Cities of the Underworld Seasons 1 & 2

It's just as well that the presenters of this series are infused with such over the top enthusiasm. Without this, the conceit of this series could wear a little thin. The idea probably looked great on paper, and the commissioners were probably caught up with the enthusiasm of the Producers for a low-cost, truly international series that picked up on an unusual and less-travelled historical path. The problem is that one tunnel looks pretty much like another, regardless of what glorious city lies above it. Add to that the difficulties of 'bringing the history to life' with so little material to work with and you begin to understand why the presenters needed to bust a blood vessel with enthusiasm at every line delivered. 'Awesome!' doesn't quite work for a crumbling tunnel, but maybe I lack imagination. (The presenters reminded me of that Fast Show sketch with Paul Whitehouse where he declares everything to be 'brilliant!').

So with 8 discs, and an average of three to four 45 minute episodes per disc, that's a lot of 'awesome' dark tunnels to wade through.


The PR blurb declares: "Eric and Don take you beneath the streets of the most beautiful cities in the world - Paris, Budapest and Bucharest. From secret meeting halls and dungeons to the footings of modern civilization itself they explore vaults, chambers and catacombs to bring the past alive. In the second season, CITIES takes you to the darkest recesses of New York, Dublin, Berlin, Moscow, Washington, DC and many more places. You explore the relics of the ancient Maya, the Vikings and the Knights Templar. You delve into the secrets of Stalin, Hitler and the Viet Cong. It s amazing what lies just beneath our feet, and what CITIES OF THE UNDERWORLD reveals!"

Sounds awesome. But watch that telling line: ""...beneath the streets of the most beautiful cities in the world". The emphasis is firmly on 'beneath' and few look beautiful from that perspective.


To be fair, in common with other History Channel pieces, for a low budget production, this is extremely well put together. The director and editor should be applauded for their un-ceasing imagination in covering the words with relevant visual material. Using whip pans, 3D graphics, white bursts, fixed camera time-lapse sequences and clever use of after-effects on the stills, the programme always has enough momentum to get you through. Unfortunately, it's a case of steadily diminishing returns as they struggle to maintain this across so many episodes.


Both Eric Geller (who appears for most of Season 1) and Don Wildman (who is, ironically, slightly less of a wild man than Geller, despite his name) do seem to have a genuine enthusiasm for their subject. They also meet like-minded individuals who act as tour guides. That format is maintained throughout the season, so at least there are plenty of new faces and voices.

It's curious that there is a switch in hosts towards the end of season 1. I couldn't help but wonder why. Had Eric miss-behaved of maybe he fell out with the Producers? Who knows. A mystery probably not worthy of a series of its own!


The picture quality on the DVD set I got looks fine though variable. I suspect much was shot on DV-cam though always imaginatively done, even in difficult circumstances. The graphics all look very good indeed.

The audio is punchy enough though expect wall to wall music. There is nothing subtle about this show.


Overall, if you've seen an episode or two on TV then you will know what to expect. If you can persist through the entire series then you will certainly know more than you did when you started. And that's got to be a good thing.



Here's a brief synopsis of episodes shamelessly cut and pasted from History Channel website for your convenience.

Cities of the Underworld: The Complete Seasons One & Two has 24 episodes on eight discs:

Disc One

"Scotland's Sin City": Underground spaces in Edinburgh provided lairs for body snatchers supplying cadavers for the city's medical schools, unlicensed distilleries, dungeons for captured American sailors, and World War II bunkers. In nearby Gilmerton, the Holy Grail could have been hidden.

"Rome's Hidden Empire": Under the city of Rome, ancient traces of the Circus Maximus, Nero's palace, a basilica, and a fire station can be found.

"Hitler's Underground Lair": Berlin's brewers once kept their barrels of beer in underground chambers. Hitler used the subterranean world for bunkers, air raid shelters, and the start of a highway system.

"Catacombs of Death": Nazis and the Resistance both hid under Paris, not very far apart. The dark underground of the City of Lights also holds catacombs full of bones, sewers, and remnants of Rome's reign. There's even an underground art gallery, its walls covered with graffiti.


Disc Two

"City of Caves": The caves under Budapest are full of hidden rooms once used to hide valuables from tax collectors, and there's even a secret World War II hospital down there. The hot springs are legendary for their therapeutic benefits.

