Ancient Civilizations

Benin | Learning Zone

Benin is famous for its bronzes. This film explores how they are made, using the 'lost wax' process, and why.

Nanban Screens | Civilisations

David Olusoga shows how art was always on the frontline when distant cultures met.

Benin Bronzes | Civilisations

David Olusoga visits the Benin Bronzes at the British Museum.

6: First Contact | Civilisations

David Olusoga shows how art was always on the frontline when distant cultures met.

5: The Atlantic Age | Africa's Great Civilisations

This episode looks at the tremendous changes that took place across the continent between the 15th and 18th centuries.

The Shang Empire | Learning Zone

The Shang developed writing amongst other inventions. This Bronze Age society developed a powerful army using bronze weapons.

Qin Shi Huang's China - Cheerleader Parody (Song) | Horrible Histories

Creator of the first Chinese Empire, Qin Shi Huang, shares his story in this song inspired by OMI's Ch...

5: The Last Empire | The Story of China

Michael Wood looks at China's Qing empire, which lasted from 1644 to 1912. Under the Qing, China doubled in size and became arguably ...

3: The Golden Age | The Story of China

Michael Wood explores the history of the world's newest superpower. Here, he focuses on the Song dynasty era (960-1279), including its...

4: The Ming | The Story of China

Michael Wood explores the history of the world's newest superpower. The tale of the Ming dynasty begins with the amazing story of Hongwu, a ...

2: Silk Roads and China Ships | The Story of China

Michael Wood explores the history of the world's newest superpower. Michael tells the tale of China's first international ...

1: Ancestors | The Story of China

Michael Wood explores the history of the world's newest superpower. Michael joins the Qin family reunion, as 300 relatives gather to worshi...

Episode 3 | The Silk Road

Sam Willis continues his journey west in Iran. He begins in Persepolis, heart of the first Persian Empire, before heading to Istanbul and then comi...

Episode 2 | The Silk Road

Sam Willis travels west to Central Asia, a place of major innovations, big historical characters and a people - the Sogdians - whose role was pivot...

Episode 1 | The Silk Road

Sam Willis traces the story of the famous trade route. He explores Venice's Renaissance architecture and art before travelling to the beginning of ...

Coffin | Tutankhamun in Colour

After discovering coffins within coffins, a small teenage body is discovered.

Sarcophagus | Tutankhamun in Colour

Behind another sealed wall, Howard Carter discovers numerous shrines within shrines and Tutankhamun's sarcophagus.

Discovery of tomb | Tutankhamun in Colour

Colourised images of when Tutankhamun's tomb was rediscovered share the magic of that historic moment.

The afterlife in Ancient Egypt | Learning Zone

Dr Joann Fletcher explains the importance of the afterlife for Ancient Egyptians. She looks at some of the items that would be...

Mummification in Ancient Egypt | Learning Zone

Dr Joann Fletcher outlines the removal of the brain and organs, as well as explaining why the heart was left inside the body.

Tombs in Ancient Egypt | Learning Zone

Dr Joann Fletcher takes a look at an unfinished tomb and examines some of the tools that would have been used to build it.

Daily life in Ancient Egypt | Learning Zone

Dr Joann Fletcher visits the village of Pa-Demi to discover more about the daily lives and tombs of Kha and Merit.

Marriage and family in Ancient Egypt | Learning Zone

Joann Fletcher describes the ceremony 'Bringing the Bundle', which was a kind of marriage proposal. Joann then finds abo...

Ancient Egypt | Learning Zone

A visit to Ancient Egypt, and life 5000 years ago begins by exploring houses and homes, and contrasting them with our homes today.

Ra-Ra-Cleopatra (Song) | Horrible Histories

Cleopatra sings a special rendition of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance!

Crafty Cleopatra (Song) | Horrible Histories

Egyptian Queen Cleopatra tries to sing away her troubles in this song.

2: How Do We Look? | Civilisations

Mary Beard explores images of the human body in ancient art, from Mexico and Greece to Egypt and China.

2: Augustus: First of the Emperors | I, Caesar

In 44 BC, a teenage relative of Julius Caesar stepped in and triumphed over Mark Antony and Cleopatra in a brutal civil war, b...

S1E7: Deciphering the Rosetta Stone | Days That Shook the World

In 1822, Jean-Francois Champollion cracked the ancient Egyptian code behind hieroglyphs.

S1E7: Tutankhamun's Tomb | Days That Shook the World

On November 4, 1922, Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.

4: Hatshepsut | Queens that Changed the World

Hatshepsut, the female King, developed trade, oversaw pioneering architecture and brought wealth and artistry to Ancient Egypt.

Tutankhamun: The Mystery of the Burnt Mummy

Egyptologist Dr Chris Naunton investigates evidence that the Boy King's mummy was burnt, and uncovers clues that may solve the en...

