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The Best Episodes of The True Story

Every episode of The True Story ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The True Story!

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The True Story is a documentary series shown on History in the United Kingdom and on the Smithsonian Channel in the US under the name The Real Story.

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  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    The True Story Season 3 Episode 2 - Saving Private Ryan
    8.2/10(10 votes)

    #1 - Saving Private Ryan

    S3:E2

    Historians, eye-witnesses, weapons and forensics experts provide compelling new insights into the facts behind the classic film.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. The True Story Season 2 Episode 3 - Pirates Of The Caribbean
    8.0/10(11 votes)

    #2 - Pirates Of The Caribbean

    S2:E3

    The truth behind the swashbuckling pirate Blackbeard and revealing the real pirate ship and tales that inspired the action in the series of films starring Johnny Depp.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. The True Story Season 3 Episode 3 - Braveheart
    7.8/10(14 votes)

    #3 - Braveheart

    S3:E3

    A look at how close Mel Gibson's epic film is to the true story of Sir William Wallace. Has the film changed the image of this Scottish hero?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. The True Story Season 2 Episode 2 - Bermuda Triangle
    7.6/10(11 votes)

    #4 - Bermuda Triangle

    S2:E2

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. The True Story Season 4 Episode 3 - Titanic
    7.6/10(10 votes)

    #5 - Titanic

    S4:E3

    Titanic is one of the top grossing movies of all time. Apart from the love story, most of the background events are accurate – with great attention to detail. But the culmination of a three year research project has revealed a new discovery. Another ship steamed to within five miles of the stricken liner and could have saved all aboard. Instead, on the orders of its fearful captain, it turned back, leaving the passengers to drown. Survivors of the wreck recalled seeing a “mystery ship” which refused to come to their aid. For decades the wrong man, Captain Stanley Lord of the Californian, bore the blame. Now, for the first time on television, we set the record straight, cross-referencing eye witness testimony from 1912, with Bob Ballard’s discovery of where the Titanic sank. We draw on archive footage, and present an astonishing voice recording that Captain Lord made in 1961, in which he reveals the identity of the man who abandoned the drowning passengers.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. The True Story Season 4 Episode 6 - Jurassic Park
    7.6/10(7 votes)

    #6 - Jurassic Park

    S4:E6

    This documentary reveals the science behind Jurassic Park is based on rigorous scientific research and that the key character at the centre of the film is inspired by a real life individual. The vision of how dinosaurs could be bought back to life has now been shown to be impossible. But this documentary will feature recent remarkable breakthroughs in biology that would allow dinosaurs to walk again. Using cutting edge evolutionary biology, scientists are getting closer to bringing the dinosaur back to life.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of The True Story

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  7. The True Story Season 5 Episode 2 - Platoon
    7.5/10(20 votes)

    #7 - Platoon

    S5:E2

    Actor Willem Dafoe and director Oliver Stone talk about the Oscar-winning 1986 film about the Vietnam War. Platoon hit the silver screen in 1986 on a small budget with a cast of then unknown actors but gained worldwide acclaim for its gritty portrayal of the horrors of the Vietnam War. Oliver Stone wanted Platoon to be the most realistic war movie of all time and it was based on his own experiences as a solider in the conflict.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. The True Story Season 2 Episode 4 - Blood Diamonds
    7.3/10(16 votes)

    #8 - Blood Diamonds

    S2:E4

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. The True Story Season 1 Episode 3 - Escape from Alcatraz: The True Story
    7.2/10(62 votes)

    #9 - Escape from Alcatraz: The True Story

    S1:E3

    Historical documentary examining a remarkable escape attempt from Alcatraz prison. In June 1962, three inmates successfully broke out of the jail and took to the waters of San Francisco Bay in a makeshift raft, never to be seen again.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. The True Story Season 2 Episode 1 - The Boston Strangler
    7.2/10(16 votes)

    #10 - The Boston Strangler

    S2:E1

    Exploring the truth behind the murders of several women in Boston, Massachusetts, in the early 1960s. Were they the work of one person?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. The True Story Season 4 Episode 2 - Jaws
    7.2/10(11 votes)

