Shop Well for Less

In-depth reports, test benches, buying guides, decoding of trends, news briefs and informative capsules. All done by a team of seasoned reporters on the lookout for consumer issues, both big and small.

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.

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.

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.

Follows five spendthrift protagonists, each with a different personality, in order to unveil their tricks for saving pennies on the dollar.

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

In a unique experiment, five teachers from China take over the education of fifty teenagers in a Hampshire school to see whether the high-ranking Chinese education system can teach us a lesson.

The story of the permanently changing landscape and its wildlife of the British isles since the last ice age. In 10 episodes.

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 ...

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

Architect George Clarke meets people taking on challenging huge builds for powerful emotional reasons. He follows them as they uproot their lives, stretch their finances and test their relationships, all in order to build wonderful homes of their dreams.

A three part series about women working in the British film industry during the 1950s.

Every year, thousands of properties are sold at auction, ranging from modest two-up, two-downs to multi-million-pound, waterfront mansions. But they often have some nasty surprises hidden beneath the floorboards and need a bit of love and affection to turn them into a dream home. Cue Sarah Beeny. She’s been buying, building and transforming properties for thirty-five years and she’s fascinated by the world of auctions. In this series she’ll be offering a dose of realism as brave new owners try and take their auction buys from derelict to diamond.

Lucy Worsley delves into the history of romance to uncover the forces shaping our very British happily ever after and how our feelings have been affected by social, political and cultural ideas.

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.

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.

Following the men and women who work around the clock on Britain's longest and most iconic road, ensuring the traffic keeps moving and the public is kept safe.

Paul’s fascination with trains stems from his childhood. His father was a driver on the London Underground and when, as a young boy, Paul witnessed his dad driving a train across Putney Bridge, it sparked a lifelong fascination of railways. Now, he is following in his father’s footsteps by joining the drivers upfront and in control of some of the world’s most amazing trains and experiencing the best views as he travels through breathtaking landscapes in the UK and Europe. From steep gradients and tight curves to pinpoint platform stops, Paul will learn what it takes to keep these mighty machines on track. Visiting Germany, France, Switzerland, Wales, Northern England and Isle of Wight, he’ll meet the people who keep the railways running - from engineers and conductors to passengers with fascinating stories of their own.

A look at life in Windsor Castle over the last 80 years, including the tragedies, triumphs, romances and scandals of the Royal Family.

The Piano is a new talent show that will profile the best amateur pianists in the UK, performing on pianos at four stations around the country. Unbeknownst to the contestants, it's not just a documentary: it's also a competition. The contestants are secretly being judged, and the four best of them - one from each station - will perform at the Royal Festival Hall to an audience of thousands in the final episode.