* The Fairytale Castles of King Ludwig II (2013)

Ludwig II of Bavaria, more commonly known by his nicknames the Swan King or the Dream King, is a legendary figure - the handsome boy-king, loved by his people, betrayed by his cabinet and found dead in tragic and mysterious circumstances. He spent his life in pursuit of the ideal of beauty, an ideal that found expression in three of the most extraordinary, ornate architectural schemes imaginable - the castle of Neuschwanstein and the palaces of Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee. Today, these three buildings are among Germany's biggest tourist attractions.

Dan Cruickshank explores the rich aesthetic of Ludwig II - from the mock-medievalism of Neuschwanstein the iconic fairytale castle, which became the inspiration for Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle, to the rich Baroque splendour of Herrenchiemsee, Ludwig's answer to Versailles. Dan argues that Ludwig's castles are more than flamboyant kitsch and are, in fact, the key to unravelling the eternal enigma of Ludwig II.

* Strip the City (2012)

How does Toronto's CN Tower stay protected from frigid -32 C weather and savage snowstorms? What stops Dubai's super-tall skyscrapers - balanced on unstable sand - from toppling over? And how can San Francisco survive - sitting on the edge of a major earthquake fault? What lies beneath major metropolises is revealed when STRIP THE CITY peels back their buildings, roads, and rivers to explore the secret technology and infrastructure that keeps them running. This six-part original-Canadian series uses stunning CGI animation to go beneath Toronto, London, Rome, Dubai, Sydney, and San Francisco.

Ancient City Rome
Ancient Rome is the prototype of all modern cities. 2,000 years ago it was the biggest in the world - home to a million people. It has survived better than any ancient city on earth and today is home to 3 million citizens. How did Rome become the "Eternal City?" This film strips its most famous icons bare to reveal their secret inner workings and the ingenious technology that allowed engineers to build the Pantheon, Coliseum, Trevi Fountain and Via Appia. Roman engineers' mastery of constructing buildings, roads and viaducts set the city on course to become the greatest Empire the world had ever seen. By exploring deep underground we reveal the crucial role volcanoes played in the city's growth.

We descend into a cavern of tunnels that runs under most of Rome, abseil into an ancient aqueduct and explore how Rome's new Metro is being built. This film explores the volcanic geology that shaped the city's past and challenges its future, from the ash that is a key ingredient of concrete to the lava flows that underpin its roads.

Earthquake City - San Francisco
San Francisco is standing on the brink of disaster - it sits on one of the world's most infamous earthquake hotspots – the San Andreas Fault.

How do the city's buildings and infrastructure survive the onslaught of a destructive earthquake? This film looks beneath the city's skin to discover the engineering wonders and geological forces that make it possible. Stunning CGI animation peels back the glass of its skyscrapers and steel off its bridges to reveal their inner workings.

The engineers and geologists who know this city the best reveal the secrets inside San Francisco's skyscrapers that keep them standing, protect them from raging fires and keep residents safe during the deadliest quakes. The film explores the geology that shaped the city's past and challenges its future, from the valleys that hold the city's fire-fighting water to the fault line that is overdue for a massive earthquake.

Desert City - Dubai
Dubai is a city that defies logic. The gleaming desert metropolis grew from the desert sands in just a few decades. Yet it sits in one of the driest places on earth, is pummeled by raging sandstorms and its skyscrapers are resting on top of sand.

How did Dubai come to thrive in such an inhospitable place? This film looks beneath the city's skin to discover the secret engineering wonders and geological forces that make it possible. Stunning CGI animation peels back the glass of its skyscrapers to reveal their inner workings and sweeps up the desert sand to explore its origins.

The city's leading engineers and geologists reveal the secrets hidden inside Dubai's buildings that keep them standing, protect them from desert storms and keep residents alive in the searing heat. This film explores the geology that shaped the city's past and challenges its future, from the rich oil fields offshore to the desert dunes from which sandstorms are born.

Harbour City - Sydney
Sydney is a city bursting at the seams – home to a fifth Australia's entire population and still growing. Trapped between the Blue Mountains and the ocean it sits on the driest inhabited continent on Earth and surrounds one the planet's largest natural harbors.

How did Sydney come to thrive in such an inhospitable place? This film looks beneath the city's skin to discover the secret engineering wonders that make it possible and the geological forces that sculpted it. Stunning CGI animation peels back the glass off its skyscrapers and stone off the iconic opera house to reveal their inner workings. It also sucks the water up out of its harbor to explore its origins.

The city's leading engineers and geologists reveal the secrets hidden inside Sydney's buildings and beneath its streets that allow the city to function, from the concealed contours of the harbor that allow super size ships to sail into the heart of the city to the underground caverns that store its water. This episode explores the geology that shaped the city's past and challenges its future, from the rich coal seams underneath to the deep gorges that channel bush fires right into the heart of the city.

 Ice City - Toronto
Perched on the shores of Lake Ontario, Toronto is a city of extremes. This sprawling metropolis was carved out by ancient glaciers. Today it is filled with a concrete jungle of towering skyscrapers. Each winter temperatures plummet to an arctic minus 40 degrees and the city is pummeled by savage snowstorms.

How did this metropolis grow to become the largest city in Canada in such an extreme environment? This episode looks beneath the city's skin to discover the secret engineering wonders and geological forces that make it possible. Stunning CGI animation peels back the glass and concrete off its skyscrapers to reveal their inner workings and sucks the water up out of its lakes to explore their origins.

The city's leading engineers and geologists reveal the secrets hidden inside the iconic CN Tower that keep it standing, protect Toronto's buildings from snowstorms and keep residents alive in the bone chilling cold. This film explores the geology that shaped the city's past and challenges its future, from the rich salt reserves that power its industry to the colossal falls that fuel the expanding mega-city.