    #11 - Jaws

    S4:E2

    Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is one of the most successful movies of all time. According to the author of the novel behind the movie, the story is based on a spate of shark attacks off the cost of New Jersey in 1916, which left four people dead. The savageness of the attacks dramatically altered the scientific view of Great Whites. And Jaws cemented their reputation as terrifying man-eaters. More recently however, new evidence shows that the Great White may have been unfairly blamed for the 1916 attacks. This documentary conducts new scientific tests using handwritten descriptions of the wounds of the 1916 victims. And, returning to the scenes of the attacks, it explores whether a Great White could really have come so close to land, finally revealing the identity of the real culprit.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. The True Story Season 4 Episode 4 - Silence Of The Lambs
    6.9/10(17 votes)

    #12 - Silence Of The Lambs

    S4:E4

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. The True Story Season 4 Episode 5 - Gladiator
    6.9/10(21 votes)

    #13 - Gladiator

    S4:E5

    The historical figures who inspired the characters in the Ridley Scott film Gladiator, including Emperor Commodus, who in reality was even crueller than Joaquin Phoenix's on-screen portrayal.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. The True Story Season 1 Episode 2 - James Bond: The True Story
    6.8/10(39 votes)

    #14 - James Bond: The True Story

    S1:E2

    A documentary chronciled the life of James Bond creator Ian Fleming and what led him to create his famous spy.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. The True Story Season 1 Episode 1 - Indiana Jones: The True Story
    6.6/10(36 votes)

    #15 - Indiana Jones: The True Story

    S1:E1

    Documentary from award-winning director David Hickman exploring how the story of Indiana Jones was inspired by the real exploits of Roy Chapman Andrews - an American explorer and naturalist. Andrews was best known for a series of perilous expeditions to the Far East that resulted in a number of important discoveries - much like the star of Spielberg's famous movie series.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. The True Story Season 1 Episode 4 - Al Capone and the Untouchables: The True Story
    6.6/10(30 votes)

    #16 - Al Capone and the Untouchables: The True Story

    S1:E4

    Using interviews, exclusive footage and dramatic reconstructions, this documentary explores the true story of how a small group of law enforcers led by Eliot Ness brought down notorious Mafia boss Al Capone in 1930s Chicago.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. The True Story Season 3 Episode 1 - True Grit
    6.4/10(17 votes)

    #17 - True Grit

    S3:E1

    Experts look into the reality behind True Grit, the 1968 Charles Portis story that has been given the Hollywood treatment twice.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. The True Story Season 2 Episode 5 - Jonestown Cult Suicides
    6.3/10(16 votes)

    #18 - Jonestown Cult Suicides

    S2:E5

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. The True Story Season 5 Episode 4 - Scream
    6.3/10(16 votes)

    #19 - Scream

    S5:E4

    Slasher film Scream, released in 1996 went on to spawn one of the most successful horror franchises in film history taking in in excess of 400 million dollars in the United States alone. The sadistic killer and his iconic mask have entertained and terrified audiences around the world. With Nightmare on Elm Street director Wes Craven at the helm, the first Scream film is credited with revitalizing the horror genre. Scream blended slasher violence with murder mystery and it played on the stereotypes and conventions of classic horror films breathing new life into the genre. Although the plot of the masked, small town serial killer targeting high-school students and picking them off one-by one may seem like pure Hollywood fiction it was partly inspired by true events and a real masked murderer who terrified students in a small town.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. The True Story Season 1 Episode 5 - Amityville Horror: The True Story
    5.9/10(101 votes)

    #20 - Amityville Horror: The True Story

    S1:E5

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. The True Story Season 1 Episode 6 - The Hunt For Red October: The True Story
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #21 - The Hunt For Red October: The True Story

