Industrial and Victorian Britain

Treatment of Aboriginals in Australia | Empire with David Olusoga

David explains the horrendous treatment of the Aboriginal peoples of Tasmania by the British.

Transportation of Convicts to Australia | Empire with David Olusoga

David explains how Britian sent their problem convicts abroad to the colonies for cheap labour, and many ...

Episode 2 | Empire with David Olusoga

David Olusoga reveals how the loss of the American colonies led to the colonisation of Australia and how the Indian indenture system wa...

Episode 1 | Empire with David Olusoga

David Olusoga tells the story of the British Empire, from its origins under Elizabeth I to the establishment of colonies in America, th...

Jamestown colony | Empire with David Olusoga

In Jamestown, David looks at evidence of the first English colonies in the Americas and their tobacco plantations.

01: Heart of Oak | Empire of the Seas: How the Navy Forged the Modern World

Dan Snow charts the role the Royal Navy played in Britain's development. How victory over the Arm...

03: Trade and Romance | Britain and the Sea

Documentary that sees David Dimbleby tracing the crucial importance of the sea to Britain's trade and to individual livelihoods o...

01: Adventure and Exploration | Britain and the Sea

David Dimbleby sails the south west coast of England, exploring maritime art, architecture and history - including the st...

1: The Viceory of India | A Passage to Britain

Dr Yasmin Khan tracks down passengers who travelled from Mumbai to Britain in the 1930s on the luxurious P&O liner The Viceroy...

Episode 4 | Rebel Heart

It's 1922 and Ernie and Ita are together at last, while Ireland is poised to win her independence.

Episode 3 | Rebel Heart

Ernie is sent to the west of Ireland by Michael Collins to rally support but learns that Kelly and O'Toole are awaiting execution.

Episode 1 | Rebel Heart

Drama about an idealistic young man's coming of age during the birth of the Irish nation.

5: The North: Full Steam Ahead | How We Built Britain

David Dimbleby tours Britain to discover the buildings that have made us who we are. Dimbleby travels north to the powe...

4: The West: Putting on the Style | How We Built Britain

David Dimbleby tours Britain to discover the buildings that have made us who we are. He travels west, where he finds...

3: The Jewel in the Crown | British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley

Lucy explores how British history is a concoction of fibs. She debunks the fibs that surround th...

Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners

In 1834 Britain abolished slavery, a defining and celebrated moment in our national history. What has been largely forgotten is that aboliti...

4: The Homecoming | Black and British: A Forgotten History

Historian David Olusoga concludes his series with the three African kings who stood up to empire, an irresistible ...

4: Having a Ball | Andrew Marr's The Making of Modern Britain

In the 1920s, Imperial Britannia slid from view and Britain saw a housing boom and the birth of radio broadcast...

6: Age of Empire | Seven Ages of Britain

David Dimbleby travels through Britain, America and India, tracing the British Empire from 1750 to 1900.

S3E3: The Empire of Good Intentions | A History of Britain by Simon Schama

How the liberal politics and free-market economics of the British Empire unravelled, leading to th...

10: A Year to Remember | 1900s House

The Bowlers reflect on the highs, lows and unforgettable moments of their three month living-history experiment.

9: Back to the Future | 1900s House

After three months of living in the past, the Bowlers' Victorian odyssey is coming to an end. Before they leave, they decide to throw a p...

6: Upstairs / Downstairs | 1900s House

A newcomer arrives at the house as Elizabeth, their new "maid of all work' starts domestic service. Scrubbing,washing,ironing,carpet b...

3: A Rude Awakening | 1900s House

The Bowlers wake up to their first morning in the 1900 house. There is no water, potties need emptying and the milk has gone off. The dream...

1: The Time Machine | 1900s House

We go behind-the scenes to find out how an ordinary terraced house in the shadow of the Millennium Dome was transformed into a time machine...

Episode 4 | 24 Hours in the Past

Six celebrities work in four Victorian workplaces. The six celebrities spend their final 24 hours in the workhouse.

Episode 3 | 24 Hours in the Past

Six celebrities work in four Victorian workplaces. Their third 24 hours finds them amid the bottle kilns of the Staffordshire potteries.

Episode 2 | 24 Hours in the Past

Six celebrities work in four Victorian workplaces. Their second 24 hours finds them in a rural coaching inn.

Episode 1 | 24 Hours in the Past

Six celebrities work for food and shelter in four Victorian workplaces, starting with 24 hours in the filth and grime of the city dump.

3: Happy Families: Hanoverians to Windsors | Fit to Rule: How Royal Illness Changed History

Lucy Worsley explores how the health of monarchs has shaped the nation. She explo...

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

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

2: Crime and Punishment | History File

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

5: Sewer King | Seven Wonders of the Industrial World

As 19th century London's sewage problem reached crisis point and cholera was rife, Joseph Bazalgette proposed a scheme ...

S2E1: The Worst Urban Jobs in History | The Worst Jobs In History

Among the worst jobs in the city are hunch backed water caddy, daring fire fighter, dangerous docker, deal ...

S1E6: Victorians | The Worst Jobs In History

Tony tries his hand at some of the most difficult and disgusting jobs from Victorian England's history.

S4E2 | A House Through Time

A ruthless factory owner is hit by an arson attack, a pacifist couple make a stand and one man sets sail for a life on the glamourous Atlantic li...

