Browse the full PBS America TV guide for Sunday, 18 October 2026. 10 programmes listed , including 5 tonight. UK listings updated daily — scroll down to tonight's highlights or use the day tabs above to browse the weekly schedule.
Daytime
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13:00 35m
Weathered: Earth's Extremes
S1 · E6 · Climate CrossroadsMaiya May learns how climate change is impacting ocean currentsMaiya May returns to Florida to learn how climate change is impacting ocean currents and nature before meeting Stacey Abrahms in Georgia to learn about her non-profit organisation -
13:35 1h 10m
Besieged Fortresses, Legendary Battles
S1 · E1 · The Daunting Fortress of Richard the LionheartThe daunting fortress of Richard the LionheartHow fortresses redefined the art of warfare, illustrated with the aid of CGI, dramatised scenes and contributions by key experts. The first programme details the daunting fortress of Richard the Lionheart - a story of an amazing feat of medieval military construction -
14:45 1h 10m
Besieged Fortresses, Legendary Battles
S1 · E2 · The Siege of LA Rochelle, the Fall of the Protestant BastionCatholic king Louis XII's bid to overcome La RochelleLa Rochelle was the largest Protestant base in France and for Catholic king Louis XIII was the last stronghold needing to be abolished before he could reign fully over the country. However, conquering La Rochelle proved more difficult than imagined -
15:55 1h 5m
Besieged Fortresses, Legendary Battles
S1 · E3 · The Siege of Orléans, Joan of Arc's VictoryJoan of Arc's victory at the Siege of OrléansThe Siege of Orléans, the most striking event in the Hundred Year War. The city managed to resist for seven months from October 1428 to May 1429 before being delivered from the English in just a few days by Joan of Arc. It proved a turning point in the conflict between France and England -
17:00 1h 10m
Besieged Fortresses, Legendary Battles
S1 · E4 · The Siege of Alesia, Caesar's Greatest VictoryThe Battle of AlesiaThe Battle of Alesia, contested in 52 BC towards the end of the Gallic wars, in which Roman forces under the command of Julius Caesar besieged Alesia, within which sheltered a confederation of Gallic tribes united under the leadership of Vercingetorix of the Arverni. After six years of fighting, almost 200 000 warriors came together on the plain. One of the greatest battles in Antiquity was about to commence
Tonight's Highlights
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18:10 1h 10m
Silent War: The Shadow of Atomic Bombs
Dawn of the ApocalypsePart one of two. Examining the dawn of the atomic agePart one of two. Hiroshima to Kazakhstan - how nuclear powers turned remote lands and marginalised peoples into laboratories of the atomic age, hiding the deadly reality of fallout while perfecting more powerful bombs. It sold the arms race as protection and progress -
19:20 1h 10m
Silent War: The Shadow of Atomic Bombs
Atomic Mirror WorldPart two of two. The hydrogen bomb agePart two of two. The hydrogen bomb age from Bikini to Kazakhstan, the closure of the Soviet Polygon and the broken promises of the Budapest Memorandum. Today, Russia uses nuclear threats to redraw borders and China builds its arsenal unchecked -
20:30 1h 10m
The Rosenbergs: Atomic Spies
A couple who became the target of anti-Communist hysteriaHow, in 1950 with America in the throes of the Red Scare, seemingly ordinary couple Julius and Ethel Rosenberg found themselves the target of anti-Communist hysteria. Arrested by the FBI and accused of passing secret information to the USSR, they maintained their innocence while the media and public opinion seemed to condemned them. Their trial did nothing to change this and ended in a death sentence. Thirty years later, declassified files revealed that Ethel was not a spy, though Julius did commit espionage - primarily as a recruiter. Using archival footage, this documentary revisits the intriguing case -
21:40 1h 10m
Declarations: Black Americans and the Revolutionary War
Documentary tracing the heroic stories of Black AmericansDocumentary tracing the heroic stories of the enslaved and freed Black Americans who fought to define democracy and their liberty through the Revolutionary War -
22:50 1h 10m
The Rosenbergs: Atomic Spies
A couple who became the target of anti-Communist hysteriaHow, in 1950 with America in the throes of the Red Scare, seemingly ordinary couple Julius and Ethel Rosenberg found themselves the target of anti-Communist hysteria. Arrested by the FBI and accused of passing secret information to the USSR, they maintained their innocence while the media and public opinion seemed to condemned them. Their trial did nothing to change this and ended in a death sentence. Thirty years later, declassified files revealed that Ethel was not a spy, though Julius did commit espionage - primarily as a recruiter. Using archival footage, this documentary revisits the intriguing case