An influenza outbreak seems inevitable and Australia prepares. As vaccination is rolled out, thousands of service men and women begin returning home at the end of the First World War. But how do you reunite with loved ones when death is following you home?

Featuring medical historian Dr Peter Hobbins.

MUSIC: Molène: Eracilon, Seung Gong: Dylan Tinlun Chan, Tour de manège-version piano: Real Rice, Train: Sergey Kovchik, Fuguencelle: Eracilon, Promencelle: Eracilon, Balancelle: Eracilon, Sur le fil: Eracilon, The End in your Eyes: Aufklarung, Anxiety: Shymonmusic, sun s smile: Alexander Klein, Cylinder Five: Chris Zabriskie, Anxiety: Hafizzhais, The Last Post: courtesy of the Band of the Royal Military College. (All tracks amended)

Episode 1:  War, Peace and a Pandemic

In 1918–19 an influenza pandemic took an estimated 15,000 Australian lives, and millions more around the world. One hundred years on, as we grapple with COVID-19, this five-part series rakes through the archives of the State Library of NSW with historians, public health experts and scientists to trace the path of the 1918-19 pandemic. An eerily familiar story of loss, resilience and discovery in a world turned upside down.