Brits Who Made The Modern World

Building to the Sky

Using witness testimony, archive and archaeological evidence, this three-part series reveals the untold story of the preparations to defend World War Two Britain by the Home Guard.

Presenter Rob Bell takes us on a voyage around Britain and Ireland to reveal the hidden secrets that make offshore lighthouses such extraordinary feats of engineering.

Investigating mankind's insatiable necessity to move faster and further; for pleasure, for work, to explore, to survive.

Documentary series revealing the inner workings of Britain's railways, introducing the track-workers, train guards, drivers, police officers and management teams determined to keep the country moving.

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.

In a "nation of middle-class" the IIT dream involves clearing the world's toughest public exam for guaranteed lifelong success. Life is not an exam though. It's a hustle, one that nobody trains them for. The result? Eternal tumult.

Portillo's Hidden History of Britain sees former UK politician Michael Portillo investigating abandoned buildings around Britain.

Jonathan Meades gives a personal perspective of British history.

This is your chance to reach out and touch the past! Just as a forensic anthropologist analyses bones, and a historian deciphers ancient texts, we now have the technology to "read" the buildings, ruins and landscapes where history was made. The series, presented by Dallas Campbell, teams Steve Burrows (pictured), the brains behind the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing, with a team of pioneering laser scanning experts from the Centre for Advanced Spatial Technologies to unlock the secrets of the world’s greatest engineering and cultural achievements. Locations include the Colosseum, Petra, Machu Picchu, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Pyramids and Jerusalem.

It is 2014 and the machines have not taken over…yet. The newest, most technologically advanced series from H2™, Rise of the Machines, reveals how the inventions behind the world’s most extreme machines have enabled them to evolve beyond humanity’s wildest imagination. This visually stunning series uses mind-blowing CGI animations to reveal the extraordinary engineering at the heart of the world’s most extreme machines. From the world’s biggest mega truck to the world’s fastest train to a revolutionary heavy lift ship, ground breaking CGI animation explodes the machines apart to reveal the ingenious inventions hidden under their skin that enables the teams who drive, fly and sail them to be at the top of their game. This series takes us inside these machines in close up detail and explores what helps these elite ships, trucks, trains and aircrafts rise above all others.

The true story of the battle to build the world's first supersonic airliner. A tale of genius, Cold War espionage, and an whole new kind of jet plane.

In the series, "Wallace will take a light hearted and humorous look at the real-life inventors, contraptions, gadgets and inventions, with the silent help of Gromit. The series aims to inspire a whole new generation of innovative minds by showing them real, but mind-boggling, machines and inventions from around the world that have influenced his illustrious inventing career" (the BBC press statement). Peter Sallis reprised his role as the voice of Wallace. The filmed inserts are mostly narrated by Ashley Jensen, with one in each episode presented in-vision by Jem Stansfield. John Sparkes also voices a portion in the unseen character of archivist Goronwy.

Every time we switch on a light or boil a kettle we rely on power - but most people don't stop to think about the inventions and discoveries that allow us to live the way we do. In an exciting new four-part series for BBC Two, The Genius of Invention reveals the fascinating chain of events behind inventions that make everyday life possible.

Richard Hammond embarks on a global adventure to explore the world’s biggest structures and machines and discover how engineers build, maintain and use them.

Guy Martin celebrates the workers of the Industrial Revolution by getting stuck into six of the country's biggest restoration projects, bringing some of the 19th century's most impressive engineering achievements back to life.

Bridging the Expanse

Sir David Jason explores his favourite great British inventions and discovers how and why they were first thought up

Documentary series which ranges widely over Britain's social and cultural history, its narrative-led storytelling offering a richly immersive and varied window onto the past.

This series presents a number of unique vehicles that helped to shape Australia's automotive history. We briefly look at some of the most iconic cars to hit the Australian highways ( goat tracks ) and why we loved or hated them and how they faired on our roads and race tracks. Some of these cars are unique to Australia, while other cars will be instantly recognised in other parts of the world. Some international models were renamed and rebadged for the Australian market, but you may still recognise them just the same. We've asked automotive journalists Mark Oastler, John Wright & Joe Kenwright to present their exclusive articles for the Shannons Club in a television format.