Britain's Greatest Bridges

A documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world's foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers.

Avery DuPoys is a wealthy businessman, organising a race. He meets one of the competitors of the race, who is in love with DuPoys's daughter. Another competitor crashes into the action, who is also in love with DuPoys's daughter. DuPoys suggests that whoever wins the race will have the opportunity to visit his daughter every Wednesday night. An action-packed race commences, with one competitor doing more than usual to win the race.

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon continue their travelogue series with a visit to Greece.

An idealistic colonial police officer is sent to capture a rebel leader who threatens the stability of the Raj's north-west frontier. Despite his official colonial capacity, the policeman is impressed by the ingenuity and integrity of his enemy and is determined to arrest him alive rather than bring him in dead as his superiors might wish.

Urban free climbers are a new breed of daredevils, young men and women who illegally climb cranes and buildings without any safety equipment, then hang from them, hundreds of metres above the ground, one slip from certain death... Free climbing originated in Eastern Europe, but has recently spread to Britain. James Kingston is a 23-year-old who lives with his mother near Southampton. In his spare time James scales the local 100m cranes and 200m radio towers. Now James embarks on a journey to the spiritual home of urban free climbing, Ukraine, where he teams up with the infamous Mustang Wanted, the craziest climber of them all. As Mustang and James explore Kiev, the pair push themselves to new extremes, climbing derelict buildings and tightrope-walking hundreds of metres above the city, before finally heading to the iconic Moscow bridge to attempt Mustang's latest death defying stunt. Don't Look Down is fascinating, revealing and nerve-wracking.

Alaskan railroad magnate Curtis Gordon hires engineer Dan Appleton to design a railroad route up the Salmon River to the rich gold country. Gordon turns down the engineer's proposed route in favor of his own, and Appleton quits. Murray O'Neil, a rival builder, hires him and falls in love with his sister Eliza, while Appleton courts Natalie, Gordon's stepdaughter. Following Appleton's plan, O'Neil lays the trail with a bridge crossing the river in face of Gordon's opposition.

After 200 years under lock and key, all the personal papers of one of our most important monarchs are for the first time seeing the light of day. In the first documentary to gain extensive access to the Royal Archives, Robert Hardman sheds fascinating new light on George III, Britain's longest reigning king. George III may be chiefly remembered for his madness, but these private documents reveal a monarch who was a political micromanager and a restless patron of science and the arts, an obsessive traveller who never left southern England yet toured the world in his mind and a man who was driven (sometimes to distraction) by his sense of duty to his family and his country. Featuring Simon Callow and Sian Thomas as the voices of King George and Queen Charlotte.

In need of a shakeup on her home-makeover TV show, star Hannah is sent to her small New England hometown to renovate the historical Lewisburg Manor. When old flame Jeff is assigned to make sure Hannah's design preserves the historical manor, the two must find harmony between the old and the new.

One year on from the first of four terror attacks which hit Britain in 2017, this documentary tells the personal stories of people who were caught up in the atrocities in Westminster, at Manchester Arena, around London Bridge and outside Finsbury Park Mosque. Those involved - some speaking for the first time - relive the moments of fear and panic that unfolded after the attacks, building a vivid picture of these catastrophic and life-changing events. They also explain how they have continued to try to cope with the consequences ever since. Featuring contributions from the likes of Grant Shapps MP, visitors to Parliament on the day of the Westminster Bridge attack, Ariana Grande fans injured in the Manchester bombing, those caught up in the London Bridge attack and members from the Muslim community in Finsbury Park, this programme provides a compelling insight into the personal consequences of the attacks, as well as the public and political mood in the aftermath.

Today, few people's clothes attract as much attention as the royal family, but this is not a modern-day paparazzi-inspired obsession. Historian Dr. Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, reveals that it has always been this way. Exploring the royal wardrobes of our kings and queens over the last four hundred years, Lucy shows this isn't just a public fascination, but an important and powerful message from the monarchs. From Elizabeth I to the present Queen Elizabeth II, Lucy explains how the royal wardrobe's significance goes far beyond the cut and color of the clothing. Royal fashion is, and has always been, regarded as a very personal statement to reflect their power over the reign. Most kings and queens have carefully choreographed every aspect of their wardrobe; for those who have not, there have sometimes been calamitous consequences. As much today as in the past, royal fashion is as much about politics as it is about elegant attire.

In 1939, visionary aircraft designer Barnes Wallis designed a very special bomb that would bounce across water and destroy German dams. The raid in 1943 was a success and a 1950s feature film carried the the Dambusters story into British legend. The science behind the bouncing bomb is highly complex, and many of Barnes Wallis' vital working calculations have been lost. Now, Cambridge engineer Dr Hugh Hunt, is going to attempt to solve the scientific puzzle of exactly how Wallis did it. Starting from scratch, he will rediscover the brilliance of Wallis's achievement when he tries to hit a dam with a bouncing bomb. It is the first time this has been attempted since the war.

In this hour-long documentary, Oxford academic Janina Ramirez tours the country in search of Anglo-Saxon art treasures. Her basic thesis - and it is a plausible one - is that we should not look upon their era as a "dark age" as compared, for example, to Roman times, but rather celebrate it as an age in which creativity flowered, especially in terms of artistic design as well as symbolism. She shows plenty of good examples, ranging from the Franks Casket to the Staffordshire Hoard, and the Lindisfarne Gospels. - l_rawjalaurence

The Haywain by John Constable is such a comfortingly familiar image of rural Britain that it is difficult to believe it was ever regarded as a revolutionary painting, but in this film, made in conjunction with a landmark exhibition at the V&A, Alastair Sooke discovers that Constable was painting in a way that was completely new and groundbreaking at the time. Through experimentation and innovation, he managed to make a sublime art from humble things and, though he struggled in his own country during his lifetime, his genius was surprisingly widely admired in France.

