1970s Documentary TV Shows

PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.

Vetenskapens värld is a popular science TV documentary program broadcast on Swedish Television (SVT).

Fantástico is a Brazilian weekly television newsmagazine broadcast on Sundays on Rede Globo.

The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.

Arena is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC. Voted by leading TV executives in Broadcast as one of the top 50 most influential programmes of all time, it has run since 1 October 1975 with over five hundred episodes made, directed by the likes of Martin Scorsese, Alan Yentob, Roly Keating, Frederick Baker, Volker Schlondorff and Vikram Jayanti. Arena's subjects are a roll-call of the world's best known cultural figures from the 20th and 21st centuries, from singers Bob Dylan and Amy Winehouse to academics Edward Said and Eric Hobsbawm, from writers Jean Genet and V S Naipaul to artists Francis Bacon and Louise Bourgeois. The current series editor is Anthony Wall.

The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show produced by ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new series began on Sky Arts from 27 May 2012. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience.

TV's original home-improvement show, following one whole-house renovation over several episodes.

20/20 is an American television newsmagazine that has been broadcast on ABC since June 6, 1978. Created by ABC News executive Roone Arledge, the show was designed similarly to CBS's 60 Minutes but focuses more on human interest stories than international and political subjects. The program's name derives from the "20/20" measurement of visual acuity. The hour-long program has been a staple on Friday evenings for much of the time since it moved to that timeslot from Thursdays in September 1987, though special editions of the program occasionally air on other nights.

This show addresses issues related to the Brazilian way of life, highlighting matters such as health, education, work and nature.

Now the longest-running music series in American television history, ACL showcases popular music legends and innovators from every genre.

Motoring programme featuring reviews of and reports about cars of all types.

Antiques Roadshow is a British television show in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979. There are also international versions of the programme.

A magazine-style television series on BBC1 which was broadcast from May 1973 to June 1994, presented by Esther Rantzen, with various changes of co-presenters. The show presented hard-hitting investigations alongside satire and occasional light entertainment.

No overview available

Wildlife on One was, for nearly thirty years, the BBC's flagship natural history programme. First broadcast in 1977, each edition ran for half an hour. The narrator was David Attenborough. When repeated on BBC2, the programmes were retitled Wildlife on Two. The series came to an end in 2005.

V.I.P.-Schaukel is a 45 minute documentary-family-news-talk show starring Margret Dünser as Host. The series premiered on Sun May 09, 1971 on ZDF and Folge 37 - Final Show last aired on Fri May 09, 1980.

No overview available

Each week the fifth estate brings in-depth investigations that matter to Canadians – delivering a dazzling parade of political leaders, controversial characters and ordinary people whose lives were touched by triumph or tragedy.

El hombre y la Tierra is a 1974 television series produced by Radio Televisión Española.

In Search of... is a TV series that was broadcast weekly from 1977 to 1982, devoted to mysterious phenomena. It was created after the success of three one-hour TV documentaries produced by creator Alan Landsburg: In Search of Ancient Astronauts in 1973, In Search of Ancient Mysteries and The Outer Space Connection, both in 1975. All three featured narration by Rod Serling, who was the initial choice to host the spin-off show. After Serling's death, Leonard Nimoy was selected to be the host.

No overview available

No overview available

No overview available

A documentary series that gives a historical account of the events of World War II, from its roots in the 1920s to the aftermath and the lives it profoundly influenced.

No overview available

A BBC documentary film strand, with the focus on investigative journalism.

Hollywood Greats was a BBC Television series, which began in 1977. The film critic Barry Norman wrote and narrated a series of in depth profiles on major Hollywood film personalities, in which he interviewed surviving associates. He later made a series called British Greats in 1980. A series of books, entitled The Hollywood Greats, The Movie Greats and The British Greats, which were authored by Norman were subsequently published. A series of the same name was later presented by Jonathan Ross from 1999 to 2006.

No overview available

From Bonaparte to Casanova, history is cast in the light of famous escapes from various European countries.

Les Cent Livres des Hommes (ORTF, 1969-1973) was a series of literary programs created by Claude Santelli and Françoise Verny, and produced notably by Santelli, Jean Archimbaud, and Serge Moati. Planned for one hundred episodes but completed at thirty-nine, the series aimed to introduce great literary works, 'chefs-d’œuvre', to a younger audience through a mix of dramatization, reading, and documentary techniques. It marked a transfer of cultural legitimacy from writers and critics to a generation of television producers, offering a new model of educational and creative literary broadcasting - 'télévision d’auteur'.

Produced for television by Claude-Jean Philippe, the « Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma », recounts the history of French cinema from its birth to the beginning of the 1960s. With commentary read by Jean Rochefort.

Weekly anthology series of original dramas, often with period settings.

No overview available

Molière pour rire et pour pleurer recounts the life of Jean‑Baptiste Poquelin, from his childhood in an artisan family to his rise as Molière, a central figure of French theatre. The series shows his difficult decision to abandon the family trade and join Madeleine Béjart to found L’Illustre Théâtre, marked by debts and repeated setbacks. While touring the provinces, he shapes his style and discovers the power of comedy. Back in Paris, he makes a name for himself with Les Précieuses ridicules, but his sharp satires provoke fierce opposition, especially during the Tartuffe scandal. Supported by Louis XIV, he continues despite attacks, literary rivalries, and tensions within his troupe, particularly with Armande Béjart. The miniseries also follows his growing exhaustion, his determination to perform at any cost, and his final breath after Le Malade imaginaire, the ultimate symbol of an artist who lived — and died — for the stage.

Around the World in 80 Days is an animated television series that lasted one season of sixteen episodes, broadcast during the 1972-1973 season by NBC. It was the first Australian-produced cartoon to be shown on American network television. Leif Gram directed all sixteen episodes, and the stories were loosely adapted by Chester "Chet" Stover from the novel by Jules Verne.

Miniseries dramatizing the life of the Italian Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci.

The story of life, from the first primitive cells to the plants and animals that now live around us.

The Search for the Nile is a 1971 BBC One docudrama miniseries about the 19th-century European quest to find the source of the Nile River, focusing on explorers like Richard Burton, John Hanning Speke, and David Livingstone. The acclaimed six-part series, starring Kenneth Haigh as Burton, is known for its detailed portrayal of the explorers' hardships, rivalries, and discoveries, winning a Primetime Emmy and a Peabody Award.

The Family was a 1974 BBC television series made by producer Paul Watson, and directed by Franc Roddam. It was a fly-on-the-wall documentary series, seen by many as the precursor to reality television. It was similar to an American documentary which had aired the previous year in 1973, called An American Family. It followed the working-class Wilkins family of six of Reading, through their daily lives, warts and all, and culminated in the marriage of one of the daughters, which was plagued by fans and paparazzi alike.

The show featured guests who played significant roles in world history. Guests would interact with each other and host Steve Allen, discussing philosophy, religion, history, science, and many other topics. As nearly as was possible, the actual words of the historical figures were used. The show was fully scripted, yet the scripts were carefully crafted to give the appearance of spontaneous discussion among historic figures. Typically, each episode would be split into two parts, broadcast separately, with most or all of the guests introduced over the course of the first part, and the discussions continuing into the second part. A total of 24 episodes were produced.