Garden remedy
Mother Aubert’s homemade medicine.
Earthworks
A subterreanean military complex built in 1916 is finally coming to light.
Guiding light
Cavers of yesteryear used carbide lamps for illumination—occasionally with explosive results.
A model pedestrian
197 days on the road.
The mechanical sympathy
Bruce McLaren founded the most successful Formula One team in history and set records that lasted decades. His name is still emblazoned on some of the world’s fastest cars. But the fairytale quality of McLaren’s life—growing up above his parents’ petrol station, racing the Austin 7 he built as a teenager, later winning Monaco and Le Mans—conceals the hardships he overcame and the innovations he made. McLaren didn’t just race cars, he designed and built them, and in doing so, transformed the sport of Formula One.
Movie magic in Wellington
“Thousands thrilled and amazed”.
Monsters of Yore
Across the world, ecosystems have been transformed by the mass extinctions that followed the arrival of humans. In New Zealand, the moa, the world’s largest eagle, sea lions, elephant seals and whales were wiped from the register at lightning speed. How did our megafauna become reduced to lawn ornaments?
Disposable cutlery
Scientists believed they had found an ancient civilisation, but it was more like plastic forks.
Blast from the past
A new species of Samoan beetle has been discovered, long after it became extinct.
Treasure and Death—Secrets of a Moche Tomb
As archaeologists uncover ancient Peruvian tombs they piece together the mysterious lives and savage deaths of one of America’s most brilliant civilisations, the Moche.
The Curse of the Elephant Man
Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man, was the most shockingly disfigured person in history. This compelling detective story uses forensic and genetic science to provide insights never before revealed about his tragic condition, and modern imaging techniques to reconstruct the face of the man beneath the deformities.
Blood
From religious ceremony to myths and horror movies, blood is the most potent of human symbols. Whether it is being sought by a hungry vampire or used in a modern hospital, blood flows in a rich red torrent through both medical and mythical history. We travel back in time to examine the history of this vital fluid.
Hong Kong Garrison – The Making of a Soldier
Through the eyes of two new recruits, we go behind the lines of the People’s Liberation Army in China to experience what it takes to become a member of Hong Kong’s defence force.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy and childbirth make up an area of medicine that has suffered greatly from social, medical, religious and historical whims and misconceptions. This episode takes viewers on a journey through medical history from the ancient Egyptians, who linked fertility with the flooding of the Nile, to the dark ages when midwives were seen as witches and burned at the stake.
My Favourite Monkey
Find out why macaques have become the world’s most successful monkey, and how they play a part in human cultures everywhere.
Turning Back Time
The story of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu—one of only a few isolated places on Earth where many people still live as they did thousands of years ago and others are returning to the old way.
Glass half full
Waikato’s eponymous brewery was rescued from the edge of financial ruin—twice. Then it burned down, and the chief brewer died.
What calamity?
Wellington gets a facelift.
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