Mystic Britain - Episode Guide

Clive travels to the ancient Church of St. Mary's Troston, where the walls are scored with medieval demonic symbols. Mary-Ann tries her hand at spells and curses, learning why demons really weren't very smart. Clive tries to understand why people 600 years ago truly believed that demons walked the earth doing the devil's work. The two discover that these evil creatures transformed into something very real and very human - witches. What drove such intense levels of superstition in our ancestors? And were people really practicing black magic?

England's 6,000-year-old Rollright Stones, located on the borders of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire, are among the oldest and most mystic monuments in Britain and have captured people's imaginations for thousands of years. For some, they mark the spot of an unseen natural energy source. For others, they are the home of fairies dancing on summer evenings. For many, they inspire legendary tales of witches, like the Rollright Witch. Hosts Clive Anderson and Mary-Ann Ochota visit this mystic site and Long Compton to meet residents and examine ancient artifacts in hopes of separating the facts from centuries of mystery and myth.

At the start of the first millennium, the Roman Empire invaded Britain with an army that was organized and armed to the teeth with modern weapons. But they feared the ancient Brits were magical savage cannibals, and so they built a barrier that separated the docile south from these mystical druid-led northern natives: Hadrian's Wall. Visit the empire's most impressive legacy in Britain, which still stands today, and discover its surprising carvings, used to enhance Rome's performance during this epic, supernatural battle.

In 1963, archaeologists discovered a mysterious pit full of human bones in Wharram Percy, a preserved medieval village in Yorkshire. Some were dismembered, some were burnt, and all were buried here for a specific reason. Now, our hosts dig through old records and use the latest forensic technology to determine if these corpses were killed in battle, were the result of human sacrifice or cannibalism, or were mutilated to stop them from coming back from the dead. Clive Anderson and Mary-Ann Ochota humorously unravel Yorkshire's 'living dead' - human remains from the Middle Ages, when it was believed zombies walked England's green and pleasant land.

The chance discovery of a gold-filled Anglo-Saxon royal tomb at Prittlewell, Essex, went global. Comedian Clive Anderson and anthropologist Mary-Ann Ochota ask: who was this this ancient royal? It was supposed to be a routine excavation of a small traffic island in Essex, but it turned into a remarkable archaeological find. The 2003 discovery of an ancient pagan burial chamber revealed a treasure trove of artifacts from the Dark Ages and one shocker: gold foil crosses that predate the arrival of Christianity to the region by nearly 20 years. Was this the tomb of a trailblazer for the religion that would dominate Britain for the next 1,400 years? And if so, what did it mean for the Anglo-Saxon gods that dominated the landscape?

When we think of mummies, our minds usually turn to ancient Egypt and its bandage-wrapped pharaohs and queens. But as Clive Anderson and Mary-Ann Ochota explore Britain's mystic past, they discover a very different type of mummy, created by smoke, salty sea caves, and bogs. Journey across the United Kingdom as we examine bones from the Bronze Age, revealing strange puppet skeletons, bodies with bits missing, and even a macabre marionette.

The U.K. was a hotspot for human sacrifice about 2,000 years ago, and it apparently went beyond simple ritualistic killings. There was cannibalism as well. What was going on during Britain's Iron Age and what drove its people to commit such barbaric executions? Follow hosts Clive Anderson and Mary-Ann Ochota as they travel from the hill forts of Maiden Castle to a cave in South Gloucestershire to uncover the reasons behind these gruesome rituals, to detail the various methods of murder, and to reveal who these unfortunate victims were. Visit seaside caves, grassy castles, and a Lego Iron Age village as we hunt down evidence of human sacrifice in Britain.

Yorkshire, England is a town known for its pudding, cricket, and--so it seems--Mesolithic shamans. Clive Anderson and anthropologist Mary-Ann Ochota examine a treasure trove of ancient wonders found at an archaeological site in Star Carr, including headdresses, tools, and weapons made from deer skulls, bones, and antlers. They also find evidence of the oldest houses ever built in Britain, proving that our 11,000-year-old Ice Age ancestors were a lot more sophisticated than previously believed. They attempt to commune with the old gods as they investigate Britain's Ice Age shamans.