    S1:E6

    The historical documentary series returns for a new run on Five. The first instalment explores the real-life events that inspired the Tom Clancy novel and film, ‘The Hunt for Red October’. In 1975, disgruntled Soviet officer led a mutiny on board a state-of-the-art Russian warship. Unlike the movie captain portrayed by Sean Connery, this maverick sought to cause a revolution in his own land – and almost sparked a war in the process. In 1984, an insurance salesman-turned-author named Tom Clancy published his bestseller, ‘The Hunt for Red October’. The book, and the 1989 film starring Sean Connery, depicted the hijacking of a Russian nuclear submarine by a Soviet captain determined to defect to the West. Yet, as this documentary reveals, the story that inspired Clancy’s fiction was equally dramatic. Clancy’s book had its roots in an uprising on the Soviet frigate Storozhevoy, or Sentry, in November 1975. The mutiny was instigated by Political Officer Valery Sablin, the second-in-command, who had grown unhappy with corruption in the Soviet state. “He saw the party elite line their pockets with oil contracts and diamond mines,” explains historian Gregory Young. Infuriated by a state of affairs that saw workers living in poverty, Sablin, a committed communist, decided to spark a new revolution. Sablin’s plan was to seize the Sentry in Riga and sail it up the Baltic Sea to Leningrad, where he would launch an uprising. He began by locking the captain in a compartment and calling the ship’s 16 officers to a meeting. With impassioned rhetoric, Sablin tried to persuade them to back the mutiny. “It really was the speech of his life,” says Young. In the event, the officers were split down the middle. Some, including Lt Boris Gindin, saw folly in the plan. “He was going against the military Russian machine that could destroy you in a second,” he says. Gindin and seven others were locked in the hold by the plotters. However, Sablin’s plan to sail out of Riga as part of a convoy was dashed when one of the officers who had voted to back him slipped off the ship and went to raise the alarm. Sablin had no choice but to sneak out of the harbour and head for international waters. When the military learnt of the mutiny, they immediately assumed that Sablin was trying to defect – with nearby Sweden his likely destination. Russia’s leaders, including the premier, Leonid Brezhnev, knew they could not risk letting the Sentry fall into enemy hands. Although the ship had no nuclear capability, its state-of-the-art design was still unfamiliar to western intelligence. The officers locked in the ship’s belly were well aware that Russia would sooner sink the vessel than let itescape. “We were very scared because we knew that the Russian government would never let us go,” recalls Gindin. Russia launched boats and planes to scour the area. They were assisted by a dense fog, which forced Sablin to switch on his radar – thus alerting the military to his location. The pursuit was also being watched by the Swedish military, uncertain if they were witnessing an invasion. As the entry neared a busy shipping lane, the danger of a Russian plane attacking the wrong vessel increased. “If a merchant ship or a ferry had been hit, there would have been a really major crisis,” says Professor Eric Grove. The turning point came when Russian jets launched an assault on the Sentry. Sablin ordered his crew not to fire back and, in the confusion, sailors opted to release the Sentry’s captain. The mutineers were rounded up and the ship returned to Russia. Sablin was later executed and the crew members were demoted or discharged. Sablin’s co-conspirators now look back on his bold plan with mixed feelings. Reflecting on the book inspired by these events, Gregory Young remarks: “The true story of a political officer not leaving his motherland but determined to change his motherland... is a better story.”

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. The True Story Season 1 Episode 7 - The Bourne Identity
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #22 - The Bourne Identity

