S02E01: Portents | The Second Russian Revolution

S01E05: The Fall of the Berlin Wall | Days That Shook the World

Exploring the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 from the perspective of a Checkpoint Charlie Stasi guard comman...

S01E09: Chernobyl | Days That Shook the World

Two days highlight the benefits and terrors of atomic power: Chernobyl's nuclear meltdown on April 26, 1986.

01: Comrades: 1917-1945 | Cold War

Both the United States and the Soviet Union drifted apart after the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Russian Civil War and the Paris Peace ...

21: Spies: 1944-1994 | Cold War

Throughout the Cold War both sides sought intelligence about their opponents using spies, satellites and other means. For political reasons, ...

Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | Surviving Disaster

In April 1986 a blast at a Soviet nuclear plant emits 400 times more radiation than the bomb at Hiroshima-the UN claims it ha...

The Secret Life of the Berlin Wall

Documentary exploring the story of the Berlin Wall, uncovering a world of flawed heroes and heroic villains, compromised victories and sad...

Red Dawn | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Historian Dominic Sandbrook examines the Cold War. He looks at the first chilling years of the conflict, when the opposing ideologi...

S02E09: Cold War Spies: 1960 U-2 incident | Days That Shook the World

This program focuses on the shooting down of the US U-2 spy plane in 1960.

The Looking Glass War | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Dominic Sandbrook examines the Cold War years, looking at the frontline of the conflict as consumerism was pitched aga...

11: Vietnam: 1954-1968 | Cold War

After losing the Battle of Dien Bien Phu the French leave Vietnam. A stream of refugees flee to the south after the Communist north institu...

Learning Zone | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

A version made specially for schools of the BBC Two history series on Britain and the Cold War. Presented by Dominic Sandbrook.

02: Iron Curtain: 1945-1947 | Cold War

The wartime allies demobilise - the United States enjoys its economic strength and resurgence while Britain and the rest of Europe is ...

05: Korea: 1949-1953 | Cold War

Korea after the Second World War was occupied by both the Soviets and the Americans, who respectively installed Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee ...

08: Sputnik: 1949-1961 | Cold War

As a consequence of the atomic spies, the Soviet Union joined the nuclear club, and the two superpowers compete to develop their nuclear ar...

23: The Wall Comes Down: 1989 | Cold War

Gorbachev makes clear Eastern European countries were free to determine their own destinies. In Poland Solidarity enters into negoti...

10: Cuba: 1959-1962 | Cold War

Fidel Castro comes to power following the Cuban Revolution. Cuba aligns itself with the Soviet Union and the government starts nationalising A...

Two Tribes | Strange Days: Cold War Britain

Dominic Sandbrook examines the Cold War years. In the 1970s and '80s, as the end of the world seemed a real possibility, everythi...

When The Wind Blows (1986)

Based on the work of Raymond Briggs, this chilling yet humorous story follows an elderly couple as they muddle through a nuclear attack, placing t...

04: Berlin: 1948-1949 | Cold War

By 1947, the United States placed as a high priority the revival of the German economy, an approach opposed by the Soviet Union. After the i...

09: The Wall: 1958-1963 | Cold War

West Germany, and West Berlin, become more affluent, prompting a surge of East Germans to cross the borders in Berlin, kept open under the...