The Silk Road - Season 1
Season 1
Episodes
Episode 1
In the first episode of his series tracing the story of the most famous trade route in history, Sam begins his journey in Venice and explores how its Renaissance architecture and art has been shaped by the East and by thousands of exchanges along the Silk Road.
From Venice, Sam travels to China's ancient capital Xian. Here, Sam's story takes him back in time, to reveal the tale of an Emperor who was so desperate for bigger horses to help protect his borders that he struck one of the most significant trade deals in human history: he wanted war horses, so he gave the most precious material in the world, silk.
From this single deal, a network of trading paths was carved out across thousands of miles by merchants, traders, envoys, pilgrims, and travellers. It is known to us today as the Silk Road.
Episode 2
In the second episode of his series tracing the story of the most famous trade route in history, Dr. Sam Willis travels west to Central Asia, a part of the Silk Road often overlooked and yet the place of major innovations, big historical characters, and a people - the Sogdians - whose role was pivotal to its success.
In the high mountain passes of Tajikistan, Sam meets the last survivors of that race, who once traded from the Mediterranean to the China Sea. In the Uzbek cities of Samarkand and Bukara, he discovers how they were built by armies of captive craftsmen for one of the greatest conquerors the world has ever seen - Timur.
From here, Sam follows the flow of goods back towards the markets of the West, showing how their trading culture sparked cultural, technical and artistic revolutions all along the Silk Road, and goes back to school to learn where modern mathematics and astronomy were born.
Episode 3
In the final episode of his series tracing the story of the most famous trade route in history, Dr. Sam Willis continues his journey west in Iran. The first BBC documentary team to be granted entry for nearly a decade, Sam begins in the legendary city of Persepolis - the heart of the first Persian Empire.
Following an ancient caravan route through Persia's deserts, he visits a Zoroastrian temple where a holy fire has burned for 1,500 years, and Esfahan, one of the Silk Road's architectural jewels and rival to Sam's next destination - Istanbul. In the ancient capital of Byzantium, Sam discovers how the eastern Roman Empire was ruled through silk and how Venetian merchants cashed in on the wealth and trade it generated.
Sam's last stop takes him full circle to Venice. Visiting Marco Polo's house, Sam reminds us how the great traveller's book was one of the first to link East to West and how the ideas and products that trickled down the Silk Road not only helped to trigger the Renaissance, but set Europe on a path of unstoppable change.
Recently Updated Shows
The Proof Is Out There
The Proof Is Out There takes an in-depth look at some of the most incredible and thought provoking videos of unexplained phenomena and mysterious must-see moments of all time. Each half-hour episode explores and analyzes the full story of each irregularity in question from bizarre footage of people seemingly immune to lightning, to a fifty-foot snake, apocalyptic sounds in a man's backyard, enigmatic creatures, and UFOS that split and dive underwater. Through expert examination and the use of the latest technologies, The Proof Is Out There aims to get to the bottom of what's real? What's fake? And everything in between.
Providence Falls
In 1844 Ireland, Liam O'Conner, a rogue and a thief, falls in love with Cora McLeod, a fiery but sheltered aristocrat's daughter, who is promised in marriage to a man she barely knows. Their plan to make a new life together in America is thwarted, and the consequences of Liam and Cora's unlikely love ripples through time, causing everyone to relive the events of the past. Now the Angels of Destiny need Liam's help to set things right and if he doesn't succeed, his very soul is on the line. They transport Liam to present day to help this incarnation of Cora fall in love with Finn, the man she was destined to marry in 1844. Liam would give anything to reunite with his beloved Cora but only he retains the memories of their past together. Now a cop in Providence Falls, Oregon, Cora feels an inexplicable connection to Liam, who is introduced as her new partner. And as they tackle a big case together, Liam sees the same passion and adventurous nature in Cora that he had fallen in love with. With everyone's lives at stake, Liam must overcome unexpected and otherworldly obstacles in his mission. Perhaps none as powerful as his own undying love for Cora.
The Chicken Sisters
The Chicken Sisters is a family drama dipped in southern charm and served up with a saucy side of romance. The setting is the fictional town of Merinac, where a generations-old rift between dueling fried chicken restaurants – Mimi's and Frannie's – has left the founders' families fractured and the locals taking sides. When popular cooking competition show Kitchen Clash comes to town, this could be the recipe for ending this feud once and for all. But things are fixing to heat up both inside and outside of the kitchen as the reality show spotlight causes sparks to fly as secrets are spilled and feathers get ruffled.
