This episode covers the first quarter-century of the service and unveils a host of unique artefacts, including the graduation certificate of a doctor who only qualified on the NHS's first day and yet was thrown straight into surgery,

This episode covers a period in which the NHS expands beyond all recognition as it is forced to evolve and adapt to the needs of an ever-growing, and ever more diverse population, all against a background of social strife and the increasing pressures to privatise.

Alex Brooker continues to chart the history of the National Health Service via the treasured memories of patients and staff whose lives it has affected since its inception in 1948.

To mark the 70th anniversary of the birth of the NHS, acclaimed poet Owen Sheers takes us on a journey that weaves the extraordinary story of the birthing of Nye Bevan's vision of free healthcare for all people with personal stories of the NHS in British society today.

April 5th 1968, the morning after one of the most catastrophic moments in American history - the assassination of Martin Luther King. America's inner cities had begun to implode and in Boston there is a fragile peace.

The history, wildlife and exploration of the River Nile.

Since the dawn of history the miraculous annual floodwaters have risen to transform the desert into a fertile paradise where the great civilisation of Ancient Egypt grew, but their existence was on a knife-edge held hostage by the river and the Pharaoh maintained the balance by appeasing the gods to ensure the gifts of the river.

The annual flooding of the Nile brought the water and fertile volcanic soil that made the Ancient Egyptian civilisation possible, but impassable rapids made it impossible for them to discover the source of this bounty they attributed to the gods.

From the heart of Africa to the Mediterranean Sea runs the world’s longest river. Since the Egyptians first settled along its banks men have dreamt of discovering where the Nile was born, but for centuries the river kept its secrets close. The obsession grew and by the mid-19th century some were prepared to risk their lives to be the first to discover the source of the Nile.

Including Elton John, David Bowie, Curtis Mayfield, Steppenwolf, the Jam and Blondie.

Jo Brand narrates a profile which celebrates the life and times of the BBC's first flagship live music programme, The Old Grey Whistle Test, which ran from 1971 to 1987.

The programme asks whether the introduction of the contraceptive pill was a blessing or burden for women in the 1960s

Was the Great War a great mistake? In this innovative programme, Harvard historian Professor Niall Ferguson offers a different perspective on the First World War and argues that Britain\\\\\\\'s decision to enter the war was a tragic mistake.

Professor Brian Cox reveals the history of Saturn. Saturn began life as a strange planet of rock and ice and in time transformed into a gas giant, ring-less and similar looking to its rival, Jupiter.

It was 1952, and polio gripped the world in fear. There was no known cause, no cure and no help in sight for parents desperate to protect their children. Across the ocean, eager to beat the potentially fatal condition, polio-afflicted President Roosevelt inspired the American public to send in their dimes to fund research.

Documentary exploring the political brinkmanship and bitter communal violence that led to the partition of Ireland.

The second episode explores how political tensions and outbreaks of sectarian violence threatened to destabilise the new Northern Irish state.

From popular revolt to the obsession with the self, even to modern nationalism, Simon Schama explores the enduring and powerful legacy the Romantics have left on our modern world.

In this episode, Simon explores how Romantic artists created the secular icons of the modern democratic age, whose power continues to inspire the passions of revolt to this day.

Simon explores how the romantics became the first intrepid explorers of dark recesses of the human mind, long before the modern psychological revolution. With contributions from Sir David Attenborough

Simon Schama explores how the romantics created the secular cult of national belonging in their poetry, music and art, with enormous consequences for the modern world.

Drawing on the latest theories as well as 200 years of scientific discoveries and the genius of Einstein, Brian tries to answer the classic questions raised by the Doctor - can you really travel in time? Does extra-terrestrial life exist in our galaxy? And how do you build something as fantastical as the TARDIS?

Series looking at how London has changed since Charles Booth's survey recording social conditions in 1886, returning to six archetypal London streets.This episode features Caledonian Road, which starts next to King's Cross station and heads north for over a mile. From its beginning, the street has been resolutely working class and when Charles Booth visited he found it a depressing district.

This episode features Portland Road in Notting Hill, the archetypal London banker street, dominated by homes worth as much as £6,000,000. Yet when Booth visited in 1899, it was the worst slum in London and, even today, the bottom five per cent by income in Britain are living on the same street as the top one per cent.

The sixth episode features Arnold Circus, in the East End and the story of a Victorian social experiment that changed Britain. Arnold Circus is home to the first council estate, which opened in 1896. The planning of the estate, from its lack of pubs to the pattern of the brickwork, was deliberate in order to make its residents respectable, as previously the land had played host to a notorious crime-ridden slum.

Series looking at how London has changed since Charles Booth's survey recording social conditions in 1886, returning to six archetypal London streets.

How the in­ven­tion of writ­ing gave hu­man­ity a his­tory. From hi­ero­glyphs to emo­jis, an ex­plo­ration of the way in which the tech­nol­ogy of writ­ing has shaped the world we live in.

The hunt for the origin of writing reveals the link between ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and the letters we use every day.

Presenter Lydia Wilson and calligrapher Brody Neuenschwander set out to explore history’s most important technology - the technology of putting words on a page.

For more than a century, the world has seemed to be moving to a single universal script - the Latin alphabet. But that means more than changing words. It means changing identity.