A look at the history of domestic pottery in Britain from Tudor times onwards, examining what it can tell us about how preceeding generations lived. Show more

Series featuring great minds of the 20th century using film from the BBC's archive, including Sigmund Freud, Margaret Mead, Benjamin Spock and Richard Dawkins. Show more

James Fox explores 20th-century British art. After the Second World War, artists turned to the figurative painting tradition to address what it means to be human. Show more

James Fox examines British art in the interwar years. How did artists react to the erosion of British power, financial crisis and the prospect of another war? Show more

Writer and broadcaster Stephen Smith re-envisions the story of 20th-century American culture by taking a girth-busting road trip through its most iconic institution - the diner. Show more

Footage of Stravinsky, Schoenberg and many others tells of the revolution that classical music underwent in the first half of the 20th century. Show more

Documentary series. Dr James Fox traces the story of how the arrival of a few foreign artists in the 16th century sparked a cultural revolution in Britain. Show more

A look at how, in the 19th and 20th centuries, artisans like Bernard Leach broke the monopoly of the ceramic factories by creating the studio pottery movement. Show more

The story of London and the people who made it into a global metropolis, narrated through a century of music and a wealth of compelling film archive. Show more

David Dimbleby charts the last 2,000 years of Britain through its art and treasure. The first part begins with the Roman invasion and ends with the Norman Conquest. Show more

How Thomas Chippendale worked his way up from humble roots and was ruined by the very aristocrats he created such wonderful furniture for. Show more

A look at how carvers and carpenters of the Middle Ages created wonders that still astound, from the roof of Westminster Hall to the Coronation Chair. Show more

David Dimbleby examines how Britain's countryside has inspired its art. David experiences the mountain paintings of Richard Wilson in Snowdonia. Show more

To tie in with Tom Stoppard's adaptation of Parade's End, this documentary celebrates Ford Madox Ford's classic novel cycle, with insight from well-known writers and actors. Show more

Dr James Fox explores how tension between two cultures - one courtly and European, one home-grown and vital - helped bring the country to civil war. Show more

Documentary series exploring the lives of Scottish writers. Andrew Marr looks at Walter Scott, a prolific novelist, poet and political fixer. Show more

Documentary exploring the life and work of Grinling Gibbons, who carved masterpieces from wood for the likes of Charles II and William of Orange. Show more

How the crisis of writing music in a post-war world was met in different ways by the likes of Britten, Bernstein, Cage, Boulez, Stockhausen, and Reich. Show more

In this programme, art critic Alastair Sooke charts the decline and fall of the Roman Empire through some of its hidden and most magical artistic treasures. Show more

Documentary series exploring the lives of Scottish writers. Andrew Marr looks at James Boswell, a man torn between his patriotic duty and his desire for adventure. Show more