The most infamous prison on Earth. Surrounded by the freezing waters of the San Francisco Bay. Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s1e1: Alcatraz, History 2022
1962: A gang of four small-time crooks … [Allen] West starts looking for collaborators: Frank Morris … John & Clarence Anglin … With the drop-cloths in place and the rest of the inmates keeping their mouths shut the escapees have time to work on removing the bolts from the ceiling vent … On the night of July 11th 1962 it’s time to go. ibid.
2015: Inside an impenetrable fortress two men’s impossible dreams. Meet two unlikely partners in crime. Together, they attempt the unthinkable. Escape Dannemora. Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s1e2: North Country Breakout
Richard Hacksaw Matt had been trapped behind the walls of Dannemora for the last seven years and he desperately wants out … David Sweat … had been in and out of prison for most of his adult life. ibid.
Joyce Mitchell has cold feet. In fact she has checked herself into the hospital for a panic attack. ibid.
When Joyce Mitchell failed to pick them up on the night of June 6th 2015 their fate was sealed. ibid.
The most secure prison in Mexico. And a daring attempt to break in. Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s1e3: El Chapo
Drug lords have their own private armies. So the walls of Puento Grande need to be able to withstand a full scale assault from outside. ibid.
This cell is home to one of the most notorious and bloodthirsty narco criminals of all time: Joaquin Guzman, known to the world as El Chapo. ibid.
‘He escaped on July 11th 2015 and then he is recaptured again on January 8th 2016.’ ibid. Gina Parlevecchio, US lead trial counsel
Western Penitentiary 1996: It was overcrowded and in disrepair … One man sees a puzzle to be solved: Nuno Pontes, the Mastermind. Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s1e4: Conquering the Wall
Nuno Pontes is trying to drill his way into an underground crawl space. From there, he will be able to tunnel under the prison’s impenetrable wall. ibid.
Dawn finally comes. It’s time … The Pittsburgh six may have just executed the perfect prison escape. They have a two-hour headstart on the authorities. ibid.
The six travel undetected to Pasadena, Texas. There, they hide in a hotel while waiting for falsified documents so they can leave the country. ibid.
They have found the remaining escapees … The Pittsburgh six executed one of the most brazen, brilliant and cunning escapes in history. The mastermind, Nuno Pontes, got just twelve days of freedom, and then fourteen years in Solitary, spending twenty-three hours in a cell utterly alone. You have to ask yourself, Was it all worth it? ibid.
A Nazi POW camp in the heart of the Third Reich [Stalag 3] crawling with spies. One brave British officer organises an audacious escape. Can he and his men break Hitler’s iron grip and tunnel to freedom? Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s1e5: Escaping Hitler
Three bloody deep, bloody long tunnels will be dug: Tom, Dick and Harry. One will succeed. ibid.
‘76 men had dispersed out and were on their way to escape as far as they could.’ ibid. Historian
‘He [Hitler] was eventually talked down to executing only 50.’ ibid.
The most secure prison in all of Europe. A tight-knit group of hardened inmates embroiled in a bloody conflict planing an escape of epic proportions. Hoping to pull of one of the largest and most elaborate prison escapes in all of history. Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s1e6: Belfast Breakout
This is 1980s Northern Ireland: it’s a prison built next to a British military base. Its name: The Maze. ibid.
The full plan is now in place: take over the control room using guns to subdue the guards. Prevent any alarms from being sounded. Hijack the truck and its driver at H-Block 7’s loading dock. Put up to 40 prisoners in the back of the truck. Get through the main gate with the truck driver at gunpoint. Overwhelm security at the military gate and drive out of the prison grounds. Then meet up with their IRA contacts on the nearby roads. What can go wrong? ibid.
But many do make it all the way to freedom. But the long reach of the British government … It was a violent, traumatic escape. ibid.
Locked away in the deadly prison, a manipulative convict, and this his friend and cellmate, to tunnel out of their cell and break out of this hellhole … His name is Timothy Vale. Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s1e7: Fleeing Hellmira
He’s broken out of his cell and explored the attic above him and identified an escape route. His next step is to figure out how to climb down from the roof of the three-storey building without being caught. ibid.
Halfway down the wall disaster strikes. ibid.
