Plot Twisted History

Five times, an unlucky man or woman was thrown into the sky at immense altitude to plunge toward the earth with no parachute. And five times, the impossible happened. This episode recounts the tales of those who beat the longest of odds to cheat certain death.

When a band of oddball characters take a road trip holiday to Switzerland, they expect to party away the summer. However, the most miserable summer weather on record forces them indoors and into an intellectual game that will inadvertently impact the world. This episode tells the story of how some of the most seminal horror ever written came to be.

A rural region of 18th century France is under attack from a beast that seems like no creature on earth. As the deaths mount, the citizens of Gevaudan look to their king for help. However, when the efforts of the powerful fail, who will rise to save them? This episode tells the hard to believe but well-documented story of the Beast of Gevaudan.

During the darkest hours of World War II in Poland, a Polish countess risks her life time and again to stand against the Nazis who run a nearby extermination camp, freeing thousands of prisoners and feeding thousands more in the process – right under the nose of the Final Solution. However, she hides a deep secret that will doom her immediately should it be found out by those she faces daily. The story of the remarkable Countess Janina Sucholdolska.

The sieging of walled cities by invading armies is a dismal tale as old as history. However, one siege stands out from them all – as if it had been scripted by Hollywood screenwriters for its surreal origin, bizarre dramatics, and jaw-dropping ending. This episode tells the hard-to-believe story of the 1683 Siege of Vienna.