4: To The Ends of the Earth | In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great

Michael Wood traces Alexander the Great's route through Pakistan, the plains of Punjab, down the Indus ...

3: Across the Hindu Kush | In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great

Michael Wood treks over the Khawak pass, crosses the Oxus river and follows the golden road to Samarkand w...

2: Lord of Asia | In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great

Michael Wood follows in the footsteps of Alexander the Great through the Zagros mountains to Persepolis - the great...

1: Son of God | In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great

Michael Wood walks in the footsteps of Alexander the Great as he travels from Macedonia in Northern Greece, crosses t...

3: The Long Shadow | Treasures of Ancient Greece

Filming in Italy, Germany, France and Britain, Alastair Sooke explores the extraordinary afterlife of Greek masterpieces tha...

2: The Classical Revolution | Treasures of Ancient Greece

Alastair Sooke unpicks the reasons behind the dazzling revolution that gave birth to classical Greek art, asking ho...

1: The Age of Heroes | Treasures of Ancient Greece

Series in which Alastair Sooke explores Greek art. He begins his journey in Crete at the palace of Knossos and travels to ...

6: The Fall of Troy | In Search of the Trojan War

Michael Wood searches for the reality of the Trojan War. Homer says the Greek Heroes returned from Troy to an era of death ...

5: Empire of the Hittites | In Search of the Trojan War

Michael Wood in his search for the reality of the Trojan War looks at how the war would have been viewed by Agamemnon...

4: The Women of Troy | In Search of the Trojan War

Michael Wood in his search for the reality of the Trojan War looks at the reality behind Helen and Mycenae's wealth and of...

3: The Singer of Tales | In Search of the Trojan War

Michael Wood continues his search to discover whether Homer's story of Trojan War is a myth by studying modern bardic tr...

2: The Legend Under Siege | In Search of the Trojan War

Michael Wood traces the developments in archaeological techniques that unraveled the truth from the legend of the Tro...

1: The Age of the Heroes | In Search of the Trojan War

Series on the veracity of the Trojan War. Michael Wood traces Heinrich Schliemann's search for the site of Troy.

2: How Do We Look? | Civilisations

Mary Beard explores images of the human body in ancient art, from Mexico and Greece to Egypt and China.

2: Age of Empire | Andrew Marr's History of the World

In this episode, Andrew Marr tells the story of the first empires which laid the foundations for the modern world.

Episode 3 | The Spartans

In the final episode of Bettany Hughes spartan trilogy the war between Sparta and Athens reaches a brutal and bloody climax.

Episode 2 | The Spartans

Classical historian Bettany Hughes continues her examination of the Spartan way of life.

The Spartans

The Spartans chronicles the rise and fall of one of the most extreme civilizations the world has ever witnessed. A civilization that was

Naples | Italy's Invisible Cities

Using the latest 3D technology, Alexander Armstrong and Dr Michael Scott uncover the hidden history in Naples from its earliest Greek and R...

3: Romans | Ancient Greece: The Greatest Show on Earth

Dr Michael Scott explores how the Romans absorbed Greek theatre and how their empire provides a crucial connection bet...

The Beasts Within | Walking with Beasts

A look behind the scenes at the making of the series on prehistoric mammals. TV special effects show how Man's dextrous hands & expre...

Triumph of the Beasts | Walking with Beasts

The incredible story of how mammals took over from the dinosaurs as the largest, fastest and fiercest creatures on Earth.

Mammoth Journey | Walking with Beasts

Last in the series follows a herd of mammoths as they make their way south for winter, running a gauntlet of ice-age hunters including ...

Sabre Tooth | Walking with Beasts

This episode follows the progress of a Smilodon called Half Tooth. Smilodon was the largest of all the sabre tooth cats which roamed South ...

Next of Kin | Walking with Beasts

We travel back 3 million years to Ethiopia, where Australopithecus, one of the first upright apes, lived in danger of being hunted by sabre...

Land of Giants | Walking with Beasts

25 million years ago in the Oligocene Epoch lived the Indricotheres. Weighing 15 tonnes and standing 7 metres tall, they were the larges...

Whale Killer | Walking with Beasts

36 million years ago mammals ruled the world. It is in the sea, however, that the most monstrous mammals can be found.

New Dawn | Walking with Beasts

The series following on from Walking with Dinosaurs. begins 49 million years ago. The world is heavily forested and birds rule the planet, pre...

Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice

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

Bronze Age Britain | Learning Zone

Life in Bronze Age Britain through the eyes of one family as they learn how copper and tin is mined, and make bronze using a furnace.

Iron Age Britain | Learning Zone

Life in Iron Age Britain through the eyes of one family, as the impact of the new, and cheaper, stronger, metal on their life is explored in...

New Stone Age | Learning Zone

Life in Neolithic Britain through the eyes of one family as they attempt to hunt and farm enough food to live on.

Iron Age: daily life | Learning Zone

Raksha visits re-enactors who build roundhouses and try to live as they think Iron Age people did.

