In 1997, Sweden changed television history. That year saw the launch of Expedition Robinson, widely regarded as the world’s first reality-based competitive television programme.

The premise was strikingly simple. A group of ordinary people were stranded on a remote island, where they were required to build shelter, compete in challenges and vote one another out — until only one contestant remained.

When the final votes were cast, it was Martin Melin who stood alone. In doing so, he became the world’s first reality TV winner — years before the genre would grow into a global entertainment force.

The programme’s path to broadcast was far from smooth. It prompted fierce ethical debate in Sweden and came close to being pulled before transmission. Yet once it aired, it became one of the country’s most talked-about and successful television shows.

Its format would go on to inspire the international hit Survivor, which marks its 50th US season in 2026.

Martin tells Madelaine Savage how it felt to be part of a new cultural phenomenon.

A Podlit production.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Martin Melin. Credit: Aftonbladet via Alamy)

In 1996, the bricklayer renovating Merced dos Anjos’ home in Rio de Janeiro told her something strange had happened. Bones appeared as he was breaking ground. As she inspected the site, she found they were human. But why so many bones? Was it the work of a serial killer?

The answer was more macabre. They had unearthed an ancient cemetery. The discovery shed light on the brutal history of Brazil’s slavery past – and Rio’s role as the biggest slavery port in the Americas.

The neighbouring Valongo Wharf, today a World Heritage Site, received roughly one million African captives by 1831. Many were too weak after the transatlantic crossing and died soon after arriving. They were buried in the so-called New Blacks Cemetery.

Merced dos Anjos tells Julia Carneiro how the discovery upended her life and led her to create a research centre to shed light on Rio's painful past.

An Overcoat Media production.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Merced Guimarães dos Anjos. Credit: Julia Dias Carneiro)

In 1996, a fossil unearthed in China became the first confirmed record of a dinosaur covered in feathers.

Before this discovery, some palaeontologists had suggested that dinosaurs might have developed feathers and eventually evolved into modern birds, but the idea remained controversial due to the lack of concrete evidence.

Canadian palaeontologist Philip Currie was among the first experts to examine the specimen and recognise it as a feathered dinosaur. He tells Stefania Gozzer about the scientific debate the fossil ignited, as well as the challenges of accessing the specimen at a time when it was still difficult for Western researchers to study fossils in China.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines' life and Omar Sharif's legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives' ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: A cast of a Sinosauropteryx prima is on display in the Royal Ontario Museum. Credit: Bernard Weil/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a seven-year project which examined the country’s residential school system.

For more than 100 years, Indigenous children were taken from their families to boarding schools with the sole purpose to “kill the Indian in the child”.

The schools were run by various church organisations on behalf of the Canadian government, and many children were subject to physical and sexual abuse.

In 2015, the commission found that cultural genocide had been committed against Canada’s Indigenous people.

Chief Wilton Littlechild was one of the three commissioners who travelled the country hearing survivor’s testimony. He has been speaking to Tim O’Callaghan.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

(Photo: Female students at a residential school with a nun in 1940. Credit: Reuters/ Canada. Dept. Indian and Northern Affairs/Library and Archives Canada)