Timewatch backdrop
Documentary

The Best Episodes of Timewatch

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

Binge this in 11d 11h•Peaking at 6.0/10

Timewatch is a long-running British television series showing documentaries on historical subjects, spanning all human history. It was first broadcast on 29 September 1982 and is produced by the BBC, the Timewatch brandname is used

Airs on
BBC Two
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons30

All123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Click to reveal
    Timewatch Season 27 Episode 2 - Bloody Omaha
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #1 - Bloody Omaha

    S27:E2

    The D-Day landing at Omaha Beach in Normandy on 6 June 1944 is widely regarded as a great victory, but the operation was almost an unimaginable disaster. Very little actually went to plan on the day - the majority of the landing craft missed their targets while US troops suffered heavy casualties. How was success secured in the face of adversity? 2/6.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. Timewatch Season 7 Episode 7 - Shadow of the Ripper
    5.0/10(1 votes)

    #2 - Shadow of the Ripper

    S7:E7

    Bizarre theories have surrounded the unexplained killings in Whitechapel since they hit the headlines in 1888. This film dispels the grisly fiction, revealing for the first time the true contents of the police and Home Office files on the case, drawing on the expertise of historians and of those who have encountered today's killers - on the street or behind bars. Revisiting the sites of the crimes, piecing together evidence from Victorian locations across London, the invention of the legend becomes clear, as Christopher Frayling unravels the circumstances which turned a killer into a Gothic hero.

    Director:John Triffitt
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. Timewatch Season 20 Episode 1 - The Empire State Story
    5.0/10(1 votes)

    #3 - The Empire State Story

    S20:E1

    Opened 70 years ago, the Empire State Building remains one of the enduring symbols of New York City. Tonight's programme explores its colourful - and tragic - history. NEW SEASON 1/6.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. Timewatch Season 1 Episode 1 - Episode 1
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #4 - Episode 1

    S1:E1

    WINDSORS' WAR: The continuing controversy surrounding the war-time role of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Victims of a bad press, they remained tactfully silent, but now answer back through Maitre Blum, their lawyer, who gives her first television interview. OPERATION HURRICANE: Britain's first atomic test took place 30 years ago. Film of that secret explosion has been specially declassified by the Ministry of Defence for Timewatch. CHATHAM DOCKYARD: Now under threat of Government closure, the story of its contribution to naval history from the Armada to HMS Victory, to the Falklands.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. Timewatch Season 1 Episode 2 - Episode 2
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #5 - Episode 2

    S1:E2

    THE CHINA OF THE MANCHU EMPERORS and the signing of the treaties which gave Britain Hong Kong. Why do the Chinese regard these treaties as unequal? SCOTLAND AND THE GREAT WITCH HUNT OF THE 17TH CENTURY: A thousand women were strangled or burnt. Was this persecution a political act by James VI which got out of hand? Why was it directed at women? The recently discovered diary of a Lancashire weaver JOHN O'NEIL who, a century ago, recorded his experiences as an early trades union leader in the recession of the 1860s. New research on the founding father of the Irish Republic, EAMON DE VALERA. Was he as committed to a united Ireland as was always believed, or was he prepared to compromise?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. Timewatch Season 1 Episode 3 - Episode 3
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #6 - Episode 3

    S1:E3

    'IF THE SPANISH ARMADA HAD LANDED ...' What would have happened if on Monday 7 August 1558 a Spanish Army had marched on London from the invasion beaches of Margate? Timewatch re-examines the fate of the 16th-century Spanish task force and asks how close did it come to success? WHAT MAKES BEGIN TICK? Vladimir Jabotinsky was the philosopher behind the fighting Jew and is the man whom Menachem Begin considers his mentor. Timewatch examines the vision of Jabotinsky and its influence on Begin both in his early life and in his years as Britain's most wanted terrorist. LLYWELYN AP GRUFFYDD - THE FIRST AND LAST INDEPENDENT PRINCE OF WALES: Simon Winchester tells his story and assesses his important place in Welsh nationalism today.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of Timewatch

    READ
  7. Timewatch Season 1 Episode 4 - Episode 4
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #7 - Episode 4

