PBS America TV Guide — Sunday, 30 August 2026

Docudrama in which Dan Snow explores the political intrigues and family betrayals between Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and Normans that led to the Battle of Hastings. The first edition reveals how the death of Edward the Confessor without an heir triggered a bitter race to succeed him as king of England, with Earl Harold successfully taking the crown. However, William of Normandy believes the throne has been promised to him and decides to invade, while Viking king Harald Hardrada also fancies himself as monarch

As Dan Snow's docudrama continues, King Harold has to take on two invasion forces. First, his brother Tostig attacks the south coast. He is repelled, but there is more to come. Later in the year, a vast Viking invasion force led by King Harald Hardrada of Norway lands in the north of England. Harold rushes to Stamford Bridge to fight for his kingdom and for his life

After months trapped in a port in northern France, the winds finally change and Duke William leads his vast invasion fleet across the Channel. Catastrophically, King Harold is 300 miles away in the north, having defeated the Vikings. Harold rushes back south, gathers a new army, and heads to Hastings to take on this new invasion. The two armies will meet at Battle in Sussex on October 14, 1066, and the outcome will change the shape of England and Europe for ever. Dan Snow presents

The life of the Native American princess, which was anything but a fairy tale. This documentary looks beyond the fiction and reveals the real story of Pocahontas - a tale of kidnapping, conflict, starvation, ocean journeys and the future of an entire civilisation