled a fleet of 120 longships to counter Scottish raids on the Norse Hebrides. It was a force comparable in size to the Spanish Armada over three centuries later. But like the Armada, the Norse fleet was eventually defeated by a powerful storm. Driven ashore near present-day Largs, the beleaguered Norsemen were attacked by a Scottish army. The outcome of this vicious encounter would mark the beginning of the end of Norse power in Scotland. Marine archeologist Dr Jon Henderson tells the incredible story of the Norsemen in Scotland. Visiting fascinating archeological sites across Scotland and Norway, he reveals that, although the battle at Largs marked the end of an era for the Norsemen, their presence continued to shape the identity and culture of the Scottish nation to the present day.

Famed British explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger spent five years between 1946 and 1950 living with the Bedouin of Southern Arabia and crossing the legendary Rub al-Khali, or Empty Quarter, of the Arabian Desert. Sixty-five years after his first crossing, Adrian Hayes attempted to retrace Thesiger’s footsteps with his own crossing of the desert by camel and foot over forty-four days, similarly accompanied by two Bedouin companions and a number of other travellers. With an absorbing narrative and captivating photographs of the terrain and people who still inhabit this harsh land, Footsteps of Thesiger inspires a spirit of adventure and an interest in the region’s heritage

The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne is one of the most beautiful paintings in the world. It is also one of the most mysterious. Disfigured and even jeopardised by "repairs" and by the successive layers of varnish applied to it over the centuries, it was also in very bad condition. To save the painting, it had to be restored. The spectacular operation, the likes of which occurs only once a century, took over three years to complete. The complex and outstanding restoration process provided a unique opportunity to get as close as possible to the painting, to how it was originally painted, and to better understand the complex relationship Leonardo da Vinci had with one of his finest masterpieces.