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Timewatch

Timewatch Season 12: Episode Guide & Ratings

Season 12 Episodes

1. Allied to the Mafia

January 13th, 199350 min

The extraordinary story of one of the war's most secret alliances - between the US Naval Intelligence and the Mafia. Denied for 50 years, the pact was in fact begun on the New York waterfront and sealed in the mountains of Sicily. Now the key players speak for the first time about the deal uniting US Intelligence with "Lucky" Luciano and Don Calò Vizzini - the most feared Godfathers of their day. In Palermo, Leoluca Orlando, head of Italy's newest political party and the Mafia's number one target, talks about the tragic legacy of this most unholy alliance. NEW SEASON.

2. The Sparks That Lit the Bonfire

January 27th, 199350 min

Examines the origins of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and reveals startling new evidence of the Irish government's crucial role in the emergence of the Provisional IRA. With the help of interviews with Irish ex-cabinet ministers and former leading members of the Republican movement, it details Dublin's funding of the IRA, why it favoured its more radical elements, and how the Irish government secretly plotted to invade Northern Ireland in 1970. Peter Taylor reports.

3. The Stolen Child

February 10th, 199350 min

During the Second World War the Nazis snatched 200,000 Aryan-looking Polish children from their mothers to replenish the "master race" back in Germany. This film tells the extraordinary story of two cousins who were stolen on the same day, 4-year-old Alojzy and 10-year-old Leon. Alojzy was adopted by a "good" Nazi family and soon forgot his Polish past, becoming a model German. When Alojzy was told at age 12 of his Polish parentage, he was horrified, believing the Poles to be Untermensch ("less than human"). It was years before he could accept his real mother and years before the Polish people forgave him his German identity.

4. The Secret File on J. Edgar Hoover

February 24th, 199350 min

A new profile of the man who was director of the FBI for nearly 50 years. This investigation of Hoover's private life reveals that top gangsters had evidence of his secret, homosexual love life and used it to blackmail him. Tainted by ties to organised crime, Hoover turned a blind eye to the Mafia during the vital years of its growth.

5. The Pill: Prescription for Revolution

March 10th, 199350 min

Described as "the greatest invention since the wheel" by novelist Angela Carter, the contraceptive pill played a crucial role in the sexual and social revolution of the 60s and 70s. With the help of archive footage from 'Up the Junction', 'Juliet Bravo' and 'Absolutely Fabulous', and interviews with women who talk frankly about the effect the pill has had on their sexual and working lives, Timewatch asks whether the introduction of the pill was a blessing or a burden.

6. Buffalo Bill

March 24th, 199350 min

A new look at the legend of William F Cody. From 1883 to 1916, millions of people throughout the world thrilled to the adventures of Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show, where Indians danced to the rhythms of war and cowboys rode to the rescue. These vivid re-enactments of life on the plains were accepted as fact and handed down from generation to generation. Using rare film fragments and talking to those who remember Cody, Timewatch uncovers the true story behind the legend.

7. Special: Battle of the Bombers

April 7th, 19931 hr 15 min

Fifty years ago Bomber Command launched a massive campaign against Nazi Germany - the Battle of the Ruhr. In this special edition Jonathan Dimbleby explores the military and moral issues posed by a form of warfare which, since the end of the war, has become a matter of great contention. Was Britain's area-bombing campaign a necessary strategy to defeat Hitler or was it a war crime? The film revisits the industrial city of Essen to hear from Germans who endured the unceasing night-time campaign and, in the studio, Dimbleby questions RAF veterans, victims of the bombing, military historians and those recently involved in policy-making.

8. On Behalf of the State: Memories of Hanging

June 2nd, 199348 min

On 23rd August, 1964, the last person in Britain was hanged. To those involved in it, the process of judicial execution was a 'most secret business', never to be discussed, least of all with the media. But now they have broken their silence. This unique account strips away the mystery and reveals the truth about the State's ultimate punishment.

