The BEST episodes directed by Jonathan Dent
#1 - Mistaken Identity (Iran Air Flight 655)
Mayday - Season 3 - Episode 6
Iran Air Flight 655 (IR655) was a commercial flight operated by Iran Air that flew from Bandar Abbas, Iran to Dubai. On Sunday July 3, 1988, the aircraft flying IR655 was shot down by the U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes between Bandar Abbas and Dubai, killing all 290 passengers and crew aboard, including 38 non-Iranians and 66 children. The Vincennes was inside Iranian territorial waters at the time of the shoot-down. According to the U.S. government, the Iranian aircraft was mistakenly identified as an attacking military fighter. The Iranian government, however, maintains that the Vincennes knowingly shot down a civilian aircraft.
#2 - The Viking Deception
NOVA - Season 32 - Episode 4
Ever since its sensational unveiling by Yale University scholars in October 1965, the Vinland Map has been a lightning rod for passionate debate. Most reviews of the arguments, including NOVA's program, have focused on scientific tests designed to gauge the authenticity of the map's ink. The opinions of experts in cartography and historical manuscripts have commanded much less attention, yet from the outset scholars in these disciplines pointed out glaring anomalies in the case for the Vinland Map's authenticity.
#3 - Britain's Lost Roman Wonder
BBC Documentaries - Season 2003 - Episode 21
The ruined Roman fort at Richborough in Kent contains a vast and mysterious slab of concrete, 30ft deep, which resembles a mausoleum or a strong room. In a fascinating programme based on informed detective work, the chief executive of English Heritage, Simon Thurley, shows how it was the foundation of a monumental arch built between AD80 and AD90. The arch, a symbolic gateway between land and sea, was covered in 400 tonnes of marble and surmounted by an emperor cast in bronze. The bulk and splendour would have reminded everyone for miles around what it meant to belong to the Roman Empire.