Australian Encounters

Infographics and archival footage deliver bite-size history lessons on scientific breakthroughs, social movements and world-changing discoveries.

Don Wildman unearths relics from the world's greatest institutions to reveal secrets from the past. He examines each artifact to illuminate history's most incredible triumphs, sensational crimes and bizarre encounters.

American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.

Actor Zac Efron journeys around the world with wellness expert Darin Olien in a travel show that explores healthy, sustainable ways to live.

Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer confesses to his gruesome crimes in unguarded interviews, offering an unsettling view into a disturbed mind.

Come one, come all to The Circus. This real-time documentary series pulls back the curtain on the current political stories, revealing the intense, inspiring and infuriating stories behind the headlines. Key characters and events are presented in real time, as they are happening.

Explore the explosive life of Mike Tyson — one of the most feared and fascinating figures in sports history.

30 for 30 is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This currently includes four "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series under the ESPN Films Presents title in 2011–2012, and a series of 30 for 30 Shorts shown through the ESPN.com website. The series has also expanded to include Soccer Stories, which aired in advance of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and audio podcasts. This entry refers to the main Volumes of the series presented by ESPN

TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.

Award-winning actor and nervous explorer Eugene Levy steps out of his comfort zone for a whirlwind tour of the world's most beautiful and intriguing destinations.

Sir Kenneth Clark guides us through the ages exploring the glorious rise of civilisation in western man. Beginning with the bleakness of the dark ages to the present day, we consider civilisation's articulations and expressions in some of man's finest works of art.

Motoring programme featuring reviews of and reports about cars of all types.

Revisit the epic heroes, villains and moments from across the MCU in preparation for the stories still to come. Each dynamic segment feeds directly into the upcoming series — setting the stage for future events. This series weaves together the many threads that constitute the unparalleled Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Walt Disney Productions has produced an anthology television series under several different titles since 1954. The original version of the series premiered on ABC, Wednesday night, October 27, 1954. The show, which was hosted by Walt Disney until his death and then from 1996 to 2002 by then-CEO Michael Eisner (with one-off hosts or no hosts during other periods) has since aired continually as either a weekly program or an irregular series of specials on several networks and streaming services, most recently on ABC and Disney+. The show is the second longest showing prime-time program on American television, behind its rival, Hallmark Hall of Fame. However, Hallmark Hall of Fame was a weekly program only during its first five seasons, while Disney remained a weekly program for more than forty years.

Through the prism of Jeff Goldblum's always inquisitive and highly entertaining mind, nothing is as it seems. Each episode is centered around something we all love — like sneakers or ice cream — as Jeff pulls the thread on these deceptively familiar objects and unravels a wonderful world of astonishing connections, fascinating science and history, amazing people, and a whole lot of surprising big ideas and insights.

The history of the sport of baseball in America, told through archival photos, film footage, and the words of those who contributed to the game in each era. Writers, historians, players, baseball personnel, and fans review key events and the significance of the game in America's history.

Australian host Steve Irwin and his wife Terri run a wildlife refuge. Their shared passion is educating the world about wildlife, including the much feared crocodile and numerous venomous snakes. Steve's specialty is the capture and relocation of crocodiles. No animal appears too threatening to Steve, his true respect for animals is the foundation for everything he does.

Biography is a documentary television series. It was originally a half-hour filmed series produced for CBS by David Wolper from 1961 to 1964 and hosted by Mike Wallace. The A&E Network later re-ran it and has produced new episodes since 1987. The older version featured historical figures such as Helen Keller and Mark Twain, or long-dead entertainment figures such as Will Rogers or John Barrymore. The A&E series has placed the emphasis on such people as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Plácido Domingo, Freddie Mercury, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Eric Clapton, Pope John Paul II, Gene Tierney, Selena, Diego Rivera, Mao Zedong and Queen Elizabeth II, and fictional characters like The Phantom, Superman, Hamlet, Betty Boop, and Santa Claus. The program ended up profiling enough figures that in 1999, A&E spun it off into an entire network, The Biography Channel.

Discover the brilliant dancers and choreographers who are shaping the art of movement around the world in this documentary series.

Before he was Hulk Hogan, he was Terry Bollea. Uncover the man behind the legend in this unfiltered documentary featuring his very last interview.

Armed with his 1913 Bradshaw's Handbook to the Chief Cities of the World, Michael embarks on six new railway journeys across spectacular Australia.

Australia: The Story of Us is an extraordinary journey through the people, places and events that have shaped Australia, from the first footprints on our continent to the present day. Astounding visual sequences, amazing CGI and dramatic re-enactments bring these stories to life and show how we came to be the country we are today.

Explores the culture, history, industry, and natural wonders of Australia. Includes experiences from wildlife rangers in Kakadu, to surfboard makers and rodeo riders.

