History documentaries
Royal Antiques Revived
Follow the incredible journey of three royal items as they are restored and revived. King George IV’s piano, a car believed to have belonged to the Queen Mother and a rare copy of King Louis XV’s desk are found and fixed. Victoria Coren Mitchell presents this celebration of British skill, as remarkable pieces with curious pasts are restored using techniques as old as the items themselves.
The Victorian Way of Death
A key to understanding how Victorian Britons viewed life is to understand how they confronted death. Historian Dan Cruickshank puts his detective skills to the test in this gripping history documentary. He pieces together the fate of five apparently unrelated corpses and uncovers a story of bizarre extremes. Body-snatchers, and graveyards so full the limbs of the dead could be seen, soon emerge.
Britain's Outlaws: Highwaymen, Pirates and Rogues
Few figures in British history have captured the popular imagination as much as the outlaw. From gentleman highwaymen, via swashbuckling pirates to elusive urban thieves and rogues, the brazen escapades and the flamboyance of the outlaw made them the antiheroes of their time. In this compelling history documentary, historian Dr. Sam Willis brings the great age of the British outlaw vividly to life.
The Secrets of the Mary Rose
The Mary Rose was Henry VIII’s favorite warship and flagship of his fleet. It was lost in 1545 but thanks to one of the greatest maritime archaeology projects in British history it was discovered again, excavated, and raised from the seabed in the 1980s. Using 40 years of archive footage, historian Dan Snow charts the incredible story of the Mary Rose.
The Story of the Jews
Acclaimed historian Simon Schama looks at the impact of the Jews and those moments when the Jewish experience has changed the fate of the world. This ground-breaking five-part BBC history documentary travels the globe from New York to Odessa, Berlin to Jerusalem, to tell ancient and modern stories that illuminate the passions and perplexities of the Jewish people today.