The BEST episodes of Discovery Channel Documentaries season 2015
Every episode of Discovery Channel Documentaries season 2015, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Discovery Channel Documentaries season 2015!
Documentaries that have been produced by the Discovery Channel.
#1 - Churchill's Toyshop
Season 2015 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/22/2015
CHURCHILL'S TOYSHOP explores the secretive and strange arms race between Britain and the Nazis during WW2. Convinced that the path to victory lay in out gunning the Nazis but faced with limited resources, British weapon manufactures were forced to improvise. To combat the problem, Winston Churchill himself set-up a secret clandestine research institute, dedicated to coming up with super weapons that would give troops the edge in battle. He christened the department Military Defence 1 but it quickly becomes known as Churchill's toyshop. Using rare archive and interviews, the one-off special tells the story of the department and some of the most fantastic and improbable weapons ever created. With the help of modern experts and contemporary blue prints the series will also recreate some of the lost technology.
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#2 - Killer Space Junk
Season 2015 - Episode 11 - Aired 7/13/2015
In 2014 the International Space Station had to move three times to avoid lethal chunks of space debris, while satellites are mysteriously breaking down. With first-hand accounts from astronauts and experts, Killer Space Junk reveals the scale of the problem of space junk. Our planet is surrounded by hundreds of millions of pieces of junk moving at 17 000 miles per hour. Now the US government is investing a billion dollars to track them, and companies around the world are developing ways to clear up their mess – from robot arms, to nets, to harpoons.
#3 - Inside the Vatican's Vault
Season 2015 - Episode 22 - Aired 9/19/2015
Enter the secret world of The Vatican, with exclusive access to the Canonization of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII. Follow the countdown to this ceremony as a million pilgrims arrive in Rome to celebrate these two new Saints.
#4 - Tony Robinson's Victory in Europe
Season 2015 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/8/2015
To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of WW2, Tony Robinson’s Victory in Europe will use never-before-seen archives of 3D pictures to tell the story of the last days of the Nazi regime. During the one-off special, Tony Robinson will explore life in Europe before the war, with a look at Nazi propaganda – the Olympics, leader’s books and the Munich city of Nazism. Covering key events of their 12 year rule, Tony delves into incredible secret operations like the infamous Operation Market Garden, bloody final conflicts like the Battle of the Bulge, and the final liberation of Auschwitz. The photographs from this time provide an exclusive and unique record of the rise and fall of the Nazis, and give Tony an opportunity to look at this well-studied time in history with fresh eyes.
#5 - How We Built the Bomb
Season 2015 - Episode 20 - Aired 8/5/2015
In 1943, a group of America's most brilliant physicists converged on a desert mesa in New Mexico to work for the top secret Manhattan Project. In this isolated community, they worked against the ticking clock of global war to unlock the power of the atom before their Nazi counterparts or anyone else could. Witness the birth of the very first nuclear bomb on HOW WE BUILT THE BOMB, which details the story of the men behind the bomb as told in their own words, offering an unprecedented glimpse into the exceptional individuals who have ushered in the atomic age, and in doing so, changed the world. Reimagined interviews combined with historical home movies create a one-of-a-kind documentary that bring to life the story of how American ingenuity overcame the 20th century's greatest scientific challenge and ended the Second World War.
#6 - Hunt for the First Star
Season 2015 - Episode 16 - Aired 7/24/2015
Hunt for the First Star A spectacular journey to the birth of stars and matter a billion years after the big bang. Scientists look for evidence of an extraordinary phenomenon known as the Cosmic Dawn, a dramatic moment in the history of the universe when the very first stars were created.
#7 - Big Bang Aftershock
Season 2015 - Episode 15 - Aired 7/18/2015
Big Bang Aftershock The discovery of gravity waves in early 2013 was huge news around the world ... and so was the retraction after the scientists realized they'd made a mistake. This is a dramatic human story of brave scientists and big science in action at the South Pole.
#8 - The Krays: The Prison Years
Season 2015 - Episode 14 - Aired 9/10/2015
The Krays: The Prison Years is a one-off documentary which explores the fascinating and largely untold story of the Kray twins after they were imprisoned in 1968. The hour- long documentary utilises exclusive never-before seen footage, interviews and reconstructions to tell the story of the twins' lives from 1968 until their deaths. From their 30-day trial and Ronnie Kray's committal to Broadmoor, following his diagnosis as insane, to operations on the 'outside' and the twin's various marriages inside. A number of the subjects interviewed for the documentary had first-hand dealings with the Krays, including Wilf Pine, Ronnie Kray's business manager; Freddie Foreman, who was sentenced at the same time as the Krays for the disposal of the body of Jack 'the hat' McVitie; and Maureen Flanagan, a close family friend and former model who Reggie proposed to three times whilst in prison.