Delves into a forgotten vault of Australian government films, unearthing a kaleidoscopic vision of Australia in the 1970s, a decade of political and social change.

The murder of Stephanie Scott in 2015 shocked Australia: the local schoolteacher and young bride-to-be was brutally slaughtered at her workplace.

Explore the chilling mystery of 67 murdered and missing young women between Newcastle and Byron Bay that have remained unsolved for decades, with not a single arrest made

The true story of the brutal World War II military campaign fought between Australia and Japan in the green hell of the mountains of Papua New Guinea. Told from both the Japanese and Australian perspectives the documentary also explores the impact of the decisions of high command on the soldiers at the front line.

Told through a unique collection of iconic archival footage brought to life in stunning colour for the very first time, Australia in Colour tells the story of how Australia came to be what it is today. Narrated by Hugo Weaving, the series is a reflection on our nation’s character, its attitudes, its politics and its struggle to value its Indigenous and multicultural past. Australia in Colour gives us a chance to look at Australia’s history from a fresh perspective. This four-part series curates classic historical footage, as well as home movies and never-before-seen archival material to chart how Australia has developed as a nation. From the oldest surviving footage captured in Australia – in 1896 in Sydney’s Prince Alfred Park – to the beginning of colour television in the mid-1970s, each sequence has been lovingly restored and colourised with historical accuracy. The effect is remarkable, bringing to light history that is both shared and deeply personal.

A four-part history, told through the stories of some of the country's most intriguing and influential figures: the leaders, rebels, artists and innovators who made modern Australia.

First Australians is an Australian historical documentary series produced by Blackfella Films over the course of six years, and first aired in October 2008. The documentary is part of a greater project that further consists of a hard-cover book, a community outreach program and a substantial website featuring over 200 mini-documentaries. The series chronicles the history of contemporary Australia, from the perspective of its first people, or Aborigines. The series is essentially a synthesis of well documented historical information. It relies heavily on archival documents and interpretations from historians and members of both the Indigenous and European community and leaders. The story begins in 1788 in Sydney, with the arrival of the First Fleet and ends in 1993 with Koiki Mabo's legal challenge to the foundation of Australia. The series comprises seven episodes in which it explores what unfolded when the oldest living culture in the world was confronted by the British Empire. It explores the lives of particular individuals and uses their stories as a vehicle to explain the larger situations of the time. It explains violent aspects of European settlement of Australia, such as killings, battles, wars, as well as acts of friendship and decency between the early European settlers and Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Australian history has until recently been clouded by the "great Australian silence" where ignorance of the real history of Australia can be seen as a way for non-Indigenous to hide shame for their own history. In this respect it has been controversial in that many of these stories have not been portrayed on Australian television before and the Indigenous Australian perspective of European settlement is confrontational for many.

From the Great War onwards, combining the stories of veterans and their families, with commentary from leading academics and experts. A thought-provoking exploration of one of the most important icons in Australian life.

Tony Robinson of Time Team fame, takes us on a journey through time and places across Australia, offering a revealing and unique perspective on Australian society and history. In this 6 part series Tony introduces us to locations where deeds great and grotesque, heralded and hidden took place. There will be surprising stories of conflicts, hardship, notoriety and discovery as Tony brings fascinating new insights into the impact the British have had on Australian life. The series will roughly follow a chronology: from the earliest sightings of Terra Australis Incognita through to today. Each era will be defined by a theme (rather than equal blocks of time). The characters who left their fingerprints on Australia’s formative years were predominantly English and Irish.

There are more than ten thousand monuments across the country that honour the war dead . But what of the bloody battles fought on our home soil, in our longest-running war that established the Australian nation?

Ross Greenwood explores all facets of Australian communities and their international origins that make Australia diverse, as well as how social issues are felt around the country.

In 1806, William Thornhill is sentenced to New South Wales for life where he is drawn into a terrifying conflict that will leave a bloody and indelible stain.

Bastard Boys is an Australian television miniseries broadcast on the ABC in 2007. It tells the story of the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute. The script, published by Currency Press, won the 2007 Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Best Television Script.

This bold and provocative four-part series asks the question – What is the idea of Australia and how might we learn from the past to make it stronger in the 21st century?

Bill Peach explains the stories of the great 18th and 19th century explorers of Australia, complete with full-cast re-enactments.

An Australian educational comedy television series based on the American series (and earlier web series) of the same name. In each episode, an inebriated celebrity struggles to recount a historical event, while actors reconstruct and enact the narrator's anecdotes while lip syncing the dialogue.

Award winning mini-series about the men and events that shaped Australia's post war history from 1945 1955. The series focuses on three men: Ben Chifley, Robert Menzies and H. V. "Doc" Evatt, and shows how the fabric of Australian democracy was almost wrecked by the idealism of good but troubled men.