Unearthed - Series One

BLOWING UP HISTORY investigates the secrets of the 2500-year old Acropolis - the pinnacle of Ancient Greek engineering. We uncover the mysteries of how it was built and what it looked like, answering questions that still baffle engineers and archaeologists today.

A flat-topped rock, rising above the city of Athens, forms the foundations of the exquisite Acropolis temples, including the famous Parthenon. For millennia humankind has lived and worshipped upon this unique site. But how did the ancient Greeks build it, and what it keeps it standing to this day?

CGI animation pulls these vast structures apart to explore their scale and intricate construction. We discover how ancient stonemasons quarried, moved and assembled its key features. Dis-assembling the temple reveals the once giant statue of the goddess Athena, clad in gleaming gold. Peeling back the layers shows how ancient engineers used naval technology to construct these monumental structures at super speed.

We follow restoration workers who are painstakingly rebuilding the Parthenon’s north wall, piece by piece, uncovering the secrets of the Greek craftsmen as they go. They reveal the incredible attention to detail that went into carving this visually perfect temple and demonstrate how titanium-technology will protect the Parthenon against earthquakes. Alongside scientists exploring how the original monument was coloured, we discover the details that have remained invisible to the naked eye for centuries, shining new light on what the buildings looked like when they were first erected.

Combining CGI and modern investigations, this film unravels the mysteries of one of the ancient world’s greatest treasures. 

BLOWING UP HISTORY investigates the ancient Maya city of Chichen Itza and its iconic pyramid, El Castillo. Blowing apart this magnificent monument – stone by stone – we’ll unearth the mysteries of this lost civilization.

Located deep in Mexico’s Yucatan jungle, Chichen Itza is the best-preserved Maya city in existence. We meet archaeologists working to unravel Chichen Itza’s secrets, revealing how these vast structures were built, how this society lived and how religion shaped this city.

We explore how the Maya were able to survive in the jungle for almost 3000 years – and investigate what cascade of events caused this civilization to inexplicably collapse.

We’ll blow apart Chichen Itza’s most iconic building - the 80 foot ‘Castillo’ - to reveal hidden cavities including an awe-inspiring throne room and the structures of two earlier pyramids that lie within. CGI will blast the Castillo into the skies, revealing a newly discovered underground lake, a ‘cenote’, lying beneath. We meet the geologists who found it, who believe the Maya built on this spot for its sacred importance. We also follow the dive teams who explore other cenotes across the region. Their findings, human skeletons and offerings, provide clues about the myths and beliefs of the ancient Maya.

This film deciphers the clues contained within Chichen Itza’s mysterious structures to reveal the secrets of the Maya culture - their expertise in astronomy and engineering and their sometimes bloodcurdling religious rites. 

BLOWING UP HISTORY investigates Europe’s masterpiece of gothic engineering, Cologne Cathedral, pulling apart its stones, tiles and pillars to explore the secrets of the medieval architects.

With the largest façade of any church in the world and spires that tower 157 meters over the city, Cologne Cathedral is the pinnacle of gothic cathedral engineering. The cavernous structure - equivalent to the size of 500 houses - took more than 600 years to build and, on completion, it was the tallest building on Earth.

CGI animation explores the engineering anatomy of Cologne Cathedral. Pulling it apart, stone by stone, unravels the mysteries of Cologne’s medieval master masons - how it’s ceiling appears to hang in mid-air, how it supports spectacular walls made of glass, and how it’s remained standing tall against earthquakes.

We meet the 30-strong restoration team working to keep Cologne’s magnificent structure in pristine condition, revealing how these modern day master craftsmen must mimic the techniques of their medieval predecessors to preserve and replace the delicate stonework and restore the stained glass windows.  Meanwhile teams of experts use laser scanning technology to map the cathedral in never seen before detail to uncover the inner workings of this extraordinary structure.

This film explores the genius of this medieval masterpiece as never before - a building at the heart of an architectural revolution that forever changed the skyline of our greatest cities. 