    S1:E4

    Film 1: Sir Thomas More, the Tudor statesman who lost his head on the scaffold in 1535, was made a saint in 1937; now the heroic reputation of the 'man for all seasons' is under attack. Film 2: Unemployment in Britain 150 years ago when the workhouse became the symbol of oppression and poverty that lasted over a century. Bernard Clark investigates the Poor Law of 1834, designed to cut spending on the poor and unemployed and which left bitter memories for generations. Film 3: The Russian spy scare of 1927 when the British Cabinet unwittingly betrayed to Moscow the code-breaking secrets of British intelligence.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. Timewatch Season 2 Episode 1 - Episode 1
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #8 - Episode 1

    S2:E1

    HOW DO YOU DEMOCRATISE A NAZI? On the 50th anniversary of Hitler's elevation to the chancellorship of the Third Reich Simon Winchester reports from Washington and Nuremberg on how America in 1945 tried to remake a nation in its own image through a process of forced re-education. THE VENERABLE BEDE - BRITAIN'S FIRST HISTORIAN: Who was he? Where and how did he live? Why is he so important? The story of a remarkable man who, over a thousand years ago, could have travelled from Northumbria to Rome. THE LEVELLERS: three months ago in Putney church Michael Foot and other members of the Labour Party associated themselves with the men of the 'New Model Army' who spoke there 300 years before. Who were these men who, in their radicalism, saw Cromwell as the modern equivalent of establishment and right wing? How does the philosophy of these Levellers find echoes in the Labour Party today?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. Timewatch Season 2 Episode 2 - Episode 2
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #9 - Episode 2

    S2:E2

    In a new edition of THE DIARY OF SAMUEL PEPYS, editor Robert Latham has uncovered previously unknown details of Pepys's life. THE WEEDERS: Are civil servants destroying vital historical evidence when they decide Government records should not be kept? THE HISTORICAL CLEOPATRA: As the BBC drama series ["The Cleopatras"] approaches its climax, Timewatch asks, "Was Cleopatra's reputation as a lustful tyrant really deserved?"

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. Timewatch Season 2 Episode 3 - Episode 3
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #10 - Episode 3

    S2:E3

    THE PEACE MOVEMENT IN THE 1930s AND TODAY: Fifty years ago, British politics was dominated by campaigns for peace. What are the parallels with the 1980s? THE LAST MUGGLETONIAN: In 1652, the Muggletonians were a radical sect in Revolutionary England. Simon Winchester traces their secret survival until the death of the last Muggletonian in 1979. THE VICTORIAN POLICE: What sort of force was the Police intended to be? With a new Police Bill before Parliament, Bernard Clark returns to their original beat.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. Timewatch Season 2 Episode 4 - Episode 4
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #11 - Episode 4

    S2:E4

    THE LOVED AND HATED KING: Richard III - hunchback murderer of the princes in the Tower, or victim of Tudor propaganda? On the 500th anniversary of his coronation, historians go into battle again over his reputation. THE SILENT YEARS OF TELEVISION: In 1950 politics were not allowed on British television. By the end of the decade television dominated the political scene. As an election approaches John Bowman asks how television has changed British political history. ANIMALS AND MEN: Throughout history man has used animals for food, companions and labour. John Tusa talks to Keith Thomas about his new history of Man and the Natural World -the background to today's concern for animal liberation and ecology.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. Timewatch Season 2 Episode 5 - Episode 5
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #12 - Episode 5

    S2:E5

    FRANCE AND THE NAZIS: Following the arrest of Klaus Barbie, butcher of Lyon, memories of Nazi collaboration have again returned to haunt a generation of Frenchmen. Dr Christopher Andrew goes to Drancy, the Paris housing estate turned in 1940 into a transit camp for Auschwitz and uncovers the ghost of Marshall Petain's Vichy Government. He talks to stout supporters of the 84-year-old Marshall, such as tennis champion Jean Borotra. FAKING HISTORY: The Hitler diaries are just the latest in a long line of historical forgeries. The Drake Plate found near San Francisco in 1936 and which claimed California for Queen Elizabeth I was shown to be fake in 1977. The Vinland Map was bought in 1959 for ~£100,000 as the first map to show the North American Continent. Instead it was shown to be a forgery in 1967. Are there other fake historical documents masquerading as genuine? Can any fake survive today's scientific analysis? Timewatch talks to the experts.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. Timewatch Season 2 Episode 6 - Episode 6
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #13 - Episode 6

