Timewatch - Season 17 / Year 1998

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Episodes

Hitler and the Invasion of Britain

Year 1998Episode 160 min

Hitler and the Invasion of Britain

Timewatch examines the build up to the Battle of Britain, and also considers new historical evidence supporting the idea that Hitler had already changed his plans by the time the battle had been won.

Grammar School Boys

Year 1998Episode 260 min

Grammar School Boys

Nine grammar school boys recall their schooldays and reflect on how that system affected their lives. With former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke, film director David Puttnam, author Barry Hines, and biologist Steve Jones. 2/6.

The Oklahoma Outlaw

Year 1998Episode 360 min

The Oklahoma Outlaw

In 1976 the chance discovery of a mummified body inside a ghost ride in Long Beach, California, unearthed a chain of events leading all the way back to 1911 Oklahoma territory and a bungled train robbery by small-time burglar Elmer McCurdy. 3/6.

The Roman Way of War

Year 1998Episode 460 min

The Roman Way of War

Roman Emperor Trajan led two great wars against the people of Dacia. No written documentation of this campaign survives, but its story is depicted in stone on Trajan's Column, a monument that has towered above Rome for almost 2,000 years. Starting here, the film retraces the steps of Trajan's army and the course of the wars, and uncovers the military secrets of an empire founded on war. 4/6.

Las Vegas and the Mormons

Year 1998Episode 560 min

Las Vegas and the Mormons

Las Vegas, the world's gambling capital: Over 30 million people visit each year, most of them unaware that clean-living Mormons played a major part in creating "sin city". 5/6.

Aborigine - A Collision of Conscience

Year 1998Episode 660 min

Aborigine - A Collision of Conscience

As the Aborigine people fight for their land rights, Australia's historians are discovering surprising stories from the archives. Darwinism, eugenics, breeding, exile and more have been tried to obtain white racial purity.

Year 1998Episode 760 min

Sex and War

An estimated quarter-million homosexuals fought for Britain during the Second World War. At the time homosexuality was still a criminal offence, but the authorities mostly turned a blind eye during the national crisis. Tonight's programme tells the story of these forgotten fighters, revealing the extent to which homosexual activity was condoned within the ranks. NEW SEASON 1/6.

Lloyd George's War

Year 1998Episode 860 min

Lloyd George's War

Eighty years ago the end of the First World War was celebrated as a triumph for democracy, yet some would later dismiss it as futile. The most surprising change of heart was that of wartime prime minister David Lloyd George, who led his nation to victory but condemned the sacrifice in his 1936 memoirs. Tonight's programme explores the reasons behind his apparent change of heart. 2/6.

The Pilgrim Obsession

Year 1998Episode 960 min

The Pilgrim Obsession

It is accepted in American history that the Pilgrim Fathers were a group of religious separatists who founded the first permanent colony at Plymouth, Massachusetts, after sailing to the New World to avoid oppression. As tonight's programme reveals, not only were the Pilgrims not the first European immigrants to America, but their journey very nearly ended in disaster, and initial attempts to establish a colony were met with death from exposure, disease, and starvation. 3/6.

Banking with Hitler

Year 1998Episode 1060 min

Banking with Hitler

Swiss banks stand accused of collaborating with the Nazis before and during the Second World War. But 60 years ago, when US Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau began investigating this collaboration, he found the Swiss were not alone. Tonight's film looks at Allied bankers - including British and Americans - who continued to do business with the Nazis during the war and how Morgenthau's inquiry led to some of the biggest names in British and American street banking. 4/6.

The British in India

Year 1998Episode 1160 min

The British in India

Tonight's programme follows historian Andrew Roberts across the Indian subcontinent as he argues that Britain should take pride in its imperial past. His opinions are then forcefully challenged in a discussion chaired by Kirsty Wark. 5/6.

An American Firefight

Year 1998Episode 1260 min

An American Firefight

In October 1993 elite units of the US army were pinned down on the streets of Mogadishu in Somalia by forces of Mohammed Farah Aidid, whom they were trying to capture. The ensuing battle left 18 American soldiers dead and 75 wounded. Timewatch explores this peace-keeping mission gone wrong. 6/6.

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