The Best TV Shows on ZDFinfo

The series "Chernobyl - The Catastrophe" is a search for clues to the truth. How did the nuclear power plant explode in April 1986? And what is Moscow still hiding about the accident today? Contemporary witnesses provide insights into the rise and fall of Chernobyl - a place where belief in nuclear power became a catastrophe with serious consequences.

Nothing lets us look deeper into the dark abyss of a past epoch than the murders and misdeeds committed during it. But many crimes of the past remain unsolved today. The perpetrators were not identified or punished, and evidence hasn’t been presented against them — until now. This documentary series shows how science uses modern forensic methods to solve crimes that happened thousands of years ago.

Ancient Apocalypse investigates six catastrophic stories of how the world’s greatest civilisations collapsed. Every continent has its ruins — places where only stones tell the tale of a fallen people. They might lay buried under the Earth, in the shade of jungle canopy or amidst the teeming industry of a modern city. However, they all raise the same questions: How could something so great all but vanish? Why do civilisations collapse? In this 6-part series, we uncover the scientific reasons why some of history’s most fascinating peoples have disappeared in the face of the natural world’s might. We investigate the end of The Akkadian Empire, The Lost City of Helike, Sodom and Gomorrha, The mystery of the Sea Peoples, The Maya Civilisation and Doggerland. Some of the world’s greatest natural disasters reduced these societies to nothing.

What propelled the construction of higher and higher buildings? Which technologies made the discovery of the oceans possible? How are gravity defying bridges designed? What will the future of the aircraft industry be? Combining bluechip photography with innovative CGI, all set in spectacular locations across the world, this documentary series highlights the history of human ingenuity.

What happened in the last days before and after Hitler's suicide in 1945? The last surviving witnesses remember the dramatic events.

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We take the things of everyday life for granted: food, land, living space, energy. But speculation is taking place worldwide - with consequences. The four-part series wants to know: Who determines the future of the markets.