Episode 1 | Britain’s Biggest Dig

Duration: 59'16''

Synopsis

In advance of the construction of HS2, the biggest ever cemetery excavation in Britain reveals the forgotten stories of rich and poor in Georgian London.

Further Information

More clips from Britain's Biggest Dig

Episode 2 | Britain's Biggest Dig

Episode 2 | Britain's Biggest Dig

BBC Two | 2020 | 59'07''

Professor Alice Roberts and Dr Yasmin Khan dig deeper through the excavations at St James's burial ground on the hunt for the lost explorer...

Episode 3 | Britain's Biggest Dig

Episode 3 | Britain's Biggest Dig

BBC Two | 2020 | 58'58''

How working-class Victorians made Birmingham one of the most important industrial cities on the planet, why some skeletons have mysterious ...

Victorian living conditions | Britain's Biggest Dig

Victorian living conditions | Britain's Biggest Dig

BBC Two | 2020 | 8'04''

Dr Yasmin Khan discovers the awful living conditions the workers during the Industrial Revolution had put up with.

Episode 2 | Britain's Biggest Dig

Episode 2 | Britain's Biggest Dig

BBC Two | 2020 | 59'07''

Professor Alice Roberts and Dr Yasmin Khan dig deeper through the excavations at St James's burial ground on the hunt for the lost explorer...

Episode 3 | Britain's Biggest Dig

Episode 3 | Britain's Biggest Dig

BBC Two | 2020 | 58'58''

How working-class Victorians made Birmingham one of the most important industrial cities on the planet, why some skeletons have mysterious ...

Victorian living conditions | Britain's Biggest Dig

Victorian living conditions | Britain's Biggest Dig

BBC Two | 2020 | 8'04''

Dr Yasmin Khan discovers the awful living conditions the workers during the Industrial Revolution had put up with.

More resources about The Industrial Revolution

1: A Cup of Tea | The Boat That Guy Built

1: A Cup of Tea | The Boat That Guy Built

BBC One | 2011 | 29'02''

Guy Martin renovates a neglected narrowboat with inventions from the Industrial Revolution. He begins by building an 18th-century b...

1: Migration and Emigration | History File

1: Migration and Emigration | History File

BBC Two | 2000 | 18'54''

Compilation of secondary schools programme on British History 1750-1900. Looks at how industrialisation changed the day-to-day liv...

1: The Great Ship | Seven Wonders of the Industrial World

1: The Great Ship | Seven Wonders of the Industrial World

BBC Two | 2003 | 49'07''

Following the story of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's struggle to build the world's largest ship, The Great Eastern.

2: A Nice Hot Shower | The Boat That Guy Built

2: A Nice Hot Shower | The Boat That Guy Built

BBC One | 2011 | 29'09''

Guy decides to make a steam engine power the shower on board his aptly-named narrowboat, Reckless. He also visits the factory ...

2: Brunel | Great Britons (2002)

2: Brunel | Great Britons (2002)

BBC Two | 2002 | 57'50''

In a series of programs about the chief candidates for greatness, Jeremy Clarkson argues the case for Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the great 19t...

2: Crime and Punishment | History File

2: Crime and Punishment | History File

BBC Two | 2000 | 18'51''

Compilation of secondary schools programme on British History 1750-1900. Looks at how industrialisation changed the day-to-day lives o...

2: The Age of Invention | Howard Goodall's Story of Music

2: The Age of Invention | Howard Goodall's Story of Music

BBC Two | 2013 | 58'41''

Howard Goodall looks at the fertile musical period between 1650 and 1750, in which many of the musical innovations ...

3: A Good Night's Sleep | The Boat That Guy Built

3: A Good Night's Sleep | The Boat That Guy Built

BBC One | 2011 | 29'03''

Guy Martin visits an Industrial Revolution cotton mill to weave his own sheets on 19th-century looms, then builds a mattres...

3: Having It All | The Victorians

3: Having It All | The Victorians

BBC One | 2009 | 58'46''

Continuing his exploration of the Victorian world, Jeremy Paxman tells how railways, factories and military might made Britain the richest ...

3: Health and Housing | History File

3: Health and Housing | History File

BBC Two | 2000 | 19'01''

Compilation of secondary schools programme on British History 1750-1900. Looks at how industrialisation changed the day-to-day lives of ...

3: Victoria | Queens that Changed the World

3: Victoria | Queens that Changed the World

Channel 4 | 2023 | 46'46''

Victoria reigned in a time of huge change. She was the first queen to be among her public, and led the way for modern royals.

