Superstructures: Engineering Marvels

A small family relocates to the Sonoran Desert, to be closer to the grandparents of the family. Though there are news reports of a spectacular triple supernova, and the young granddaughter has seen a glowing alien construction behind the barn, the family is at ease until, one night, a UFO soars over head and appears to land in the nearby hills. Apparently, the triple supernova has opened a rift in space and time.

With the future of the human race at stake, a group of young men and women -- bred for intelligence and obedience -- embark on an expedition to colonize a distant planet. When they uncover disturbing secrets about the mission, they defy their training and begin to explore their most primitive natures. As life on the ship descends into chaos, they soon become consumed by fear, lust and an insatiable hunger for power.

The biggest tech revolution of the 21st century isn’t digital, it’s biological. A breakthrough called CRISPR gives us unprecedented control over the basic building blocks of life. It opens the door to curing disease, reshaping the biosphere, and designing our own children. This documentary is a provocative exploration of CRISPR’s far-reaching implications, through the eyes of the scientists who discovered it, the families it’s affecting, and the genetic engineers who are testing its limits.

Today it's a symbol of strength and vitality. 135 years ago, it was a source of controversy. This documentary examines the great problems and ingenious solutions that marked the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. From conception to construction, it traces the bridge's transformation from a spectacular feat of heroic engineering to an honored symbol in American culture.

This film charts the inside story of the race to raise and re-float the stricken Costa Concordia. The colossal cruise ship crashed into rocks and capsized on the island of Giglio in Italy in a tragic disaster in which 32 people lost their lives trying to escape. This film uses stunning CGI animation and unique access footage to reveal the incredible innovations and technological breakthroughs needed to make 114,000 tons of mangled metal sail again.

Fiona Shaw narrates this exploration of Russia's medieval origins through to its bloody expansion to become the biggest country in the world. It's a tale that set the scene for one of the world's most enigmatic figures, and his vision of modern Russia. From a tyrannical grip on ordinary citizens to rampant corruption at the highest level, this film reveals the secrets behind holding the world's largest country together in a narrative that takes in the KGB and its ancestors as well as Stalin, murder and gulags.

Down to the Earth’s Core takes viewers from the sidewalk to the centre of the planet in one epic unbroken shot. Using spectacular computer generated imagery; the camera smashes through almost 9 000 kilometres of solid rock to explore the hidden world beneath our feet. Experience an earthquake inside the San Andreas Fault, blast out of a volcano, encounter bizarre cave-dwelling creatures and enter caves full of giant crystals – all inside planet Earth. As the camera lowers into Earth's bosom, the planet’s extraordinary story, is laid bare layer by layer, showing how prehistoric forests became modern-day fuel, witnessing the dinosaur’s cataclysmic death, and watching as stalactites form and gold grows before our eyes. Deeper, beyond the reach of any mine, any drill, we find wonders beyond imagination: towering molten metal tornadoes, forests of solid iron crystals, until we reach the strangest, least understood place on the planet – the core.

Ever wondered what would happen in your own home if you were taken away, and everything inside was left to rot? The answer is revealed in this fascinating programme, which explores the strange and surprising science of decay. For two months in summer 2011, a glass box containing a typical kitchen and garden was left to rot in full public view within Edinburgh Zoo. In this resulting documentary, presenter Dr George McGavin and his team use time-lapse cameras and specialist photography to capture the extraordinary way in which moulds, microbes and insects are able to break down our everyday things and allow new life to emerge from old. Decay is something that many of us are repulsed by. But as the programme shows, it's a process that's vital in nature. And seen in close up, it has an unexpected and sometimes mesmerising beauty.

Documentary presented by Professor Simon Schaffer which charts the amazing and untold story of automata - extraordinary clockwork machines designed hundreds of years ago to mimic and recreate life. The film brings the past to life in vivid detail as we see how and why these masterpieces were built. Travelling around Europe, Simon uncovers the history of these machines and shows us some of the most spectacular examples, from an entire working automaton city to a small boy who can be programmed to write and even a device that can play chess. All the machines Simon visits show a level of technical sophistication and ambition that still amazes today.

