English Entertainment
HistoryTV18 investigates the world’s most inexplicable mysteries on ‘The UnXplained with William Shatner’
MUMBAI :Have you heard of birds that predict disasters days before they take place, or sinister cults that manipulate hundreds of people to willingly take their own lives? Can science explain why some areas just seem strangely evil, and is there any truth behind ancient stories of unearthly creatures like vampires and werewolves? Why does rain sometimes fall from the sky like blood, and how do some rocks and stones inspire people to worship them?
HistoryTV18’s latest premiere, ‘The UnXplained with William Shatner’, premiering on the 5th of October at 6 PM, explores these and other equally fascinating questions that have stumped humankind for centuries. The series is presented by award-winning actor and science fiction icon, William Shatner, and features compelling contributions from scientists, historians, and witnesses seeking to shed light on how the seemingly impossible can occur. With hour-long thematic episodes airing every Monday and Tuesday evening at 6, it is an exploration of the most fascinating, strange, and inexplicable mysteries in the world.
The series delves into strange happenings involving curious weather phenomena, bizarre cults, “evil” locations, and dire prophecies, among others. However, instead of merely giving definitive solutions, experts and historians share their opinions, and present various well-researched theories, allowing viewers to discern the answers. The narrative stays rooted in reality, making no fantastical claims, while acknowledging that there is still much remaining for humans to discover.
One of the episodes on ‘The UnXplained with William Shatner’, premiering on the 5th of October at 6 PM, tries to get into the minds of people who have been masters of manipulation. Exploring the intoxicating charisma of cult leaders, the episode investigates what makes thousands of followers give up power to them. Along with using archival footage and photographs of famous human sacrifices and indoctrination, the show even takes viewers to the actual sites where these mysterious events took place decades ago. Another episode tries to unravel the mysteries of how, and why, certain incredible structures, like the Great Pyramid at Giza and the intricate spiral staircase at the Loretto Chapel, remain standing without any central support. While we like to think of ourselves as the peak of evolution, the show also poses the pertinent question, what if we are wrong. An episode also examines the extraordinary powers that allow a dog to detect cancer faster than doctors with sophisticated equipment, and a horse that can read a person’s mind. Some of the other fascinating stories featured in one or the other episode of the series include a priceless gemstone with a deadly curse, a sacred chunk of sandstone that has caused wars, ancient rituals like voodoo and exorcism, and remarkable tales of human survival.
After having explored the depths of space as Captain Kirk in the legendary science fiction series, Star Trek, William Shatner is now captaining the search for answers to these real-world mysteries. As presenter and executive producer of ‘The UnXplained with William Shatner’, premiering on the 5th of October at 6 PM on HistoryTV18, he too is thrilled about being part of this fascinating series.
Watch ‘The UnXplained with William Shatner’ from the 5th of October, every Monday and Tuesday evenings at 6 PM, only on HistoryTV18 and HistoryTV18 HD
Link for Show Promo-
UK: The aerial is losing its grip. As broadband becomes the default way Britons watch television, the UK is edging towards a decisive, and divisive, question: should Freeview be switched off by 2034? The issue, highlighted in reporting by The Guardian, has exposed deep fault lines over access, affordability and the future of public service broadcasting.
For nearly 25 years, Freeview has delivered free-to-air television from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 to almost every corner of the country. Even now, it remains the UK’s largest TV platform, used in more than 16m homes and on around 10m main household sets. Yet the same broadcasters that built it are now pressing for its closure within eight years.
Their case rests on a structural shift in viewing. Smart TVs, superfast broadband and the Netflix-led streaming boom have pulled audiences online. Advertising economics have followed. By 2034, the number of homes using Freeview as their main TV set is forecast to fall from a peak of almost 12m in 2012 to fewer than 2m, making digital terrestrial television, or DTT, increasingly costly to sustain.
But critics say the rush to switch off risks abandoning those least able, or least willing, to move online.
