by Thinus Ferreira
From the Thulamela kingdom to the quagga, the History channel will debut a second season of Great African Mysteries from 3 August with presenter John Robbie, while journalist Mandy Wiener is set to front Great African Crimes that will start in October for the channel's first-ever "Crime Month".
A second season of Great African Mysteries will start on History (DStv 186) on Saturday 3 August at 19:25 with John Robbie continuing as the presenter with three episodes looking at geology and mineralogy, zoology, as well as archaeology.
The second season of Great Africa Mysteries and Great African Crimes were both produced by Clive Morris Productions (CMP) which is facing financial problems which led to the abrupt abrupt shuttering since June of Paramount Africa's Queendom telenovela and CMP also losing the production contract of Showmax's Empini telenovela that MultiChoice decided to take away and move to another company.
The first episode of the second season of Great African Mysteries looks at the earth's oldest and largest meteor crater created over 2 billion years
ago when an asteroid hit the planet near the present-day town of Vredefort and how this led to the discovery of gold billions of
years later.
The second episode looks at the quagga, extinct for over 140 years but which scientists
are working to revive. John Robbie explores how, through selective breeding, an
attempt is being made to retrieve the genes responsible for the quagga’s
characteristic striping pattern.
The third episode explores the secrets
behind the ancient walled kingdom of Thulamela inside the Kruger National
Park. Dating back to the 15th century, its ruins unveil a rich history of trade
and culture, offering a unique glimpse into Africa's past.
"As in the first season these stories will educate,
thrill and challenge people's perceptions about aspects of the past in Africa," says John Robbie.
"South Africa, and
indeed Africa, have such incredible history and prehistory and so much of it
has either been forgotten or not widely taught. I'm hoping that this project
will inspire people to look into this with newly opened minds."
Great African Crimes is a once-off show on 22 October with three stories, uncovering the details behind some of the most riveting crimes from South Africa's past and will explore three dramatic crimes which left South Africa stunned.
It will screen in October during History channel's first-ever "Crime Month" programming block.
"Great African Crimes has
all the ingredients of a compelling TV show – really interesting crimes,
complex characters, intriguing narratives, the backdrop of the African context," says Mandy Wiener.
"I'm looking forward to telling these stories and working with a great team of
producers and creators. I hope to bring my two decades of experience in the
news environment, telling crime stories, to this project."
In September, History will have a second instalment of its My History Moments - a short-form
series where well-known South Africans share pivotal moments from their lives.
Also in September, Laurence
Fishburne will unpack the puzzles of the world's most enigmatic unsolved
mysteries in the 5th season of History's Greatest Mysteries with Laurence
Fishburne.
Actor Morgan Freeman
executive produces and features in the documentary 761st Tank Battalion: The
Original Black Panthers which will be on History from October.
It will tell the true story of the
first black tank unit to serve in combat during WWII and explore in-depth the
major battles they faced both overseas while in combat and back home in the
United States.
