Could You Survive?

Could You Survive?

10 Episodes

History Hit presenters Alice Loxton, Luke Tomes and Louee Dessent take on the most daring, dirty and dangerous jobs in history to see if they have what it takes to survive. From marching across Hadrian's Wall in Roman Infantry Armour to flying in a Spitfire and going under the knife during Victorian surgery, they are all put through their paces...

Subscribe Share
Could You Survive?
  • Could You Survive As A Roman Soldier On Hadrian’s Wall?

    Episode 1

    Could you survive as a Roman soldier on Hadrian's Wall?

    Join Luke Tomes and Louee Dessent as they discover what life was like for Roman legionaries and auxiliary troops on the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. Joined by top Roman historian Dr Simon Elliott, the team march along a section o...

  • Could You Survive as a Saxon Warrior During the Dark Ages?

    Episode 2

    In this video, History Hit duo Louee Dessent and Luke Tomes join the Swords of Penda re-enactment group - volunteers who bring the 7th century to life through painstaking research and experimental archaeology - to test their early medieval mettle. Louee fills the shoes of a Saxon Thane - a lord w...

  • Could You Survive as a Medieval Knight?

    Episode 3

    What was it like to be a knight in the middle ages? What were your roles and responsibilities? How dangerous were medieval tournaments?

    History Hit's Luke Tomes and Louee Dessent are back at the medieval tiltyard outside the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds for the medieval tournament challenge. ...

  • Could You Survive the Duke of Wellingtons Army?

    Episode 4

    During the Napoleonic Wars the British Army experienced a time of rapid change. At the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793, the army was a small, awkwardly administered force of barely 40,000 men. By the end of the period, the numbers had vastly increased to over a quarter of a mil...

  • Could You Survive Victorian Surgery?

    Episode 5

    In this video, History Hit's Alice Loxton dives deep into London’s grisly past. She goes under the knife and takes a forensic look at the horrors of Victorian medicine. And where better to do so than the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret - one of London’s hidden gems.

    The museum is h...

  • Could you Survive as a Victorian Worker? Part I

    Episode 6

    As new technologies emerged throughout the 19th century, and the use of water and steam power became commonplace, millions of rural workers, including thousands of children, descended on the growing industrial towns to work in mills and factories. Northern cities such as Manchester, Leeds and She...

  • Could you Survive as a Victorian Worker? Part II

    Episode 7

    As new technologies emerged throughout the 19th century, and the use of water and steam power became commonplace, millions of rural workers, including thousands of children, descended on the growing industrial towns to work in mills and factories. Northern cities such as Manchester, Leeds and She...

  • Could You Survive On the SS Great Britain? Part I, The Crew

    Episode 8

    What was working on SS Great Britain really like? Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Britain is undoubtedly one of the most important historic ships in the world. When she was launched from Bristol by Prince Albert in 1843, she was called 'the greatest experiment since the creation'. No one else ...

  • Could You Survive SS Great Britain? Part II, The Passengers

    Episode 9

    When she set out on her first voyage to New York in 1845, SS Great Britain was the largest passenger ship ever built, and she would go on to transport over 30,000 people during her 41-year-working life.

    For most of that period, the ship carried emigrants between Liverpool and Melbourne on the n...

  • Could You Survive as a Spitfire Pilot in World War Two?

    Episode 10

    Arguably the most famous British fighter aircraft in history, the Spitfire, also called Supermarine Spitfire, was the most widely produced and strategically important British single-seat fighter of World War Two. Over 22,000 Supermarine Spitfires were built during the course of the Second World W...