As a Freeview Play viewer, you can be amongst the first in the UK to watch on demand content from PBS America, thanks to the broadcasters’ launch of its first catch up player. From insightful documentaries to shows for arts fans, you can now enjoy a new wealth of content on demand. Keep reading for a round-up of some of the best shows currently available.
The Civil War
A comprehensive and definitive history of the American Civil War by award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, this nine-episode series vividly embraces the entire sweep of the war, from the complex causes to the lasting effect of the conflict.
Edible Insects
From crunchy cricket chips to nutty black soldier fly grubs, Edible Insects leaps across cultural and culinary boundaries to explore the insect food industry and how it could benefit our health and our warming planet. Will these creepy critters soon be making their way to your own dinner table?
Plane Crash Recreated
Putting skilled pilots into state-of-the-art simulators and replicating the scenario, Plane Crash Recreated explains some of the world’s most infamous plane crashes. Follow intense investigations into catastrophic accidents, including Pakistan International Airlines flight 8303 which crashed in a densely populated area of Karachi to British Midland Flight 92 which fell from the air on a routine journey from London Heathrow to Belfast.
Nature’s Fear Factor
Nature’s Fear Factor tells the story of the reintroduction of Painted Wolves - also known as African Wild Dogs - back to Gorongosa National Park in the wilds of Mozambique. After decades of civil war, the park was left in tatters, but in one of the most ambitious experiments ever undertaken, an expert team of scientists and conservationists try to rebuild the entire ecosystem.
The Vietnam War
Visceral and immersive, this series explores the human dimensions of the war through revelatory testimonies of nearly 80 witnesses from all sides - Americans who fought in the war and others who opposed it, as well as combatants and civilians from North and South Vietnam.
Ice Age Footprints
Ice Age Footprints gives viewers the chance to look at what thousands of prehistoric footprints in New Mexico's White Sands National Park might reveal about the peopling of the Americas. Frozen in time, these intimate traces of life capture moments when humans crossed paths with extinct animals, including enormous ground sloths and mammoths.
Country Music
Explore the history of a uniquely American art form in the eight-part series Country Music. From its deep and tangled roots in ballads, blues and hymns performed in small settings, to its worldwide popularity, learn how country music evolved over the course of the 20th century.
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali brings to life one of the best-known and most indelible figures of the 20th century, a three-time heavyweight boxing champion who captivated millions of fans throughout the world with his mesmerizing combination of speed, grace, and power in the ring, and charm and playful boasting outside of it.
Want to explore PBS America’s brand-new on-demand player for yourself?