Series 4 | A House Through Time

David Olusoga discovers a scandalous poisoning, a reversal of fortune for a Victorian factory girl and a building dynasty that helped create ...

S2E2 | A House Through Time

Tracing the residents from the 1880s to 1900s, David discovers a family torn apart by catastrophe. The house becomes a refuge for destitute stree...

Series 2 | A House Through Time

David Olusoga pays his first visit to Ravensworth Terrace and investigates a vengeful lawyer, a scientist faced with financial ruin and a doc...

Series 1 | A House Through Time

The story of those who lived in one house, from the time it was built until now. David Olusoga follows the stories of the first inhabitants o...

S01E01: Victorian | Turn Back Time

A group of modern shopkeepers and their families live and trade through six key eras of history. They begin their journey in the 1870s, wh...

Unlocking the Midlands | A History of the World

Chris Tarrant discovers how one simple invention revolutionised the industrial heart of Britain. He travels by narrow boat to...

The Man Who Shrank the Globe | A History of the World

Jem Stansfield uncovers the story behind the invention of the jet engine. Frank Whittle turned our world into a global ...

The Clock That Changed the World | A History of the World

Adam Hart-Davis tells the story of the amazing 280-year-old wooden clock, made in Lincolnshire, that changed timeke...

The Birth of Steam | A History of the World

Adam Hart-Davis tells the remarkable story of Thomas Newcomen, the Devon man who invented the world's first working steam-powered...

S2E4: This Land Is Our Land | A History of Scotland

Neil Oliver looks at how, in the early 19th century, rural workers fled from Scotland's countryside into the industrial t...

2: Brunel | Great Britons (2002)

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

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

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

6: The Homecoming | The Boat That Guy Built

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

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

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

4: Beans on Toast | The Boat That Guy Built

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3: Having It All | The Victorians

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

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

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

Episode 6 | Full Steam Ahead

The team find out how more leisure time and cheap rail transport meant more freedom for working-class Victorians.

Episode 5 | Full Steam Ahead

The team visit the South Devon Railway to explore the life of the branch line before the Beeching cuts of the 60s.

Episode 4 | Full Steam Ahead

Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn help get the most famous locomotive in the world, the Flying Scotsman, into steam.

Full Steam Ahead

Historians Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn explore how the introduction of steam railways in the early 19th century changed Britain.

S2E2: Power to the People | The Battle for Britain's Soul

The Rev Peter Owen-Jones explains how Victorian Britain marked a real turning point in religion, as a growing numbe...

S2E1: The Church in Danger | The Battle for Britain's Soul

The 18th century was a time of great upheaval, with forces old and new poised to attack the established Protestant...

8: The Good Old Days | 1900s House

A night out at a Music Hall is a great success but proves a rude introduction to the seedy world of Victorian London.

5: How to be a Victorian | 1900s House

After four weeks of the drudgery of a Victorian level of housework, Joyce comes up with a 1900 solution: finding a servant to do the d...

4: Cleanliness is Next to Godliness | 1900s House

It is a week since the Bowlers began their time travel experience. But no-one has had a decent bath. The range cooker, whic...

2: Time Travellers | 1900s House

In Somerset, the Bowlers indulge in a last supper of junk food before saying goodbye to the 20th Century and hello to life in the year 1900.

5: Fire at York | Cathedral

Documentary drama series that reconstructs momentous events that shaped the building of Britain's cathedrals. Today, the story of York Minster Ca...

Episode 4 | 24 Hours in the Past

Six celebrities work in four Victorian workplaces. The six celebrities spend their final 24 hours in the workhouse.

3: The Circus | Britain's Best Buildings

This edition visits the Circus, a perfect circle of palatial terraced houses in the centre of Regency Bath.

4: Dreams and Nightmares | The Victorians

Jeremy Paxman discovers how, during the dying years of Victoria's reign, artists led a revolt against Victorian values of money and...

2: Home Sweet Home | The Victorians

Jeremy Paxman continues his exploration of the Victorian world by entering the Victorian home, a haven of order. But he soon discovers al...

1: Painting the Town | The Victorians

Jeremy Paxman begins his exploration into Victorian Britain by investigating the most dramatic event of the age - the explosion of grea...

Episode 3 | Full Steam Ahead

Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn find out how railways transformed the British diet.

Episode 2 | Full Steam Ahead

This episode looks at how railways began to move people, rather than just goods, around the country.

S7E9: The Great Fog | Secret History

A report on how the government ignored warnings for over 80 years that the thick fogs which once loomed over London would eventually cau...

S3E2 | A House Through Time

David Olusoga traces the house's fortunes from the late 18th to the mid-19th century, discovering tales of scandal, domestic violence and the asy...

Series 3 | A House Through Time

David Olusoga investigates the residents of an 18th-century house in Bristol, uncovering stories of piracy, an abandoned baby, a notorious po...

Series 2 | A House Through Time

David Olusoga pays his first visit to Ravensworth Terrace and investigates a vengeful lawyer, a scientist faced with financial ruin and a doc...

3: Sinful Sex and Demon Drink | Ian Hislop's Age of the Do-Gooders

The perils of booze and sex are the focus for the final episode of Ian Hislop's series about Victorian ref...

2: Suffer the Little Children | Ian Hislop's Age of the Do-Gooders

Ian Hislop celebrates the dynamic and eccentric Victorian reformers who brought about the most remarkable ...