William Wallace: The Man Behind The Legend

The last Saxon King of England is best remembered for being killed at the Battle of Hastings. Tony Robinson reveals more of the story of this landmark monarch.

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

In Canada's vast Yukon Territory, the legend of Sasquatch, a large, elusive, ape-like biped, continues to intrigue locals and enthusiasts like Red Ginger, despite scientific skepticism. While eyewitness accounts and cultural folklore are prevalent, concrete evidence such as fossils or verifiable DNA remains absent, leading scientists to largely dismiss its existence as a myth. Nevertheless, the Sasquatch continues to be a significant part of the Yukon's cultural identity and draws curiosity.

Episode 1: Ashley, whose health stopped him driving trucks, shows how to make a few dollars by driving around looking for scrap metal. Erin's former house gets trashed, and William shows how he can get a meal using a sling shot accurately. Episode 2: Chris's mother had him taken from her and he grew up in foster homes. He now finds himself back in Mt Druitt. Nive tries to give something back to the others, and there are some support services - if only more people knew how to find them. Episode 3: Michelle's kids are the most important thing in her life. Ashley is diagnosed with dementia, but it doesn't stop him evicting his drug addicted son from the family home. Documentary Central is the home for compelling documentaries tackling subjects like history, climate change, wildlife, conspiracy and more.

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

Inside Greenwich Royal Observatory, a feud reshaped science. Flamsteed's guarded star charts, Newton's pressure, and a midnight seizure sparked a fiery reckoning. At the point where east meets west, Crown and Country explores how Charles II's 1675 foundation of the Greenwich Royal Observatory set a universal standard of time. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren for less than 500 pounds, the observatory backed a rising maritime power by tackling the problem of longitude and fixing the Prime Meridian. In its camera obscura and along the Meridian Line, we meet John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal, who spent night after night in a modest garden shed, lying on a mattress to map the heavens. Flamsteed's perfectionism collided with the urgency of Sir Isaac Newton. With Edmund Halley bearing a royal warrant, his unfinished research was seized and published in 400 volumes. Flamsteed bought 300 of them and burned the lot, calling it a tribute to heavenly truth. After his death in 1719, his widow issued a corrected edition to set the record straight. Beyond the dome, the film traces Greenwich Park, London's