Great Disasters

Social, political and geological factors combined to create disaster on an almost unbelievable scale. The 2010 Haiti earthquake killed at least 100,000, and displaced millions. Drawing on eyewitness ...

15 Mar 201930min

With an experienced driver in the engine, the Flying Scotsman service was steaming along at full speed on its way to London when suddenly, it left the rails. 28 people were killed in the mangled wreck...

1 Mar 201934min

This episode looks at a disaster which struck close to my home - the Morecambe Bay cocklepicking disaster. A large group of Chinese immigrant labourers were sent out onto the sands to collect cockles,...

15 Feb 201933min

In this episode, I'm looking at the case of the de Havilland Comet - the first commercial jet airliner. Three crashes within short succession in the 1950's hinted at a deadly flaw in the plane's desig...

1 Feb 201926min

In this episode of Great Disasters, I'll be looking at the Piper Alpha explosion; the deadliest off-shore oil rig disaster to date. There were more than two hundred men aboard Piper Alpha that summer...

18 Jan 201927min

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the world's most prestigious motor races. Established in 1923, it challenges both man and machine to compete at the very edge of their ability. In 1955, that challeng...

13 Jul 201829min

With America lagging behind the Soviet Union in the space race, JFK made a promise to reach the moon. Three men paid the price on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Support the show

1 Jul 201830min

An ordinary summer's day in Italy was disturbed by the sudden appearance of a white cloud. The cloud was vapour that had been released by a local chemical plant, and Seveso would forever be known for ...

15 Jun 201832min