The Gunpowder Plot: The Plan To Blow Up Parliament

Trace 76 years in the life of seasoned politician, Joe Biden, who now faces the biggest race of his life as he battles for the White House becoming the Comeback King. Documentary Central is the home for compelling documentaries tackling subjects like history, climate change, wildlife, conspiracy and more.

A daring plan, a deadly corridor, and one bridge that changed everything. Step onto the streets of Arnhem as the Allies launch Operation Market Garden, a high-stakes bid to end the war by Christmas. From Joe’s Bridge to the Lower Rhine, witness how flawless planning met fierce resistance: radios fail at critical moments, drop zones lie eight miles from the target, and SS Panzer divisions refit faster than expected. See why John Frost’s 2nd Battalion dug in at the road bridge with dwindling ammo and water, how the stormboat assault at Nijmegen turned the tide there, and why the Polish brigade’s delayed drop mattered more than anyone feared. Tiger tanks, broken tow ropes, lost gliders, and a nighttime evacuation known as Operation Berlin all collide in a battle that still provokes “what if?” Discover the courage, the missteps, and the razor-thin margins that made Arnhem a legend. Watch to uncover the decisive moments you think you know — and the ones history nearly forgot. Watch now for the full story.

From the omen of 1066's long-haired star to Hastings and the Harrowing of the North, this episode charts William the Conqueror's brutal rise. In History Makers, we trace the Norman story from Viking roots to the making of a king. We meet Rolf the Ganger and the birth of Normandy under Charles the Simple, then enter William's perilous childhood: assassination plots, the murder of his guardian Osborne Crepon, and years of anarchy. We see the young duke's iron resolve at Alençon, where taunts of "hides for the tanner" triggered a ruthless reprisal, and his strategic marriage to Matilda of Flanders. With Edward the Confessor's death, rival claims ignite. We examine Harold Godwinson's disputed oath in Normandy, William's papal-backed invasion force, and the contrasting battle doctrines of Norman combined arms of archers, spearmen and cavalry, as shown on the Bayeux Tapestry, versus the Anglo-Saxon shield wall and Dane axes. After Harold's dash north to defeat Harald Hardrada and Tostig at Stamford Bridge, the stage is set at Senlac Hill. At Hastings, arrows, infantry and cavalry grind at the Saxon line. When

A 500-mile trek across Pakistan hunts the truth behind Shangri-La, from the Indus and Nangaparbat to Hunza's timeless forts, shamans, and polo fields. Explorer David Adams traces James Hilton's Lost Horizon across the Himalayas and the Karakoram. Starting in Peshawar to track down the 1930s novel, he follows the Indus River past K2 toward a valley some believe inspired a hidden utopia where people live long, peaceful lives. Along the way the journey collides with reality: deep snow near Nangaparbat, crevasse-riddled glaciers, and a race against an early winter that can close high passes for months. In the Bomboret Valley he meets the Kalash, a non-Muslim mountain people whose graveyards have been desecrated and whose blue eyes and blond hair are, in local lore, linked to Alexander the Great. In Chitral, wild horsemen play bushkazi, grappling over a headless goat in a no-holds-barred contest. Crossing the Lowari Pass becomes an eight-hour crawl for just 50 miles as snowfall chokes the road. In the Swat Valley, the remnants of a Buddhist past peek through, their faces stoned away in a region

Explore Winchester, Alfred the Great's capital, from coronation origins to St Cross and Henry VIII's painted Round Table. From a Celtic ford and Roman town to Saxon Wynton Cester, Winchester rose with Alfred the Great during England's struggle against the Danes. After retreating to the Somerset marshes, Alfred reorganized Wessex and established Winchester as a center of government, worship, and learning. The Great Hall of the Norman castle housed the treasury and exchequer, kept the Domesday Book, and even hosted parliaments into the 1300s. After a fire in 1302, the bishop's palace near the cathedral became the preferred royal residence. Bishop Henry de Blois founded the Hospital of St Cross, England's oldest almshouse, originally for 13 poor men. Two orders of brothers remain, in black and in purple, with weekly tokens of charity that recall centuries of care. In the 15th century, Cardinal Henry Beaufort, so powerful he once pawned the royal crown to lend money to the king, expanded this vision of welfare and service. Winchester Cathedral grew from the Old Minster, the spiritual heart of Wessex. Here the

Join Professor Alice Roberts as she investigates the West Country's most tantalizing archeological finds. 💚 Join the Absolute History club to get access to exclusive member benefits!