S02E02: Coup | The Second Russian Revolution

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.

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

October 28th 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis | A Day That Shook The World

The series looking back at historical news events recalls the end of the Cuban Missile crisis.

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 ...

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...

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 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...

S02E06: Yuri Gagarin's Flight | Days That Shook the World

Yuri Gagarin's journey as the first man in space.

16: Détente: 1969-1975 | Cold War

Nixon builds closer relations with China and the USSR, hoping to leverage an honourable US exit from Indochina. The Soviet Union is fearfu...

22: Star Wars: 1981-1988 | Cold War

Reagan's 1983 ''Evil Empire'' speech sets the tone for a more aggressive US posture against the Soviet Union, and the costly arms race is...

Vietnam War | Panorama

Panorama looks at the Vietnam War. Includes an investigation into the attitudes of US citizens to the war and coverage of Sennator Robert Kennedy's sp...