Iron Age: tribes | Learning Zone

Raksha explores Maiden Castle; the biggest Iron Age Hill Fort in Britain.

Iron Age: iron | Learning Zone

People tried to keep the process of making iron secret to preserve their power. It was often regarded as magic.

Bronze Age Stonehenge gold | Learning Zone

There are also lots of barrow burials around Stonehenge and one of them, Bush Barrow Man, is used to find out about Bronze Age times.

Bronze Age: wool | Learning Zone

Raksha visits the Bronze Age at an ancient farm and learns how to make woollen cloth.

Bronze Age: making metal | Learning Zone

Raksha visits Butser Ancient Farm to make a bronze age axe head exactly the way Bronze Age man would have done so.

Stone Age homes | Learning Zone

Raksha explores the inside of a replica Stone Age house and cover the walls in wattle and daub.

Stone Age: burials | Learning Zone

The Red Lady of Paviland is one of the oldest skeletons found in Britain, dating from around 30,000 years ago. Raksha finds out what she (...

S2E5: Slave Girl from Jerusalem: Part 2 | Roman Mysteries

Nubia, Lupus, Flavia and Jonathan have to find the evidence that will clear a slave wrongly accused of terrible cri...

S2E4: The Fugitive From Corinth: Part 2 | Roman Mysteries

The children take a carruca into the hills outside Ostia, in pursuit of the man Flavia thinks has murdered her fath...

S2E5: Slave Girl from Jerusalem: Part 1 | Roman Mysteries

Nubia, Lupus, Flavia and Jonathan have to find the evidence that will clear a slave wrongly accused of terrible cri...

S2E4: The Fugitive From Corinth: Part 1 | Roman Mysteries

The children take a carruca into the hills outside Ostia, in pursuit of the man Flavia thinks has murdered her fath...

S2E3: The Colussus of Rhodes: Part 2 | Roman Mysteries

Lupus narrowly escapes kidnap by slave traders, but his friend Porcius and other Ostian children are snatched.

S2E3: The Colussus of Rhodes: Part 1 | Roman Mysteries

Lupus narrowly escapes kidnap by slave traders, but his friend Porcius and other Ostian children are snatched.

S2E2: The Trials of Flavia Gemina: Part 2 | Roman Mysteries

Flavia has a challenge on her hands when her father brings home a mysterious woman that he is thinking of marrying.

S2E2: The Trials of Flavia Gemina: Part 1 | Roman Mysteries

An ship washes up in Ostia, Flavia's father brings home a mysterious woman, and everything is turned upside down ...

S2E1: The Gladiators From Capua: Part 1 | Roman Mysteries

A ship docks at Ostia carrying a team of gladiators and Nubia thinks she may have glimpsed her missing brother amon...

S2E1: The Gladiators From Capua: Part 2 | Roman Mysteries

Nubia thinks she may have glimpsed her missing brother, the children go to the arena and discover a mystery that en...

S1E5: The Enemies of Jupiter: Part 2 | Roman Mysteries

The secret of who invited Doctor Mordecai to Rome is revealed. A fast-acting poison threatens the life of a loved one,...

S1E5: The Enemies of Jupiter: Part 1 | Roman Mysteries

Emperor Titus has a premonition, 'when a Prometheus opens Pandora's Box, Rome will be devastated'. Powerless, he watch...

S1E4: The Dolphins of Laurentum: Part 2 | Roman Mysteries

The lure of a quick fortune has attracted others and the repulsive Venalicius makes an unwelcome return. However, t...

S1E4: The Dolphins of Laurentum: Part 1 | Roman Mysteries

Captain Marcus Flavius Geminus returns from sea, having lost his ship and his precious cargo. With the family hound...

S1E3: The Assassins of Rome: Part 2 | Roman Mysteries

Jonathan is utterly alone, plagued by dreams of a cyclops and confused by speculation that his mother was not killed in...

S1E3: The Assassins of Rome: Part 1 | Roman Mysteries

Jonathan's birthday is marred by the arrival of uncle Simian. After upsetting his friends, Jonathan is tricked into goi...

S1E2: Pirates of Pompeii: Part 2 | Roman Mysteries

Flavia and friends find themselves too close to a kidnapping plot. The children must pull together or face life in slavery.

S1E1: The Secrets of Vesuvius: Part 2 | Roman Mysteries

Flavia and her friends convince Admiral Pliny of the danger of Mount Vesuvius, but can he and his fleet can do anythi...

S1E2: Pirates of Pompeii: Part 1 | Roman Mysteries

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius has left a trail of destruction. In the chaos of the refugee camp, Flavia is shocked to dis...

S1E1: The Secrets of Vesuvius: Part 1 | Roman Mysteries

Flavia and her friends convince Admiral Pliny of the danger of Mount Vesuvius, but can he and his fleet do anything a...