His­tory se­ries pre­sented by Si­mon Schama.

Why Britain was immune to the French Revolution's call - liberty, equality and fraternity.

Simon Schama looks at the Victorian era, and the huge impact made by women of the period.

Simon Schama reveals how the noble intentions of the British Empire were undermined.

Simon Schama examines the lives of two figures: Winston Churchill and George Orwell.

Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch - one of the world's leading historians - reveals the origins of Christianity and explores what it means to be a Christian

Diarmaid MacCulloch explores the extraordinary rise of Roman Catholic Church.

Diarmaid MacCulloch examines the concept of scepticism in Western Christianity.

Diarmaid MacCulloch explores Eastern Orthodox Christianity's fight for survival.

Diarmaid MacCulloch traces the growth of Evangelical Protestantism across the globe.

Diarmaid MacCulloch looks at the Reformation and its attack on the Catholic Church.

A series of documentaries examining the history of local people, places, inventions and events that changed the world. Adam Hart-Davis tells the remarkable story of Thomas Newcomen, the Devon man who invented the world's first working steam-powered engine.

A series of documentaries examining the history of local people, places, inventions and events that changed the world. Horrible Histories author Terry Deary tells the story of the country's biggest and bloodiest ever battle in which 28,000 soldiers died in a single day of slaughter during the Wars of the Roses.

Chris Tarrant discovers how one simple invention revolutionised the industrial heart of Britain. He travels by narrow boat to see how the Brindley Lock created a canal network that would transform the Midlands from rural backwater to industrial giant.

Poet Benjamin Zephaniah revisits the place of his birth, Birmingham, on a mission to compose a new poem, which he will then read out on the streets of the city. While there, he watches Aston Villa and revisits the approved school he went to when he was a child.

From its early years until the present day, London has provided powerful, emotional inspiration to artists.This documentary evokes the city as seen by painters, photographers, film-makers and writers through the ages.

British-born Chinese vlogger Shu Lin explores the history of the Chinese community in the UK from the 1950s through to the present day.

2024 is the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s iconic performance and victory at Eurovision. With the contest taking place in Sweden, this film celebrates that historic occasion by telling the epic story of ABBA’s greatest period of musical achievement.

Documentary which sheds new light on the greatest crisis to rock the British monarchy in centuries - the abdication of King Edward VIII. Usually, it has been presented as the only possible solution to his dilemma of having to choose between the throne and the woman he loved.

Documentary re-assessing the reputation of American president, Abraham Lincoln.

In episode one Rory Stewart tells the story of British interventions in Afghanistan in the 19th century, when the British Empire became obsessed with the idea that their rival, Russia, was considering the invasion of Afghanistan as a staging post for an attack on British India.

Rory Stewart tells the story of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the twentieth century, and its parallels with the American-led coalition's intervention today.

The award-winning film-maker and academic Henry Louis Gates Jr takes a new look at the history of Africa, from the birth of humankind to the dawn of the 20th century.

The award-winning film-maker and academic Henry Louis Gates Jr travels the length and breadth of Africa to explore the continent's epic history. In this first episode, Gates focuses on the origins of human existence and looks at the anthropological and scientific discoveries that point to Africa as the genetic home of all currently living humanity.

This episode charts the emergence of Christianity and Islam and examines how the two religions reshaped Africa between the first and the 12th centuries AD, as well as for centuries thereafter.

Empires of Gold marks an era of great commercial and manufacturing growth throughout several of the continent's regions.

This episode shines a light on the powerful, cosmopolitan cities that dotted Africa at the time when Europe was in its Middle Ages. From 1000 to 1600, commerce, wealth and prosperity expanded across Africa, building new cities and founding new powerful states that mark this golden age.

The Atlantic Age examines the tremendous changes that took place in Africa between the 15th and 18th centuries.

In the final part of Africa's Great Civilisations, Henry Louis Gates Jr reviews the 19th century, when a fierce competition for resources and trade stimulated ingenuity but also enticed European powers, triggering the 'scramble for Africa' and inciting conflicts that threatened the stability and wellbeing of the continent.

Coal had powered Britain's industrial rise, with her mills and furnaces, railways and steamships depending on it. In the peak years a million men laboured in the mines, many in poor and dangerous working conditions like those contributor Dick Martin found when he began as pit boy aged 14.