BLOWING UP HISTORY investigates Britain’s Houses of Parliament building, the Palace of Westminster, exposing its exoskeleton and exploding its bricks to explore the hidden secrets of this Victorian megastructure.

The Palace of Westminster is the most spectacular parliament building on the planet. To build it, Victorian engineers had to push technology to its limits, inventing new techniques that paved the way for the modern skyscrapers of today. Blow-apart CGI animation reveals every inch of this building’s groundbreaking design - from its innovative fireproof roof, constructed from thousands of cast iron tiles… to its famous clock, Big Ben, at the time the largest and most ambitious timepiece the world had ever seen… to it’s astonishing foundations that allowed engineers to build right into the path of the River Thames.

Despite its remarkable design, after 160, this palace is now in need of repairs. We join the crew at the heart of the biggest restoration project in the building’s history, who are uncovering its secrets as they work. Engineers on the rooftops carefully remove and lower the huge iron tiles to the ground, ready to be fixed. Down below, conservation specialists repair the building’s crumbling masonry, damaged by decades of rain and pollution. Inside we meet the team creating intricate replicas for the ornate floor tiles. Finally, deep underground we follow the engineers tunneling under London to extend the underground rail network. They reveal how an ingenious solution prevented Big Ben’s tower from collapsing into the tunnel below.

Stunning animation pulls apart the layers of this extraordinary building, to uncover the engineering mysteries at the heart of one of the world’s most iconic buildings. 

BLOWING UP HISTORY follows investigations at the Pyramid of Giza that reveal the mysterious tombs at the heart of this ancient wonder and the secrets of how it was built. 

The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt is the oldest and most intact of the seven wonders of the ancient world. For more than four thousand years this iconic structure has puzzled and astounded in equal measures. This film explores the new evidence that could help solve some of this massive monuments’ biggest mysteries.

Immersive CGI animation pulls apart the pyramid, uncovering the surprising secret that allowed builders to complete the project in time. We reveal the clues hidden at the base of the pyramid that help explain how the ancient Egyptian engineers ensured their enormous edifice stayed standing. We reveal how the entrance to the great pyramid was originally concealed behind thick limestone casing, protected by ingenious traps to foil marauding tomb robbers.

We follow as archaeologists survey its exterior with millimeter precision and delve deep into its hidden passages and chambers to investigate what keeps them from being crushed and we’ll meet the scientists studying Egyptian mummies in an attempt to understand more about this ancient civilization’s mystic belief in the afterlife.

This film unlocks the secrets of one of the most sophisticated and mysterious civilizations the world has ever known. 

BLOWING UP HISTORY follows new investigations at the Great Wall of China that reveal the ancient secrets of how – and why - it was built.

The Great Wall of China is the biggest man-made structure on the planet, an epic fortification, built to protect one of history’s greatest empires.   Constructed over many centuries from over a billion tons of brick, stone and earth, this wall is an estimated 20,000 km long. Its sections laid end to end would stretch from the North Pole to the South Pole.  

CGI animations explode apart a section of the battlements to reveal exactly how the Chinese first built this iconic structure, using only compacted earth, in an age before bricks. Exposing its layers, we discover that this was not just a wall, it was a sophisticated and dynamic war machine. 

Barracks, storage quarters and signaling towers tell the story of the soldiers who manned this wall and traces of their ingenious weapon systems, from smoke bombs to crossbows, reveal how they defended this immense border from attack.

We follow a team restoring sections of the wall, rediscovering the traditional Chinese techniques to make and fire their own bricks and even create their own mortar using an ancient special ingredient – sticky rice.

We follow Great Wall explorers as they search for uncharted sections of the wall and meet the craftsman passing on the secrets of the Chinese bow makers that have been handed down through his family for generations.   

This film reveals the secrets of the ancient Chinese engineers and unravels the mysteries of the most ambitious construction in the history of mankind.