Days That Shocked the World - Season 1 Episode 1

In March 2011, Japan was hit by a devastating tsunami killing 20,000 and triggering a nuclear meltdown. Survivors and witnesses tell their extraordinary stories.

The tsunami provokes a major meltdown at the local nuclear facility. What happened to the safeguards? What went wrong at Fukushima?

In April 1986, a huge explosion at Chernobyl blasted radioactive dust into the atmosphere

Chernobyl left wreckage that will be radioactive for 20,000 years. But what caused it?

On the 25th July 2000, a Concorde leaving Paris for New York caught fire on take-off before crashing to the ground. But why? Investigators and loved ones recall the tragedy.

September 11, 2001 remains one of the most shocking events in world history, changing the world forever. In this first of a two-part documentary marking the 25th anniversary of the tragedy, rescue workers, survivors and witnesses relive the events of 9/11, revealing how a regular morning turned into an unimaginable nightmare. Some tell their stories for the first time, describing how chaos and fear grew minute by minute.

Within less than an hour, three hijacked aircraft had struck New York’s iconic Twin Towers and the Pentagon. But the nightmare was far from over. As a global audience watched in horror, the Twin Towers collapsed, the Pentagon continued to burn and, in western Pennsylvania, a fourth hijacked airliner, United Flight 93, crashed into a field. Amid the devastation and fear, extraordinary acts of heroism emerged. Rescue workers, survivors and witnesses remember the tragedy and the moments that changed the world forever.