Hearst Networks Africa commissions The Schultz Creative for Battlefields South Africa with John Robbie on History channel, hands Great African Crimes a second season

by Thinus Ferreira

Hearst Networks Africa has commissioned The Schultz Creative to produce a new original series, Battlefields South Africa with John Robbie for the History Channel Africa (DStv 186), while renewing Great African Crimes with presenter Mandy Wiener for a second season.

Great African Crimes is also produced by the Johannesburg-based The Schultz Creative, taking over from the troubled Clive Morris Productions (CMP), which produced the first season.

Battlefields South Africa will start on the History Channel on 6 June and air every Friday at 21:05, while a starting date for the second season of Great African Crimes will be announced later.

"We're delighted to once again be building on our local content offering from recent years," says Nazarene Khan, Heart Networks Africa regional director.

According to Heart Networks Africa, Battlefields South Africa takes audiences on a journey through three locally relevant iconic historic battle sites. 

Combining a mix of vivid storytelling and expert analysis, Battlefields South Africa brings the childhood wonder of playing soldiers to life, exploring real-life stories from pivotal conflicts.

The episodes will focus on some of the country's most legendary battlegrounds, including Isandlwana, Rorke's Drift, Spionkop, and Colenso.

"We're incredibly excited to work alongside Hearst Networks Africa to bring these battlefields to life," says Carl Schultz, The Schultz Creative executive producer.

"In each of the episodes, John Robbie will invite a celebrity guest into studio where he will tell the story of the battle with the use of a large-scale model of the battlefield creating a dynamic and educational experience."

The second season of Great African Crimes will looks at two shocking crimes from the South Africa's history books. 

The second season looks at what would be different if the cases happened today and how the outcomes of the court could differ to what they were historically.

History channel set for 2nd season of Great African Mysteries with John Robbie and once-off show Great African Crimes with Mandy Wiener.

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.