The Soviet Union’s Last Stand

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 ...

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...

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, ...

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...

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...

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...

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...