Popular Documentary TV Shows

Great British Railway Journeys
Great British Railway Journeys
Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
Great British Railway Journeys 2010
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
Great Coastal Railway Journeys
From the sea lochs of Scotland to the Jurassic Coast of Dorset, seasoned train traveller Michael Portillo immerses himself in the magnificent scenery of the nation's coastal regions.
Great Coastal Railway Journeys 2022
This Old House
This Old House
TV's original home-improvement show, following one whole-house renovation over several episodes.
This Old House 1979
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Host Guy Fieri takes a cross-country road trip to visit some of America's classic "greasy spoon" restaurants — diners, drive-ins and dives — that have been doing it right for decades.
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives 2007
Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction
Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction
Can you tell the difference between fact and fiction? Several stories of strange, mysterious and incredible occurrences are chronicled during each episode. It is up to the viewer to decide which stories actually happened and which were completely fabricated by the show’s writers. The answer is revealed by Jonathan Frakes at the conclusion of each episode.
Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction 1997
The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation
The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation
The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation is a weekly Saturday morning show on CBS that showcases present-day change-makers from all over the world who are creating solutions to real needs. It is hosted by news correspondent and CBS Sunday Morning regular Mo Rocca. Each episode presents stories related to the process of innovation and also includes one story on The Henry Ford—its Archive of American Innovation, its unique visitor experiences and its unparalleled expertise. The intent is to stimulate curiosity and to inspire audiences with entertaining yet educational stories about yesterday and today’s visionaries and turning points that changed the course of history, as well as innovations and inventions that are changing the world today. The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation is produced in partnership by The Henry Ford and Litton Entertainment, a leading independent production and distribution company.
The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation 2014
Being The Elite
Being The Elite
The Young Bucks, Matt & Nick Jackson, along with Kenny "The Cleaner" Omega, make up The ELITE. Follow our adventures as WE RULE THE WORLD and dominate the professional wrestling business.
Being The Elite 2016
Im Namen des Gesetzes
Im Namen des Gesetzes
Im Namen des Gesetzes 1994
Intimate Portrait
Intimate Portrait
Intimate Portrait is a biographical television series on the Lifetime Television cable network focusing on different celebrities, which includes interviews with each subject. Among the people profiled were Grace Kelly, Natalie Wood, Carly Simon, Jackie Kennedy, Katharine Hepburn, Carol Burnett, Tanya Tucker, and Marla Maples.
Intimate Portrait 1993
Mapping the World
Mapping the World
Then complex world of geopolitics broken down into ten minute, bite-sized chunks. You'll never sound uninformed at the dinner table ever again.
Mapping the World 1990
World War Two
World War Two
Follow the deadliest conflict in human history in real time, week by week, blow by blow.
World War Two 2018
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits
Now the longest-running music series in American television history, ACL showcases popular music legends and innovators from every genre.
Austin City Limits 1975
World Theme Tour
World Theme Tour
The World Theme Journey is a program designed to deliver living experiences that only free backpackers can feel, away from simple travel information programs. From Spain to Chile, South Africa to Alaska, the world-themed trips are made by running on their own feet, vividly showing the splendid cultural sites and natural heritage, as well as the hidden aspects of people around the world
World Theme Tour 2008
Wissen macht Ah!
Wissen macht Ah!
Wissen macht Ah! 2001
Mayday
Mayday
Major real-life air disasters are depicted in this series. Each episode features a detailed dramatized reconstruction of the incident based on cockpit voice recorders and air traffic control transcripts, as well as eyewitnesses recounts and interviews with aviation experts.
Mayday 2003
Finding Your Roots
Finding Your Roots
Noted Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has been helping people discover long-lost relatives hidden for generations within the branches of their family trees. Professor Gates utilizes a team of genealogists to reconstruct the paper trail left behind by our ancestors and the world’s leading geneticists to decode our DNA and help us travel thousands of years into the past to discover the origins of our earliest forebears.
