Season 1999 1999

TV-PG

In the thirties Grey Owl tricked the establishment into believing he was the world's first eco-warrior. Archie Belaney was in fact a Briton who had emigrated to Canada at 17 and set out on a mission to fool everyone that he was an American Indian.

In 1944, American submarines attacked two Japanese boats in the South China Sea, unaware that the vessels were crammed with more than 2,000 Allied PoWs. Among more than 1,000 who survived the attack were British gunner Wilf Barnett and Australian engineer Ray Wheeler. In tonight's programme, the pair recall their harrowing ordeal and their friends who died.

In America in 1889 it was thought that the fairest way for people to acquire land was to line them up on the edge of a vast open space and let them race across the plains to stake their claims. "Survival of the fittest was a very fashionable idea at the time," says narrator Samuel West at the start of this fine film about the Oklahoma land runs. Having galloped through the statistics (there were 13 million acres of available land in the former Indian territory divided into 168-acre plots), the rest is devoted to personal stories told by the descendants of the Land Runs and it's fascinating stuff. We hear about the reactions of young brides on seeing the isolated shacks that were to be their homes, the hardships of the early years, the occasional fun of a square dance or a rodeo, and the pioneer spirit that was still evident when a massive bomb exploded in Oklahoma City in 1995.

When English explorer Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles travelled to the heart of the Indonesian island of Central Java in the early 1800s, he found a jungle-covered hill littered with a few statues. Spurred on by stories of a lost temple, his careful excavation uncovered a massive structure in the shape of a pyramid. Now, following recent renovations, more questions about the temple's fascinating history can be answered.

Marcelle and Elise are two elderly French women who live at opposite ends of the country but shared similar experiences in the Second World War. During the German occupation of France, when their husbands deserted them, they had affairs with German soldiers. In 1944, the women suffered public humiliation as punishment for their so-called collaboration horizontale. This alternative portrait of the occupation interweaves archive footage with testimony from Marcelle and Elise, neighbours and resistance fighters.

In 1909 the Florida, carrying Italian immigrants to New York, and the Republic, carrying American tourists to Europe, collided on a freezing north Atlantic night. The lives of over 1,500 passengers and crew were held in the balance as the ships became dependent on a new technology - the wireless. What happened played a crucial role in determining the outcome of the Titanic tragedy three years later.

Two-and-a-half million Indians fought for Britain in Second World War campaigns from Egypt to the Far East. Subject to some of the most brutal attacks on the Allies and decorated for bravery, they were forgotten by the British and disowned by India. This film recreates the era and interviews survivors of the largest volunteer army in military history.

Danish politicians sparked a storm of controversy in 1969 by voting to legalise all forms of pornography, so becoming the first country to approve such a move. Why did a traditionally religious nation take this step?

The history documentary series returns with the story of the captured German spies who were then turned into double agents and used by MI5 to deceive Hitler during the Second World War. Newly released MI5 documents and interviews with former members of MI5 and its top-secret interrogation centre, Camp 020, tell how the double agents played a crucial role in the Normandy landings.

For four centuries Ivan the Terrible has epitomized the image of a vicious, cruel despot and tyrant. In his own land he is remembered as a statesman who held his country together through difficult times.

Loathed by the intellectual establishment after its construction in 1889, the Eiffel Tower is now a cherished symbol of Paris. Tonight's film relates the story of the tower's construction and hears from people whose lives are linked to it.

In September 1943, 191 men from Montgomery's 8th Army-who had helped to drive Rommel's troops out of Africa - refused to take part in the Allied fight for Salerno, Italy. Interviews, reconstructions and previously classified documents show how errors forced the soldiers into a predicament that caused their war pensions to be reduced, their medals reclaimed and their honour questioned.