The BEST episodes directed by Martin O'collins
#1 - Building Pharaoh's Chariot
NOVA - Season 40 - Episode 5
3,600-year-old reliefs in Egyptian tombs and temples depict pharaohs and warriors proudly riding into battle on horse-drawn chariots. Some historians claim that the chariot launched a technological and strategic revolution, and was the secret weapon behind Egypt's greatest era of conquest known as the New Kingdom. But was the Egyptian chariot really a revolutionary design? How decisive a role did it play in the bloody battles of the ancient world? In "Building Pharaoh's Chariot," a team of archaeologists, engineers, woodworkers, and horse trainers join forces to build and test two highly accurate replicas of Egyptian royal chariots. They discover astonishingly advanced features, including spoked wheels, springs, shock absorbers, anti-roll bars, and even a convex-shaped rear mirror, leading one of them to compare the level of design to the engineering standards of 1930's-era Buicks! By driving our pair of replicas to their limits in the desert outside Cairo, NOVA's experts test the claim that the chariot marks a crucial turning point in ancient military history.
#2 - Fireball Of Christ
National Geographic Documentaries - Season 2011 - Episode 51
This is the story of the meteor that changed the world forever. In 312 AD the Roman Emperor Constantine claimed he saw a mysterious light in the sky which convinced him to convert to Christianity, forever altering the course of history. Now scientists believe they may have tracked down the source of this mysterious light. A team of geologists have identified a crater in Italy which they believe was produced by the impact of a previously unrecorded meteorite. The finding could explain not only the story of Constantine, but might also provide an explanation for a local legend which recounts how members of a pagan cult were overwhelmed by a light in the sky as bright as a second sun. The cult too immediately converted to Christianity. A team of international experts set out to get to the bottom of the mystery.