Dr James Fox takes a journey through six different landscapes across Britain, meeting artists whose work explores our relationship to the natural world. From Andy Goldsworthy's beautiful stone sculptures to James Turrell's extraordinary sky spaces, this is a film about art made out of nature itself. Featuring spectacular images of landscape and art, James travels from the furthest reaches of the Scottish coast and the farmlands of Cumbria to woods of north Wales. In each location he marvels at how artists' interactions with the landscape have created a very different kind of modern art - and make us look again at the world around us.

Featuring new and exclusive interviews, Beatles' Biggest Secrets, reveals the inside story of the world's greatest pop group with explosive revelations about the extraordinary lives of Liverpool's favorite sons. From the band's formation and early exposure to the gritty world of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll in the dingy strip clubs of Hamburg, Germany, the program then travels forward through the Beatles' careers with shocking surprises about their relationships with each other, their women and their inner circle. Filled with interviews from friends, relatives, colleagues and former girlfriends as well as rare film footage and original artwork by artist Klaus Voormann, this is the first fully rounded Beatles portrait to appear on DVD. This is the Beatles at their best -- and their worst!

Told for the first time, this is the story of the handful of people in the South Tower, on the actual floors hit by the hijacked plane, who made it out alive. That anyone could survive the devastating inferno ignited by 34,000 litres of jet fuel is surprising enough. But how they managed to escape before the tower collapsed is even more extraordinary. Now, those who were there recall the unique life and death struggles that took place inside the Tower that morning - and reveal how they got away.

Learn how seemingly small flashes of innovation have changed the course of civilization. Humanity from Space is an epic journey of discovery. Using the very latest mind-boggling data and astonishing CGI, the film traces the story of humankind’s ascent from hunter-gatherer to dominant global species.

First transmitted in 1969, this documentary follows the construction of the world’s most advanced underground system. Macdonald Hastings narrates the story of one of the most complex tunnel engineering feats of its time. He reveals the isolation felt by the miners who spent six years burrowing deep beneath the streets of London, shows what they did beneath one of London's most famous department stores and explains why the ground at Tottenham Court Road had to be frozen during the hottest weeks of 1966. The result is a brave new world of transport with automated trains, two way mirrors, automatic fare collection and closed-circuit television, all choreographed by a computer programme played out by an updated version of a pianola located in a control room somewhere near Euston station.

The Submarine Hidden Hunter DVD takes you under the sea as you are introduced to the U.S. Navy's new high-tech marvel. A Virginia class submarine, she is equipped with nuclear deterrence devices and advanced weaponry designed to protect the United States. In the Submarine DVD Hidden Hunters, you watch as recruits experience lifelike drills while preparing to become the newest defenders of America.

Lost Worlds is a documentary television series by The History Channel that explores a variety of "lost" locations from ancient to modern times. These "great feats of engineering, technology, and culture" are revealed through the use of archaeological evidence, interviews with relevant experts while examining the sites, and CGI reproductions. These visual re-creations take the form of rendered 3D environments and photo manipulated overlays, allowing the "lost world" to be seen over its present-day state. The pilot episode "Palenque: Metropolis of the Maya" was first aired on April 4, 2005. It was followed by 12 more episodes in 2006, and a further 19 episodes in 2007.

Architect Danny Forster takes you inside some of the most head-scratching builds in the world. Join Danny as he meets the men and women tackling the unique challenges of constructing the tallest buildings, the most effective military tanks, the largest luxury cruise ships, and the most extreme thrill rides. How do you build a 3,113-foot-long wooden roller coaster in winter temperatures of minus 40 degrees? Or get your workers safely to and from a worksite on a skyscraper that's 1,614 feet above street level? Or dig a water tunnel - along the San Adreas Fault and 1,000 feet below the earth's surface - without it collapsing on itself ... or flooding? Our intrepid host answers these puzzles and more. Don't miss the big stories behind these even bigger engineering marvels.

