Early Modern Britain

Sir Francis Drake | My Story

Trixie and Daddy Olly go on a journey of discovery to find out what life was like for a ship's boy nearly 500 years ago. Trixie and Olly dress u...

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...

Plague! | The History Trail

London, 1665: during the long, hot summer, tens of thousands died of a dreadful disease. The Barnwell family are one of many to suffer.

05: The Spanish Armada | Landmarks

In October 1588, a lone Spanish ship was wrecked off south Devon. In today's programme children from three Devon schools use their own map...

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...

03: Act Three: At Work and At Play | Harlots, Housewives and Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls

Lucy Worsley looks at some remarkable women of the Restoration period...

02: Act Two: At Home | Harlots, Housewives and Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls

Lucy Worsley explores the ordinary and the extraordinary lives of women in the home...

01: Act One: At Court | Harlots, Housewives and Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls

Lucy Worsley explores the lives of Charles II's mistresses at the royal court, inc...

06: Sweet England's Pride | Elizabeth R

An elderly Elizabeth instructs the Earl of Essex to quell the threat of an Irish uprising, but will she have to deal with a rebellion...

04: Horrible Conspiracies | Elizabeth R

Elizabeth finds her position increasingly threatened by Mary, Queen of Scots and her loyal supporters. Will Elizabeth have to execute...

03: Shadow in the Sun | Elizabeth R

Elizabeth meets an interesting suitor, the Duke of Anjou, much to the Puritans' disapproval. Now Elizabeth must decide whether to follow ...

02: Invasion and Defence | Britain and the Sea

David Dimbleby continues his voyage round Britain, sailing along the south east coast from Hampshire to Kent - the edge of Bri...

Episode 3 | Charles II: The Power and the Passion

A plot is unearthed against the King. Anti-Papist fury threatens the King's position.

Episode 4 | Charles II: The Power and the Passion

As Protestant dissent rises, the king tries to silence his enemies once and for all.

Episode 2 | Charles II: The Power and the Passion

A fiery comet in the sky is rumoured to portend doom on Charlie's reign.

Episode 1 | Charles II: The Power and the Passion

In 1660 after years in exile, Charles II is restored to the throne of England but is abandoned by his friend, the Duke of B...

08: Charles II | Landmarks

This programme looks at the life of Charles II.

07: Charles I | Landmarks

This programme looks at the life of Charles I.

02: The Marriage Game | Elizabeth R

The unmarried young queen is encouraged to find a suitable husband so that she can produce an heir, but she finds that very few suitors i...

01: The Lion's Cub | Elizabeth R

A young Elizabeth lives in dangerous times, leading the Protestant rebellion against her Catholic half-sister Mary and challenging her claim...

S07E15: Terrible Tudor Special | Horrible Histories

Chop, chop, it's the Horrible Histories' Terrible Tudors Special, with everything you need to know about history's most f...

05: The Spanish Armada | Landmarks

In October 1588, a lone Spanish ship was wrecked off south Devon. In today's programme children from three Devon schools use their own map...

03: The Goode Lyfe | What The Tudors Did For Us

Adam Hart-Davis makes marmalade, takes on a champion in the sport of real tennis and learns how to use the first piece of dom...

04: War Machyne | What The Tudors Did For Us

How did England become a military power? Adam Hart-Davis reveals how Henry VIII 's ascension to the throne necessitated inventio...

02: The Thynkynge Revolution | What The Tudors Did For Us

How the invention of the printing press helped convert England to Protestantism, sparked a revolution in scientific...

01: Seeying the Worlde | What The Tudors Did For Us

The development of scientific instruments gave the Tudors new worlds to explore, both on land and on sea. And did the Eng...

00: The Tudors in Shropshire | Landmarks

Mark Evans and a team of children from Corvedale Primary School examine Tudor buildings in Much Wenlock. They visit Brook House Farm...

04: Elizabeth I | Landmarks

Programme looks at life of Elizabeth I, with visits to Penshurst Place and National Gallery.

03: The 'Mary Rose' | Landmarks

This programme tells the story of the excavation and raising of Henry VIII's warship ''The Mary Rose''.

01: Henry VII | Landmarks

This programme looks at the life of Henry VII. First episode in history series for 9-11 year olds.

02: Henry VIII | Landmarks

This programme looks at the life of Henry VIII. A history series for 9-11 year olds.

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 ...

Episode 3 | Flight of the Earls

Antaine O' Donnaile retraces the dangerous journey of the Earls through France, Belgium and Switzerland to Rome, a journey which caused a dip...

Episode 2 | Flight of the Earls

Presented by Antaine O Donnaile, the second programme of three looks at the military defeat and eventual surrender of the Irish leader Hugh O...

Episode 1 | Flight of the Earls

Presented by Antaine O' Donnaile, the first programme of three looks at the violent events which led to the Flight, in particular the Battle ...

2: The Heart of England: Living It Up | How We Built Britain

David Dimbleby goes on an architectural tour of Britain, exploring the great country houses of the reign of Eliz...

7: Elizabeth I | Great Britons (2002)

Michael Portillo champions Elizabeth I, arguing that she fought religious fanaticism, established Britain's tradition of tolerance, and...

S2E4: Bloody Mary | Lucy Worsley Investigates

Does 'Bloody Mary', England’s first crowned queen, deserve her reputation? Lucy Worsley investigates, asking whether Mary shoul...