Underground City - London
Beneath the streets of London, lies a parallel universe. As its buildings soar higher, so its tunnels go deeper. London has more infrastructures built underground than any city in the world. They hold the key the city's success.

This episode strips away the ground to reveal the city's inner workings and explores the ingenious technologies that helped engineers to build one of the biggest cities on Earth. We join engineers working in this vast underground city – from tunnel builders digging a brand new underground train line 40m beneath the city to squads of workers scrubbing its sewer tunnels to prevent outbreaks of disease.

We lift up Buckingham Palace to reveal a "lost" river and show the innovative engineering behind the city's brand new port under construction. We peel away the Tower of London to reveal the true scale of the river Thames – far from being quiet and obedient, it was once a tidal torrent. And we strip back the steel and glass from Europe's tallest skyscraper - the Shard – to reveal its hidden inner workings.

This episode explores the geology that shaped the city's past and challenges its future, from the rich clay that it sits on to the river that may one day consume it.

* Sagrada Familia (2013)

The beautiful cathedral of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain has been under construction for 130 years, yet it's still not finished. After all these years, it continues to challenge modern architects. Now, a team of experts is rushing to complete this masterpiece in time to honor the genius behind its inception, Antoni Gaudi, and the 100th anniversary of his death.

* Peru's City of Ghosts (1999)

Join a team of archaeologists and the Discovery Channel in an investigation into the mysterious lines of the Nazca region in Peru. Created by the Nazcas, these huge sculptures are only visible from the sky and depict people, animal, geometric forms, and strange creatures. See a premier exhibition of pottery and textiles, musical instruments, and mummies from this long-forgotten, pre-Columbian civilization and visit Cahuachi, a buried city of pyramids and ceremonial buildings which may have once been the religious capital of the Nazca people.

* Nazi Megastructures (2013)

Did you know? In the quest for world domination, the Nazis built some of the biggest and deadliest pieces of military hardware and malevolent technology in history? Creating huge terror machines, hi-tech superguns and some of the original weapons of mass destruction, their aim was to control a nation, conquer a continent and win the war! Over six unforgettable episodes, Nazi Megastructures uncovers the hidden remains of Hitler's most ambitious Megastructures, telling the stories of the engineering geniuses that designed them and revealing how these structures sparked a technological revolution that changed warfare forever.

Part 1: Atlantic Wall
Uncovering what is left of Hitler's ambitious structures which were built in a bid for world domination, beginning with a look at the Atlantic Wall. Created in order to protect Europe from an Allied invasion it stretches thousands of kilometres from France to Norway, and on D-Day the fortifications were put to the ultimate test.

Part 2: V2 Rocket Bases
Discover how Nazi scientist Wernher von Braun heralded the birth of ballistic missiles and laid the technological foundations for the space race.

Part 3: U Boat Base
A look at the huge concrete submarine pens built by the Nazis to protect their U-Boats from allied bombs. Such was their size and strength, they still survive today.

Part 4: Super Tanks
The story of Nazi engineers tasked with fulfilling Hitler's megalomaniac demand for the construction of a land battleship weighing 1,000 tons.

Part 5: Hitlers Jet Caves
Explore the story behind one of the most advanced aeroplanes of WWII, the Messerschmitt Me 262, and the subterranean bat-cave where it was built.

Part 6: Fortress Berlin
April 1945. Safe in his heavily fortified FYhrerbunker in the centre of Berlin, Hitler prepares for the Allies' final attack.

* Gobeklitepe: The World's First Temple (2010)

While challenging common beliefs on the history of civilization, the film takes the audience back to 12 thousand years ago, to Gobeklitepe, an ancient site recently found in SanliUrfa, Turkiye. With its brilliant graphics and interviews with experts, the film shows how old taboos come tumbling down as we keep scratching the surface.

Archaeologically categorised as a site of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Period (c. 9600–7300 BC) Gobeklitepe is a series of mainly circular and oval-shaped structures set on the top of a hill. Excavations began in 1995 by Prof. Klaus Schmidt with the help of the German Archaeological Institute. There is archaeological proof that these installations were not used for domestic use, but predominantly for ritual or religous purposes. Subsequently it became apparent that Gobeklitepe consists of not only one, but many of such stone age temples. Furthermore, both excavations and geo magnetic results revealed that there are at least 20 installations, which in archaeological terms can be called a temple. Based on what has been unearthed so far, the pattern principle seems to be that there are two huge monumental pillars in the center of each installation, surrounded by enclosures and walls, featuring more pillars in those set-ups.

All pillars are T-shaped with heights changing from 3 to 6 meters. Archaeologists interpret those T-shapes as stylized human beings, mainly because of the depiction of human extremities that appear on some of the pillars. What also appears on these mystical rock statues, are carvings of animals as well as abstract symbols, sometimes picturing a combination of scenes.

Foxes, snakes, wild boars, cranes, wild ducks are most common. Most of these were carved into the flat surfaces of these pillars. Then again, we also come across some three-dimensional sculptures, in shape of a predator depicting a lion, descending on the side of a T-pillar.

The unique method used for the preservation of Gobeklitepe has really been the key to the survival of this amazing site. Whoever built this magnificent monument, made sure of its survival along thousands of years, by simply backfilling the various sites and burying them deep under, by using an incredible amount of material and all these led to an excellent preservation.

Each T-shaped pillar varies between 40 to 60 tonnes, leaving us scratching our heads as to how on earth they accomplished such a monumental feat. In a time when even simple hand tools were hard to come by, how did they get these stone blocks there, and how did they erect them? With no settlement or society to speak of, with farming still a far cry away, in a world of only roaming hunter-gatherers, the complexity and developed blueprints of these temples represented another enigma for archaeologists. Do we have to change our vision of how and when civilized human history began?