Mysteries of the Abandoned: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Some of the world's most incredible engineering projects now lie in ruins. These deserted places are home to extraordinary mysteries and untold secrets, and we revisit them to understand how they were built, and why they were abandoned.

They were once some of the most advanced structures and facilities on the planet, standing at the cutting-edge of design and construction. Today they are abandoned, dangerous, some of them even deadly. From uninhabited cities to empty factories, these long-forgotten engineering marvels are scattered around the globe. Science Channel uncovers why some of the world's most advanced architectural achievements were eventually left behind in the all-new series Mysteries of the Abandoned.

Each of the six, hour-long episodes of Mysteries of the Abandoned features stories behind engineering wonders, why they were built, and the reasons they were eventually left to crumble. Each story recalls the people who originally designed the structure, their historical significance, and why they were ultimately no longer of use. The premiere episode explores California's Goat Canyon Trestle railway, known as the 'Impossible Railroad,' that required the biggest wooden trestle bridge in the world; Ukraine's Duga, the notorious anti-ballistic missile radar, known as the 'Russian Woodpecker,' that still stands in within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone; and the Grand Goulets Road in the French Alps, an astonishingly narrow and perilous mountain passageway.

Series details

• Title: Mysteries of the Abandoned
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: Mystery, Travel, History
• Premiere date: 2017-04-20
• Status in TVmaze: Running
• Network listed by TVmaze: Science
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 62 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 7.7/10
• TVMaze ID: 27295
• IMDb ID: tt6823138
• TVDB ID: 326691

Cast and credited roles

• Kasper Michaels — Narrator

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2017-04-20; final listed air date 2017-05-18; episode order: 6.
• Season 2: premiered 2018-03-20; final listed air date 2018-05-08; episode order: 8.
• Season 3: premiered 2018-10-02; final listed air date 2018-12-11; episode order: 10.
• Season 4: premiered 2019-04-04; final listed air date 2019-05-30; episode order: 9.
• Season 5: premiered 2019-10-03; final listed air date 2019-11-21; episode order: 8.
• Season 6: premiered 2020-03-26; final listed air date 2020-06-04; episode order: 11.
• Season 7: premiered 2020-12-03; final listed air date 2021-02-25; episode order: 11.
• Season 8: premiered 2021-05-20; final listed air date 2021-07-29; episode order: 11.
• Season 9: premiered 2022-01-02; final listed air date 2022-11-03; episode order: 22.
• Season 10: premiered 2023-06-07; final listed air date 2023-12-15; episode order: 16.
• Season 11: premiered 2024-09-04; final listed air date 2024-12-18; episode order: 8.
• Season 12: premiered 2025-08-13; final listed air date 2025-10-01; episode order: 8.
• Season 13: premiered 2026-02-11; final listed air date 2026-03-25.

Source and licence

Adapted from Mysteries of the Abandoned on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.