The latest national and international news, exploring the day's events from a global perspective.

Danny Baker ponders the British factory - the products, the people, the bosses and what happens when the hooter sounds and the tools are downed.

Dr Helen Czerski examines the hottest natural phenomenon on the planet - lightning. High-speed cameras show the secrets of upward lightning that's triggered by urban landscapes. Show more

Dr Helen Czerski looks at the latest scientific insight into the aurora - dancing lights in the night sky that have fascinated cultures throughout our history. Show more

Using rare footage and excerpts from her own 1,600 letters, the story of Gertrude Bell, who shaped the modern Middle East after World War I in ways that still reverberate today. Show more

Rory Stewart examines the writings of Lawrence of Arabia, and learns that the warrior hero himself later questioned the very nature of his intervention in the Middle East. Show more

Lucy Worsley explores how real-life crime, science and the art of detection had an influence on the popular culture of homicide during the Victorian Age. Show more

How two French girls, a century apart, became queens of England. Isabella of France would be accused of murder and Margaret of Anjou of destructive ambition. Show more

In 18th century England, out of the Age of Enlightenment came a Gothic obsession with monsters which influenced art, architecture and literature. Show more

A look at how, for over 200 years, Ordnance Survey has mapped every square mile of the British Isles, capturing not just the contours and geography of the nation, but of our lives. Show more

Dr Helen Czerski examines the hottest natural phenomenon on the planet - lightning. High-speed cameras show the secrets of upward lightning that's triggered by urban landscapes. Show more