Explore one of Britain's best known but most mysterious sites and consider new theories about why Stonehenge was really built. Ancient Britons made a huge circle using stones that had been dragged 180 miles from Wales 5,000 years ago. Five hundred years later, they introduced the mighty sarsen stones, creating the Stonehenge we know today. All these years later, questions still remain: who built it and why? Is it magical? A religious temple? A celestial clock? Did druids build it? By Merlin? Hosts Clive Anderson and Mary-Ann Ochota are determined to get answers and reveal the hidden secrets of the stones.

Host Clive Anderson and Mary-Ann Ochota are on a trip through time and across the U.K. to examine the sacred sites, supernatural beliefs, and strange rituals of the ancient Britons. Their journey will take them from Ice Age shamanism treasure troves to Stone Age mysteries like the Rollright Stones and Stonehenge to Iron Age tales of human sacrifice to Middle Age zombies and witches. It's a wild 10,000-year trip to uncover the lives and beliefs of our distant ancestors from the unsettling to the utterly surprising.

Clive Anderson and Mary-Ann Ochota are on a hunt for the Picts, a medieval tribe from Scotland that terrified the Romans and ruled most of northern Scotland for centuries before vanishing from history. Our hosts are on a mission to discover who these formidable people were, what happened to them, and where this lost tribe eventually went. Finding the answers will lead them into a strange world of myth and magic, involving Viking-battling giants, crazed warriors, and the Loch Ness Monster--Nessie--herself!

Of all the ways Britain's ancestors have left their mark on the land, none are as impressive or as baffling as the giant carvings cut into the chalklands of Southern England. Chief among them is a White Horse, a 360-foot, mysterious piece of land art steeped in legend, folklore, and magic. Join Clive and Mary-Ann as they translate the subtleties of ancient texts, party with local pagans, and explore the horse's mystical power to pull generations and communities together, all in an attempt to discover who built this incredible creature and why.

The Maeshowe runes in Northern Scotland have been a great mystery for many millennia. To the Neolithic people, the ancient monument was a burial chamber. To the Vikings, it was the home of vast treasures. And to Victorians, it was the lair of Hogboon, a powerful ancestral Norse spirit. Join Clive and Mary-Ann as they travel the Orkney Islands through 5,000 years of myth and history to uncover the true story of Maeshowe. It's a journey that will bring them into a world of legendary monsters, Christmas zombies, and sounds that drove hardened warriors insane.

Clive Anderson and Mary-Ann Ochota pay a visit to Anglesey, an island on the northwest coast of Wales that, 2,000 years ago, was dripping with druids. We know that the Roman Army annihilated these ancient Britons in 60 A.D., but we know very little about who the druids actually were. Were they harmless, harp-playing hippies or sinister practitioners of dark magic, cannibalism, and human sacrifice? To find out, our hosts immerse themselves in the culture, playing their sacred horn, creating a wicker man, and even encountering an actual druid.

Clive Anderson and Mary-Ann Ochota visit the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, the woods of Bristol, and a remote Welsh cave to investigate the strangest set of human bones ever discovered in Britain: The Red Lady. Dating back 34,000 years and stained red, these remains have baffled historians and archaeologists ever since they were discovered in 1823. Who was she? How did she end up in a cave? And why are her bones red? Using the latest forensic technology, we unearth evidence of woolly mammoths, magic wands, ancient weapons, and zombies.

A brave, chivalrous ruler. A magical sword. A mythical castled city. And a round table of noble knights. The story of King Arthur is both an epic tale and a puzzling mystery. What, if any, truth lies behind the legend? Hosts Clive Anderson and Mary-Ann Ochota are on the trail to find out. They examine a 12th-century work that greatly contributed to the myth, written during a time of civil war when Briton needed a hero. They also explore ancient castles, cast spells, wield magical swords, and encounter a real Merlin, to see if there is any truth to the legend.

In 60 AD, Queen Boudica emerged from nowhere to lead the fight against the Romans. It turned her into a legend.

Clive Anderson and Mary-Ann Ochota test outrageous remedies like leeches, head-drilling, and a pigeon that cures the plague. Plus, Henry VIII's role in Tudor medicine.
 

Clive Anderson and Mary-Ann Ochota investigate one of Britain's sinister mysteries: decapitated bodies in gruesome poses, warrior kings with tiny heads and killer cake.
 

Clive Anderson and Mary-Ann Ochota investigate rude Viking graffiti, sinister burials, and potent potions, looking to solve 34,000 years of mystic mysteries, from King Arthur to Nessie and the Wicker Man.