4: Beans on Toast | The Boat That Guy Built

4: Beans on Toast | The Boat That Guy Built

BBC One | 2011 | 28'57''

Motorcycle racer and engineering enthusiast Guy Martin makes a tin can using a 200-year-old technique, bakes his own traditional ...

4: Mine (Black Country) | How Britain Worked

4: Mine (Black Country) | How Britain Worked

Channel 4 | 2012 | 46'22''

Guy Martin's project is the first piston engine ever built - The Newcomen Beam Engine - which the team set out to return to full...

4: Work and Wages | History File

4: Work and Wages | History File

BBC Two | 2000 | 18'11''

Compilation of secondary schools programme on British History 1750-1900. Looks at how industrialisation changed the day-to-day lives of the ...

5: Henry VIII to the Industrial Revolution | Michael Wood's Story of England

5: Henry VIII to the Industrial Revolution | Michael Wood's Story of England

BBC Four | 2010 | 59'05''

A portrait of one village through the whole of English history sees 17th-century dissenters, an ...

5: Make a Boat a Home | The Boat That Guy Built

5: Make a Boat a Home | The Boat That Guy Built

BBC One | 2011 | 29'06''

Guy and his best mate Mave decide to give their narrowboat a makeover. They learn about the most influential British interior...

5: Reform and Recreation | History File

5: Reform and Recreation | History File

BBC Two | 2000 | 18'25''

Compilation of secondary schools programme on British History 1750-1900. Looks at how industrialisation changed the day-to-day lives ...

6: 1900-1909 - Britain at its peak? | History File

6: 1900-1909 - Britain at its peak? | History File

BBC Two | 2000 | 23'35''

Compilation of secondary schools programme on British History 1750-1900. Looks at how industrialisation changed the day-to...

6: The Homecoming | The Boat That Guy Built

6: The Homecoming | The Boat That Guy Built

BBC One | 2011 | 29'08''

Guy Martin examines inventions of the Industrial Revolution. Guy and Mave show off their renovated boat and all its historic inve...

7: Age of Industry | Andrew Marr's History of the World

7: Age of Industry | Andrew Marr's History of the World

BBC One | 2012 | 59'14''

In this episode, Andrew Marr tells how Britain's Industrial Revolution created the modern world.

More from Alice Roberts

Northamptonshire | Digging for Britain

Northamptonshire | Digging for Britain

BBC Two | 2025 | 13'18''

Looking at the skeletons from 2023's Leicester Cathedral excavation, the burials become source material for a groundbreaking scientifi...

The perfect human? | Can science make me perfect? With Alice Roberts

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What evolution has provided us with is a human body that works as a whole package: you can't replace ind...

Victorian living conditions | Britain's Biggest Dig

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BBC Two | 2020 | 8'04''

Dr Yasmin Khan discovers the awful living conditions the workers during the Industrial Revolution had put up with.

Salad dressing and calories | Britain's Favourite Foods - Are They Good for You?

Salad dressing and calories | Britain's Favourite Foods - Are They Good for You?

BBC Two | 2015 | 1'59''

Alice demonstrates how a calorie is measured by burning lettuce leaves, one with dressing an...

Episode 3 | The Celts: Blood, Iron and Sacrifice with Alice Roberts and Neil Oliver

Episode 3 | The Celts: Blood, Iron and Sacrifice with Alice Roberts and Neil Oliver

BBC Two | 2015 | 58'33''

The Roman army turns its attention to an island of rich resources, powerful tribes and dr...

The Roman domination of the known world | A Timewatch Guide

The Roman domination of the known world | A Timewatch Guide

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Using years of BBC history archive film, Alice Roberts investigates how the domination of the Romans has been rep...

Percy Shelleys corrections | The Secret Life of Books

Percy Shelleys corrections | The Secret Life of Books

BBC Four | 2014 | 4'31''

Alice Roberts looks at an original manuscript of Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' which exhibits Percy Shelley's edits.

What Makes a Human? | Horizon

What Makes a Human? | Horizon

BBC Two | 2013 | 59'02''

Professor Alice Roberts investigates what exactly makes human beings different from the animal kingdom. What is it that truly makes us human?

Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice

Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice

BBC Two | 2012 | 59'07''

Professor Alice Roberts on the natural history of the woolly mammoth, revealing adaptations that helped the species evolve from their or...

The immune system and white blood cells | Dr Alice Roberts: Don't Die Young

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Alice describes how the immune system works and what white blood cells do when we're ill.