Civil War

Programme run: 4 x 30 mins

Info Card

Before 1517, Europe was religiously united, with all states and virtually all subjects acknowledging the Pope as their spiritual leader. This drama documentary charts the start of the English Civil War, the execution of the king and the birth of the parliamentary democracy. Reformation and Counter-Reformation Europe provided the backdrop against which the civil wars of the 1640s were played out.

Nation on Film I

Programme run: 7 x 30 mins

The series tells the story of people's lives over the past century - through the films they made. From childhood to old age, Nation on Film offers unique insights from the people featured in the films and the people who made them as well as from the historians and archivists. Covering everything from religion and immigration, education, home life, private passions, sex and marriage, this series presents a fascinating social history.

Engineering Futures

Programme run: 5 x 30 mins

The innovation of designers is key to meeting the challenge of increasing a nation's wealth and improving its citizens' quality of life. This innovation is the result of inventiveness combined with knowledge acquired from past experience. Engineering Futures traces design successes and failures, from bridge disasters to a new Dyson machine.

Brain and Behaviour

Programme run: 2 x 30 mins

The Ageing Files presents a 'cosmic zoom' through what scientific research can tell us about ageing at the molecular, genetic, cellular, physiological and psychological levels. The Addiction Files shows us what research has to say about addiction at the social, psychological and genetic levels.

In the Shadow of the Vesuvius

Programme run: 1 x 30 mins

In the second half of the 18th century, the eruptions of Vesuvius were one of the great tourist attractions of Europe. The expert on the scene was the British ambassador to Naples, Sir William Hamilton, a quintessential man of the Enlightenment. Through his fascination with the volcano and his unconventional second marriage to the beautiful Emma Hart, Hamilton's life became caught up in the passions and conflicts of the dawning Romantic era.