British Broadcasting Corporation. Television Service

In 1991 an extraordinary item was put up for auction. To the untrained eye, it was nothing more than a small Byzantine prayer book, yet it sold for over $2 million.

Get the inside story on the world₂s most unique and strange shark, the Hammerhead. The hammerhead shark's oddly shaped head has puzzled scientists for ages. There simply must be a reason for it. Whatever the hammer is for, one thing is certain, these sharks are highly successful and posses hunting skills that no other shark can match.

A two-part series that tells the story of the three monarchs who reigned over Europe's Greatest powers at the outbreak of the First World War: Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and King George V of England. The emerging divisions and rivalries between the inter-related houses of Europe brought change, tragedy and personal humiliation. Of the three great Imperial dynasties only George V remained standing. Monarchy was finished...

Well-loved and well-dressed, the penguin is popularly known as awkward and comical. But the complete story is not so black and white. The closer you get to penguins, the more these "strange birds" will surprise you.

In the fight for the title of ultimate predator of the Jurassic period, there are a number of contenders. However, all could be eclipsed by a startling discovery deep in the Polar Arctic: Predator X. Deep in the permafrost at the top of the world, the fossil of a giant sea-monster has been uncovered. Weighing five times as much as Tyrannosaurus Rex, its body was more than 50 feet long.

If you thought T-Rex was the scariest dinosaur, think again. Paleontologist Dr. Phillip Currie believes he has found a six-ton flesh-eating dinosaur that hunted its prey in packs. Until recently there was little evidence to support Currie's ideas. That's all changed with his discoveries in two mass dinosaur graves. One site lay untouched for decade until Currie himself tracked it down and the other contains the bones of a giant new species of dinosaur....

Living in the depths of the New Guinean Rainforest are birds of unimaginable color and beauty. When Europeans first saw the plumes of these fabulous creatures in the sixteenth century, they believed they must be from heaven and called them Birds of Paradise. The people of New Guinea make even greater claims. They say the birds possess supernatural powers and magic. But to find these birds in New Guinea and to witness their extraordinary mating displays...

Inspector George Gently, a former Scotland Yard sleuth, returns to track murderers in Britain's North Country.

Imperious chef Gareth Blackstock, a stern taskmaster who runs his kitchen with an iron fist, a lightning tongue, and a silver palate.

Recreates the greatest natural disaster of the ancient world--the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, almost 2000 years ago in AD79.