Name: Desperate Hours
Released: 2015-01-01

13 episodes 95%4KCC

Witness a century of disasters through gripping footage and hard-won lessons.

This series surveys major natural and manmade disasters from the last 100 years, using dramatic footage to place you inside moments of extreme danger. Episodes examine volcanoes, fires, geological crises, aviation tragedies, epidemics, and industrial catastrophes, revealing both the force of nature and the consequences of human error. Sign up to watch events that challenge how you see risk, resilience, and survival.

Episode guide

13 episodes

1Volcanoes

In this episode, we contemplate—from a safe distance—the lethal majesty of volcanoes, one of the planet's most destructive and spectacular natural forces. It is estimated there are up to 4,000 volcanoes on the Earth and every year about 50 of them are active above sea level.

27 min

2Earthquakes

The earth really moves in this episode as we take in scenes and stories from some of the most devastating of all the natural cataclysms: the earthquake. With all its pent-up power, nothing releases more sheer destructive energy than the grinding forces at work between the Earth's tectonic plates.

26 min

3Epidemics

Things get personal in this episode as we really get under the skin to explore something that is a threat to all of us wherever we live: the epidemic and its global big brother, the pandemic.

26 min

4Fire

In this installment, we turn up the heat to examine a natural phenomenon that is both a friend and a foe to humankind. We'll travel back in time to remind ourselves that dangerous and deadly fires are a fact of life, as immutable as the wind, the rain or the seasons.

26 min

5Wind

You can run for cover, but you can’t hide from the wild winds: hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, twisters and typhoons. Whether these powerful wind storms form over land or water, they leave devastation in their wake all across the globe.

26 min

6Floods

Flash floods in Brazil, the deluge that followed Hurricane Katrina, and the overflow after the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2015 are all, to some extent, natural phenomena. But is a changing climate making them not only more likely but their impact more severe?

26 min

7Geological Disasters

Ours is a dangerous world where geological mishaps—avalanches, landslides, heat waves, sinkholes and blizzards—can spell disaster almost as much as big cataclysms like earthquakes and tidal waves. While casualty counts might be lower, geological disturbances still cause their fair share of misery.

26 min

8Nuclear and Industrial Disasters

Our focus for this chilling but fascinating episode is when humans are a serious danger to themselves through nuclear and industrial accidents. We'll look at the Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear disasters, the Bhopal gas accident, the Savar Plaza building collapse and the BP oil spill.

26 min

9Disasters at Sea

The long saga of death and misadventure at sea is as much a record of human folly as it is of nature’s fury. This episode charts a sobering course through the choppy seas of maritime disasters involving luxury liners, routine ferry trips, an oil tanker, and modern piracy.

26 min

10Disasters in the Air

In this episode, we slip the surly bonds of Earth to encounter disasters where the black box is the only storyteller. We will see that though many improvements in aviation technology have lessened the dangers of flying over the years, the risks have not all been eliminated.

26 min

11Road and Rail Disasters

Disasters in the air and misfortunes at sea grab our attention, but it’s not always necessary to leave dry land for a terrible transportation disaster to occur. Rail journeys and even just getting in your car can be fraught with catastrophe caused by the powers of nature and human folly alike.

26 min

12Environmental Disasters

Life on planet Earth is a fragile proposition with a complicated network of interconnected systems. As the human custodians of the planet, this episode is a sobering survey of environmental disasters—such as deforestation and pollution on land, in the sea, and in the air—and their causes.

26 min

13Desperate Hours

Let’s explore the worst of the worst. In this sobering yet thrilling final installment, we'll revisit the fiercest natural catastrophes, the most devastating accidents, and the most destructive disasters caused by human folly across the planet.

27 min

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