Popular Documentary TV Series on PBS

NOVA

1974

NOVA

1974
7
PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.
The Boys from Brazil: Rise of the Bolsonaros

2022

The Boys from Brazil: Rise of the Bolsonaros

2022
5.4
The remarkable rise of one of the world’s most controversial leaders, Jair Bolsonaro, from obscurity to the presidency of Brazil.
American Experience

1988

American Experience

1988
6.6
TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.
Great Performances

1971

Great Performances

1971
5.8
The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.
Horizon

1964

Horizon

1964
7.4
Horizon tells amazing science stories, unravels mysteries and reveals worlds you've never seen before.
Nature

1982

Nature

1982
7.9
Consistently stunning documentaries transport viewers to far-flung locations ranging from the torrid African plains to the chilly splendours of icy Antarctica. The show's primary focus is on animals and ecosystems around the world. A comic book based on the show, meant to be used an as educational tool for kids, was briefly distributed to museums and schools at no cost in the mid-2000s.
Frontline

1983

Frontline

1983
6.9
Since it began in 1983, Frontline has been airing public-affairs documentaries that explore a wide scope of the complex human experience. Frontline's goal is to extend the impact of the documentary beyond its initial broadcast by serving as a catalyst for change.
Independent Lens

1999

Independent Lens

1999
6.5
This acclaimed Emmy Award-winning anthology series features documentaries and a limited number of fiction films united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement and unflinching visions of their independent producers and featuring unforgettable stories about a unique individual, community or moment in history.
American Masters

1986

American Masters

1986
7.2
American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.
Finding Your Roots

2012

Finding Your Roots

2012
6.2
Noted Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has been helping people discover long-lost relatives hidden for generations within the branches of their family trees. Professor Gates utilizes a team of genealogists to reconstruct the paper trail left behind by our ancestors and the world’s leading geneticists to decode our DNA and help us travel thousands of years into the past to discover the origins of our earliest forebears.
The American Revolution

2025

The American Revolution

2025
5.5
The American Revolution was at once a war for independence, a war of conquest, a civil war, and a world war, fought by neighbors on American farms and between global powers an ocean or more away. It impacted millions from Vermont’s Green Mountains to the swamps of South Carolina, from Indian Country to the Iberian Peninsula. In defeating the British Empire and giving birth to a new nation, the American Revolution turned the world upside-down. Thirteen colonies on the Atlantic Coast united in rebellion, won their independence, and established a republic that still endures. The American Revolution will present the story of the men and women of the Revolutionary generation, their humanity in victory and defeat, and the crisis that they lived through.
Secrets of the Dead

2000

Secrets of the Dead

2000
6.3
Part detective story, part true-life drama, long-running series explores some of the most iconic moments in history to debunk myths and shed new light on past events. Using the latest investigative techniques, forensic science and historical examination, it shatters accepted wisdom, challenges prevailing ideas, overturns existing hypotheses, spotlights forgotten mysteries, and ultimately rewrites history.
Rick Steves' Europe

2000

Rick Steves' Europe

2000
8.6
Rick Steves, America's leading authority on European travel, returns to transport viewers to the continent's bustling cities, quaint villages and picturesque countryside.
Prohibition

2011

Prohibition

2011
7.9
The history of the rise, rule and fall of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the entire era it encompassed (1920-33). After nearly a century of activism, Prohibition was intended to improve the lives of all citizens by protecting individuals, families and society at large from the devastating effects of alcohol abuse; but paradoxically it made millions of people rethink their definition of morality.
The Mind of a Chef

2012

The Mind of a Chef

2012
8.5
Go inside the minds of some of the world's top chefs. Narrated by Executive Producer Anthony Bourdain, The Mind of a Chef is that rare and beautiful thing: an intelligent show about cooking.
Perspectives

2011

Perspectives

2011
A British TV documentary series for ITV. Each hour long program sees well-known celebrities travel to various parts of the world to explore more about a person who has inspired them.
Long Lost Family

2011

Long Lost Family

2011
3.3
Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present the documentary series which aims to reunite family members after years of separation, and offers a lifeline for people who are desperate to find long-lost relatives.
The U.S. and the Holocaust

2022

The U.S. and the Holocaust

2022
8.3
Inspired in part by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s “Americans and the Holocaust” exhibition and supported by its historical resources, this documentary series examines the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany in the context of global antisemitism and racism, the eugenics movement in the United States, and race laws in the American south.
Country Music

2019

Country Music

2019
7.3
Explore the history of a uniquely American art form: country music. From its deep and tangled roots in ballads, blues and hymns performed in small settings, to its worldwide popularity, learn how country music evolved over the course of the 20th century, as it eventually emerged to become America’s music.
Bajo sospecha

2015

Bajo sospecha

2015
7.3

Popular Documentary TV Series on PBS

1974

1974

2022

2022

1988

1988

1971

1971

1964

1964

1982

1982

1983

1983

1999

1999

1986

1986

2012

2012

2025

2025

2000

2000

2000

2000

2011

2011

2012

2012

2011

2011

2011

2011

2022

2022

2019

2019

2015

2015