Hometown Stories

Infographics and archival footage deliver bite-size history lessons on scientific breakthroughs, social movements and world-changing discoveries.

American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.

This intimate docuseries follows Arnold Schwarzenegger's multifaceted life and career, from bodybuilding champ to Hollywood icon to politician.

Explore Marvel’s rich legacy of pioneering characters, creators and storytelling to reflect the world outside your window. Each documentary, helmed by a unique filmmaker, showcases the intersections of storytelling, pop culture, and fandom within the Marvel Universe.

This docuseries captures the remarkable rise and unprecedented success of one of the most dominant and iconic franchises in professional sports. Featuring exclusive access to the Buss Family and probing, revealing interviews with players, coaches, and front office execs, this series chronicles this extraordinary story from the inside – told only by the people who lived it.

An in-depth look at the history and pop cultural significance of horror films.

In a tumultuous era, 1971 was a year of musical innovation and rebirth fueled by the political and cultural upheaval of the time. Stars reached new heights, fresh talent exploded onto the scene, and boundaries expanded like never before.

Biography is a documentary television series. It was originally a half-hour filmed series produced for CBS by David Wolper from 1961 to 1964 and hosted by Mike Wallace. The A&E Network later re-ran it and has produced new episodes since 1987. The older version featured historical figures such as Helen Keller and Mark Twain, or long-dead entertainment figures such as Will Rogers or John Barrymore. The A&E series has placed the emphasis on such people as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Plácido Domingo, Freddie Mercury, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Eric Clapton, Pope John Paul II, Gene Tierney, Selena, Diego Rivera, Mao Zedong and Queen Elizabeth II, and fictional characters like The Phantom, Superman, Hamlet, Betty Boop, and Santa Claus. The program ended up profiling enough figures that in 1999, A&E spun it off into an entire network, The Biography Channel.

A British genealogy documentary series in which celebrities trace their ancestry, discovering secrets and surprises from their past.

A look at the life of Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, who opens her personal archives and reflects on a career in which she has sold 80 million records and reinvented herself, and by extension pop, several times. Home movies, personal photographs and new interviews reveal the picture, as Kylie addresses how she’s faced public scrutiny, personal loss and illness.

Influential builders, dreamers and believers whose feats transformed the United States, a nation decaying from the inside after the Civil War, into the greatest economic and technological superpower the world had ever seen. The Men Who Built America is the story of a nation at the crossroads and of the people who catapulted it to prosperity.

Explore the surprising things we know (and don’t know) about why people are the way they are through expert interviews, rare footage from historical experiments, and brand-new, ground-breaking demonstrations of human nature at work.

Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Each episode was broadcast on BBC Three on Saturdays, immediately after the broadcast of the weekly television episode on BBC One. The running time of the first two series was 30 minutes, being extended to 45 minutes in the third. BBC Three also broadcast a cut-down edition of the programme, lasting 15 minutes, shown after the repeats on Sundays and Fridays and after the weekday evening repeats of earlier seasons.

This immersive series follows the world's most magnificent creatures, capturing never-before-seen moments from the heartwarming to the outrageous.

Honoring service members whose courage merited the awarding of a Medal of Honor, this docudrama series re-creates their inspiring true stories.

Steve Martin is one of the most beloved and enigmatic figures in entertainment. Dive into his extraordinary story from two distinct points of view—past and present—as Martin reflects on how his beginnings led to his unexpectedly fulfilling life today.

Consistently stunning documentaries transport viewers to far-flung locations ranging from the torrid African plains to the chilly splendours of icy Antarctica. The show's primary focus is on animals and ecosystems around the world. A comic book based on the show, meant to be used an as educational tool for kids, was briefly distributed to museums and schools at no cost in the mid-2000s.

A celebration of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward’s iconic careers and decades-long partnership. Director Ethan Hawke brings life and color to this definitive history of their love, lives, and philanthropy.

Motoring programme featuring reviews of and reports about cars of all types.

Drivers, managers and team owners live life in the fast lane — both on and off the track — during each cutthroat season of Formula 1 racing.

Pedro Andrade, Pedro pelo Mundo ("Pedro the Wanderer"), takes viewers on a trip around the world to explore the most fascinating and off-the-beaten-path destinations. The series follows Andrade as he globe-trots, meets the locals, tries exotic flavors, discover traditions, and celebrates diverse cultures. In each city, Pedro immerse himself in the local culture and visits the best places to eat, relax, discover, and live life as a local.