    S2:E6

    BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE: During the Falklands war, the Argentinians made great capital of the last time they'd fought the British - and won, in 1806. SIMON Winchester reports. BODYLINE BOWLING: Was the England captain, Douglas Jardine, aware of the political implications when he said that he would regain the Ashes but lose a dominion? Timewatch talks to cricket veteran Gubby Allen. DEATH ON THE DOLE: In a time of high unemployment John Bauman looks back at how the health of the unemployed was damaged in the 1930s. LOUIS XIV: The story of the 'Sun King' of France, who was the first 'politician' deliberately to mould his own favourable image by setting up the 17th-century equivalent of Saatchi and Saatchi.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. Timewatch Season 2 Episode 7 - Episode 7
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #14 - Episode 7

    S2:E7

    SHADOW OF THE GALLOWS: After Parliament's vote on hanging, an investigation into the history of Tyburn and the mass public executions in the 18th century. Did hanging deter? SPYING FOR RUSSIA: Christopher Andrew investigates why the British Secret Service failed to detect Blunt, Burgess and Maclean and he uncovers their Soviet 'control'. He talks for the first time to an Oxford mole who was recruited by Moscow in the 30s. THE FORGOTTEN WARRIOR KING: William Rufus, son of William the Conqueror, is a king of whom little is known but legend. David Drew reports on new research that throws fresh light on a formidable ruler of England.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. Timewatch Season 2 Episode 8 - Special: Albert, Prince Consort
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #15 - Special: Albert, Prince Consort

    S2:E8

    A special programme devoted to the life and historical reputation of Prince Albert, husband to Queen Victoria. From Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, designed by Albert for his family, the many different sides of his remarkable character are brought into focus. Albert the foreigner - his upbringing in Coburg, the tiny German principality where he was born. Albert the reformer - his belief in improving public services. Albert the instigator of the Great Exhibition - the biggest triumph of his life. Albert the politician - his huge and controversial influence on British politics. Historians Asa Briggs-Robert, Rhodes James, and David Cannadine reassess one of the most important figures of Victorian Britain. (Re-aired 9 December 1983 as a standalone program titled 'Albert The Early Years')

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. Timewatch Season 2 Episode 9 - Episode 9
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #16 - Episode 9

    S2:E9

    THE BATTLE FOR MARTIN LUTHER: Martin Luther, the German priest who split the Catholic church and began the Reformation, was born 500 years ago. Today, East and West Germany both struggle to claim him. From East Germany, Bernard Clark reports on how the Marxist government has tried to transform Luther into a revolutionary hero. LEBANON - CRUSADER BATTLEFIELD: The Christian and Muslim militia, who have been fighting around Beirut, trace their enmity back to the first Crusades. How does the history of the Crusades still affect the Middle East power struggle today?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. Timewatch Season 2 Episode 10 - Episode 10
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #17 - Episode 10

    S2:E10

    BEFORE THE NATIONAL HEALTH: A remarkable newly discovered archive of silent film reveals hospital life in the 1920s and 30s. How did people afford medical care in the days before the National Health? ROYALIST OXFORD: In 1642 King Charles I set up his capital in Oxford as the English Civil War began. Simon Winchester returns to Oxford to see what clues remain there to the character of the Cavaliers. MERRIE ENGLAND: An affectionate look at the days when history at school was about great men of sturdy British stock who made our island's story. Do you remember L. du Garde Peach, one of Britain's bestselling historians?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. Timewatch Season 3 Episode 1 - The Klagenfurt Affair / The Black Death
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #18 - The Klagenfurt Affair / The Black Death

    S3:E1

    In May 1945, British soldiers near the Austrian border town of Klagenfurt handed over 26,000 Yugoslav anti-Communist refugees to Tito's Communist partisans, who disarmed then machine-gunned them. Who was responsible? Timewatch has investigated the records and, for the first time, British officers and Yugoslav survivors describe what happened. In 1348, the Black Death killed one in three of the population. Until now we have always assumed it was an outbreak of bubonic plague. Now a zoologist suggests a far more fearsome disease was the cause. Christopher Andrew investigates.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. Timewatch Season 3 Episode 2 - Episode 2
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #19 - Episode 2

