People Who Made History

People Who Made History

Share
People Who Made History
  • Queen Victoria at Kensington Palace with Lucy Worsley

    BAFTA winning historian and Joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces Lucy Worsley takes Dan on a tour of Kensington Palace, one of the principle royal residences since 1689. It was the childhood home of Queen Victoria who was born on the 24 May 1819. The rooms of the royal residence are bein...

  • Buffalo Bill: The Man Behind the Legend

    Buffalo Bill was America’s first celebrity… and the most famous man in the world at the turn of the 20th century.

    He was a former scout, soldier, Buffalo hunter…but what he’s most known for of course, is his showmanship. He vied with PT Barnum for the title of greatest showman on earth.

    At the ...

  • The Life and Legacy of: Christina of Sweden

    Christina of Sweden (1626-1689), a queen, a Catholic convert, an LGBTQ icon, and one of only three women to be buried in the Vatican. Who was she? And what impact did she have on culture and society? At best she has been described as clever and ‘unconventional’ and at worst as over-emotional, as ...

  • The Man Who Volunteered for Auschwitz

    In 1940 the Polish resistance decided it needed to send an agent to Auschwitz concentration camp. They were desperate to find out what was going on in a place that even by that stage of the war had an evil reputation. Historian Jack Fairweather tells the story of Witold Pilecki the Pole who volun...

  • Medieval Kings

    1 season

    A biography on each of the Medieval Kings

  • Anne Boleyn and Katherine of Aragon - Brilliant Rivals

    Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn - the first two wives of Henry VIII - are so often portrayed as opposites. Katherine as the loyal, scorned wife - Anne as the bright, bewitching upstart.

    But now Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb returns to Hever Castle to explore what Anne and Katherine were really l...

  • Looking for Victoria

    1 season

    Prunella Scales researches the life of Queen Victoria and interviews historians to help her with her portrayal of Queen Victoria in her one-woman stage show "An Evening with Queen Victoria". She also portrays Queen Victoria in the historical reconstructions in this programme and reads from Queen ...

  • Ernest Shackleton: With Ranulph Fiennes

    In this fascinating interview, Dan Snow chats to the world's greatest living explorer Ranulph Fiennes about Ernest Shackleton and his heroic expeditions in the Golden Age of Antarctic Exploration.

  • Pinches of Salt and Gold: Uncovering Mansa Musa's Story

    Documentary telling the story of Mansa Musa, the famous 14th century ruler of Mali, renowned for his great wealth. Featuring Professor Amira Bennison, Boubacar Diallo, Hadrien Collet, Mauro Nobili and Madina Thiam.

  • Sir Thomas More - Not Just the Tudors... Lates

    How far would you go to save your immortal soul?’

    This is the question that plagued Tudor High Chancellor, Sir Thomas More. Lawyer, philosophiser, and advisor to Henry VIII, when the court turned on its head at the arrival of Anne Boleyn. Hounded by prolific characters like Thomas Cromwell, his ...

  • Painting Elizabeth: Creating a Royal Legend

    Elizabeth I is one of the most iconic figures from British history - her image can be recognised in an instant. But this was no mistake, for Elizabeth’s portraits were an audacious act of spin to cement her image of female majesty. In this documentary Dr Nicola Tallis and Prof Anna Whitelock take...

  • Edward II: Worst King of England?

    Dr Helen Carr explores the extraordinary and chaotic reign of Edward II, a king with a reputation as a disastrous ruler. But how much of that is true?

    Edward's accession as king of England in 1307 led almost immediately to conflict as he favoured close friends, and maybe lovers, like Piers Gaves...

  • A Very Victorian Scandal: The Trials of Oscar Wilde

    In 1895, the world's first celebrity trial challenged the creaking moral core of the British Empire. Dr Anthony Delaney traces the extraordinary trajectory of Oscar Wilde—from the toast of London’s West End, a shining star on both sides of the Atlantic, to the disgraced accused standing before th...

  • The Greatest Knight

    Documentary about the adventures, life and times of William Marshal - an eminent English knight who fought in battles across Europe and survived court intrigue and exile.

  • Tutankhamun: Life, Death and Legacy

    1 season

    Dan Snow presents this archaeological documentary series about Tutankhamun, the boy king.

  • Alexander the Great in Egypt

    History Hit's Tristan Hughes travels to Egypt to explore its extraordinary links to one of the most famous names from antiquity, Alexander the Great. Of all the lands in the Eastern Mediterranean, it is Egypt that has the most fascinating - and enduring - connection to this ancient conqueror.

    I...

  • Elizabeth I and II: The Golden Queens

    1 season

    Both were massively powerful and history-defining women. Both courted controversy as they devotedly ruled over a nation. But what similarities exist between Queen Elizabeth I and II? In this fascinating royal documentary, two of Britain's greatest monarchs are profiled, revealing what unites or d...

  • Mary, Queen of Scots - Not Just the Tudors... Lates

    Mary’s biography is enormously dramatic, packed with romance, betrayal, imprisonment and violence. Unsurprisingly, it has proved irresistible to film-makers, recreating a time when two queens vied for power - Mary in Scotland and Elizabeth I in England. Their relationship was blighted with mistr...

  • Captain Cook's Endeavour

    Captain James Cook is one of the greatest maritime navigators in history. Born in 1728 to a Scottish father and English mother, Cook grew up in Yorkshire and soon developed a great fascination with the sea and exploration. In 1746 Cook joined the merchant shipping industry when he moved to the ne...

  • Lucy Worsley on The Death of Jane Austen

    Famous the world over for her wit, social observation and insight into the lives of early 19th century women, Jane Austen remains one of the Britain’s most respected and beloved novelists. She famously lived a ‘life without incident’, but in fact new research reveals a passionate woman who fought...

  • Alan Turing: The Pride of Manchester

    A special film exploring the life and legacy of Alan Turing - genius pioneer of modern computing. With Alan's nephew Sir Dermot Turing and exclusive access to unseen family records, we investigate lesser known aspects of his incredible work. This story is rooted in the City of Manchester, home t...

  • Becoming Anne Boleyn

    March 2022 marks the 500th anniversary since Anne Boleyn made her debut at the court of King Henry VIII.

    Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb investigates the story of Anne’s remarkable upbringing in England, the Netherlands and France before she arrived at the heart of Tudor England. For all Anne Boleyn’s...

  • The Count of Monte Cristo: The True Story

    Behind the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas about the adventures of a man betrayed, abandoned, and left for dead who resurrects to quench his thirst for vengeance, lies a true, dreadful story.

    Turned in by his so-called friends, a man named Picaud is locked away for years in the Alps with a prie...

  • Tutankhamun: A Century of Discovery

    On November 4th 1922 a breathless archaeologist, who had spent his life working in Egypt, wrote a hurried diary entry: “First steps of Tomb Found”. This was the very moment that Howard Carter found the entrance to the tomb of Tutankhamun.

    In this very special film, shot in Egypt and England, Dan...