History

A Slick of Red Lippie
Cathy Macdonald explores the history and glamour of red lipstick.
14 Feb 2017,28 mins
Silk
Episode 2
Steph discovers how silk's global spread has driven industrial and technological change.
30 Oct 2013,28 mins
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Royal Racers and Fascinators
Hardeep Singh Kohli discovers the royal connections linking Ascot racecourse with fashion.
18 Jun 2011,30 mins
The Eureka Years
26/12/2008
Adam Hart-Davis explores the history of the technology of Christmas.
26 Dec 2008,30 mins
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Taking Art To The People
Michael Symmons Roberts on the life and legacy of the philanthropist Thomas Horsfall.
02 Nov 2015,30 mins
Something Old, Something New
From Sheffield to South Carolina, Johny Pitts explores alternative Black British identity.
06 Oct 2015,30 mins
Good King George
Simon Heffer re-evaluates the reign of George V.
14 Apr 2010,30 mins
Jutland: The Battle that Won the War
Lord West explains why Jutland was the most important battle of the First World War.
22 May 2016,28 mins
Remembering Tryweryn
Guto Harri explores the event that shaped Welsh art and literature for a generation.
06 Feb 2020,28 mins
A Wing and a Prayer
Battle of Britain fighter pilots recall the summer of 1940. Presented by Misha Glenny.
24 Mar 2015,28 mins
The Secret Catacombs of Paris
Jonathan Glancey investigates Paris's secret underground maze of tunnels.
30 Jan 2012,30 mins
The Trumpet Shall Sound
Jazz composer Julian Joseph goes in search of black classical musicians from the past.
04 Dec 2007,30 mins
A Right Royal Rescue
HRH the Duke of Edinburgh recalls his role in a daring rescue during WWII.
27 Jan 2006,28 mins
Syrena Songs
The story of Poland's Syrena Records, a label that defined a nation.
12 Jan 2016,30 mins
Pepys the Musician
Lucie Skeaping hears music written for Pepys, played for the first time since his death.
04 Apr 2017,30 mins
Foreign Bodies
Series 3
Nigeria
Helon Habila and CM Okonkwo on the flourishing new tradition of Nigerian crime fiction.
21 Nov 2014,15 mins
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The Secret History of Social Networking
Episode 3
Rory Cellan-Jones asks where social networking will go in the future.
09 Feb 2011,30 mins
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A Voyage on Livingstone's Lake
The story of the MV Ilala, a 60-year-old boat still in use in Malawi and Mozambique.
20 Jan 2009,30 mins
How Did We Get Here...? Egypt
Stephen Sackur uncovers the history behind the upheavals in Egypt.
04 Feb 2011,30 mins
The Channel (Omnibus)
Five viewpoints assessing the English Channel's impact on the British identity.
20 Nov 2022,70 mins
Tibet Remembered
A portrait of pre Chinese Tibet through the voices of the British who worked there.
23 Sep 2013,28 mins
From Dunkirk to D-Day
Charles Wheeler recalls the epic of strategic success that made victory possible.
05 Jun 2004,45 mins
Inside the Academie Francaise
Agnes Poirier explores the role of the body which protects the French language.
23 Dec 2011,30 mins
The Lost Songs of Hollywood
Julia Kogan explores the little-known personal music of exiled composers in Los Angeles.
12 Nov 2015,30 mins
Hometown Boring?
Introducing Hometown Boring?
Unearthing hidden histories around the UK in places misjudged as being “boring”
09 Feb 2024,2 mins
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Who Are the '22?
David Cannadine tells the story of the origins of the 1922 Committee.
29 Aug 2022,28 mins
How New Is the New Philanthropy?
Two 'New Philanthropies'
Hugh contrasts the role of philanthropy today with that of the middle of the 20th century.
26 Dec 2011,30 mins
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The Cuban Missile Crisis: As Seen From Moscow and Havana
Allan Little pieces together the "untold" side of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
23 Oct 2002,45 mins
The British Road to Bolshevism
Martin Rosenbaum explores how events in London played a role in the Russian Revolution.
16 Oct 2017,28 mins
Unbuilt Britain
A West Coast Monument
Why a landmark building in Oban by John Stewart McCaig never got finished.
27 Jul 2012,15 mins
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