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  • A Georgian Trailblazer! The Amazing Life of Charles Ignatius Sancho

    Join Paterson Joseph, actor (‘Boat Story’, ‘Wonka’) and author (‘The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho’), in this special History Hit film as he takes us on a fascinating journey through 18th century London, discovering the life, loves and losses of a truly remarkable man.

    Georgian Londo...

  • Forgotten Cornwall

    1 season

    As a renowned chef, James Strawbridge is always looking for new ways to improve his own cooking and learning more about its roots. Join him on a journey as he uncovers the stories and history of cooking along Britain’s coastline.

  • Debunking the Myths of the Titanic

    At noon on 10 April 1912, crowds gathered at Southampton to watch the maiden voyage of the World's largest ship RMS Titanic. A sleek, modern luxurious liner that was offering a safe and fast crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. Titanic was said to be invincible. She cruised down Southampton waters on ...

  • A Tudor Discovery - Thomas Cromwell’s Prayer Book

    History Hit digs deep into a fascinating new discovery that has grabbed the attention of historians across the world.

    Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb explores what is being called the most exciting Tudor find ‘in a generation’ as curators at Hever Castle identify a bejewelled, gilded prayer book, tuc...

  • Ada Lovelace: Computing Pioneer

    Regarded by many as the world's first computer programmer, Ada Lovelace was also the first to envision a world where computers could be used for more than just number crunching. She saw in them the potential to not just solve problems, but create new ideas and even produce music and poetry as we ...

  • More Than A Medal

    A century-old injustice needs to be corrected. “More Than a Medal,” follows the extraordinary story of researchers working against time, exploring previously untold heroic stories from the battlefields of France, and the experience of modern-day descendants as they maintain cautious hope of reco...

  • Africa: Written out of History

    Historian Luke Pepera looks at how and why the history of Africa was written out of world history. He also explores how and why, as a consequence of this, the history of Africans in Britain was written out of British history.

  • The Mystery of the Headless Man

    This story has everything: war, politics, betrayal, scandal, murder and at its heart a cracking forensic science mystery. This is the story of Simon Fraser, the 11th Lord Lovat of the Highland, also known as the Fox. In the late 1660s, Simon Fraser was born in a house on the banks of a burn in th...

  • 1979: Women of the Iranian Revolution

    The Iranian Revolution of 1979, also known as the Islamic Revolution, was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the replacement of his government with an Islamic republic under the rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

    The...

  • Condemned to Remember

    An Irish Holocaust survivor recalls the terror of the past and confronts the resurgence of the hatreds that turned Europe into a wasteland.

    70 years after the crushing of the Third Reich, is civil society in the countries that were decimated by the Final Solution being degraded and disfigured on...

  • Treason

    Treason is a word we all know, but how did treason law develop in England? Over the centuries, those linked with some of the most audacious attacks on the establishment have been branded traitors. If treason failed, it usually led to the most gruesome of death penalties. Some of those convicted w...

  • Archaeologist Spies of World War One

    Archaeologists excavated the ancient past during peacetime, but in war they had a different mission - to play a vital role in modern military intelligence. Historian of archaeology Dr Amara Thornton explores a network of archaeologist-spies, codebreaking, mapping and running agents, and with expe...

  • Waterloo Uncovered: The Bones of the Battlefield

    A major breaking story filmed by History Hit.

    Incredibly rare bones of men and horses have been discovered in July 2022 at the Waterloo Battlefield - and History Hit has been there to record the excavations as they unfold.

    The veterans support charity 'Waterloo Uncovered' returned to the Water...

  • Ghost Ships: Forgotten Wrecks of the River Dart

    In 2013, a survey around the UK identified 199 different assemblages of hulks, remains of craft. These included paddle ships, ferries, steamboats, sail ships, submarines and fishing boats.

    All around the UK, in rivers and streams, and in the mud on the side of riverbeds are the remains of our m...

  • An Indigenous History of Australia

    To date, there are over 500 different aboriginal 'nations' in Australia, all with distinctive cultures, beliefs, languages and unique histories. Since the arrival of Captain James Cook and the subsequent colonisation of the continent, many of these indigenous populations were, and continue to be ...

  • Hatshepsut: She Who Would Be King

    Hatshepsut – whose name means “foremost of noblewomen” – was an exceptional figure in the history of Ancient Egypt. Only the second woman in history to assume the title of pharaoh, during her reign she oversaw the building of monumental temples, established trade connections with far away African...

  • The Battle for North America

    On 13 September 1759, on the Plains of Abraham near the city of Quebec, an outnumbered British army fought a battle that would change the history of the world: the Battle of Quebec. For the past three years, Britain and France were locked in a bitter struggle for dominance in the Seven Years War:...

  • Inside Britain's Secret Nuclear Bunker

    In the wake of the Second World War, Britain moved to cement itself as one of the world's main nuclear powers. The erection of a series of nuclear bunkers followed across the UK, tasked with protecting a fortunate few against any devastating nuclear attack. Sarah Agha explores Britain's secret nu...

  • The Spying Game

    1 season

    During the Cold War, the superpowers mobilized thousands of spies and spotters to lift the enemy’s secrets. The three-part program The Spying Game takes a close look at this era of rising tensions between East and West.

    Part 1 examines Germany’s role as battleground for countless spies — all act...

  • The Whitechapel Murders: Into the Streets of Victorian London

    Today, the East End of London is a thriving centre of commerce. In the 19th century however, it was a maze of dark alleys, gas lit courts and foggy wharfs. It was a particularly dangerous place for women, a number of whom were murdered at the hands of Jack the Ripper. Dr Julia Laite takes Dan Sno...

  • Britain's Wild West: Discovering Hay Castle

    The peaceful South Wales town of Hay-on-Wye offers few clues today of its brutal past on a violent frontier. A monument to this history can be found in Hay Castle. Once right on the border between England and Wales, it sits in a region densely packed with castles that saw border skirmishes and bi...

  • My Father's War: How Pearl Harbor Transformed America

    Join Don Wildman, as he discovers how Pearl Harbor transformed America and changed the lives of a whole generation of Americans, including his father's.

  • The Trial of Jack The Ripper?

    In 1888 and 1889, a vicious serial killer haunted the streets of London. Five women were brutally murdered in Whitechapel, and all except one of the five victims - Elizabeth Stride - were horribly mutilated. And those are only the murders officially linked to the killer; it’s likely he took the l...

  • Thebes

    Athens, Sparta and Corinth are arguably three of the most famous, and most significant, Greek city-states of antiquity. But there is one 'polis' that is often forgotten. A city that rose to prominence during the 4th century BC. That city was Thebes. From fighting with the Persians during the Pers...