    S1:E7

    This documentary explores the real-life CIA history that inspired the Jason Bourne movies. Robert Ludlum’s amnesiac super-spy is a highly skilled secret agent, trained to work secret ‘black ops’. The origins of his character lie in genuine CIA programmes to brainwash people into becoming assassins – including shocking experiments that endangered the lives of psychiatric patients. Jason Bourne is the super-skilled CIA spy with no memory of his past life. He is trained to assassinate enemies of the USA without the knowledge of the government. Bourne was created by author Robert Ludlum and portrayed by Matt Damon in a trilogy of films beginning with 2002’s ‘The Bourne Identity’. Ludlum used his contacts within the CIA to make his novels as realistic as possible. He even used a real-life assassin, Carlos the Jackal, as the villain. For the first Bourne movie, director Doug Liman was inspired by another true story. He changed the villain from an individual to an organisation – a secret cell within the CIA known as ‘Operation Treadstone’. He based this cell on the one exposed by the Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s, when members of the CIA were found to be operating black ops in Nicaragua. Liman had a personal connection with the Iran-Contra scandal because his father led the investigation. “I got to see how spies worked in the real world,” he says. “Bourne wouldn’t be Bourne if it weren’t for the fact that my father ran this investigation.” The guilty parties in the Iran-Contra affair provided the template for the villains in ‘The Bourne Identity’. Liman also ensured that Jason Bourne’s skills matched those of elite agents – including his stunt driving skills and his ability to fight in confined spaces. “He keeps moving, he’s got good balance and he uses whatever’s around him to accomplish his mission,” says combat instructor Brandon Sommerfield. Bourne is primed to withstand torture techniques such as waterboarding. Remarkably, real-life agents are trained the same way. Another key piece of Bourne’s character is his inability to recall his identity. He is a ‘Manchurian Candidate’ – an operative brainwashed to become the perfect assassin. Incredibly, the CIA spent over 20 years trying to create just such an agent. Recently opened files show that these experiments began in the 1950s, when the US military suspected the Chinese of brainwashing soldiers. They resolved to develop mind-control techniques of their own. The MKULTRA programme began by looking at hypnosis. In one experiment, a nurse was hypnotised into firing an unloaded gun at a woman. Yet hypnosis was soon found to be unreliable, so doctors turned to mind-altering drugs – including LSD. In one task, employees spiked each other’s drinks without their knowledge. A disturbing phase of tests began when CIA doctors experimented on mentally ill patients. “Psychiatric patients are a good group to experiment on because they’re disenfranchised, disempowered and they’re very easy to discredit,” says Dr Colin Ross. In the early 70s, schizophrenic Karen Wetmore spent seven months in a straitjacket under the ‘care’ of CIA doctors. On one occasion, she was given 35 electro-shocks in 40 seconds, in what may have been an attempt to induce amnesia. “I just remember wondering what I had done to be treated like this,” Karen says. In 1975, the US Senate put an end to the programme. Yet critics argue that the CIA has continued its efforts to harness mind control by experimenting with electromagnetic fields. Meanwhile, the issue of assassination has returned in force, with the US Government’s efforts to eliminate members of Al-Qaeda in the wake of 9/11. Doug Liman believes the public remains ambivalent on the issue – comparing it to the slaughter of animals. “We’re grateful for the meat,” he says. “Just don’t tell us how you did it.”

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. The True Story Season 1 Episode 8 - Silence of the Lambs
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #23 - Silence of the Lambs

    S1:E8

    Silence of the Lambs tells the story of a young ambitious FBI profiler Clarice Starling as she pursues the serial killer Buffalo Bill with the help of convicted psychopath Hannibal Lecter. While researching the book on which the film was based, author Thomas Harris spent days with the FBI’s pioneering Behavioural Science Unit, questioning criminal profilers and immersed in the case-files of serial killers. Now, we reveal the movie’s real-life inspirations: serial killer Ted Bundy who, like psychiatrist Lecter, evaded capture with his charming, young lawyer persona; Ed Gein, whose sickening crimes echo the movie exploits of Buffalo Bill; and a young female FBI agent who helped Harris create Agent Starling. We also explore how Silence of the Lambs revolutionised the make-up of the profession, inspiring many women to become profilers, and reveal chilling footage of one such female entrant interviewing Gary Ridgway, considered America’s most prolific serial killer.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. The True Story Season 2 Episode 6 - The Philosopher's Stone
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #24 - The Philosopher's Stone

    S2:E6

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. The True Story Season 2 Episode 7 - Olympic Massacre
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #25 - Olympic Massacre

    S2:E7

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Saving Private Ryan" is the best rated episode of "The True Story". It scored 8.2/10 based on 10 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 2/14/2012. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "Pirates Of The Caribbean".