"New York": Secret sites include M42, the power station for Grand Central Terminal, and Franklin D. Roosevelt's private train station. See how engineers prevented flooding after the World Trade Center destruction in 2001.

"London's Lost Cities": Winston Churchill's Paddock was the underground home of the war effort—with no toilets. The ruins of a Roman bathhouse show how the River Thames has moved over the years.

"Beneath Vesuvius": Naples sits atop layers of destruction from lava and mudslides, not to mention quarries once used for water storage, Nero's theatre, catacombs, and a cave filled with indecipherable graffiti.

Disc Three

"Freemason Underground": Explore an underground world of the dead in Boston's Old North Church, underground barracks and a prison at Philadelphia's Fort Mifflin, and an Underground Railroad hidden room in Concord, Mass.—all built with the involvement of the Masons.

"Dracula's Underground": Get lots of fun facts about Vlad the Impaler as you tour the dungeons of his castles and fortresses in Romania. Vlad himself was held in Huneduora Castle, where he whiled away the hours by impaling bugs and rats.

"Secret Pagan Underworld": Hittites carved out aqueducts, ventilation systems, and millstone defences in the caves of Turkey. Turkey's underground also holds the first monastery, an inn, and triple arches that inspired a famous architect.

Disc Four

"Underground Bootleggers": Portland's hidden tunnels, once home to shanghaiers, became the nerve center of Prohibition Rose, a madam-turned-bootlegger who never got caught. Today, meth labs pose an explosive danger for sewer workers.

"Rome: The Rise": More underground adventures in the ruins of ancient Rome, this time visiting sewers, catacombs, an underground neighbourhood, an early water-purification cistern, and an auditorium.

"Pilot: Istanbul": Istanbul has "entire cities stacked like bricks" underground, thanks to the Romans, Byzantines, and Ottomans. The tour starts with a cistern, and then visits the Hippodrome, Constantine's Great Palace, and a Byzantine dungeon. See how the city preserves underground history while digging new subway tunnels.

Disc Five

• "A-Bomb Underground": Don tours a "superbunker" at Hiroshima with a woman who worked as a phone operator. He also visits Japan's modern earthquake and flood protection facilities and explores secret passages in a ninja stronghold.

• "Hitler's Last Secret": In Prague, Don explores a quarry that might have held Hitler's "trump card" and tours an underground weapons factory. He also finds an old city underneath modern Prague that was used by the Czech underground in World War II.

• "Maya Underground": In Belize, Don checks out sites that illuminate the Mayan practices of bloodletting and sacrifice, and seeks clues about the decline of the Mayan civilization.


Disc Six

• "New York Secret Societies": Don reviews the 21 Club's Prohibition-era security system, tours the subway "ghost tunnel," visits a one-time hideout of Chinese tongs, checks out underwater mines, and meets the sandhogs who excavate the city's underground spaces.

• "Prophecies from Below": In Israel, Don finds remnants of the Massacre of the Innocents, investigates ancient battles in cisterns and underground water tunnels, visits a lost city, and finds a secret bullet factory.

• "Secret Soviet Bases": In Ukraine, Don visits a "massive defensive infrastracture" that the Soviets blew up themselves—with men inside—to keep it from the Nazis, bunkers from the battle of Kiev, a nuclear sub base, and a bomb shelter for Soviet VIPs.

Disc Seven

• "Stalin's Secret Lair": Josef Stalin's hiding places for military control centers and bomb shelters include an apartment block, a stadium, and the Moscow metro. Don also visits the foundation of an uncompleted Soviet showpiece.

• "Underground Apocalypse": Don gets a rare tour of the Dome of the Rock and Mohammed's cave underneath. He also investigates sites associated with the Crusades, John the Baptist, and Armageddon.

• "Washington, D.C.: Seat of Power": Don descends into the city's heavily guarded sewers. He also visits Congress' once-secret bunker, the magazine at Fort McHenry, and a West Virginia cave that supplied the Confederacy with gunpowder.

Disc Eight

• "Viking Underground": In Dublin, Don finds an underground river where Vikings once sailed. He also uncovers some long-lost hiding places, the remnants of a foundling hospital, and well-preserved mummies.

• "Vietnam": Don goes into Viet Cong tunnels that went from death traps for Army "tunnel rats" to training grounds for soldiers, visits a village that went underground to escape bombings, and sees the world's largest underground river.