The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.
Michael Portillo visits the Royal Observatory at Greenwich to see how the railways standardised time and explores the historic dockyards at Chatham. Show more
Series chronicling the impact of technology on war shows how the longbow was a killing machine that could stop an armoured knight in his tracks. Show more
Using the Rank Organisation's Look at Life series of films, a look at how Britain's increasingly affluent population took full advantage of new leisure opportunities. Show more
Comedy in which a con artist uses her charms to steal jewels from her gangster boyfriend, taking advantage of his henchman and a lawyer to realise her plan. Show more
Rachel and Becky Unthank explore England's winter customs and dance traditions, from Bonfire Night in Lewes to the North East's longsword dancers and East Anglian molly dancers. Show more
Focusing on Beowulf and drawing on other Anglo-Saxon classics, Michael Wood, with the help of Seamus Heaney and others, traces the birth of English poetry back to the Dark Ages. Show more
Richard E Grant explores the history of the Arabian Nights, visiting Paris and Cairo to find out whether they can help change the West's distorted image of the Arab world. Show more
Henry Hitchings explores the lives and works of the radical 18th-century British novelists such as Defoe, Swift and Fielding who established the literary genres we recognise today. Show more
Film using rare footage from the Baum family archives plus interviews with family members, literary experts and historians to tell the story of the creator of Oz, Frank L Baum. Show more
