The story of Jesse James remains one of America's most cherished and wrong-headed myths. Less heroic than brutal, James was a product of the American Civil War; a Confederate partisan of expansive ambition and cunning, who helped invent his own valiant legend. A member of a vicious band of Missouri guerrillas during the war, James sought redemption afterwards, but, rode further from it, redeeming instead the glorious memory of the Old South.

Alan Yentob presents a series documenting the history of primetime television in America, from the age of mass television in the 1950s to the present.

The capital of Malta was designed to provide natural air conditioning; closed balconies.

Ben Fogle meets people who have given up the daily grind in favour of a new life in the wilderness.

Some of the greatest wonders of the ancient world still lie buried – unseen and unexplored – beneath our feet; near-legendary places that vanished thousands of years ago. This documentary is a detective trail of meticulous archaeological and historical clues to unearth some of the greatest lost cities of the ancient world. This 3 part series includes The Vanished Capital of the Pharoah, The Cursed Valley of the Pyramids and The Dark Lords of Hattusha. Through drama and CGI these lost wonders are rebuilt and restored to their original splendour.

Murderer, pervert, loving father, devoted son... He ruled the Roman Empire fewer than four years. His life was over at the age of 28, and yet the name of Caligula is notorious throughout the world His reign was a legendary frenzy of lunacy, murder and lust. While Rome cowered in terror, Caligula killed for the sheer fun of it. Between executions, he staged spectacular orgies...made love to his own sister... and declared himself a living god This is the story few know behind one of the most infamous figures of the Ancient World Caligula This two-hour special examines controversial new theories about the man who ruled the world's mightiest empire with sadistic brutality.

Family and friends contribute to a celebration of Richard Feynman, one of the most inspiring and influential scientists of the 20th century. Feynman, who died 25 years ago, helped design the atomic bomb, won a Nobel Prize for Physics and solved the mystery of the Challenger shuttle catastrophe.

10 Buildings That Changed America tells the stories of ten influential works of architecture, the people who imagined them, and the way these landmarks ushered in innovative cultural shifts throughout our society.From American architectural stalwarts like Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, to modern revolutionaries Frank Gehry and Robert Venturi, this film examines the most prominent buildings designed by the most noteworthy architects of our time.We see the legacy of these architects all around us: in the homes where we live, the offices in which we work, our public buildings, and our houses of worship. These 10 Buildings represent architects who dared to strike out on their own and design radical new types of buildings that permanently altered our environmental and cultural landscape.

Venom scientists are in a race against time. Inside the bodies of many creatures, evolution has produced extreme toxic cocktails, all designed for one reason: to kill. It took millions of years to perfect these ultimate brews of proteins and peptides and we have only just begun to discover their potential. Now, the race is on to collect and study them before the animals that produce them disappear. But how does venom do its deadly work? NOVA reveals how venom causes the body to shut down, arteries to bleed uncontrollably and limbs to go black and die. But nature's most destructive and extreme poisons could contain the building blocks for a new generation of advanced drugs that could treat heart attack, stroke, diabetes, obesity and cancer. VENOM follows two scientists on their expeditions to track down and capture the planet's most deadly creatures, risking life and limb just to tease out milligrams of venom and get it back to the lab. Find out how nature's deadliest cocktails could be medicine's brightest new hope.

Death on the Railroad is a classic story involving foul play, cover ups, a murder mystery and a voyage of discovery to understand what happened to a group of Irish men who came to America for a better life but found only misery. In 1832, railroad contractor, Philip Duffy, hired 57 Irish immigrants to lay railroad tracks in West Chester, Pennsylvania. But, less than two months after their arrival, all 57 were dead. Did they all die – as was widely believed – due to a cholera pandemic? Or, were some of them murdered? In 2003, twin brothers discovered a secret file among their grandfather’s papers that led them to investigate the deaths of these men and find the location of their final resting place in a valley now known as Duffy’s Cut. Using the latest forensic and scientific investigative techniques, DNA, forensic analysis, facial reconstruction and historical detective work in Ireland and the USA, modern detectives and experts will unravel this extraordinary story.

In 1961, segregation seemed to have an overwhelming grip on American society. Many states violently enforced the policy, while the federal government, under the Kennedy administration, remained indifferent, preoccupied with matters abroad. That is, until an integrated band of college students--many of whom were the first in their families to attend a university--decided, en masse, to risk everything and buy a ticket on a Greyhound bus bound for the Deep South. They called themselves the Freedom Riders, and they managed to bring the president and the entire American public face to face with the challenge of correcting civil rights inequities that plagued the nation.Veteran filmmaker Stanley Nelson's inspirational documentary is the first feature-length film about this courageous band of civil rights activists. Gaining impressive access to influential figures on both sides of the issue, Nelson chronicles a chapter of American history that stands as an astonishing testament to the accomplishment of youth and what can result from the incredible combination of personal conviction and the courage to organize against all odds.This documentary is based partly on Raymond Arsenault's acclaimed book Freedom Riders: 1961and the Struggle for Racial Justice.

Superstar opera tenor Rolando Villazón reveals an insider's view on performing music by one of the greatest opera composers, Giuseppe Verdi, who celebrates his bicentenary in 2013. By looking at some of Verdi's most well-known works including the operas Macbeth, Rigoletto, La Traviata, as well as his Requiem, Villazón shares his unique and passionate insight on Verdi's consummate skill - how he constructed dramatic episodes of searing reality, as well as the historical context in which the operas are set. Along with interviews with some of the world's leading Verdi singers, conductors and theatre directors, Villazón tells us why he thinks Verdi is a genius.

They could have changed the world - had they been built. Four full length documentaries tell the incredible stories of the pre-war jet fighter the Lockheed L133, America's SST, the Convair WS-125 'Doomsday bomber' and Britain's rocket-powered interceptor the Saunders Roe SR177.Each aircraft is recreated using advanced computer graphics, and its extraordinary story is told using rare archive footage and exclusive interviews.

The devastating consequences of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana resulted in a wave of small-scale drug dealers taking over the streets of New Orleans. As a means of coping with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatized locals have turned to cocaine.

Do the jewels, bones and ashes found in an Indian tomb in 1898 mark the final resting place of the Buddha himself? Or was it all an elaborate hoax? Renowned historian of India, Charles Allen sets to solve this extraordinary mystery once and for all.