For some, it's the thought of finding a lost treasure. For others, it's the hunt itself: the joy of piecing together clues and hoping to be the one to solve a mystery. Either way, the hunt for hidden treasures can be fascinating, dangerous and controversial (those who hunt for treasure don't always have the right to claim it).
Here are five series that look at what drives treasures hunters, and the lengths they sometimes go to in chasing their dreams.
Ross Kemp and dive guide Emily Turton, exploring the guns on the wreck of a German WWI warship. Source: Scott Tibbles
The UnXplained: The Hunt for Hidden Treasures
Emmy Award-winning actor William Shatner continues to explore some of the world's most fascinating, strange and inexplicable mysteries in the third season of The UnXplained. This season's first episode dives into why the human imagination continues to be captured by the idea of hidden treasures, touching on everything from the Holy Grail to the legendary city of gold, Paititi. Is it worth the risk, or should some treasures be left hidden? This season also explores immortality, the mysteries of Mars, Satanic encounters and what new technology is revealing about the depths of the Earth's oceans.
Season 3 of The UnXplained airs 8.35pm Sundays from October 9 on SBS VICELAND, with episodes available at SBS On Demand after they air. Episodes from seasons 1 and 2 are also streaming , including the never-ending mystery of the search for Atlantis:
Ross Kemp: Shipwreck Treasure Hunter
Documentary maker and author Ross Kemp isn't afraid of a challenge - he won a BAFTA for a series on gangs, spent time filming another documentary series with troops in Afghanistan, and has travelled the world making seven seasons of a series called Extreme World. So perhaps it's not surprising that he didn't let lack of diving experience stop his desire to head underwater for a different challenge: uncovering the secrets of a series of shipwrecks. There's a personal thread to this undertaking too: several members of his extended family served at sea, some were shipwrecked and a few didn’t survive to tell the tale. In this four-part series Kemp (who some viewers might also recognise from his ten-year stint as an actor on British soap Eastenders) has to pass an intensive two-month SCUBA training regime before heading to sea, where he explores a captured German warship, an experimental submersible aircraft carrier, the wreck of a steam-age ship and a possible early slave ship.
La Fortuna
A drama based on real events, this English and Spanish language series stars Oscar©-nominated favourite, Stanley Tucci, with Oscar©-winning director Alejandro Amenábar (The Sea Inside) at the helm. The titular ‘La Fortuna’ was sunk in Spanish waters in 1804, taking its immense booty with it. When wealthy American Frank Wild (Tucci) discovers the loot, he wastes no time in whisking it home to Atlanta, Georgia. Determined to take back the $500 billion stash for Spain is Lucia, a smoking, cursing world-worn archival clerk, who fires up her fellow civil servants to follow her lead. Fresh out of diplomatic graduate school, Alex (Alvaro Mel) offers to help. This David and Goliath battle pits the unlikely team of Lucia, Alex and Jonas, a crusty old American lawyer they bring on board, against Tucci’s modern-day pirate and his hefty legal team. This series of substance is also peppered with humour.
The Curse of Oak Island
Pirate treasures, a mysterious pit and a curse? It sounds like the script of many a movie, but for brothers Rick and Marty Lagina, it's a real-life - and long-term - adventure. Oak Island is a tiny island that lies just off the shore of Nova Scotia. Legends have suggested it could be the hiding place for pirate plunder, perhaps even that of Captain Kidd or Blackbeard, and for more than 200 years . Most recently, the Lagina brothers, who now own most of the island, have been chasing their dreams, and despite plenty of challenges, chronicled in eight seasons of reality series The Curse of Oak Island, they aren't about to give up.
Season 8 of The Curse of Oak Island currently airs with double episodes Thursdays at 8.30pm on SBS VICELAND. Episodes are available at SBS On Demand after they air. Seasons 1-7 are also streaming. Start from the beginning or dive into the new season:
