Oceans are rapidly becoming the world’s rubbish dump. Every km of ocean now contains an average of 74,000 pieces of plastic. A ‘plastic soup’ of waste, killing hundreds of thousands of animals every year and leaching chemicals slowly up the food chain. In Holland, scientists researching the decline of the fulmar bird found plastic in the stomachs of 95% of all samples; In Germany, chemicals leached from plastic have been found to affect the reproductive systems of animals, while in California, conservationists are seeing increasing numbers of whales and dolphins die agonising deaths, their guts blocked with rubbish. What will be the long term impact of this ’plastic pollution’? Can anything be done to clean up our oceans?

An investigation into a worldwide ecological disaster that could endanger the whole of humanity.
The future of our food resources depends on one small insect ? the western honey bee, or Apis mellifera. Indeed, it is the most important agricultural pollinator on our planet given that one third of our food supply depends directly on pollination from bees.
This documentary tells the story of a worldwide ecological disaster that has been waiting to happen for several generations.
It was filmed over an 18-month period in France, Germany, the U.S., Canada and Scotland and retraces the various leads carried out by research scientists in order to try and understand and to stop the declining numbers of domestic and wild bees. Scientists are not the only professionals to figure at the centre of this drama. Beekeepers are in the front line, and striking contrasts exist among beekeepers. experiences in different countries, in various economic situations. The documetary seeks to understand how the long-enjoyed harmonious relationship between man and bee has now undergone such a radical change. It seeks to find a solution that goes beyond science. A solution that cannot be found without thoroughly re-mining our agricultural practice and our model of society. Can we rise to the challenge?

It is 332 BC. Generations earlier, the invading Persian Empire had conquered the Greek colonies throughout Asia Minor. Young Alexander and his combined army of Macedonians and Greeks had sought to “liberate” the Greek colonies and push the Persian Empire back to its traditional boundaries. But now, after several victories, the 23-year-old warrior-king decided he was no longer going to fight a war of liberation ? it would now be a war of conquest. His armies crossed the Persian border intent on vanquishing the armies of King Darius III ? the largest and most powerful military force the world had ever seen. Darius had been surprised by the Greeks ability to fight. After two brief battles, Darius and his army selected a wide plain near the Tigris River, by the tiny town of Gaugamela. Here, he planned on destroying Alexander and invaders. ?
The Persian army of Darius III was considered the finest in the world with over 400,000 infantrymen, 40,000 cavalry soldiers and hundreds of the dreaded scythe-wheeled chariots that could cut a man in two! Alexander only had 45,000 cavalrymen and foot soldiers and was outnumbered 10 to 1. But Alexander would employ numerous brilliant tactical moves that would stun the Persians and change the way war would be fought in the future. Central to Alexander’s strategy was his use of the Macedonian phalanx, a tightly organized regiment of armored foot soldiers protected on all sides ? including above ? by shields. They also carried the “sarissas” ? an 18-foot long heavy spear that would allow them to strike the enemy long before an enemy could touch them with their own shorter weapons. Alexander’s approach to warfare would not only enable him to conquer the ancient world, it would herald the end of the fighting techniques of the Bronze Age and usher in the new, more deadly method of Iron Age warfare. There was a lot at stake here, too. If Alexander lost, the Persian would have dominated the Mediterranean and their culture may have supplanted the Greeks as one of the most dominant influences in the development of Western Civilization.

At the height of the Greek/Persian War, Xerxes, King of Persia, led the largest army ever assembled intent on conquering all of Greece. King Leonidas of Sparta accompanied by 300 Spartan warriors and a few thousand other Greek troops waited in the pass at Thermopylae to delay the might of the Persian Army, estimated at over a million men. Impossible odds - yet the Spartans and their allies held the narrow pass for seven days in August 480 BC inflicting shocking casualties on the Persians and fighting until every last defender was slain. After Custer, Thermopylae is the most famous last stand in history. It is still used today by military academies around the world as an example of how a group of well trained and well led soldiers can have an impact out of all proportion to their numbers.

Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, this two-hour HISTORY special will strip away the romanticized veneer of the Civil War and present the engagement in a new light: a visceral, terrifying experience with everything on the line. At its core, this is the story of the soldiers on the ground, not the generals who commanded from behind the frontlines. Compelling CGI and powerful action footage place viewers in the midst of the fighting, delivering both an emotional cinematic experience and an information packed look at the turning points, technology, and little known facts of perhaps America's greatest battle.