In the final episode of this landmark series charting the history of human civilisation, Andrew Marr brings the story right up to date with the twentieth century. Marr suggests that humanity found itself propelled forward by our technological brilliance but limited by the consequences of our political idiocy. Democracy confronted communism and fascism, and two world wars would underscore our political failures more than ever before. But our achievements were also astonishing, especially in the fields of science and technology. We invented machines of awesome speed and power, and reached beyond the limits of our planet. Now, more of us live longer, healthier and wealthier lives than our ancestors could ever have imagined. But Marr argues that with seven billion of us on the planet, and rising fast, either we manage the earth's natural resources better or we risk global catastrophe. The decisions we make in the next 50 years, he argues, may well decide our fate. For Marr, the most interesting part of human history lies just ahead.

Andrew Marr tells how Britain's Industrial Revolution created the modern world. The old agricultural order of aristocratic landowners, serfs and peasant farmers was replaced by a new world of machines, cities and industrialists. Across the world, many resisted this sweeping change. From China to America, Russia to Japan, bitter battles were fought between the modernisers and those who rejected the new way of life. In Europe, new industrial powers competed with each other to create vast empires which dominated the world. But this intense competition would lead to the industrial-scale slaughter and destruction of the First World War.

Andrew Marr explores the Age of Revolution. In the 17th- and 18th-centuries, people across the world rose up in the name of freedom and equality against the power of the church and monarchy. In America, people fought a war to be free from British rule. In France, bloody revolution saw the king and aristocracy deposed. And in Haiti, the slaves revolted against their masters. The world was also gripped by a scientific revolution, sweeping away old dogmas and superstition. Galileo revolutionised the way we saw humanity's place in the universe, while Edward Jenner used science to help save the lives of millions.

In this episode, Andrew Marr tells the story of the first empires which laid the foundations for the modern world. From the Assyrians to Alexander the Great, conquerors rampaged across the Middle East and vicious wars were fought all the way from China to the Mediterranean. But this time of chaos and destruction also brought enormous progress and inspired human development. In the Middle East, the Phoenicians invented the alphabet, and one of the most powerful ideas in world history emerged: the belief in just one God. In India, the Buddha offered a radical alternative to empire building - a way of living that had no place for violence or hierarchy and was open to everyone. Great thinkers from Socrates to Confucius proposed new ideas about how to rule more wisely and live in a better society. And in Greece, democracy was born - the greatest political experiment of all. But within just a few years, its future would be under threat from invasion by an empire in the east...

In the fourth episode of this landmark series charting the story of human civilisation, Andrew Marr reaches the Middle Ages. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Europe was little more than a muddy backwater. Vikings explored and pillaged from Northern Europe to North America. But they also laid the foundations of powerful new trading states including Russia. This was also the Golden Age of Islam. And the knowledge of ancient civilisations from India, Persia and Greece were built upon by Islamic scholars in Baghdad's House of Wisdom. By exploring the conquests of Ghengis Khan, the adventures of Marco Polo and the extraordinary story of an African King - the wealthiest who ever lived - Marr finds out how Europe emerged from the so-called 'Dark Ages' and used influences from around the world to rise again with the Renaissance.

In the third episode of this landmark series charting the story of human civilisation, Andrew Marr plunges into the spiritual revolutions that shook the world between 300 BC and 700 AD. This was an age that saw the bloody prince Ashoka turn to Buddhism in India, the ill-fated union of Julius Caesar and Egypt's Cleopatra, the unstoppable rise of Christianity across the Roman Empire and the dramatic spread of Islam from Spain to Central Asia. Each dramatic story pits the might of kings and rulers against the power of faith. But Andrew Marr discovers that the most potent human force on the planet came from the combination of faith and military power. Both Christianity and Islam created new empires of 'the word and the sword'.

In this episode of the landmark series charting the history of human civilisation, Andrew Marr brings the story right up to date with the twentieth century. Marr suggests that humanity found itself propelled forward by our technological brilliance but limited by the consequences of our political idiocy. Democracy confronted communism and fascism, and two world wars would underscore our political failures more than ever before.

In this episode of this landmark series charting the story of human civilisation, Andrew Marr explores the Age of Revolution. In the 17th and 18th centuries, people across the world rose up in the name of freedom and equality against the power of the church and monarchy. In America, people fought a war to be free from British rule. In France, bloody revolution saw the king and aristocracy deposed. And in Haiti, the slaves revolted against their masters.

In this episode of this landmark series charting the story of human civilisation, Andrew Marr tells how Britain's Industrial Revolution created the modern world.

In the fifth episode of this landmark series charting the story of human civilisation, Andrew Marr tells the story of Europe's rise from piracy to private enterprise.

In this episode of this landmark series charting the story of human civilisation, Andrew Marr reaches the Middle Ages. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Europe was little more than a muddy backwater. Vikings explored and pillaged from Northern Europe to North America. But they also laid the foundations of powerful new trading states - including Russia. This was also the Golden Age of Islam. And the knowledge of ancient civilisations from India, Persia and Greece were built upon by Islamic scholars in Baghdad's House of Wisdom.

