Simon Schama traces the steps of the empire-makers, asking how a trading enterprise based on the idea of liberty became an empire built on slavery.

This episode focuses on films examining the changing shape of the British Empire. At a time when many of its former colonies were achieving independence, Look at Life sent its film crews as far afield as Aden, Malaysia and Ascension Island to record the efforts made by Britain to manage the transition from imperial rule to the leadership of an emerging Commonwealth.

Jeremy Paxman travels the world exploring many different aspects of the British Empire

Jeremy Paxman traces the story of the greatest empire the world has ever known: the British Empire. In the first programme, he asks how such a small country got such a big head, and how a tiny island in the North Atlantic came to rule over a quarter of the world's population.

Jeremy continues by looking at how settlers spread the British way of doing things.

He continues his personal account of Britain's Empire by tracing the growth of a peculiarly British type of hero - adventurer, gentleman, amateur, sportsman and decent chap

Jeremy Paxman continues his personal account of Britain's empire, looking at how the empire began as a pirates' treasure hunt, grew into an informal empire based on trade and developed into a global financial network.

In the final part of his personal account of Britain's empire, Jeremy Paxman tells the extraordinary story of how a desire for conquest became a mission to improve the rest of mankind

Sathnam travels to Yorkshire, Wales, and Scotland, exploring multiculturalism, culture wars, legacies of empire, and his own confused sense of identity

From his hometown of Wolverhampton, to Brighton and Edinburgh, Sathnam Sanghera explores the British Empire's most contentious legacy - racism

How did a small island once rule over a quarter of the world's population? This shared history still shapes us today - and billions of people are part of its story.

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

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

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