Missing Presumed Dead

Journalist Michael Scott Moore travelled to Somalia to research and report on the piracy crisis in the country. Little did he know he would be captured and held in extreme conditions for over two and a half years by Somali pirates with a price on his release of $20 million.

In 1972, the Robertson family decided to sail around the world on a six-berth yacht. Little did they know an unfortunate encounter with a pod of killer whales would end their journey within weeks. Left lost at sea in a small dinghy, the family would survive on turtle blood and raw fish.

Bank manager Peter Shaw was ready to return home to his family following six years working in Georgia, but in his final week, the unthinkable happened. He was brutally kidnapped and held in a hole underground while being tortured and starved for five and a half months.

When IT consultant Peter Moore is offered a job teaching locals in Iraq, what starts out as an interesting opportunity descends into chaos. His offices were raided by Shia militia disguised as Iraqi police officers, and Moore was taken hostage to be used against the UK government as a bargaining tool for the release of Iraqi detainees.

While on a low-level daylight mission, RAF fighter pilot John Peters was shot down over Iraq during the Gulf War. Captured by military troops, he was held as a prisoner of war in brutal conditions for seven weeks. Only at the end of the war was John released from his captivity.

Aid worker Ian Purchase lived his life working in hostile environments. When two British hostages were taken by the Taliban, Ian stepped in to help. His desire to help others resulted in his own kidnapping and subsequent imprisonment by ruthless extremists.

At age 12, Shiva Mahbobi was jailed for the first time for six days protesting the Iranian regime. Two years later, she was arrested again and held and tortured in prison for the next three years, never knowing if she would ever be released or even executed.

Rhianon Bragg ended a controlling, five-year relationship, sparking a campaign of stalking and terror by her ex-partner. The months of torment ended with Rhianon being held for eight hours at gunpoint by the man she once loved. She used survival instincts and experience from years of abuse to stay alive.

In this tale of survival, young explorer Benedict Allen embarks on a perilous journey into the Amazon rainforest. His adventure takes a dark turn with a harrowing escape from hostile gold miners. Battling malaria, starvation and isolation, he spent weeks lost and alone until a single clue gave him a way to embark on a miraculous escape.

Experienced caver George Linnane fell 26 feet when a rock shelf collapsed. It took 54 hours and a team of over 70 people to navigate George, who sustained critical, life-threatening injuries, out of the cave system. All the while, his wife, Julie, had no idea if he would make it out or if she would ever get to see her husband alive again.