Actor/adventurer Jack Maxwell learned a lot working in South Boston bars, and one lesson stood out: Enjoy a couple of drinks with a stranger, and the whole world opens up. Those experiences inspired "Booze Traveler," which follows Maxwell to various countries to quench his curiosity about what people drink, why, and the tales it prompts. In Armenia, Belize, Lithuania, Mongolia, Nepal and elsewhere, Maxwell learns its intoxicating traditions, meets with locals, joins in activities, and even helps with the alcohol-making process. He finds a unique drink, makes friends and shares stories in each spot.

Adam Richman is on the ultimate hunt to uncover the most unique, surprising, and delicious hidden food treasures in every town. He'll uncover the dishes you would never find anywhere else on the planet, at the places you would never expect.

Documentary series which ranges widely over Britain's social and cultural history, its narrative-led storytelling offering a richly immersive and varied window onto the past.

Storyteller Bill Weir and renowned filmmaker Philip Bloom embarks on a quest to tell the untold stories of extraordinary people, places, cultures and creatures that are at a crossroads.

Follow Stanley Tucci as he returns to Italy for more food-based adventures, seeking out the essence of each region and its people through the food they eat.

In this four-part BBC documentary, former Monty Python funnyman and renowned globe-trotter Michael Palin sets off from Gibraltar to travel across the Sahara, his witty humor downplaying the hardships he faces along the arduous journey. He travels to Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and beyond, across some of the harshest terrain on the planet.

This series explores the history, traditions and culture of Chinese food. Filmed at over 160 locations across China, this series truly is a feast for the senses. The seven-episode documentary series introduces the history and story behind foods of various kinds in more than 160 locations in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The documentary has also been actively encouraged as a means of introducing Chinese food culture to those unfamiliar with local cuisine.

Glittering facades, vibrant life, and people facing the daily struggle for survival. ZDF correspondents each profile a megacity within their reporting area. How do people celebrate, laugh, and love in such a city? How are problems like housing shortages, food supply, transportation, and climate change solved – in metropolises with over ten million inhabitants?

A spectacular journey which uncovers how the Viking era has left its imprint on the way of life and landscape of Norway, and the parallels observed in Lorraine’s home nation of Scotland to this day when it was once sieged under Norse rule. Lorraine will meet people along her travels that are keeping the rich history of Norway alive through folk traditions and Nordic tales, and immerse herself in the crafts and culinary delicacies of the region. The TV icon will sail north along the coast to see what natural beauty it offers, spotting whales and eagles, in hopes to end her journey with a Northern Lights (aurora borealis) spectacle.

A weekly Emmy-nominated television program dedicated to educating, entertaining and connecting the community to the engaging stories and people behind their food by profiling local food treasures and highlighting the passionate and hardworking individuals responsible for the burgeoning “Good Food Movement.”

What comes to mind when you say Japan? Sushi or cupping geishas? The Land of the Rising Sun offers so much more. Naomi Adachi is half Czech, half Japanese. She often visits her second home to visit family and friends, and this time she's taking you with her. She will introduce you to the beauty of Japan, its traditional customs and everyday life in her own unique style. And of course, there will be plenty of food!

Explorer Levison Wood sets out on a nine-month walk along the length of the River Nile, visiting rainforests, deserts, cities and war zones, and encountering modern Africa, its people and its wildlife.

Jamie Oliver travels the country searching for new ideas and inspiration and to find out what makes British food great.

"Talent" Chip Tsao went to London, Greenwich, Wales, Oxford, Cambridge, England, to analyze the British people's living habits, academic development, economic conditions, etc .; and went to Warsaw, Gdansk, Krakow to know a country with a hundred years of blood and tears. Eason Chan visited Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Fukuoka in Japan to learn about the cultural differences; Social worker Shiu Ka-chun went deep into Finland's Turku, Helsinki, Nokia and other places to experience the local customs through living with locals. They will introduce the details of each famous city from a social, historical, and cultural perspective, bringing different connotations, depths, and education.

When she was a child, Kate Humble wanted to be a nomad. Living in some of the world's most remote wildernesses, cheek by jowl with nature, seemed like such a wildly romantic existence.

Rick Steves, America's leading authority on European travel, returns to transport viewers to the continent's bustling cities, quaint villages and picturesque countryside.