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 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, ...

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...

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...

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...

04: 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...

05: Maxim Force | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World

The 'scramble for Africa' by competing European nations during the last years of Queen Victoria's reign is the co...

Shifting historical opinions on the British Empire | A Timewatch Guide

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

The Windrush Generation | Black and British: A Forgotten History

David Olusoga discusses the Windrush Generation.

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...

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 ...

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...

04: Heaven's Breed | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World

In this programme we discover how a few thousand British people ruled over India, a country of more than 250 m...

John Blanke | Black and British: A Forgotten History

David Olusoga discusses Catherine of Aragon's black servants.

Treatment of Aboriginals in Australia | Empire with David Olusoga

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

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

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

04: 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 broadcas...

06: Age of Empire | Seven Ages of Britain

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

Morant Bay Rebellion | Black and British: A Forgotten History

David Olusoga discusses the legacy of the slave trade in Jamaica in the decades after abolition.

Granville Sharp | Black and British: A Forgotten History

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

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 ...

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.

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.

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...

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.

Cholera | A House Through Time

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

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.

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 ...

The Supersizers Go...3: Victorian | The Supersizers

Restaurant critic Giles Coren and writer and performer Sue Perkins spend the week on the diet of a wealthy Victorian couple.

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...

02: 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

S01E06: Chimney Sweeps | Horrible Histories

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

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...

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...

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 ...

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.

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.

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.

02: Playing God | What the Victorians Did For Us

Adam Hart-Davis investigates Victorian innovations. He goes fossil hunting at Lyme Regis, recreates a Victorian seance, and ...

08: Pleasure Seekers | What the Victorians Did For Us

Adam Hart-Davis investigates the Victorian innovations that left a lasting impression on British society. He discusses ...

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...

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...

02: 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 19...

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...

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...

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 ...

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: 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 ...

Coal | Learning Zone

The Industrial Revolution changed Britain and the world fundamentally. It began in Britain, and coal was a key factor.

03: 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 mattre...

02: 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...

03: Rule Makers | What the Victorians Did For Us

Adam Hart-Davis investigates the Victorian innovations that left a lasting impression on British society. A look at how the ...

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 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.

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...

S03E01E1 | 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...

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...

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...

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...

02: 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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

S01E09: Victorian school punishments | Horrible Histories

An inspector gets a rundown from strict teachers on school punishments.

S03E02 | 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 a...

S02E02: 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 num...

04: 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, whi...

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...

02: 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 a...