Finding Your Roots 2012
Great Minds
Great Minds
Great Minds 2021
Ancient Aliens
Ancient Aliens
Did intelligent beings from outer space visit Earth thousands of years ago? From the age of the dinosaurs to ancient Egypt, from early cave drawings to continued mass sightings in the US, each episode gives historic depth to the questions, speculations, provocative controversies, first-hand accounts and grounded theories surrounding this age old debate.
Ancient Aliens 2010
Mysteries at the Museum
Mysteries at the Museum
Don Wildman unearths relics from the world's greatest institutions to reveal secrets from the past. He examines each artifact to illuminate history's most incredible triumphs, sensational crimes and bizarre encounters.
Mysteries at the Museum 2010
HBO First Look
HBO First Look
HBO First Look is an American television show on HBO that chronicles up and coming movies. It first started in 1992 with a documentary on A League of Their Own starring Tom Hanks, and still airs today. The series shows behind-the-scenes looks at the filming and interviews with the actors. The show is part documentary and part advertisement. It airs on HBO with no set schedule.
HBO First Look 1992
For Heaven's Sake
For Heaven's Sake
Sister Hanna is a spirited, witty, resolute, warm-hearted, and - attractive nun. With her wit and street cred, she takes charge of Kaltenthal Cloister, transforming it into a popular refuge for all those seeking help of one kind or another. She also brings new life to the sleepy provincial community, proving herself quite a match for her great rival and opponent, the mayor Wolfgang Wöller.
For Heaven's Sake 2002
Married to Medicine
Married to Medicine
Follows a group of successful and educated women who are connected to the world of medicine in Atlanta, including doctors and wives of doctors. Whether delivering babies in Louboutins or rushing off to galas in Buckhead, these women do everything with style, drama, and of course, southern flair.
Married to Medicine 2013
Shark Week
Shark Week
The Discovery Channel's Shark Week, first broadcast on July 17, 1987, is a weeklong series of feature television programs dedicated to sharks. Held annually, normally in July or August, Shark Week was originally developed to raise awareness and respect for sharks. It is the longest-running cable television programming event in history. Now broadcast in over 72 countries, Shark Week is promoted heavily via social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
Shark Week 1988
Horizon
Horizon
Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
Horizon 1964
19 Kids and Counting
19 Kids and Counting
19 Kids and Counting, rendered graphically as 19 Kids & Counting in its onscreen logo, is an American reality television show on TLC. The show is about the Duggar family, which consists of parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their 19 children—nine girls and ten boys, all of whose names begin with the letter "J". The series began on September 29, 2008. The twelfth season premiere was September 17, 2013.
19 Kids and Counting 2008
Le Monde En Face
Le Monde En Face
Weekly current affairs show
Le Monde En Face 1987
Hofgeschichten
Hofgeschichten
Hofgeschichten 2023
Zwischen Tüll und Tränen
Zwischen Tüll und Tränen
Since December 2016, the VOX documentary series "Between Tulle and Tears" has revolved around what is probably the most important dress in a woman's life - namely the wedding dress. The prospective brides are actively supported in their search by the wedding dress specialists Maritta Emser, Uwe Hermann and Nihal Saridemir.
Zwischen Tüll und Tränen 2016
Frontline
Frontline
Since it began in 1983, Frontline has been airing public-affairs documentaries that explore a wide scope of the complex human experience. Frontline's goal is to extend the impact of the documentary beyond its initial broadcast by serving as a catalyst for change.
