"Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower" (8 p.m., the History Channel): Speedwell

"Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower" (8 p.m., the History Channel): Speedwell must have seemed like a much more promising name than Mayflower. But not long after both ships embarked for America in August 1620, the Speedwell proved leaky. Its voyagers piled on board the Mayflower, which -- now crammed with 102 passengers, plus crew -- set off for freedom. So begins "Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower," a three-hour special that revisits the pilgrims of Plymouth Colony and their journey fleeing persecution in search of a better life in the New World. But to realize their goal, the pilgrims had to join forces with 50 "strangers" who did not share their religious beliefs. The conflict between the two groups exacerbated the miseries of the two-month voyage, the disease and deprivation, and the harshness of the environment at journey's end. With dramatizations using actors from England's Royal Shakespeare Company, the special was shot on location at historic Plimoth Plantation, as well as in Maryland, Virginia, England and Belgium. It also includes interviews with historians, scholars and modern-day members of the Wampanoag Indian community -- with whom the Pilgrims signed a peace treaty shortly after their arrival.