In the third episode of this landmark series charting the story of human civilisation, Andrew Marr plunges into the spiritual revolutions that shook the world between 300 BC and 700 AD. This was an age that saw the bloody prince Ashoka turn to Buddhism in India, the ill-fated union of Julius Caesar and Egypt's Cleopatra, the unstoppable rise of Christianity across the Roman Empire and the dramatic spread of Islam from Spain to Central Asia. Each dramatic story pits the might of kings and rulers against the power of faith. But Andrew Marr discovers that the most potent human force on the planet came from the combination of faith and military power. Both Christianity and Islam created new empires of 'the word and the sword'.

In this episode, Andrew Marr tells the story of the first empires which laid the foundations for the modern world. From the Assyrians to Alexander the Great, conquerors rampaged across the Middle East and vicious wars were fought all the way from China to the Mediterranean. But this time of chaos and destruction also brought enormous progress and inspired human development. In the Middle East, the Phoenicians invented the alphabet, and one of the most powerful ideas in world history emerged: the belief in just one God. In India, the Buddha offered a radical alternative to empire building - a way of living that had no place for violence or hierarchy and was open to everyone. Great thinkers from Socrates to Confucius proposed new ideas about how to rule more wisely and live in a better society. And in Greece, democracy was born - the greatest political experiment of all. But within just a few years, its future would be under threat from invasion by an empire in the east...

In this episode, Andrew Marr tells the story of the first empires which laid the foundations for the modern world. From the Assyrians to Alexander the Great, conquerors rampaged across the Middle East and vicious wars were fought all the way from China to the Mediterranean.

Andrew Marr sets off on an epic journey through 70,000 years of human history. Using dramatic reconstructions, documentary filming around the world and cutting-edge computer graphics, he reveals the decisive moments that shaped the world we live in today, telling stories we thought we knew and others we were never told.

At first glance, Nazism and Catholicism are diametrically opposed. The Church, faced in turn with the rise of Nazism, World War II and the extermination of Jews, will play an ambiguous, at times unholy, role.

East Timor's award-winning first feature film is the haunting, passionate story of one woman's conviction to remain true to the man she loves and the country for which she fought. Sixteen years after Beatriz's husband disappeared during a brutal massacre by occupying Indonesian forces, she is troubled by his return. Is this mysterious stranger her husband or an imposter? Directed by Luigi Acquisto and Bety Reis, and stars Jose da Costa, Osme Gonsalves and Gaspar Sarmento.

The '90s were the Queen's most challenging decade on the throne. Over the course of the decade, she would face relentless public criticism and painful private tragedy. In 1992, the year she dubbed her "annus horribilis", she saw the collapse of three of her children's marriages, as well as the devastating destruction of her home, Windsor Castle. Despite its significance as a heritage site, the public reacted angrily at the idea of paying for its restoration. Instead, the Queen decided to open Buckingham Palace to pay for the rebuild, and then committed to pay income tax for the first time - something she'd vehemently resisted in the '70s.

We examine the history of the royal residence over the last 80 years - using archive material, interviews and dramatic recreations.

Winter, 1944. At the heart of Nazi Germany, 76 pilots - the British, the Canadians, the Norwegian and French - who were held in a prison camp of the Luftwaffe, escaped. The tunnel used for their flight was built in the greatest secrecy, under the nose of the German jailers. This historical epic, immortalised in 1963 by John Sturges' movie The Great Escape with Steve Mac Queen, went round the world. But the real story of these men overtakes by far the fiction imagined by Hollywood. Among the witnesses of this documentary is Jack Lyon, one of the last survivors of this adventure.

We examine the history of the royal residence over the last 80 years - using archive material, interviews and dramatic recreations.

We examine the history of the royal residence over the last 80 years - using archive material, interviews and dramatic recreations.

We examine the history of the royal residence over the last 80 years - using archive material, interviews and dramatic recreations.

On the 70th anniversary of D-Day, revisit the Allied forces' June 6, 1944 Normandy landings and the 100 days leading up to the liberation of Paris from the Nazis.

On the 70th anniversary of D-Day, revisit the Allied forces' June 6, 1944 Normandy landings and the 100 days leading up to the liberation of Paris from the Nazis.

The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981 marked the beginning of a golden age for the Queen and the monarchy. The Queen had rarely been more popular, but these years were not without challenges, especially in the political sphere. The Queen had a female prime minister for the very first time - Margaret Thatcher. It was an awkward relationship and Thatcher's politics often put the Queen in difficult situations. On one key occasion during a commonwealth conference in Zambia, she had to step in diplomatically to prevent a simmering conflict between her African commonwealth nations and Thatcher over the political leadership of Rhodesia. Despite their personal uneasiness, the two managed to work together, navigating the diplomatic challenges of the Falklands conflict with skill.

This documentary explores how the women who wed into the house of Windsor over the last century have transformed the most famous dynasty in the world. Each royal wife is a reflection of how the monarchy has reinvented itself.

Peter Greste continues to delve into the life of Australia's greatest general, Sir John Monash, while also discovering the fate of his four great uncles who fought under Monash.

