We climb a scaffold to the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel to discover the secret of Michelangelo’s genius and why he feuded with the Pope. We hunt for the miscreants who defaced a Raphael masterpiece with hate filled graffiti. The censor who was responsible for putting fig leaves on penises is revealed and a visit to the Vatican’s Secret Archives uncovers the true story of the Knights Templar.
The secrets of the Mona Lisa are unveiled – the brazen theft and how it became the most famous painting in history. The official portrait of Napoleon’s coronation is scrutinized to reveal a canvas of lies. We re-stage the freak jousting accident that killed a French king and find out whether modern medicine could have saved him. And we probe a king’s murder to discover if the assailant was a lone assassin or in league with a conniving queen.
A tiny Egyptian baby mummy is unwrapped to find out how it died 2000 years ago. Two theories are tested to determine whether 12th Century Islamic vessels were bongs or bombs. A dinosaur lost for decades within the museum’s walls is pieced together into the colossal skeleton of a Barosaurus. The great-great grandson of Sitting Bull is brought into the museum to discern whether the museum’s prized Sioux headdress belonged to his illustrious ancestor. And finally, the stuffed remains of a 1930s prize-winning bulldog are examined to uncover a disturbing revelation about the dangers of unnatural selection.
We search for the lost tomb of Ramesses the Great, then, we recreate the last violent moments of an ancient king to discover if he was a brave or cowardly man. We visit the stomping grounds of Indiana Jones to discover how a poor Pharaoh amassed a hoard of gold to rival King Tut, and enter an underground animal necropolis to find out why ancient Egyptians mummified cats, baboons and falcons by the millions. Cryptic inscriptions discovered on a pyramid’s capstone reveal the secret of the pyramid’s spiritual power, and King Khufu’s pyramid is searched for his true likeness in a chamber that includes a locked, unopened door.
An old skull is examined to discover if prehistoric Brits were cannibals and a killer shark is pulled from a pool of formaldehyde to find out how its genetic makeup helped swimmers win Olympic gold in Sydney. We dare a curator to handle a famous gem said to curse all who touch it, and then enter a once top-secret room where WWII spymasters created a bomb that came within a hair of killing Hitler. And we evaluate a perfectly preserved specimen of a Dodo, to discover whether the flightless bird’s extinction was really as inevitable as we have been led to believe.
The armor of Henry VIII is examined to help shed light on why he got so fat and crazy, then enter New York high-society to reveal the role a nude sculpture played in a brutal murder. Inside a vast Egyptian temple (enclosed within the museum’s walls), a secret chamber is searched to discover why the temple’s statues celebrate the foreign emperor who conquered the land of the Pharaohs. We touch the Holy Grail (or maybe not) to discover what gives religious relics their power, then discover how a museum curator invented modern body armour. And finally, in a lab equipped with the latest NASA technology, we discover how museum scientists use art to solve mysteries of the past and present.
Take a trip inside St Petersburg's famous museum and find out who really killed Rasputin, discover more about the Russian Tsars, and about Stalin's least favourite painting
From dinosaurs to meteorites to the origins of the human species, the American Museum of Natural History boasts 32 million exhibits, and over 4 million annual visitors, along with a stellar research staff that mounts over 100 expeditions every year. In this episode, we meet an American farm boy whose love for Africa changed the image of African wildlife from scary to noble. We witness the mating rituals of a 400 million year old crab whose unique blood harbors secrets crucial to modern medicine, then crack open a dinosaur egg to uncover a clue that overturns a long held misconception about a supposedly murderous species. We run a relay race through Manhattan to investigate whether Incan knotted strings were capable of carrying encrypted messages, then blast off on a space mission to bring back comet dust that may hold the secret of how life began on Earth. And finally, we follow museum explorers as they capture animals to extract their DNA, to be preserved in the museum’s sub-zero storage facility – a blueprint of life for future generations.
A trip to Athens' famous museum is like stepping back into the Classical age of Greek history. Learn about some of the artifacts that are housed here, including some controversial pieces.
Relive the experience of a Tornado jet pilot's hair raising mission as he shares his experience of flying in one of the first air strikes of the Gulf War in 1991.
This episode contains six exciting stories, each of them an exclusive behind the scenes look at secrets of life - and death - in Mexico.
The original bust of Nefertiti resides at the Neues Museum in Berlin and is the most popular exhibit. People are captivated by her iconic beauty, and want to take her home.
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is a treasury of antiquities and weaponry collected by the royal family known as the Habsburgs that ruled much of Europe for 500 years
At Istanbul's ancient walls we discover how a Muslim invader bested Christian defenders by using their superstitions. In the city's famed spice market we seek a poison.
Moscow’s State Historical Museum tells the story of Russia and her people from the stone age to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Visited by a million people every year, the Israel Museum features the most extensive collection of biblical and Holy Land archeology in the world.
Both a museum and the official palace of the Spanish royal family, the Palacio Real features armour, artworks and treasures that were once the private possessions of Spain’s kings and queens.
Visited by one and half million people every year, the Uffizi is one of the oldest art museums in the western world, boasting paintings and sculpture by the greatest masters of the Renaissance.
Established in 1846 by a scientist named James Smithson, The Smithsonian is the largest museum and research complex in the world, with over 10 million visitors every year, and nearly 137 million specimens and artifacts.
In Greenwich, a district of London known for its maritime history, sits a museum full of nautical objects - and secrets. Follow our team of experts as we unlock the mysteries, one by one. We'll fire musket balls at Lord Nelson to discover who really killed him, and join the Royal Navy on an anti-piracy commando raid. Finally, we'll board Captain Bligh's dingy to discover how he delivered his men to safety with the help of a musket ball, a coconut shell, and a horn beaker.
What was once a royal palace is now a museum of French culture and history attracting 3 million visitors every year.
Visit the historically rich nation of Tunisia and enter the Bardo Museum. Here, thousands of artifacts from local excavations fill the halls. Dating from the Carthaginian, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman periods, each of these relics has a story to tell. Join us as we explore the world of gladiators, where fire catapults are tested for their killing power, and examine the truth behind an alleged dark ritual of child sacrifice. Then venture outside as we follow a Star Wars super-fan on his visit to the land where Luke Skywalker was raised.
