It was 1952, and polio gripped the world in fear. There was no known cause, no cure and no help in sight for parents desperate to protect their children. Across the ocean, eager to beat the potentially fatal condition, polio-afflicted President Roosevelt inspired the American public to send in their dimes to fund research.

From scandal, cunning and betrayal to a disgraced downfall, we explore how Boris Johnson's career has shaped the future of Britain

How did Boris's chaotic childhood shape his political views? We discover how the clashes and rivalries of his youth dictated the key decisions that he made in his pursuit of power.

Having shocked pollsters with his Vote Leave Brexit victory, Boris becomes favourite to be the next Prime Minister. But he's soon betrayed and outmanoeuvred into the political wilderness.

Boris achieves his long-held ambition of becoming PM, but scandals from his private life emerge and it becomes tough at the top. Finding himself in a corner, Boris makes some outlandish moves...

Boris is hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. After some time in intensive care, he returns to Number 10 where the Partygate scandals lead to a public outcry, political ousting and Boris's resignation.

Documentary exploring the political brinkmanship and bitter communal violence that led to the partition of Ireland.

The second episode explores how political tensions and outbreaks of sectarian violence threatened to destabilise the new Northern Irish state.

From popular revolt to the obsession with the self, even to modern nationalism, Simon Schama explores the enduring and powerful legacy the Romantics have left on our modern world.

In this episode, Simon explores how Romantic artists created the secular icons of the modern democratic age, whose power continues to inspire the passions of revolt to this day.

Simon explores how the romantics became the first intrepid explorers of dark recesses of the human mind, long before the modern psychological revolution. With contributions from Sir David Attenborough

Simon Schama explores how the romantics created the secular cult of national belonging in their poetry, music and art, with enormous consequences for the modern world.

Drawing on the latest theories as well as 200 years of scientific discoveries and the genius of Einstein, Brian tries to answer the classic questions raised by the Doctor - can you really travel in time? Does extra-terrestrial life exist in our galaxy? And how do you build something as fantastical as the TARDIS?

Series looking at how London has changed since Charles Booth's survey recording social conditions in 1886, returning to six archetypal London streets.This episode features Caledonian Road, which starts next to King's Cross station and heads north for over a mile. From its beginning, the street has been resolutely working class and when Charles Booth visited he found it a depressing district.

This episode features Portland Road in Notting Hill, the archetypal London banker street, dominated by homes worth as much as £6,000,000. Yet when Booth visited in 1899, it was the worst slum in London and, even today, the bottom five per cent by income in Britain are living on the same street as the top one per cent.

The sixth episode features Arnold Circus, in the East End and the story of a Victorian social experiment that changed Britain. Arnold Circus is home to the first council estate, which opened in 1896. The planning of the estate, from its lack of pubs to the pattern of the brickwork, was deliberate in order to make its residents respectable, as previously the land had played host to a notorious crime-ridden slum.

Series looking at how London has changed since Charles Booth's survey recording social conditions in 1886, returning to six archetypal London streets.

How the in­ven­tion of writ­ing gave hu­man­ity a his­tory. From hi­ero­glyphs to emo­jis, an ex­plo­ration of the way in which the tech­nol­ogy of writ­ing has shaped the world we live in.

The hunt for the origin of writing reveals the link between ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and the letters we use every day.

Presenter Lydia Wilson and calligrapher Brody Neuenschwander set out to explore history’s most important technology - the technology of putting words on a page.

For more than a century, the world has seemed to be moving to a single universal script - the Latin alphabet. But that means more than changing words. It means changing identity.

Documentary exploring the story of the Berlin Wall, uncovering a world of flawed heroes and heroic villains, compromised victories and sad defeats.

At the heart of Britain sits something so all pervasive we don't even notice it's there - the national electricity grid. This three-part series charts how our lives got wired and the impact electrification has had.

Miners, nuclear scientists, politicians, environmentalists and even the City have all wrestled for control of the national electricity grid and the power that it has brought.

2003 - millions watch live as Columbia breaks up in the sky over Texas, killing all on board. NASA, loved ones and investigators share how an incredible journey ended in tragedy.

As Nasa prepares Space Shuttle Columbia for its 28th mission, excitement and trepidation build amongst the astronauts and their families as they count down to launch.

Nasa engineers analyse film footage of a piece of debris striking the shuttle Columbia 81 seconds after launch. What no-one yet knows is whether any serious damage has been done to the vehicle or the tiles which protect the vehicle against the intense heat of re-entry.

Sixteen minutes from landing, mission control lose contact with the crew of Columbia. On the shuttle landing strip, families waiting to welcome their loved ones back home are swiftly ushered away.

Flying enthusiast and broadcaster John Sergeant celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Spitfire with a TV love letter to this most British triumph of design and endeavour. The film follows the story of a Spitfire from birth to retirement and tells the stories of ordinary people with extraordinary tales.