#9 - Stonehenge: Secrets of the Stones
Season 2015 - Episode 13 - Aired 9/15/2015
Stonehenge: Secrets of the Stones Dated to the late Stone Age, Stonehenge may be the best-known and most mysterious relic of prehistory. Every year, a million visitors are drawn to England to gaze upon the famous circle of stones, but the monument's meaning has continued to elude us. Now investigations inside and around Stonehenge have kicked off a dramatic new era of discovery and debate over who built Stonehenge and for what purpose. How did prehistoric people quarry, transport, sculpt, and erect these giant stones? Granted exclusive access to the dig site at Bluestonehenge, a prehistoric stone-circle monument recently discovered about a mile from Stonehenge,
#10 - Direct From Pluto: First Encounter
Season 2015 - Episode 12 - Aired 7/15/2015
After a nine-year journey to Pluto, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is on the verge of delivering the first up-close images of the mysterious dwarf planet. Pluto: First Encounter Chronicles the drama of a quest that will bring the once 9th planet into focus, shattering all we have known and perhaps giving it new status within the Universe. Direct From Pluto reveals the latest photos, expert analysis, and behind-the-scenes action at mission control as the New Horizons mission finally reaches Pluto. "Science Channel viewers will see the very first close-up images of Pluto's surface and its moons, and learn more as leading experts discuss the previous planet's status as well as uncover some surprising research. Launched on Jan. 19, 2006, New Horizons set a speed record by reaching the moon in just nine hours -- 10 times faster than any Apollo mission. Still, it took almost a decade for the piano-sized spacecraft to travel the more than 3 billion miles (5 billion kilometers) to reach Pluto, where it is set to make its closest approach on July 14, completing the initial reconnaissance of the classical solar system. Science Channel's "Direct from Pluto" was on site to go behind the scenes at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland, home to New Horizon's control, during the flyby, while also exploring the history of Pluto's discovery and reclassification as a dwarf planet. In addition to being at APL for the flyby, the special filmed interviews at the Dwarf Planet Pride Day in Seattle and at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, where Pluto was discovered in 1930.
#11 - Day After D-Day
Season 2015 - Episode 8 - Aired 6/2/2015
Tells the story of the crucial 72 hours following the D-Day invasion, told by combat veterans who fought in the villages, beaches, hedgerows and bridgeheads of Normandy.
#12 - World War Two: The Final Hours
Season 2015 - Episode 7 - Aired 3/1/2015
Using partly colourised archive footage, some of which have never been seen before, the film immerses viewers into the intensity of the final, apocalyptic hours of WW2.
#13 - Churchill and Me
Season 2015 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/15/2015
Brand new and exclusive to Discovery Channel, CHURCHILL & ME WITH HUGH DENNIS follows the comedian, actor and writer Hugh Dennis, on his journey to discover what Sir Winston Churchill means to people today and explore the legacy he left behind across the globe. Hugh's journey starts with his own recollections of Churchill's funeral, as a young boy watching the flypast from the garden of his father's vicarage, and goes on to describe growing awareness of the influence and personal style of an Englishman who dominated the 20th Century political and cultural landscape like no other. With all of his trademark wit and charm, Hugh will be meeting people and visiting places upon which Churchill left his indelible mark - from historians, to family members, and employees including former Personal Secretary Lady Jane Williams. There will also be famous faces such as Robert Hardy CBE who won a BAFTA for his portrayal as Churchill in Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years. Each gives their personal insight into the incredible man behind the public image.
#14 - Terror in the Skies: AirAsia and Beyond
Season 2015 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/15/2015
Details the events of December 28, 2014, when AirAsia flight 8501 and its 155 passengers and seven crew members were lost in a storm 40 minutes into their journey from Indonesia to Singapore. The special reveals “troubling connections” between the accident and 2009′s Air France disaster, and also explores technology designed to prevent such incidents from recurring. The doc will also feature computer-generated animation aimed at breaking down radar data from the final moments of the flight, while meteorologists will use weather data from the day of the accident to look at the effects of the storm on the Airbus A320. Also included in the doc are exclusive interviews with global experts, including legal representative for the victims’ families.
#15 - The Last Frontiersmen
Season 2015 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/25/2015
Deep in the Rocky Mountains, a few wildmen have left the 21st century behind to live like the first explorers of America.
#16 - Under Siege: America's Northern Border
Season 2015 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/13/2013
Everyday, money, guns and drugs pour across America’s northern border into the United States. Even more terrifying, many consider our northern border to be the focal point for illegal crossings by individuals with ties to terrorist organizations. Charged with protecting our borders is the Department of Homeland Security, and nowhere is their job more challenging than along the 863-mile stretch of water on either side of Detroit’s Ambassador Bridge. Here, thousands of landing spots, narrow crossings and tremendous boat traffic make this newly explosive region nearly impossible to patrol. It’s up to the brave men and women of the DHS, armed with latest technology, to patrol the water, guard the checkpoints and track down the criminals in order to stem the tide and keep our country safe from foreign threats.
#17 - One Day In Auschwitz
Season 2015 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/25/2015
Seventy years after her liberation, Kitty Hart-Moxon makes a final return to Auschwitz-Birkenau to walk among the crumbling memorial with students Natalia and Lydia, who, at 16, are the same age now as she was then. As Kitty tells them her story of daily existence, themes begin to emerge: the ever-present threat of death, resilience, friendship, human strength, resisting the Nazis' constant lethal intent, and living like an animal while still remaining human. Natalia and Lydia ask questions; Kitty provides answers, passing her legacy to the next generation.