    S3:E2

    PREVENTING THE THIRD WORLD WAR: 1984 opens amid the greatest fears of international tension and nuclear holocaust since the Cold War. Lord Bullock, biographer of British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin, talks about the foundation of NATO and how the West learnt to deal with the Soviet Union after the War. THE KITCHENER ENIGMA: In 1916 Lord Kitchener was drowned on his way to Russia. Now underwater pictures reveal clues as to how his ship, HMS Hampshire, was sunk. Will they lay to rest the rumour that still remains about the secrets surrounding the Imperial War Lord? THE LAST BATTLE IN ENGLAND: In 1745 the Stuarts had their last chance of being restored to the English throne. Bonnie Prince Charlie reached Derby but then retreated. If he had marched on towards London, could he have seized the crown?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. Timewatch Season 3 Episode 3 - Episode 3
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #20 - Episode 3

    S3:E3

    THE LAST FÜHRER: Among the Nazi war leaders tried at Nuremberg, Hitler's successor Admiral Doenitz received the lightest sentence of all. Now new research suggests Doenitz was far more deeply implicated in the atrocities of the Third Reich than previously imagined. 'THEY BE EVIL PEOPLE': Such was how British newspapers described the Russians in the late 17th century. A cautionary tale of how Englishmen in the 1720s feared Tsar Peter the Great planned to conquer the world. THE CULT OF THE DEAD: How different were medieval attitudes towards death from our own today? The wills and funeral expenses of the 16th century help provide an answer.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. Timewatch Season 3 Episode 4 - Episode 4
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #21 - Episode 4

    S3:E4

    THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE: A meeting with the man who met the men who charged with the Light Brigade. Now aged 97, he has devoted his life to tracing all those who took part in the most celebrated action in Victorian history. KOREA AND THE BOMB: Newly-released documents reveal the extent of American plans to use atomic weapons in the Korean War. The British feared they were being kept in the dark and risked being dragged into world war. SIR ARTHUR BRYANT: Britain's most famous popular historian celebrates his 85th birthday. His latest book celebrates the greatness of our past. But is it good history?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. Timewatch Season 3 Episode 5 - Episode 5
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #22 - Episode 5

    S3:E5

    SEX AND THE VICTORIANS: Did Victorian wives really 'lie back and think of England'? New research suggests they enjoyed a far more liberated sex life than conventional image allows. GOD SAVE THE KING was first associated with George III. Why did the king who lost the American colonies become adored by his people, with the first royal souvenirs manufactured in his name? STALIN'S FAMINE: Fifty years after millions of Ukrainian peasants died in Stalin's collectivisation, survivors remember the tragedy the Soviet Union still ignores. Malcolm Muggeridge recalls reporting the suffering.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. Timewatch Season 3 Episode 6 - Episode 6
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #23 - Episode 6

    S3:E6

    THE BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION: In 1924, 28 million people visited the last of the great imperial exhibitions at Wembley - now it is almost forgotten. GOING MAD IN THE 19TH CENTURY: In 1807 there were 2,000 certified lunatics in England. By 1880 there were more than that in one institution. ROBERT OWEN: Celebrated as defender of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, founder of the Cooperative Movement and a father of British socialism; was Robert Owen in fact a Victorian capitalist, his social reforms designed for greater profits?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. Timewatch Season 3 Episode 7 - The Conquest and the Conqueror
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #24 - The Conquest and the Conqueror

    S3:E7

    THE CASE FOR KING WILLIAM: Why did William of Normandy believe the Crown of England was his right? What do we know of the barons who stamped their authority on their newly-conquered possessions? THE SECRETS OF DOMESDAY: The Domesday Book is the greatest achievement of Norman government - it surveyed every acre of William's kingdom. Now a computerised study reveals details hidden for 900 years.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. Timewatch Season 3 Episode 8 - Episode 8
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #25 - Episode 8

    S3:E8

    Two names that shaped Britain in two World Wars. SECRETS OF THE KAISER: The private papers of Germany's last Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, uncover his secret life. In public the figurehead of swaggering Prussian militarism, in private a manic personality obsessed with fantastical schemes for himself and Germany. Christopher Andrew reports. SIR WILLIAM BEVERIDGE: If D-Day was the moment victory over Hitler began, it was Beveridge who gave the vision of the new world for which Britain was fighting. His report established the system of social security in Britain. He was known as the father of the welfare state. In 1984, as the entire system comes under government scrutiny, John Tusa examines the most influential blueprint for Britain this century.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Best Episodes Summary

"Bloody Omaha" is the best rated episode of "Timewatch". It scored 6/10 based on 1 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 1/6/2008. This episode scored 1.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Shadow of the Ripper".