Industrial and Victorian Britain

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...

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 3 | Empire with David Olusoga

David Olusoga reveals how the Empire reached its maximum size after the First World War but within a generation had begun to collapse, ...

01: Profit and Loss | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners

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

Shifting historical opinions on the British Empire | A Timewatch Guide

David Olusoga explains how historical perspectives of the British Empire have shifted through time.

01: Why Britain? | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World

In this programme we learn about the origins of the British empire in the 17th century and how its foundations w...

The Windrush Generation | Black and British: A Forgotten History

David Olusoga discusses the Windrush Generation.

06: Age of Empire | Seven Ages of Britain

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

03: 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 t...

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 ...

Bunce Island | Black and British: A Forgotten History

David Olusoga visits Bunce Island, where the first slave fortress was built in the 17th century.

The beginnings of the British slave trade | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners

David Olusoga investigates the beginnings of the British slave trade in Barbados.

Granville Sharp | Black and British: A Forgotten History

David Olusoga discusses Granville Sharpe and Jonathan Strong's roles in the abolition of slavery.

Slave plantation system | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners

David Olusoga discusses the slave plantation system in the Caribbean.

The partition of India | A Timewatch Guide

David Olusoga investigates how the partition of India has been represented in film and television.

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...

Jamestown colony | Empire with David Olusoga

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

S03E03: 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 ...

Mississippi cotton | Black and British: A Forgotten History

David Olusoga discusses the cotton industry in Mississippi and how it fuelled Britain's industrial revolution.

Treatment of Aboriginals in Australia | Empire with David Olusoga

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

05: 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...

Episode 1 | Back in Time for School

Fifteen pupils and three teachers embark on a time-travelling adventure to discover how much life at school has changed. The class start ...

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 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.

S01E06: Victorians | The Worst Jobs In History

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

Cholera | A House Through Time

David Olusoga investigates the 1850's Cholera epidemic in Liverpool.

01: Britain's Moral Makeover | Ian Hislop's Age of the Do-Gooders

Ian Hislop salutes the unsung heroes of Victorian Britain who improved cities, housing and working conditio...

S01E06: Child labour during the Victorian era | Horrible Histories

In this humorous advertisement for injuries caused in the workplace we discover just what jobs some Victor...

Britain 1750-1900: 02: Crime and Punishment | History File

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

Portland Road | The Secret History of Our Streets

Series on how London has changed since Charles Booth's 1886 survey. Portland Road, Notting Hill, was once London's worst sl...

02: 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...

S01E06: Chimney Sweeps | Horrible Histories

A chimney sweep & his young apprentice face unexpected obstacles on the job.

S02E02 | 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 str...

03: 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 drea...

01: 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 machin...

West Yorkshire Lunatic Pauper Asylum | How We Built Britain

David Dimbleby explores what life was like for the mentally ill in the Victorian era.

S02E01: 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, dea...

03: Seaside (Llandudno) | How Britain Worked

Guy Martin helps to get Llandudno - the queen of Victorian sea-side resorts - up to scratch in time for the summer season, worki...

S01E01 | 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 of ...

03: 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 re...

The Children Who Built Victorian Britain

Using animation and actual recorded testimony, historian Jane Humphries tells the story of the child workers whose exploitation was ...

S02E03: The Worst Industrial Jobs in History | The Worst Jobs In History

Among the Worst Industrial Jobs in History are: Bridge builders, Canal leggers, bone cleaner to make...

Why the Industrial Revolution Happened Here

Professor Jeremy Black explains the unique economic, social and political factors that helped Britain transform itself almost ent...

Children in the Industrial Revolution | The Children Who Built Victorian Britain

How children were treated and how this began to change.

Britain 1750-1900: 03: Health and Housing | History File

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

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

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

Industry and factories | Learning Zone

Today we take factories for granted but in the 1700s they represented a completely new way of working. Until this time most work was d...

Cotton mill | Pubs, Ponds and Power: The Story of the Village

The creation of one of the first cotton mills in Cromford.

Britain 1750-1900: 06: 1900-1909 - Britain at its peak? | History File

Compilation of secondary schools programme on British History 1750-1900. Looks at how industrialisatio...

Britain 1750-1900: 01: Migration and Emigration | History File

Compilation of secondary schools programme on British History 1750-1900. Looks at how industrialisation change...

01: Speed Merchants | What the Victorians Did For Us

Adam Hart-Davis investigates the Victorian innovations that left a lasting impression on British society. This edition f...

Canals | Learning Zone

In the 1770s canals linked the country, carrying goods cheaply and efficiently. Without them it is hard to see how the Industrial Revolution could hav...

Britain 1750-1900: 05: Reform and Recreation | History File

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

Britain 1750-1900: 04: Work and Wages | History File

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

05: 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...

04: Mine (Black Country) | How Britain Worked

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

Britain 1750-1900: 02: Crime and Punishment | History File

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

05: 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 interio...

01: 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 ...

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

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

The 1860s | The Victorian Slum

A group of 21st-century people move into a recreated Victorian slum. In this episode, the slum dwellers move into the 1860s, when London was t...

The 1880s | The Victorian Slum

A group of people move into a recreated Victorian slum. The slum dwellers have moved into the turbulent 1880s: unemployment was sky high, livi...

03: The Circus | Britain's Best Buildings

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

The 1870s | The Victorian Slum

A group of 21st-century people move into a recreated Victorian slum. The slum dwellers live through a dire economic depression that blighted t...

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.

01: Britain's Moral Makeover | Ian Hislop's Age of the Do-Gooders

Ian Hislop salutes the unsung heroes of Victorian Britain who improved cities, housing and working conditio...

The 1900s | The Victorian Slum

A group of people move into a recreated Victorian slum. In the final episode the slum dwellers have moved into the 20th century and social cha...

The 1890s | The Victorian Slum

A group of people move into a recreated Victorian slum. The slum dwellers have moved into the 1890s, when Britain was slowly recovering from a...

04: 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 an...

01: 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 gre...

02: 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...

S01E10: Victorians criminal street slang | Horrible Histories

An upper-class couple is conned by a thief using street slang.

Workers or Shirkers? Ian Hislop's Victorian Benefits

Ian Hislop presents an entertaining and provocative look at Victorian attitudes to the poor, exploring the views of five...

The Bristol Entertainment

A thousand years of the gossip, scandals, successes, disasters, eccentricities and cupidities that lie behind the facades of a great city.

S02E01: 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 Protesta...

Episode 2 | Full Steam Ahead

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

03: 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 re...

05: Social Progress | What the Victorians Did For Us

How the opportunities in employment and education created the middle classes and gave them such luxuries as their own to...

S01E12: Workout with Queen Victoria | Horrible Histories

Queen Victoria pitches her workout regime.

S01E12: Victorian schoolchildren names | Horrible Histories

Schoolchildren have some very unusual names.