← Big, Bigger, Biggest

Season 3

6 episodes · 2011

  1. 1

    Canal

    Jul 5, 201150 min★ 8.1

    The Panama Canal is set to double its capacity almost a century after it opened. Find out why its success lies in four key breakthroughs that enable ever bigger ships to navigate landlocked areas. It has been called: "The Mother of All Shortcuts"!

  2. 2

    Icebreaker

    Jul 19, 201150 min★ 7.4

    Find out what made it possible for the world’s largest icebreaking ship to smash through solid ice a metre and a half thick and pulverise blocks of ice the size of a car with its huge propellers.

  3. 3

    Metro

    Jul 12, 201150 min★ 7.6

    Over 4 million people use the London Underground every day. Find out how four key inventions in a series of landmark metro systems helped it become the biggest subway in the Western world.

  4. 4

    Prison

    Aug 9, 201150 min★ 7.2

    Modern prisons are brimming with technology. Explore the inner workings and incredible stories behind four landmark prisons that allowed engineers to build safer, tougher and bigger prisons.

  5. 5

    Tower

    Jul 26, 201150 min★ 8.1

    China’s Canton Tower required great leaps in technology to build. Explore the way key historic towers like the Eiffel Tower and Washington Monument made these engineering breakthroughs possible.

  6. 6

    Train

    Aug 2, 201150 min★ 7.2

    France’s TGV has been pushed to 575 kilometres. Examine four iconic trains and the breakthroughs that enabled the development of the fastest train on the planet.