Petros, Tennessee: A prison for the worst of the worst. A place where hope goes to die … They call it the End of the Line … One of the most infamous assassins in American history: James Earl Ray. Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s1e8: Assassin’s Flight
He opens the manhole cover. Ray gets a faceful of steam. The pain is almost unbearable. He has mere seconds to decide what to do before the patrol guards see him in the yard. Does he go back to his cell and give up his escape, or does he risk being burned and climb down into that tunnel. After all, the tunnel leads to his freedom … He becomes more determined than ever to escape. ibid.
Six years after his previous attempt … he think he sees another way out. A small gap under the electric fence on top of the prison wall … He puts the ladder right on the electric wire … A total of six escapees are fighting their way through the rugged mountains … ‘Under the pile of leaves is James Earl Ray.’ ibid.
A brilliant mind trapped in a supermax prison. He discovers its one weakness. But can he outsmart everything the prison throws at him? Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s2e1: Fleeing Parchman, Histroy 2024
Parchman is spread out over a jaw-dropping 18,000 acres of farmland. ibid.
In 1981 Roy Harper breaks out of an Arizona prison. ibid.
Harper and Woolard: A 12-hour head start … For a week they hide and make their way across the delta. ibid.
Harper and Woolard have done it. They have made it out of Unit 32. ibid.
Unfortunately, an interstate manhunt is just warming up. ibid.
Laos, 1966, Dieter Dengler: Trapped behind enemy lines. In a hellish jungle prison camp. Will this master of survival free himself and his fellow POWs? Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s2e2: Vietnam POW Escape
It’s either die in the camp or die trying to escape. ibid.
An escape that will be prove even harrowing than the prison camp. ibid.
San Quentin is synonymous with doing hard time. A site of deadly escape attempts. But in 1979 San Quentin made headlines for the most ingenious escape in American history. Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s2e3: San Quentin Breakout
‘Forrest Tucker never went into a prison not thinking about escaping.’ ibid. comment
‘The authorities did not believe water escape was possible.’ ibid.
Is the boat seaworthy? … ‘The boat begins to take on water and sink.’ ibid.
‘The men make it to shore.’ ibid.
21 years after the escape … he [‘Forrest Tucker’] is arrested. ibid.
A killing centre at the edge of Nazi-controlled Europe. The place of no return for thousands of Jewish where any attempt to escape leads to more death. Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s2e4: The Sobibor Revolt
‘The biggest escape of World War II.’ ibid. comment
Sobibor death camp, Poland, 1943: The size of 45 football fields … It’s a sinister machinery of death. ibid.
A man determined to find a way out for everyone: Leon Feldhendler: The Faith Keeper. ibid.
Eliminate their captors and walk right out the front gate. ibid.
Of the 600 Jewish prisoners at Sobibor, 400 tried to escape. 80 are immediately killed in combat or in the minefields … Only 53 fully escape and find freedom. ibid.
Will this criminal’s [Rene Belbenoit] street smart be enough to conquer nature? Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s2e5: Escaping Devil’s Island
This is a cell in one of the most frightening prison camps in history. Located in French Guiana on the South American coast, it’s the notorious prison colony known as Ile du Diable, Devil’s Island. ibid.
Of the thousands who try to escape Devil’s Island, only a handful succeed. ibid.
It may look like an innocuous building in a typical American suburb but Alton City Jail is one of the most high-tech facilities on American soil. Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s2e6: Alton City Escape
Prisoners are confined to their cells at all times.
Quawntay [Adams] devises an ingenious way to smuggle in a blade: the US postal service. ibid.
The manhunt for Quawntay Adams is on. ibid.
In a deadly prison deep behind enemy lines. One man [Colonel Thomas Rose] leads the biggest escape attempt in American history? Can they break out and make it back to enemy territory alive? Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s2e7: Tunneling to Freedom
An estimated 620,000 men would lose their lives fighting the civil war. ibid.
Welcome to Libby Prison. Known to its inhabitants as the Castle of Despair. ibid.
109 prisoners make it through the tunnel that night … 59 make it back to friendly territory. ibid.
At maximum security jails prisoners are packed into overcrowded cells. It’s a recipe for violence. Facing years in this hellish prison, three inmates plan a high-risk escape. If their plan fails and the rope breaks, they will pay a heavy price. Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman s2e8: Breakout in Plain Sight
250 officers were assigned on jail-break duty … 3 people have escaped from prison. ibid.