Secret History Season 14 Episodes

Episode 1

The Real Noah's Ark

In 1948, while serving in the Middle East, a British RAF pilot picked up a clay tablet covered in mysterious writing. He brought it home as an intriguing memento, and it sat collecting dust on his mantelpiece for decades. When he died , his son brought it to an expert at the British Museum. The tablet was 3700 years old, and was a detailed instruction manual for building a huge boat to survive a flood - a boat like that recorded in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Sumerian tale that inspired the story of Noah's Ark during the Jewish exile in Babylon. This was no ordinary boat. Modeled on harbor freight shuttles used for nearly 4,000 years, it was circular in shape, made of reeds and bitumen, and designed to carry heavy freight, including large numbers of animals. Working with leading boat builders, historians, and archaeologists of the period, a team sets out to visit ancient Sumer and the ruins of Uruk, where Gilgamesh was King in what is now southern Iraq, then on to India to build a replica of the original Noah's Ark.

Episode 2

Hitler's Hidden Drug Habit

47 mins

Documentary discussing Hitler's fraudulent physician, his poor health and possible drug dependency.

Episode 3

WW1's Forgotten Heroes

47 mins

Former Royal Marines commando Arthur Williams embarks on an emotional journey to explore the experiences of nearly two million British soldiers who suffered life-changing injuries and disabilities during the First World War. When the conflict ended an unprecedented number of amputees and disfigured servicemen returned home to face a new set of challenges. Largely forgotten or ignored after the war, they fought for recognition, respect and equality and many became pioneers who helped to transform the nation's attitude towards disability. In 2007, Arthur was involved in a car accident that left him paralysed from the waist down. In the course of his journey, Arthur draws closer to the experiences of those wounded and disabled men by confronting the hard challenges he faced while learning to live with his own disability. He returns to the military rehabilitation centre at Headley Court for the first time since his accident and speaks openly about the difficult months of his early rehabilitation. The programme features extraordinary and rarely seen footage and a never-before-seen cache of medical photographs of World War I amputee patients from Queen Mary's Hospital Roehampton.

Episode 4

The Great Wall of China: The Hidden Story

47 mins

Modern Chinese and international research using new methods like drones systematically studies the Great wall of China. Its visibility from space is a legend, but its size actually ranks as world's largest monument. It never was a single wall, but a system of several segments, repeatedly altered over time, in successive attempts to prevent invasions from raider tribes, like the Xiongnu, adapted to the terrain, with an elaborate system of garrison towers, advanced tower posts and communication system. Building and manning it proved extremely costly. It failed to prevent the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan annexing China, his great successor Kublai Khan built a wall system to fit his larger empire. After the Ming dynasty finally expelled the Mongols, the 'primitive' walls were replaced by the final stone version, using a brick type solidified with rice starch. While the unprecedented mobilization of means for construction and garrisons crippled the treasury, it proved useless against the Manchu invasion as Ming China was paralyzed by civil war and revolts, so the border troops general in command invited an invasion to crush the traitors.