The Great British Countryside

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.

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.

Robbie Coltrane has set himself a challenge to take a road trip across a Britain that we don't normally see. The route is from Scotland to the tip of Cornwall, stopping off at various locations - all on the scenic 'B' roads.

Britain’s rich horticultural history is being lost. More and more front and back gardens are paved over - for development, for parking spaces, or because families don’t have the time or inclination to manage these spaces. The trend for easy-to-maintain lawns, patios and paving has also led to a decline in traditional gardens full of flowers, plants and trees to the extent that some of our most iconic flora and fauna have all but disappeared. Step forward the BBC’s most-loved gardening experts, who are determined to turn us back into a green-fingered nation once again.

A politically charged mini-series researched and written by Duncan Campbell which saw dramatic Special Branch raids on BBC Scotland. An entire production office was loaded into transit vans and confiscated by the police. + One: 'The Secret Constitution' about secret Cabinet committees that amount to a secret decision making system at the highest levels of power in the United Kingdom. + Two: 'In Time of Crisis' about secret preparations for war that began in 1982 within every NATO country. This programme revealed what Britain would do. + Three: 'A Gap In Our Defences' about bungling defence manufacturers and incompetent military planners who have botched every new radar system that Britain has installed since World War II. + Four: 'We're All Data Now' about the Data Protection Act. + Five: 'Association of Chief Police Officers' and how Government policy and actions are determined in the fields of law and order. + Six: 'Communications' with particular reference to Zircon spy satellites ...

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

The people, places and stories making news in the British countryside.

Acclaimed historian Dan Jones tells the story of the dynasty who ruled England and much of France during the Middle Ages. More shocking, brutal and exhilarating than Game of Thrones, these events actually happened.

Jonathan Meades gives a personal perspective of British history.

Exploring the hidden corners of the UK in search of the best the countryside has to offer.

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.

The enormous popularity of recent British dramas such as Downton Abbey, Mr. Selfridge, and Sherlock, has led to vast interest in the real-life stories and history of the icons of Great Britain. Each episode of this series visits a famous British building or institution to explore its past and present, meeting a wide range of experts and historians along the way.

Documentary examining the winners and losers in Britain's booming gambling revolution.

Dominic Sandbrook takes a fresh look at a dynamic decade. 1980s Britain changed in everything from politics and sport to fashion and popular culture.

La Grande-Bretagne Sauvage

Historian Dan Jones explores the millennium of history behind six of Great Britain's most famous castles: Warwick, Dover, Caernarfon, the Tower of London, Carrickfergus, and Stirling.

Fred Dibnah reveals the genius, the vision and the sheer bloody graft that went into creating some of Britain's greatest national monuments. All six episodes look at Britain's architectural heritage. In 'Mighty Cathedrals' Fred examines the innovations in building techniques which allowed the Normans to build some of the nation's most remarkable cathedrals. 'The Art of Castle Building' has Fred take a look at the castles of the North Wales coastline. 'The Age of the Carpenter' sees Fred learn all about the way that carpenters have used their skills to transform medieval castles into homes. In 'Scottish Style' Fred visits Glamis Castle and learns about the Scottish Baronial Style. 'Building the Canals' has Fred visit Bolton and learn about the construction of the first canals. Finally, 'Victorian Splendour' sees Fred looking at the achievements of architects in the 19th century and discovering the story behind the building of the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben.

Stretching from the Stone Age to the year 2000, Simon Schama's Complete History of Britain does not pretend to be a definitive chronicle of the turbulent events which buffeted and shaped the British Isles. What Schama does do, however, is tell the story in vivid and gripping narrative terms, free of the fustiness of traditional academe, personalising key historical events by examining the major characters at the centre of them. Not all historians would approve of the history depicted here as shaped principally by the actions of great men and women rather than by more abstract developments, but Schama's way of telling it is a good deal more enthralling as a result. Schama successfully gives lie to the idea that the history of Britain has been moderate and temperate, passing down the generations as stately as a galleon, taking on board sensible ideas but steering clear of sillier, revolutionary ones. Nonsense. Schama retells British history the way it was--as bloody, convulsive, precarious, hot-blooded and several times within an inch of haring off onto an entirely different course. Schama seems almost to delight in the goriness of history. Themes returned to repeatedly include the wars between the Scots and the Irish and the Catholic/Protestant conflicts--only the Irish question remains unresolved by the new millennium. As Britain becomes a constitutional monarchy, Schama talks less of Kings and Queens but of poets and idea-makers like Orwell. Still, with his pungent, direct manner and against an evocative visual and aural backdrop, Schama makes history seem as though it happened yesterday, the bloodstains not yet dry.

Julia Bradbury dons her walking boots to explore her own British backyard, travelling along the country's network of canals and their accompanying towpath trails.

Drawing on newly available evidence, this epic series explores the Windsor dynasty's gripping family saga, providing fresh insights into how our royal family have survived four generations of crisis.