9. True Story of the Roman Arena

September 15th, 199350 min

Julius Caesar courted popular support with spectacular displays of gladiatorial combat. But new archaeological research explains what really went on inside the Roman amphitheatre, and how cruelty and violence became the corner-stone of political and social life. Drawing on contemporary accounts and featuring computer reconstructions of the Colosseum, the historical documentary series returns with a disturbing insight into the eternal appetite for violence in entertainment.

10. The Mother of All Battles

September 29th, 199350 min

It cost more lives than the British Army lost in the entire Second World War. The Battle of Kursk, south of Moscow, was fought 50 years ago. It was the biggest armoured battle in history. If this is the case, why have few of us ever heard of it? Timewatch investigates.

11. Hunger Strike: A Hidden History

October 13th, 199350 min

On 5 May 1981, Bobby Sands died on hunger strike at the Maze prison in Northern Ireland. Nine more prisoners starved themselves to death. Using first-hand testimony, this programme tells the story.

12. Children of the Third Reich

November 10th, 199350 min

In April, a group of 18 people met in a small town halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Some were Jewish, the sons and daughters of Holocaust survivors; the rest were German, the children of Nazi war criminals. Producer Catrine Clay interviewed the participants as they faced up to a hitherto unspeakable shared history. One of them is the son of Martin Boorman, another is the son a woman found buried under a pile of corpses in Belsen.

13. The Mysterious Career of Lee Harvey Oswald

November 21st, 19931 hr 30 min

Was Lee Harvey Oswald a mentally disturbed gunman acting alone, as the report of the Warren Commission suggested? Was he one of two gunmen, as the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded? Or was he, as he claimed, an innocent fall guy? This Timewatch investigative biography sifts through the mysteries of Oswald's life, from his troubled childhood and his Marine service to his dramatic defection to the Soviet Union in 1959 and his return to the USA.

14. Chairman Mao the Last Emperor

December 20th, 19931 hr

Mao Tse-tung ruled China from 1949 until his death in 1976, and this film examines for the first time on television the true extent of his tyranny and the brutality of his regime. His rise to power, and the revolution that swept away the corruption of Chiang Kai-shek, was accompanied with optimism, but in the following 25 years he virtually destroyed China. Mao's promiscuity with young girls who "felt honoured to have sex with Mao" is revealed by his doctor Li Zhisui; and former Red Guard Zheng Yi reveals that cannibalism played a part in the Cultural Revolution. Followed by CHRISTMAS IN SARAJEVO: As we enjoy Christmas, how are the inhabitants of the Sarajevo street coping with freezing conditions, starvation and shelling? Each night over the holiday period there will be further reports.

All Seasons

Season 30

Season 30

Oct 25, 2011
Season 29

Season 29

Jun 2, 2010
Season 28

Season 28

Feb 21, 2009
Season 27

Season 27

Jan 5, 2008
Season 26

Season 26

Jan 5, 2007
Season 25

Season 25

Jan 20, 2006
Season 24

Season 24

Jan 29, 2005
Season 23

Season 23

Jan 9, 2004
Season 22

Season 22

Jan 10, 2003
Season 21

Season 21

Jan 4, 2002
Season 20

Season 20

Jan 12, 2001
Season 19

Season 19

Jan 8, 2000
Season 18

Season 18

Apr 17, 1999
Season 17

Season 17

Apr 7, 1998
Season 16

Season 16

Feb 25, 1997
Season 15

Season 15

Jan 14, 1996
Season 14

Season 14

Jan 11, 1995
Season 13

Season 13

Jan 12, 1994
Season 12

Season 12

Jan 13, 1993
Season 11

Season 11

Jan 15, 1992
Season 10

Season 10

Jan 23, 1991
Season 9

Season 9

Jan 17, 1990
Season 8

Season 8

Jan 11, 1989
Season 7

Season 7

Jan 6, 1988
Season 6

Season 6

Jan 15, 1987
Season 5

Season 5

Jan 1, 1986
Season 4

Season 4

Jan 9, 1985
Season 3

Season 3

Jan 3, 1984
Season 2

Season 2

Jan 26, 1983
Season 1

Season 1

Sep 29, 1982
Specials

Specials

Aug 17, 1991