Early Modern Britain

Orrible Oliver Cromwell (Song) | Horrible Histories

Oliver Cromwell was not a man to be messed with as you'll find out by listening to this song.

S1E4: War | The Battle for Britain's Soul

This edition looks at the English Civil War and how much it was a war of conflicting religious beliefs.

4: Rebllion at St.Giles's | Cathedral

Documentary drama series looking at momentous events in the lives of British cathedrals. Today, Edinburgh, 1633-what happened when King...

4: Cromwell | Great Britons (2002)

Monarchist and military historian Richard Holmes proposes Oliver Cromwell, the reluctant republican and revolutionary who helped establish...

S2E2: The Gunpowder Plot | Lucy Worsley Investigates

On 5 November 1605, a group of conspirators planned to blow up parliament. Lucy Worsley investigates the Gunpowder Plot,...

0: Learning Zone | Fit to Rule: How Royal Illness Changed History

Lucy Worsley presents six films about the mental and physical health of our past monarchs, covering Henry V...

3: The Final Showdown | Charles I: Downfall of a King

Having failed to bring round Pym, Charles accuses the 'Five Members' of high treason and marches on Westminster.

2: A Nation Divided | Charles I: Downfall of a King

Charles's predicament worsens. With the Queen implicated in the Irish rebellion, the King tries to buy off Pym by offerin...

Charles I: Downfall of a King

Following a Catholic uprising in Ireland, in which thousands of Protestants are killed, Parliament passes a vote of no confidence in Charles I'...

4: Age of Revolution | Seven Ages of Britain

In the 17th century the people of Britain learned to question everything, resulting in the Civil War.

S2E2: Revolutions | A History of Britain by Simon Schama

Featuring the revolutionary period in Britain after the execution of Charles I, from Cromwell's iron rule to Charles...

S2E1: The British Wars | A History of Britain by Simon Schama

Simon Schama looks beyond the romantic stories of Cavaliers and Roundheads to the real story of the English Civ...

5: The Battle of Naseby | Battlefield Britain

Peter and Dan Snow take an in-depth look at the battles that shaped our nation using state-of-the-art graphics. They go back to...

S10E3: Witchfinder General | Secret History

Documentary account, drawn from court records and testimonies, of how Matthew Hopkins and John Stern convicted hundreds of men, w...

S3E1: The Return of the King | Monarchy By David Starkey

The remarkable story of King Charles II, who secured the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660.

6: Castles and the English Civil War | Castle

Marc Morris reveals how during the civil war the castle re-emerged for one last stand, as an important instrument of policy and...

4: Gunpowder, Treason and Plot | Plague, Fire, War and Treason

In 1605 conspirators plotted to blow up Parliament and kill King James I. This film seeks out the truth behind...

3: The Cromwell: New Model Englishman | Plague, Fire, War and Treason

How did this non-descript East Anglian gentleman emerge from the Fens to prove himself a military geniu...

1: The Making of Britain | Union with David Olusoga

David Olusoga tells the story of attempts to form a united Britain in the 17th and early 18th centuries, a period defined...

S10E3: Headless Romans and Anglo Saxon Gold | Digging for Britain

A gatehouse riddled with Civil War bullets, a unique Iron Age shield made from bark and Roman burials with ...

S1E3: Reformation | The Battle for Britain's Soul

Rev Peter Owen-Jones discusses the chaotic 30 years that followed Henry VIII's purely political decision to break with the ...

Part 2 | Reformation

1521, and the Catholic church has excommunicated Luther and condemned him as a heretic, but the Reformation can no longer be stopped.

Reformation

Five hundred years ago a revolutionary priest named Martin Luther changed the face of Christendom and the path of European civilization forever.

Episode 2 | Henry VIII: Patron or Plunderer?

Jonathan Foyle looks for clues in Henry VIII's art to glimpse what was going on inside the king's head as he faced his darkest d...

S1E1: The Reformation | Royal History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley

Lucy Worsley discovers how the history of the English Reformation has been manipulated and mythologise...

Elizabeth I's Secret Agents

A look at the world's first secret service. When the pope declares Queen Elizabeth I a heretic, spymaster William Cecil must stop the Catholic as...

S1E6: Burning Convictions | A History of Britain by Simon Schama

Simon Schama tells the story of the Reformation, from Henry VIII's love for Anne Boleyn to Bloody Mary's uns...

5: Court and Kirk | In Search of Scotland

Fiona Watson examines how the emergence of Protestantism changed Scottish society and opened new political divides.

Episode 3 | Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries

Dr Janina Ramirez discovers how the immensely rich and powerful monasteries that had dominated British so...