At the end of the 1950s, Britain was transforming. The country was on the edge of a social revolution. But the Queen was criticised for being stuck in the past, and seen as remote and inaccessible. To remain relevant, she embraced modern technology and gave her first-ever televised Christmas broadcast, during which she awkwardly battled to overcome her natural reserve. Abroad, she was much more successful in adapting to the changing times. She encouraged the former colonies of the British Empire to form a diverse and forward-looking association of nations. Her royal visit to Ghana in 1961, in the face of the British government's resistance, showed the Queen to be a progressive, defiant and courageous leader of the new Commonwealth.

In the early hours of June 6, 1944, Allied forces began the greatest military assault ever attempted. They came to Normandy by both air and sea, with one objective: to get a toe-hold on the continent, and from there, begin the long campaign that would result in the liberation of Europe and the end of the World War II. The assault was conducted in two phases: an airborne attack by 24,000 paratroopers and glider pilots, followed by an amphibious landing across Normandy's sandy beaches. Using personal testimonies, we tell the dramatic stories of the men who took part: the British and American paratroopers and glider infantry, men who crewed tanks, infantry soldiers who were deposited on the Normandy beaches by landing craft and RAF crews who took part in the deception plan, that deceived Hitler and his generals into believing that Calais was the main target for the assault. The veterans words are illustrated by dramatic archive, and colour footage of key locations. By telling their stories in their own words, we get a snapshot of what it was like to be part of the enormous undertaking.

It is nearly 75 years since the Battle of Britain, arguably the most important victory in Britain's long history. And of the men who flew and fought to defend Britain in that fateful summer of 1940, just a few survive today. This landmark production features exclusive interviews with many on the last of 'the few' along with new material and classic film archive. Many of these men were barely twenty years old when they flew their Spitfires and Hurricanes against German bomber formations and their fighter escorts. 75 years later those sights and experiences remain bright and vivid in their memories. Many of their stories have not been told before. These brave men tell of their inspiration to fly and join the RAF even as war loomed; their first contact with the enemy; their skill, or luck, as many call it, in dog-fighting with the German fighters; the terror of being shot at and, in many cases, shot down; the stress of daily life, on readiness at dawn, day after day, and coping with the loss of friends and colleagues. This programme gets right to the heart of the conflict, telling the famous story of the Battle in the words of the pilots for the first time.

Kim Jong-il was also one of the most elusive and secretive world leaders. Now the lid is lifted on the man who lead North Korea with his finger on the nuclear trigger and ensured this legacy lived on through his son, Kim Jong-un.

This landmark centennial tribute marks the 100th anniversary of the World War I Battle of Beersheba - one of history's last successful cavalry charges, mounted by the romantic Australian Light Horsemen against the Turkish enemy in Palestine. The film features unique interviews with Australian veterans, such as Gunner Len Hall, who not only helped capture Beersheba, but also landed at Gallipoli with the Anzacs and rode with the legendary Lawrence of Arabia to capture Damascus.

Examine the personal experiences of six of the men and women whose stories are featured at the National Anzac Centre. We follow their remarkable journeys; from recruitment, departure by convoy from Albany, on to the battlefields and life post-war. Family members appear in newly filmed interviews, providing a lasting testament and deeply personal connection to the tumultuous events of a century ago.

War correspondent Peter Greste goes in search of the real man behind the Australian general who changed the way the world fights wars, John Monash.

The Atlantic became a killing field as German submarines took on the might of the dominant British Navy during World War I. The stealth and silent killers were able to sink 5200 ships by war's end, and nearly brought Britain to its knees. But in their frenzy of attacks, the Germans sink the US passenger liner Lusitania, killing nearly 2000 on board. American outrage helped President Wilson get Congress to finally agree to enter the war. In the end, the Allied Atlantic blockade forces Germany to surrender, but the submarine was established as an effective military weapon.

The acclaimed author traces the Anzac journey from Albany in Western Australia to the Gallipoli peninsula and on to the battlefields of the Western Front. It's a fresh telling of the Anzac story, featuring Peter's unique style and adapted from his bestselling books.

This documentary presents the cataclysmic events that began on 1st July 1916, from both sides of No Man's Land. Historian Peter Barton concentrates on the second phase of the battle, from the middle of July to the middle of September 1916. Barton reveals how an Allied advance on objectives which should have lasted days and weeks took months and resulted in yet more carnage on the Somme battlefield. While British tactics were unvarying, that of their German enemy evolved using the changing landscape of the battlefield. The slowness of the Allied advance during this period Barton explains by the emergence of new German tactics - defence in depth.

While most people think the Blitz originated in World War II, the truth is that the first Blitz happened during World War I. Bombs were delivered from giant airships designed by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who got his inspiration when he was a Germany Army observer in the US during the Civil War and rode in a hot air balloon for the first time. These lighter than air superstructures, two times longer than the Statue of Liberty is high, measured their flights in hundreds of miles when pioneering aviators measured their success in hundreds of yards.

An street artist's journey to tell an untold story of Australia's history, through a mural depicting an Aboriginal soldier of colossal proportions and its impact on the wider community.