BBC Studios Unlocks The Vault for Olympic Channel

The BBC Studios Documentary Unit will produce The Vault: Treasures of the Olympics, a ten-part series that explores the stories behind the artifacts held in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Jeanette Kwakye (BBC Sport) and Rob Bell (Britannia: Secrets of the Royal Yacht) will serve as presenters on the series for The Olympic Channel, premiering this week.

The first five episodes will be released on July 31 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Paris Summer Games. The second half of the series will be released later in the autumn and will feature stories inspired by the Winter Olympics, ahead of Milano-Cortina 2026.

“We are thrilled to bring these incredible stories to life and seamlessly blend the rich treasures of the Olympic Museum with the remarkable achievements of Olympians,” said Kostas Karvelas, general manager of Olympic Channel Services.

“It’s a privilege to be part of such a thrilling and evocative retelling of Olympic history, realised in such a compelling and contemporary way. We’re delighted to make such a fitting tribute to the world’s greatest sports event,” said executive producer Rowland Stone.

“Opening the doors to our most treasured Olympic artefacts and entrusting them to world-class storytellers was a perfect match,” said The Olympic Museum associate director Yasmin Meichtry.

Jeanette Kwayke added: “The Olympics have a rich and varied history, so it was fascinating to be able to go behind the scenes in the museum and see some of their rarest treasures. I was also honoured to meet some of my fellow Olympians and hear the truly unique stories behind their journey to the games.”

Rob Bell said: “Most of my hugely enjoyable documentary work centres on engineering and history. And that’s not by chance; I love to explore the whats, whys and hows of the world. But possibly my biggest obsession of all is sport. And so to be let loose inside the Olympic Museum to film The Vault was one of the most exciting and fascinating experiences I’ve had in this career.

The stories we cover are full of curiosity, wonder and emotion, with a dash of engineering and a healthy dollop of history thrown in for good measure, and the curators we had the privilege of speaking to are so incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about their work—not to mention a lot of fun. It was a real honour to spend time with them and revel in this unique access to a world most people don’t get to see.

When and wherever on the planet the Olympic Games are held, they always provide a little bit of magic and having filmed this series, I now feel a little closer to that magic and I’d be amazed if viewers of The Vault didn’t feel the same after watching it.”