England's Reformation: Three Books That Changed a Nation

Janina Ramirez tells the story of three books that defined the Reformation in England - Tyndale's New Testament, Cra...

Henry VIII's Enforcer: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell

Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch argues that rather than being a thug, Thomas Cromwell was a principled and pioneeri...

5: Marlborough | Great Britons (1990)

Military historian Corelli Barnett presents a program on John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, covering his military career and pers...

2: Bad Blood: Stuarts to Hanoverians | Fit to Rule: How Royal Illness Changed History

Lucy Worsley explores how the health of monarchs has shaped the nation. She looks at th...

2: The Glorious Revolution | British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley

Lucy explores how British history is a concoction of fibs. She debunks the 'Glorious Revolution...

S1E3: Queen Anne and the Union | Royal History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley

Lucy Worsley explores how Queen Anne's legacy has been marred by historical fibs.

S2E4: Grand Heist: The Theft of the Crown Jewels | Days That Shook the World

The theft of the Crown Jewels on May 9, 1671.

Restoration | The Supersizers

Restaurant critic Giles Coren and writer and performer Sue Perkins try the food of Restoration Britain in the 1660s, a time of fire and plague.

Was the Glorious Revolution glorious? | The Battle for Britain's Soul

A discussion about how the Glorious Revolution had a number of unexpected consequences

James II | Fit to Rule: How Royal Illness Changed History

The birth of James II's son triggered a Protestant coup from William of Orange.

2: Queen Anne | Queens that Changed the World

Queen Anne took the throne in 1702. As the last Stuart monarch and the first queen of Great Britain, she united Scotland and En...

Boyne | War Walks

Richard Holmes visits the site of the Battle of the Boyne, the defeat of James II by William III in 1690, and shows how the battle could have been over bef...

The Great Plague

The Great Plague of 1665 killed 100,000 Londoners - one in three of the people living in the city. While kept diaries have provided terrifying testaments to...

The Best King We Never Had

Documentary in which Paul Murton investigates the disappearance from history of Henry Fredrick Stuart, the forgotten Scottish prince and maybe the...

The Wives of Henry VIII (Song) | Horrible Histories

Henry VIII gives us a helpful rundown of his six sorry wives, some might say he ruined their lives.

Mary Queen of Scots - Queenian Rhapsody (Song) | Horrible Histories

Mary, Queen of Scots' legal troubles were really something to sing and shout about!

Henry VIII - A Little More Reformation (Song) | Horrible Histories

Comedy superstar Rowan Atkinson stars as Henry VIII with an Elvis twist.

Elizabeth's Guilt | Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary

A discussion of the the impact of Mary's execution on Elizabeth.

Mary is sentenced to death | Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary

An exploration of the circumstances around the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.

Mary is Tricked | Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary

After spending 17 years in imprisonment, Mary is tricked into believing that there is a plot to save her and assassinate ...

Mary is imprisoned for 17 years | Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary

A discussion of how Mary and Elizabeth are polarised as figure heads of the battle between Catholicism an...

Mary Abdicates | Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary

An discussion of what forces Mary to abdicate.

Mary is a threat | Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary

An exploration of the declining relationship between Mary and Elizabeth and Mary's increasing desperation.

The Earl of Bothwell | Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary

Lord Darnley is assassinated, supposedly by The Earl of Bothwell, who Mary then marries.

Mary is in Distress | Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary

An exploration of the murder of Mary's private secretary, David Rizzio.

Mary's marriage | Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary

A discussion of Mary's controversial marriage to Lord Darnley.

Who will be the heir to the throne? | Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary

A discussion of why Elizabeth did not get married and thus the question of who would be her heir.

Early relationship of Mary and Elizabeth | Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary

An exploration of Mary and Elizabeth's early relationship.

Setting The Scene | Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary

An introduction to the story of Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots.

The Character of the Two Queens | Bloody Queens: Elizabeth and Mary

An introduction to the contrasting characters of Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots.

The Spanish Armada | Europe: A Natural History

The impact of the Spanish Armada on British farming and produce.

Elizabeth I speaks at Tilbury | A History of Britain by Simon Schama

Simon Schama discusses the Spanish Armada and the intentions behind Elizabeth's speech at Tilbury.

The trial and fate of Mary, Queen of Scots | A History of Britain by Simon Schama

Simon Schama investigates the trial and fate of Mary Queen of Scots.

Mary, Queen of Scots plot with Anthony Babbington | A History of Britain by Simon Schama

Simon Schama discusses the trap that Francis Walsingham created to catch Mary.