Browse episode ratings trends for Days That Shook the World. Simply click on the interactive rating graph to explore the best and worst of Days That Shook the World's 28 episodes.
Best Episodes of Days That Shook the World
The Christmas Truce
S2 Ep2
8.8
11th Oct 2004
25 December 1914
The first Christmas of World War 1 bore witness to an incredible phenomenon. A spontaneous truce broke out in the murderous trenches, led by the gun-fodder troops of each side and reluctantly followed by, for once, important officers and generals.
Affairs of the Crown: The Execution of Anne Boleyn/The Abdication of Edward VIII
S2 Ep10
8.3
20th Dec 2004
19 May 1536 and 10 December 1936
The Story of two English kings whose private affairs become national events - how the Queen of England gambled everything only to end her life on the scaffold and how the King put his love for a divorcee before his duty to the nation.
The Battle of Midway
S3 Ep7
8.0
1st Dec 2005
4 June 1942
At a tiny atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the massed forces of the US and Japanese fleets meet for a decisive showdown. In the space pf just four minutes, the entire course of World War II is about to be transformed.
Let Freedom Rise: The Boston Tea Party/The Independence of India
S3 Ep5
8.0
17th Nov 2005
6 December 1773 and 14 August 1947
The catalyst and repercussions of freedom from colonial rule are explored in the American 'patriots' raid on a British ship and the web of devastation and destruction the soured India's independence celebrations.
Terrorism: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln/Oklahoma City Bombing
S2 Ep8
8.0
6th Dec 2004
14 April 1865 and 19 April 1995
Eye-witness accounts, key figures and court transcripts are used to retell tow terrorist acts which shook America. The killing of the President and the bombing of a federal office over a century apart were both committed by Americans seemingly at war with their own country.
Conspiracy to Kill: The Real Day of the Jackal / Wolf's Lair
S2 Ep5
8.0
8th Nov 2004
22 August 1962 and 20 July 1944. Two assassination attempts that, if successful, might have changed the course of history: the Algerian Secret Army's attempt to shoot President de Gaulle of France and Colonel von Stauffenberg's planting of a bomb under Hitler's desk.
First Nuclear Reaction / Chernobyl
S1 Ep8
8.0
2 December 1942 and 26 April 1986. The first controlled nuclear chain reaction heralded the atomic age, but Chernobyl's runaway chain reaction was the first warning. How did the most exciting scientific breakthroughs ever lead to the disaster that the world had dreaded?
Worst Episodes of Days That Shook the World
The Assassination of Martin Luther King / The Release of Nelson Mandela
S1 Ep3
6.2
4 April 1968 and February 1990. How two men - both intellectuals and determined opposers of racial oppression - came to symbolise the fight for equality as their lives for their cause.
Kristallnacht / The Birth of Israel
S1 Ep6
6.4
9 November 1938 and 14 May 1948. Just ten years after the Nazis openly attacked Jews and their property - a huge step on the nightmare spiral to the Holocaust, the 2000 year old dream of a Jewish homeland becomes a reality and the state of Israel is Born.
Hiroshima
S1 Ep4
6.7
This episode dramatises the minute by minute events leading up to the world's first ever atomic bombing. Based on extracts from President Truman's personal diaries which show the decision-making process reflecting America's real fear that the Japanese would never give up, Japanese eyewitness accounts of the tragedy in Hiroshima, diaries written on board Enola Gay, and the personal testimony of Colonel Paul Tibbets, the man who led the mission so secret not even his crew knew the enormity of what they were doing.
Tutankhamun's Tomb / Deciphering the Rosetta Stone
S1 Ep7
6.9
26 November 1922 and 17 September 1822. Two days that brought ancient Egypt dramatically to life. In 1822, Jean-Francois champollion cracks Egyptian hieroglyphs. One hundred years later, Howard Carter reads the name on a tomb and makes an amazing discovery.
The Cost of Betrayal: The Defection of Burgess & MacLean/The Execution of the Rosenbergs
S3 Ep1
7.0
20th Oct 2005
19 June 1953 and 25 May 1951
The differing fates of the most famous Soviet spies are explored as, in the USA, the Rosenbergs face the electric chair for passing atomic secrets to the Soviets and, after a dramatic flight, the British spies Burgess and Maclean find safety in the hands of the KGB.
The War to End All Wars: The End of World War I
S3 Ep4
7.3
10th Nov 2005
11 November 1918
This dramatic story of the final days of World War 1 finds soldiers still fighting and Germany turning to anarchy. Meanwhile, in a wood in France, hostile negotiations take place in a race to end the war.
