Best History Documentaries to Watch on History Hit

Tristan Hughes explores one of history's greatest natural disasters in Greatest Discoveries: Last Days of Pompeii

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With 500 original documentaries, interviews and films, History Hit TV makes history more accessible for enthusiasts of all eras. Sit back and enjoy our best documentary picks available on demand from History Hit, which you can watch on your phone or smart TV.

Greatest Discoveries: Last Days of Pompeii

In 79 AD, one of the greatest natural disasters in Roman history occurred in southern Italy. Tristan Hughes explores the destruction of Pompeii, using extraordinary eyewitness testimony and the revelations of archaeology to understand what really happened here nearly 2000 years ago.

Crowning Glory: The History of the Coronation

Matt Lewis digs deep into the past to investigate how centuries old aspects of Anglo-Saxon and Medieval coronations will be mirrored in Charles III’s ceremony. To dig deep into the ancient roots of the coronation ceremony, Matt heads to London’s Westminster Abbey and Temple Church, as well as Butser Ancient Farm and Winchester Great Hall, exploring how medieval royal pageantry, some over a thousand years old, still shapes what we will witness in 2023.

American Revolution – Commemorating the Fallen of the Battle of Camden, 1780

Travelling to South Carolina for this special film, Dan Snow investigates some exceptional historic and archaeological discoveries that reveal the course of the American Revolution‘s bloody Battle of Camden, meeting key historians, archaeologists and forensics experts.

The Road to the Crown: Elizabeth I’s Coronation Procession

In this special History Hit film, made to coincide with the coronation of King Charles III, royal historian Tracy Borman goes on a historic journey of just 3 miles, retracing the actual steps of this remarkable procession. It was part celebration and part political statement – Elizabeth’s grip on power was tenuous, and she had to make a powerful statement in front of the people of London.

The young queen spent the day travelling with great ceremony from the fortress of the Tower of London to her palace at Westminster. It was a spectacular parade of power and pageantry as Elizabeth stamped her mark on her reign to come, and London told her exactly what they expected from the new monarch.

The Labouring Lives of Medieval Women

Dr Eleanor Janega investigates one of the least recorded aspects of medieval life – working women. But dig deep and you can find the evidence – proving the medieval period is a fascinating window into the true history of women…and work!

Eleanor takes on the jobs and businesses of real medieval women, from Domina Agnes Ramsey, a highly skilled stonemason with a flourishing business making royal tombs, to Katherine of Bury, a blacksmith plying her trade inside the Tower of London during the Hundred Years’ War.

Queen Victoria’s Favourite – Disraeli and Hughenden

Hughenden, a beautiful house owned by the National Trust, is set deep in the rolling greens of the Buckinghamshire countryside. This was the home of Queen Victoria’s favourite Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. But Disraeli was so much more than a Queen’s favourite. He was a writer, a performer, a dandy; a friend to some, a rival to others and the man who coined the phrase ‘the greasy pole’. But how did he make his way to the very top?

Buffalo Bill: The Man Behind the Legend

Buffalo Bill was America’s first celebrity… and the most famous man in the world at the turn of the 20th century. But who was Buffalo Bill and how do we separate fact from fiction? Join Don Wildman as he explores the remarkable life of Buffalo Bill and discovers that sometimes the truth really is stranger than fiction.

Fire and Blood: Boudica’s Vengeance

In 60 AD, the fledgling Roman town of Colchester witnessed ancient Armageddon. Thousands of British warriors descended on the settlement, turning what was then the capital of Roman Britain to ash. At the head of these attackers was one of the most well-known figures in British history – the warrior woman Boudica. Her bloody assault on Colchester marked one of the first gruesome events of her revolt against the Romans.

Tristan Hughes investigates the incredible archaeology to see whether it supports the Roman account for Boudica’s bloody sacking of this settlement almost 2,000 years ago.

Anne Boleyn and Katherine of Aragon – Brilliant Rivals

Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb returns to Hever Castle to explore what Anne and Katherine were really like – two well-educated women whose personalities and actions lie at the heart of the upheaval of Henry VIII’s reign. They shape this story – and play just as large a role in it as any of the men.

Hitler vs Stalin: The Battle for Stalingrad

Fought over five months through the bitter Russian Winter, the Battle for Stalingrad served as a turning point in the course of the Second World War and marked a drastic change in the fortunes of the two dictators and the men who fought for them. But how did an industrial city on the banks of the Volga come to play such a decisive role in the course of the Second World War?

In Hitler vs Stalin: The Battle for Stalingrad, historians James Holland, Guy Walters, author of The Lighthouse of Stalingrad Iain MacGregor and Research Fellow Sarah Ashbridge explore the personalities behind the battle to uncover the key moments, decisions and motivations that lead to this decisive moment.