A century and a half ago, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Britain's most famous engineer, was about to launch a ship five times bigger than any that had ever been built before, the most revolutionary vessel the world had ever seen: the SS Great Eastern.

In the opening episode of the series, Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill takes us on a journey across stunning locations in Greece and Italy to find out how Athens gave birth to the idea of a city run by free citizens 2,500 years ago. Every aspect of daily life from defence to waste disposal was controlled not by a king, but by the Athenians themselves.

Rome was the world's first ancient megacity. At a time when few towns could number more than 10,000 inhabitants, more than a million lived in Rome. But in a world without modern technology, how on earth did the Romans do it?

A team of experts try to recreate astounding feats of engineering. Prof Chris Wise and Dr Caroline Baillie attempt to build a replica of the first submarine.

The story of the dance revolution - the beat, the clubs and the DJs that changed music culture forever.

In the first episode we follow the 4/4 beat from its disco origins through remix culture to house, techno, acid house and the current EDM explosion.

This episode celebrates the club. From Studio 54, The Loft and Paradise Garage to Shoom, illegal raves, The Hacienda, Cream and on to the contemporary megaclub brands in Las Vegas and Ibiza.

In the final, part we tell the story of the DJ. With a cast that features todays biggest DJ stars alongside house pioneers, we plot the DJ path from invisibility to centre stage. How is it that people who play records are today's highest paid music stars?

Series in which Jim Al-Khalili traces the story of how the elements, the building blocks that make up our entire world, were discovered and mapped

Series in which Jim Al-Khalili traces the story of how the elements, the building blocks that make up our entire world, were discovered and mapped.He follows in the footsteps of the pioneers who cracked their secrets and created a new science, propelling us into the modern age.

In part two, Professor Al-Khalili looks at the 19th century chemists who struggled to impose an order on the apparently random world of the elements. From working out how many there were to discovering their unique relationships with each other, the early scientists\' bid to decode the hidden order of the elements was driven by false starts and bitter disputes. But ultimately the quest would lead to one of chemistry\'s most beautiful intellectual creations - the periodic table.

In the final part, Professor Al-Khalili uncovers tales of success and heartache in the story of chemists' battle to control and combine the elements, and build our modern world. He reveals the dramatic breakthroughs which harnessed their might to release almost unimaginable power, and he journeys to the centre of modern day alchemy, where scientists are attempting to command the extreme forces of nature and create brand new elements.

The children of 9/11 - from those who were in the womb to those on the brink of adulthood - reveal how children come to terms with tragedy and how families confront grief.

In this visual essay, writer and broadcaster Lindsay Johns reframes the history of the Caribbean through the lives of four inspirational revolutionary leaders.

Documentary arguing that Deng Xiaoping's capitalist revolution created today's China.

Documentary following the making of the British Museum's biggest exhibition in a generation and telling the story of its subject, the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi.

Dr Janina Ramirez follows the momentous and nation-shaping war between England and France.

Edward III rips up the medieval rule book and crushes the flower of French knighthood at the Battle of Crecy with his low-born archers. His son, the Black Prince, conducts a campaign of terror, helping to bring France to her knees.

England, wracked by plague and revolt, loses the upper hand until Henry V, determined to prove his right to be king, turns the tide at the battle of Agincourt.

Henry V has claimed the crown of France for his heirs, but to secure it the English must conquer all of France. Potent French resistance comes in the most unlikely form - an illiterate, young peasant girl, Joan of Arc. Dr Janina Ramirez explores the longest and bloodiest divorce in history.

Leading British writer Howard Jacobson, a Jew himself, examines the origins and consequences of Christian belief. He argues that although Christianity originated in devout Judaism, for Jews it has been, for the most part, a calamity.

Acclaimed war correspondent Rageh Omaar examines the effect the Crusades have on the world today. In the West, the Crusades are a chapter of Christian history that has little impact on our everyday lives, but in the Middle East many believe that the Crusades are happening again.

An international team of experts uses cutting-edge technology to prise age-old secrets from the complex of streets and stone buildings that lie less than five metres below the surface of the ocean. State-of-the-art CGI helps to raise the city from the seabed, revealing for the first time in 3,500 years how Pavlopetri would once have looked and operated.

Civilisations is an epic new series spanning 31 countries on six continents, and covering more than 500 works of art.

The first film by Simon Schama looks at the formative role art and the creative imagination have played in the forging of humanity itself.

In this episode of Civilisations, Professor Mary Beard explores images of the human body in ancient art, from Mexico and Greece to Egypt and China.

Simon Schama explores one of our deepest artistic urges - the depiction of nature. Simon discovers that landscape painting is seldom a straightforward description of observed nature.

Professor Mary Beard broaches the controversial, sometimes dangerous, topic of religion and art. For millennia, art has inspired religion as much as religion has inspired art.

Think Renaissance and you think of Italy. But in the 15th and 16th centuries, the great Islamic empires experienced their own extraordinary cultural flowering.

In the 15th and 16th centuries distant and disparate cultures met, often for the first time. These encounters provoked wonder, awe, bafflement and fear.