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Private Notes
As they wrote their accounts of the Inca empire, the Spanish conquerors recorded rumours of an Inca prophecy uttered in about 1434 by the elderly father of the first Inca emperor. The old man is supposed to have said that, within five generations of kings, the entire Andean way of life and its religion would be utterly destroyed.
Secrets of the Incas presents completely new evidence taken from an Inca myth. In this, Dr William Sullivan believes, lies the key to the basis of the old man's prophecy and, indeed, to the formation of the Inca empire itself. This myth is nothing less than a dire warning of an impending precessional event that, to the Incas, predicted future ruin.
The 'gate' or 'bridge' to the land of the ancestors - that is, the rising of the December solstice Sun with the Milky Way - was about to be washed away. Drawing on their ancient mythological database, the Incas reasoned - from the principle 'as above, so below' - that loss of contact with the ancestors, upon which their religious beliefs were founded, would mean their way of life would be destroyed on Earth.
It was this prophecy that stirred the first Inca emperor to action: if time was merciless, it had to be stopped. So the entire Inca empire, which was less than a century old when the Spanish arrived, became involved in an attempt at cosmic regulation - to change the course of the stars by changing the course of human history on Earth: 'as below, so above.'
Human sacrifice
From the uttering of the prophecy to the moment of the Spanish conquest, five Inca emperors, through the use of ritualised warfare and human sacrifice, laboured unceasingly to arrest the precessional motion that threatened to disrupt and destroy the access of the living to the wisdom of the past. Every year in the Andes, each Inca tribe, which traced descent from a different constellation, would send a representative - an unblemished child - back to the stars (through human sacrifice) to implore the creator to sto
In the autumn of 9 AD Roman forces occupying Northern Germany were lured into a death trap. Over 20,000 of the world's most feared troops, their families, even their animals, were slaughtered by Iron Age tribes. The bloody massacre defined forever the limits of Roman expansion and left Europe fatefully divided, yet for almost 2,000 years the exact site of this disaster was only guessed at. Then, in 1987, a British soldier made a find that suggested the true whereabouts of the 'Battle of Teutoburg'. Today a grim picture of deception, ambush and ritual slaughter is beginning to emerge.
Through rare footage and interviews with musicians such as David Bowie, Bono, Radiohead, Blur and PJ Harvey, the story of the influential US band the Pixies is told.
This is an incredible modern-day story of a native peoples’ victory over Western globalization. Sick of seeing their environment ruined and their people exploited by the Panguna Mine, the Pacific island of Bougainville rose up against the giant mining corporation, Rio Tinto Zinc.
The newly formed Bougainville Revolutionary Army began fighting with bows and arrows and sticks and stones against a heavily armed adversary.
In an attempt to put down the rebellion the Papua New Guinean Army swiftly established a gunboat blockade around the island. But with no shipments allowed in or out, how did new electricity networks spring up on the island? And how were the people of Bougainville able to drive around the island without any source of petrol or diesel?
Watch as the world’s first eco-revolution unfolds within the blockade. A David and Goliath story for the 21st century. A multi-award winning documentary.
The first hour follows the last remaining "Hood" survivor, Ted Briggs, as he joins the expedition and returns to the site of the sinking. Using archival film, dramatic reconstruction, computer effects and interviews with the men involved, the program brings "HMS Hood" back to life and follows the expedition members as they solve a 60-year-old mystery: why did the biggest and best ship in the British fleet sink so quickly?
The second hour brings to life the pursuit and destruction of the legendary warship and attempts to solve another mystery: did the British sink the "Bismarck" or did her own crew scuttle the ship to prevent her capture?
Stone Age musical instruments, megalithic sites that seem to move when subjected to certain sounds, and much more. Learn about the nature and effects of sound on the human mind and about the latest technical acoustical research that is uncovering new information about Stone Age monuments.
A lengthy but compelling documentary which re-examines the life and reputation of the former monarch.
A battalion of biographers step forward to offer us their considered opinions on the man who was variously described as charming, a bully, a pleasure-seeker and the most visible monarch of his time.
From his early life as a bad scholar who rebelled against his parents' strict regime, to his countless adulterous affairs and his taste for the high life, we see how the man reinvented himself.
Miraculously, by the end of his life, he was a respected head of state - not that this cramped his style.
A review of the life and work of Miles Davis as told by those who knew and worked with him.
Compilation programme featuring classic TV moments in music history including certain performances, interviews, and controversial appearances.
Part of Channel 4's Hot Reels: Animation Grand Prix
Adam and Joe assume various identities in a one-off special looking at the genre at the California Institute of the Arts.
This dramatic story of Britain's worst-ever terrorist conspiracy explores a shadowy world of subterfuge, spying and surveillance, as it examines Guys Fawke's plot to kill King James
Imagine a storm big enough to swallow the Earth, with 300-mph winds that could smash our cities to rubble and keep on raging for 300 years, after all signs of life had disappeared. Imagine an unstoppable, mile-high wall of choking dust and sand, devouring the Earth at half the speed of sound, until every square foot of land was sandblasted to oblivion. Imagine lightning bolts exploding with the energy of atomic blasts. And imagine a rain of deadly radiation ripping our atmosphere apart, until all life was extinct.
Learn more about the relationship between Nazi Germany and women, as we explore the role of females in Adolf Hitler's life and the part women played as supporters of the Nazi cause.
Hard hitting documentary about an English girl trying to break into the American pornography industry to support her daughter.
Documentary looking at the design and layout of the World Trade Center twin towers and considering the reasons why they both collapsed so quickly after terrorists flew two aeroplanes into them on September 11 2001. Includes input from engineers and those who designed and built the towers.
The hour-long A Secret History of Rail shows how, when and where the rail industry went wrong.
Journalist Ian Hargreaves, who was transport correspondent for the Financial Times in the 1970s, talks to key figures in politics and industry.
The programme looks at how initiatives to improve the system often failed. It provides lessons for the future.
Sometimes filmmakers latch onto a subject so unexpected and fascinating that all by itself the raw material inherently is totally engrossing. Such is the case with Television Under the Swastika (1999), an incredible documentary about the medium's development under Nazi Germany from 1935-1944. Subtitled Unseen Footage from the Third Reich it's an amazing, heretofore unknown story well told; stylistically, it reminded me a lot of the wonderful Kevin Brownlow/David Gill documentaries on silent cinema, very high praise indeed. The only thing working against it is its brevity: 52 short minutes. I would have enjoyed something three times as long.
Hard hitting documentary about an English girl trying to break into the American pornography industry to support her daughter.
Leo Regan follows his friend, photographer Lanre Fehintola, as he tries to go cold turkey (detox) from heroin in his council flat and without medication.
Documentary looking at the design and layout of the World Trade Center twin towers and considering the reasons why they both collapsed so quickly after terrorists flew two aeroplanes into them on September 11 2001. Includes input from engineers and those who designed and built the towers.
The hour-long A Secret History of Rail shows how, when and where the rail industry went wrong.
Journalist Ian Hargreaves, who was transport correspondent for the Financial Times in the 1970s, talks to key figures in politics and industry.
The programme looks at how initiatives to improve the system often failed. It provides lessons for the future.