It is 2014 and the machines have not taken over…yet. The newest, most technologically advanced series from H2™, Rise of the Machines, reveals how the inventions behind the world’s most extreme machines have enabled them to evolve beyond humanity’s wildest imagination. This visually stunning series uses mind-blowing CGI animations to reveal the extraordinary engineering at the heart of the world’s most extreme machines. From the world’s biggest mega truck to the world’s fastest train to a revolutionary heavy lift ship, ground breaking CGI animation explodes the machines apart to reveal the ingenious inventions hidden under their skin that enables the teams who drive, fly and sail them to be at the top of their game. This series takes us inside these machines in close up detail and explores what helps these elite ships, trucks, trains and aircrafts rise above all others.

Ancient Impossible, the new H2 series, picks up where HISTORY’s long running Ancient Discoveries left off. In this next generation of storytelling, Ancient Impossible reveals how many of today’s technological achievements were actually developed centuries ago. Colossal monuments, impossible feats of engineering and technologies so precise they defy reinvention–the ancient world was far more advanced than we ever imagined. We’ll travel through history to reveal a radically different picture of the past, with innovations so far ahead of their time, they’re still in use today. New science uncovers a lost world more like our own than we ever suspected, and reveals how modern technology has its blueprint in the ancient world.

Behind every seemingly impossible marvel of modern engineering is a cast of historic trailblazers who designed new building techniques, took risks on untested materials and revolutionised their field. Each episode details how giant structures, record-beating buildings, war ships and spacecraft are built and work. As the show revels in these modern day creations, it also leaps back in time to recount the stories of the exceptional engineers whose technological advances made it all possible.

Wildest Middle East explores the most remote and most surprising corners of this ancient land. Turkey’s vast and varied landscapes range from snow covered mountain passes, to spectacular coral reefs. Arabia is the world’s largest peninsular and harbours a wealth of wildlife in its seas and mountains. Egypt’s rich lands are nurtured by the life-giving waters of the iconic Nile, and the startlingly wide range of natural habitats in Jordan has resulted in a treasure chest of wildlife. This stunning series showcases the landscape and wildlife as never seen before.

Unearthed decodes mysteries and combines scientific investigations with CGI animation to reveal the hidden secrets of iconic structures and monuments from around the globe to discover how they were designed, built, used, and in some cases, lost and rediscovered.

This documentary series showcases how key technological innovations enable giant superstructures to be built. Footage filmed during construction along with CGI reveal the building process with astonishing detail.

Engineer and film-maker Rob Bell presents an exploration of the global phenomenon that is the skyscraper, from the world's tallest building to those currently under construction. Rob examines the tallest of them all - the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, standing at almost 830m - where he discovers what it takes to build this high, and meets the woman responsible for the foundations of the Shard.

Anita Rani has exclusive access to the largest Bollywood films and stars to reveal the extraordinary stories and secrets behind the biggest film industry on earth.

The joy of a very British hobby, brought to you by Peter Snow and his team, revealing the hidden histories, engineering marvels and true pleasures of plane spotting... live!

What propelled the construction of higher and higher buildings? Which technologies made the discovery of the oceans possible? How are gravity defying bridges designed? What will the future of the aircraft industry be? Combining bluechip photography with innovative CGI, all set in spectacular locations across the world, this documentary series highlights the history of human ingenuity.

Presenter Rob Bell takes us on a voyage around Britain and Ireland to reveal the hidden secrets that make offshore lighthouses such extraordinary feats of engineering.

The stories behind the iconic structures and engineering feats that have shaped and defined our nation and our world.

Utilizing the latest scientific innovations and leading-edge filmmaking technology, this documentary reveals the secret powers and super-senses of the world’s most extraordinary animals, and invites viewers to see and hear beyond normal human perception to experience the natural world as a specific species does — from seeing flowers in bee-vision to eavesdropping on a conversation between elephant seals to soaring the length of a football field with glow-in-the-dark squirrels.