Frontline 1983
Buccaneers & Bones
Buccaneers & Bones
The famed saltwater flats of the Bahamas and Belize give a beautiful setting for the fishing adventure and conservation initiative undertaken in "Buccaneers and Bones." Journalist Tom Brokaw -- who also narrates the series -- leads an expedition in search of the island's legendary bonefish. Joining Brokaw are an eclectic group of celebrities, authors and business titans to fly-fish and swap stories about the wonders of the sport, and the modern-day buccaneers also discuss the importance of ensuring healthy populations of marine species for generations to come. The series reveals research funded by Bonefish and Tarpon Trust and other organizations -- information to help anglers catch more fish and preserve fragile coastal habitats. Other seasons of the series take place off the island of Ambergris Caye in Belize. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, actors Liam Neeson and Michael Keaton, TV host Jimmy Kimmel, and musician Huey Lewis are among Brokaw's guests. Supports Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT)
Buccaneers & Bones 2010
Cosmos
Cosmos
Famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson provides clarity for the vision of the cosmos as he voyages across the universe with never-before-told stories that delve into the scientific concepts of the laws of gravity and the origins of space and time.
Cosmos 2014
UFO
UFO
A secret, high-technology international agency called SHADO defends Earth from alien invaders.
UFO 1970
Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst
Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst
Aktenzeichen XY … ungelöst is a German television programme broadcast since October 1967 on ZDF that aims to combat and solve crimes. Until 2003 it was produced in co-operation with the Austrian public service broadcaster ORF and Schweizer Fernsehen, a division of the Swiss public broadcaster SRG SSR idée suisse. It was the basis for the BBC show Crimewatch, the Dutch show Opsporing Verzocht and its US equivalent America's Most Wanted. The goal of the programme is to throw light on unsolved offences with the aid of viewers. Each episode contains three to five short films, each lasting about ten minutes, in which a real criminal case is reconstructed. The cases are mostly complex ones in which the criminals and chains of events are still unknown. In addition cases are discussed in the studio in which, for example, the identities of criminals or unknown murder victims are sought with the aid of a photo. Viewers can use the telephone or Internet to give information. According to a study by the programme's editorial department, about forty percent of cases shown on the programme are solved.
Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst 1967
Crimes Gone Viral
Crimes Gone Viral
Gripping clips of kidnappings, break-ins, car chases, violent road rage incidents and other crimes rack up millions of views. But crimes gone viral goes beyond the jaw-dropping footage to tell the full story. Viral video of good samaritans who intervene to stop crimes, brave victims who fight back against their attackers, clever prison escapes and a shark heist.
Crimes Gone Viral 2020
Legends
Legends
The story of the big names that have shaped the musical genres, plus an occasional stopgap for the new rock 'n' roll - comedy.
Legends 2006
Snapped: Killer Couples
Snapped: Killer Couples
This extension of the long-running true-crime series 'Snapped' shifts the focus to couples whose passion drives them to commit terrible criminal acts. Using re-creations and gripping firsthand accounts, each episode takes a deep dive into a case, telling the story of the couple's romance, how the relationship evolved from love to manipulation, and what ultimately drove the couple to commit the crime.
Snapped: Killer Couples 2013
Family Dr. Kleist
Family Dr. Kleist
Examining different species of animals as they grow to adulthood and learn life lessons that are sometimes difficult.
Family Dr. Kleist 2004
MythBusters
MythBusters
MythBusters is a science entertainment television program created and produced by Australia's Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The show's hosts, special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, use elements of the scientific method to test the validity of rumors, myths, movie scenes, adages, Internet videos, and news stories.
MythBusters 2003
Web of Lies
Web of Lies
The internet is no longer a place you log on and visit; it's where you live. The home of true crime is now online. The internet is the Wild West. And if you're not careful, you too could be caught in a Web of Lies.
Web of Lies 2014
Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures
Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures
Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures is a reality television series about animals and their exciting adventures. This series is hosted by Jack Hanna, Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. It is shown weekly in syndication across the country on numerous stations and networks. It is particularly popular in part because of Hanna's mainstream name recognition as an animal expert, but also because the show meets programing criteria for federally mandated educational and informational requirements which all stations must follow. Because of this, some networks air the show five days per week, thus covering all but a half hour of the three-hour E/I mandate.
Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures 1993