HomeHow The Victorians Built Britain

How The Victorians Built Britain

Rating:3.3 of 5Total number of episodes:12
Last broadcast:12/10/2020 at 09:30
Season 1
43:33

Season 1 Episode 4 - The Birth Of The Machines

Expired 3.0 11 x
Michael Buerk looks at the creation of mass manufacturing, which meant that goods could be produced at a rate that had never been seen before. In Manchester, he learns how engineer George Stephenson created the first intercity railway, so that cotton could be transported quickly and cheaply from Liverpool docks to Manchest...
43:33

Season 1 Episode 3 - The Making Of The Modern Home

Expired 4.0 1 x
Presenter Michael Buerk looks at how the Victorians created what is now known as the modern home, exploring the huge rise in house-building during the period. He travels to Fakenham, Norfolk, to visit the last remaining gasworks in England, and discovers how the Victorians mastered the art of producing ‘town gas' from coal...
43:31

Season 1 Episode 2 - Saving The Nation's Health

Expired 4.0 3 x
Michael Buerk looks at the creation of the sewer system, delving into the archives to reveal how appalling sanitary conditions forced the city of Liverpool to take action. He descends underground to see the first ground-breaking sewer for himself, and hears about how the pioneering concept was built.
Season 2
43:11

Season 2, Episode 8 - The Culture Revolution

Expired 3.0 12 x
Michael Buerk discovers how the Victorians took on the world of exploration and adventure, and brought it home to Britain for everyone to share. His voyage of discovery begins at the Natural History Museum, where Michael comes face to face with a dinosaur who changed the course of history.
45:28

Season 2 Episode 7 - The Great Stink

Expired 3.0 10 x
Michael discovers how Britain’s first Super Sewer cleaned up the capital and inspired a fresh water revolution that would change the lives of millions of Victorians.
43:22

Season 2 Episode 6 - The Birth Of Law And Order

Expired 4.0 20 x
Michael Buerk discovers how the Victorian’s instituted a revolution in law and order, created the first modern Police force and built the prisons Britain still relies on to house criminals today.
43:27

Season 2 Episode 5 - How Britain Healed The World

Expired 3.0 8 x
Michael Buerk discovers how bold Victorian experiments and Cathedrals of Medicine built Britain and revolutionised the medical world. He begins in Edinburgh with murderers Burke and Hare, revealing the gruesome roots of modern anatomy and the macabre justice doled out for those caught flaunting the system.
43:13

Season 2 Episode 4 - The Great British Holiday

Expired 4.0 5 x
Michael discovers how the Victorians not only worked hard but played hard too. Michael is in Blackpool to discover how the seaside mini-break was transformed from perk of the wealthy to a British institution.
43:15

Season 2 Episode 3 - Bridging The Nation

Expired 3.0 9 x
Michael Buerk discovers how the Victorians built the bridges that connected Britain. The story begins with the Ironbridge, creating the foundation for emerging engineering Titans to re-define the concept of a bridge for Victorian era.
43:23

Season 2 Episode 2 - Britannia Rules The Waves

Expired 3.0 6 x
Michael Buerk discovers how the Victorians built the biggest, fastest, most technologically advanced ships in the world and dominated the high seas. He’ll climb aboard HMS Warrior in Portsmouth - Queen Victoria’s flagship warship - to uncover her surprising construction secrets and the powerful ways she kept the peace in i...
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