Last episode
Churchill's Shadow War
s15e12 · 2026-02-11
Running · GB
Abandoned Engineering
U&Yesterday Documentary
What it is
As the saying goes – they probably seemed like good ideas at the time. The world is peppered with examples of incredible engineering projects and buildings designed to make life easier for those that used them, amaze those that came to see them, and make money for those that ordered, designed and built them. They were the stuff of dreams. Often enormous engineering problems had to be resolved, obstacles overcome and new innovations employed just to get them built in the first place. Alas, a great number of these remarkable structures have now been abandoned, cast aside like enormous expensive out-of-date toys, never to be used in the ways for which they were intended. Each and every one of these extraordinary places is home to a wealth of powerful and compelling stories. We'll see and hear about some of the most spectacular examples of abandoned engineering the world has eve...
Episode highlights
Next episode
None captured
Episode guide
8 this season · 145 totals05e01 Disaster in the Desert 2020-01-21 20:00
Disaster in the Desert
Scorched remains that speak of imprisonment and torture... the desert town that faced a disaster of biblical proportions... a rusting cab leway leading to a deadly site in the mountains of southern Africa... vast coastal ruins that reveal a past once wiped from history.
s05e02 The Valkyrie Assassin 2020-01-28 20:00
The Valkyrie Assassin
The underground base with the power to destroy a nation… the site linked with an attempt to kill a vicious dictator… an ancient world discovered in the open American wilderness... the tropical island with a history of violence.
s05e03 Escape from Devil's Island 2020-02-04 20:00
Escape from Devil's Island
Including an exploration of the claustrophobic prison cells of Devil's Island; Vemork, a vast mountainside complex that held the power to change the world; Salton Sea, where a string of crumbling towns are linked by a toxic secret; and Ralsko, a sprawling secretive base that's been left standing on deadly ground.
s05e04 Top Secret Nuclear Arsenal 2020-02-11 20:00
Top Secret Nuclear Arsenal
Including an exploration of a secretive underground base that concealed the power to destroy nations; Willamette Falls, a sprawling industrial relic clinging to the edge of an unforgiving waterfall; strange constructions, separated by a century, but joined together by war; and Pilgrim's Rest, a hauntingly silent town lost deep in hills of South Africa.
s05e05 A Nation Torn Apart 2020-02-18 20:00
A Nation Torn Apart
Including an exploration of a marooned iron-clad structure in Portland, off the coast of England, that hides a dramatic story of war and resilience; Pratt Cotton Gin Mill, a vast facility in the heart of America's deep south that helped tear apart a nation; and a Mediterranean island fortress at Spinalonga, Greece, that became the scene of a dark conspiracy.
s05e06 Ghosts of the Swamp 2020-02-25 20:00
Ghosts of the Swamp
Including an exploration of forgotten relics from the defence of America's homeland, at Fort Jackson, USA, concealed by the banks of the Mississippi River; a concrete behemoth at Lorient Sub Base, on the coast of France, that proved invulnerable to enemy bombardment; and a ghostly ruin at Gwrych that is now home to a haunting presence.
s05e07 Death Behind Bars 2020-03-03 20:00
Death Behind Bars
An American prison for the violent and deranged with links to an infamous cult leader, and a cavernous tunnel network in France offering shelter from unrelenting bombardment.
s05e08 Behind Enemy Lines 2020-03-10 20:00
Behind Enemy Lines
An Albanian village home to Allied secret agents, devastated for resisting the Nazi war machine, and a notorious asylum in America that enforced labotomies on a large scale.