Dinosaurs & Duplicity: Discovery of the First Dinosaur/Piltdown Man
S2 Ep7
7.5
22nd Nov 2004
September 1824 and 20 November 1953
Two archaeological 'discoveries' which profoundly altered our understanding of the natural world: the first unearthing of the bones of an ancient giant reptile, and the astonishing discovery of the 'missing link' between ape and man - soon to be revealed as an elaborate hoax.
Days That Shook the World Episode Guide
The Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand / The Death of Hitler
S1 Ep2
7.8
28 June 1914 and April 1945. The Story Behind two pistol shots: the single bullet, fired by a young Serb nationalist that triggered World War 1 and the self-administered shot that brought about the end of Adolf Hitler and World War 2.
The Assassination of Martin Luther King / The Release of Nelson Mandela
S1 Ep3
6.2
4 April 1968 and February 1990. How two men - both intellectuals and determined opposers of racial oppression - came to symbolise the fight for equality as their lives for their cause.
Hiroshima
S1 Ep4
6.7
This episode dramatises the minute by minute events leading up to the world's first ever atomic bombing. Based on extracts from President Truman's personal diaries which show the decision-making process reflecting America's real fear that the Japanese would never give up, Japanese eyewitness accounts of the tragedy in Hiroshima, diaries written on board Enola Gay, and the personal testimony of Colonel Paul Tibbets, the man who led the mission so secret not even his crew knew the enormity of what they were doing.
The Murder of the Romanovs / The Fall of the Berlin Wall
S1 Ep5
7.6
17 July 1918 and 9 November 1989. The Murder of the Russian royal family marked Russia's irrevocable move from a monarchy to a Communist state. Seventy Years later, the fall of the Berlin Wall symbolised the collapse of the ideology.
Kristallnacht / The Birth of Israel
S1 Ep6
6.4
9 November 1938 and 14 May 1948. Just ten years after the Nazis openly attacked Jews and their property - a huge step on the nightmare spiral to the Holocaust, the 2000 year old dream of a Jewish homeland becomes a reality and the state of Israel is Born.
Tutankhamun's Tomb / Deciphering the Rosetta Stone
S1 Ep7
6.9
26 November 1922 and 17 September 1822. Two days that brought ancient Egypt dramatically to life. In 1822, Jean-Francois champollion cracks Egyptian hieroglyphs. One hundred years later, Howard Carter reads the name on a tomb and makes an amazing discovery.
First Nuclear Reaction / Chernobyl
S1 Ep8
8.0
2 December 1942 and 26 April 1986. The first controlled nuclear chain reaction heralded the atomic age, but Chernobyl's runaway chain reaction was the first warning. How did the most exciting scientific breakthroughs ever lead to the disaster that the world had dreaded?
Days That Shook the World is a British documentary television series that premiered on BBC Two on 17 September 2003. The programme features various milestones throughout history. It has been broadcast on the BBC, Discovery Channel UK, The History Channel and Viasat History.
The series was also released on DVD by the Polish edition of Newsweek in 2007.
The best rated episodes of Days That Shook the World are:
The Christmas Truce S2E2 rated 8.8
Affairs of the Crown: The Execution of Anne Boleyn/The Abdication of Edward VIII S2E10 rated 8.3
The Battle of Midway S3E7 rated 8.0
Let Freedom Rise: The Boston Tea Party/The Independence of India S3E5 rated 8.0
Terrorism: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln/Oklahoma City Bombing S2E8 rated 8.0
Conspiracy to Kill: The Real Day of the Jackal / Wolf's Lair S2E5 rated 8.0
First Nuclear Reaction / Chernobyl S1E8 rated 8.0
The lowest rated episodes of Days That Shook the World are:
The Assassination of Martin Luther King / The Release of Nelson Mandela S1E3 rated 6.2
Kristallnacht / The Birth of Israel S1E6 rated 6.4
Hiroshima S1E4 rated 6.7
Tutankhamun's Tomb / Deciphering the Rosetta Stone S1E7 rated 6.9
The Cost of Betrayal: The Defection of Burgess & MacLean/The Execution of the Rosenbergs S3E1 rated 7.0
The War to End All Wars: The End of World War I S3E4 rated 7.3
Dinosaurs & Duplicity: Discovery of the First Dinosaur/Piltdown Man S2E7 rated 7.5
The first episode of Days That Shook the World aired on November 01, 2003.
The last episode of Days That Shook the World aired on April 22, 2006.
There are 28 episodes of Days That Shook the World.