“I don’t want to be choosing apps and making new accounts,” says Lynette, 80, from Kent. “It is time-consuming and irritating trying to work out where I want to be, to remember the sequence of clicks, with hieroglyphics instead of words. If I make a mistake I have to start again.”
Lynette is among nearly 100,000 people who have signed a “save Freeview” petition launched by campaign group Silver Voices. She fears the government is about to “take [Freeview] away from me and others who either don’t like, can’t afford, or can’t use online versions”.
Official figures underline the fault lines. A report commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport estimates that by 2035, 1.8m homes will still depend on Freeview. Ofcom’s analysis shows those households are more likely to be disabled, older, living alone, female, and based in the north of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Freeview is owned by the public service broadcasters through Everyone TV, which also operates Freesat and the newer streaming platform Freely. After two years of review, DCMS is expected to set out its position soon, drawing on three options proposed by Ofcom: a costly upgrade of Freeview’s ageing technology; maintaining a bare-bones service with only core PSB channels; or a full switch-off during the 2030s.
The broadcasters have rallied behind the third option. They argue that 2034 is the logical cut-off, when transmission contracts with network operator Arqiva expire. By then, they say, the cost of broadcasting to a dwindling audience will far outweigh the returns from TV advertising.
Ofcom agrees a crunch point is approaching. In July, the regulator warned of a “tipping point” within the next few years, after which it will no longer be commercially viable for broadcasters to carry the costs of DTT.
Others see risks beyond economics. Questions remain over whether internet TV can reliably deliver emergency broadcasts, such as the daily Covid updates, in the way that universally available DTT can. The UK radio industry has also warned that an internet-only future for TV could push up distribution costs and force some radio stations off air if PSBs no longer share Arqiva’s mast network.
“It is a political hot potato,” says Dennis Reed, founder of Silver Voices, who says he has “dissociated” his organisation from the government’s stakeholder forum, which he believes is “heavily biased” towards streaming.
The Future TV Taskforce, representing the PSBs, counters that moving online could “close the digital divide once and for all”. “We want to be able to plan to ensure that no one is left behind,” a spokesperson says, adding that rising DTT costs could otherwise mean cuts to programme budgets.
The numbers show the scale of the challenge. Of the 1.8m Freeview-dependent homes projected for 2035, around 1.1m are expected to have broadband but not use it for TV. The remaining 700,000 are forecast to lack a broadband connection altogether.
Veterans of the analogue switch-off, completed in 2012 after 76 years, recall similar fears of “TV blackout chaos”. Around 6 per cent of households were labelled “digital refuseniks”, yet a targeted help scheme and a national campaign, fronted by a robot called Digit Al voiced by Matt Lucas, delivered a largely smooth transition.
This time, the BBC is less keen to foot the bill. Tim Davie, the outgoing director general, has said the corporation should not fund a comparable support programme for a Freeview switch-off.
Research for Sky by Oliver & Ohlbaum suggests that with early awareness campaigns and digital inclusion measures, only about 330,000 households would ultimately need hands-on help ahead of a 2034 shutdown.
Meanwhile, viewing habits continue to fragment. Audience body Barb says 7 per cent of UK households no longer own a TV set, choosing to watch on other devices. In December, YouTube overtook the BBC’s combined channels in total UK viewing across TVs, smartphones and tablets, albeit measured at a minimum of three minutes.
That shift may accelerate. YouTube has recently blocked Barb and its partner Kantar from accessing viewing session data, limiting transparency just as online platforms consolidate power.
“When the government chose British Satellite Broadcasting as the ‘winner’ in satellite TV it was Rupert Murdoch’s Sky instead that came out on top,” says a senior TV executive quoted by The Guardian. “There already is such an outsider ready to be the winner in the transition to internet TV; it is YouTube.”
Freeview’s future now hangs on a familiar British dilemma: modernise fast and risk exclusion, or protect universality and pay the price. Either way, the aerial’s days as king of the living room look numbered.
