Author Adam Nicolson traces the roots of today's globalised Britain to a 17th-century golden age of writing and communication. He reveals a century on the move, a time when London tripled in size and more than 200,000 people emigrated in search of work or God.

When the space shuttle Challenger blew up in 1986, it was the most shocking event in the history of American spaceflight. The deaths of seven astronauts, including the first teacher in space Christa McAuliffe, were watched live on television by millions of viewers. But what was more shocking was that the cause of the disaster might never be uncovered. The Challenger is the story of how Richard Feynman, one of America's most famous scientists, helped to discover the cause of a tragedy that stunned America.

The catalyst to Britain's Industrial Revolution was the slave labour of orphans and destitute children. In this shocking and moving account of their exploitation and eventual emancipation, Professor Jane Humphries uses the actual words of these child workers.

Cinematic documentary examining the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United footballers.

The film is an unvarnished account of the scientists who dared to discover the secret of life - told through fascinating and revealing archive - in their own words.

The Coming War on China is John Pilger's 60th film for ITV. Pilger reveals what the news doesn't - that the world's greatest military power, the United States, and the world's second economic power, China, both nuclear-armed, are on the road to war. Pilger's film is a warning and an inspiring story of resistance.

The story of the Crusades is remembered as a tale of religious fanaticism and unspeakable brutality, but using fresh evidence, Dr Thomas Asbridge re-examines this medieval drama

In this new three-part series for BBC Two, Dr Thomas Asbridge presents his revelatory account of the Crusades, the 200-year war between Christians and Muslims for control of the Holy Land

In the second episode of this three-part series, Dr Thomas Asbridge offers a piercing examination of the Third Crusade and the two renowned figures who have come to embody Crusader war: Richard the Lionheart, king of England, and the mighty Muslim sultan Saladin, unifier of Islam.

In the concluding episode of the three-part series, Dr Thomas Asbridge reveals that the outcome of these epic holy wars was decided not on the hallowed ground of Jerusalem, but in Egypt.

The Day the Dinosaurs Died investigates the greatest vanishing act in the history of our planet - the sudden disappearance of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.

James Burke reviews his classic 80s series about the development of western science and explores what we mean by knowledge.

Since 2008 the wealthiest have ‘made out like bandits’ while many of us have struggled. Now top insiders from government and finance lift the lid on how it happened.

Insiders from Theresa May’s government reveal how attempts at economic reform were stymied by Brexit struggles. Covid-19 threatens the promises of levelling up made by the new PM.

John Pilger's new documentary, The Dirty War on the NHS, is a powerful and timely investigation into the National Health Service. Is time running out to save this institution?

A history of one of the world's most challenging mountains, the Eiger, and its infamous north face. The film gets to the heart of one of Europe's most notorious peaks, exploring its character and its impact on the people who climb it and live in its awesome shadow.

Dr Thomas Dixon delves into the BBC's archive to explore the troubled relationship between religion and science. From the creationists of America to the physicists of the Large Hadron Collider, he traces the expansion of scientific knowledge and asks whe

A profile of musical legend Michael Jackson, the King of Pop who began his career at the tender age of four as lead singer with the Jackson 5 and went on to release Thriller, the best-selling album of all time.

Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the BBC's John Simpson goes back to examine his reports and consider why history did not turn out quite the way he expected.

A profile of one of England's truly unique and underrated bands, The Fall. One of the most enigmatic, idiosyncratic and chaotic garage bands of the last 30 years, The Fall are led by the belligerent and poetic Mark E Smith and grew out of the fringe of the Manchester punk scene

The story of the five fires that foretold and might have prevented the Grenfell Tower disaster, in which 72 people died.

Black people have lived in Britain for centuries - although their circumstances have varied greatly. Some have been enslaved and exploited, while others have enjoyed privilege and status. Trace their story to discover more about the attitudes and conditions they encountered.

Christopher Eccleston narrates a docudrama about the 1918 flu pandemic, which killed more than 50 million people. Told using powerful personal testimony.

Six passionate polemics - delivered by presenters ranging from David Starkey to Janet Street Porter - demonstrate how British art has shaped and forged Britain and British identity

The history of British art is the story of Britain. For centuries, artists have reflected our times and shaped the way we see ourselves. This series presents six passionate polemics on how British art makes us who we are today and gives us a vision of ourselves.

Dr Gus Casely-Hayford shows how our sense of identity was changed forever by the most distinctively British artist this country has ever produced: William Hogarth.

Writer Howard Jacobson celebrates the way British artists depict sex and desire, and argues that the most compelling expression is to be found where we might least expect it: in the art of the Victorians.

At a time when Britain's contemporary art world has been dominated by the 'Sensation' generation of Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, it's easy to dismiss English landscape art as nothing more than tea towel culture. That would be a big mistake, argues Sir Roy Strong.

Modern Art has made us who we are and it has certainly made Janet Street Porter who she is. Janet speaks to Hirst, Tracey Emin and Grayson Perry about how art has seeped into the very heart of British culture.

Britain's war artists have pushed the boundaries in their drive to bring home to us the true cost of war. We once celebrated war's valour and glory, but they have encouraged us to feel its pain and tragedy. They have given us an artistic legacy that will continue to provoke and to move generations to come.