Historian Dr Janina Ramirez unlocks the secrets of a centuries-old masterpiece in glass. At 78 feet in height, the famous East Window at York Minster is the largest medieval stained-glass window in the country and it was the creative vision of a single artist - a mysterious master craftsman called John Thornton, one of the earliest named English artists. The East Window of York Minster is far more than a work of artistic genius, it is a window onto the medieval world and the medieval mind - telling us who were once were and who we still are, all preserved in the most fragile medium of all.

The Richardson Olmsted Campus, a former psychiatric center and National Historic Landmark, is seeing new life as it undergoes restoration and adaptation to a modern use.

Documentary series exploring the history of design

The year 2004 saw two hundred years of railways in Great Britain and to celebrate this historic landmark year, dedicated train enthusiast Mark Williams traveled the length and breadth of Britain in an exciting new TV series. Travelling the length and breadth of Britain, Mark tracks down the nation's fascinating railway heritage and gets to grips with locos such as the magnificent 160 ton Duchess of Sutherland. From the earliest designs of Richard Trevithick and George and Robert Stephenson to the advent of Class 31s, and from the development of London's Underground to the evolution of railway coaches, he reveals how our railways have changed over 200 years of history.

Fred Dibnah reveals the genius, the vision and the sheer bloody graft that went into creating some of Britain's greatest national monuments. All six episodes look at Britain's architectural heritage. In 'Mighty Cathedrals' Fred examines the innovations in building techniques which allowed the Normans to build some of the nation's most remarkable cathedrals. 'The Art of Castle Building' has Fred take a look at the castles of the North Wales coastline. 'The Age of the Carpenter' sees Fred learn all about the way that carpenters have used their skills to transform medieval castles into homes. In 'Scottish Style' Fred visits Glamis Castle and learns about the Scottish Baronial Style. 'Building the Canals' has Fred visit Bolton and learn about the construction of the first canals. Finally, 'Victorian Splendour' sees Fred looking at the achievements of architects in the 19th century and discovering the story behind the building of the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben.

Documentary series revealing the inner workings of Britain's railways, introducing the track-workers, train guards, drivers, police officers and management teams determined to keep the country moving.

Her 60 years on the throne make her the second longest-serving sovereign in history, and in 2012 all eyes are on Queen Elizabeth II as Britain marks her Diamond Jubilee. In this fascinating series, veteran newsman Sir Trevor McDonald looks not only at the traditions and institutions surrounding the monarchy, but at the fabric of British life and history. From Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace to the collection of Historic Royal Palaces; from a privileged glimpse at the making of a royal portrait to 600 years of counting royal swans on the River Thames; from a potential change to the rules of succession to the pomp and circumstance of a state visit, this is truly a showcase for a queen and her country.

Behind every seemingly impossible marvel of modern engineering is a cast of historic trailblazers who designed new building techniques, took risks on untested materials and revolutionised their field. Each episode details how giant structures, record-beating buildings, war ships and spacecraft are built and work. As the show revels in these modern day creations, it also leaps back in time to recount the stories of the exceptional engineers whose technological advances made it all possible.

Dinosaurs! The very word conjures up fascination and intrigue with millions of us dreaming of becoming a palaeontologist when we were younger. Yet few of us realise that over 50 different dinosaur species have been found in Britain. Dinosaur Britain tells the amazing story of many of the dinosaurs that once roamed our country revealing how they hunted, what they ate and how they died from the evidence revealed from their bones.

In Buck's County, PA, where the structures are older than the country itself, master carpenter Jeff Devlin revives the charm of rundown homes and turns them into modern spaces, all while preserving their historical integrity.

British version of the reality contest where some of the most skilled brick fanatics do battle to be crowned LEGO Master.

In this unique take on British history, Professor Alice Roberts explores Britain's rich and varied past through the stories of individual towns and cities. In each programme Alice studies one key period in history by delving into the secrets of a historic town that encapsulates the era, providing an accurate impression of what life was really like at key moments in our turbulent past. At the climax of each programme, cutting-edge CGI reveals the entire historic town in all its former glory.

What propelled the construction of higher and higher buildings? Which technologies made the discovery of the oceans possible? How are gravity defying bridges designed? What will the future of the aircraft industry be? Combining bluechip photography with innovative CGI, all set in spectacular locations across the world, this documentary series highlights the history of human ingenuity.

British version of the Spanish reality series "El Puente" in which 12 strangers come together on the banks of a picturesque lake in the British countryside to work together, attempting to build a bridge in 20 days to an island 250 meters away. Each person in the winning team will get a vote for who they think is the most deserving of of the £100k prize. The winner is then left to decide whether to keep the money or share it.

New series. Rob Bell explores the extraordinary stories of four of London’s most iconic bridges, uncovering the history behind how – and why – they were built. In the first episode, Rob focuses on the original, and for 17 centuries the only bridge across the Thames, London Bridge. Rob explores the multiple versions of this bridge over the centuries and charts how each has shaped Britain’s capital city, from the Romans who used it to control southern England, to the astonishing and raucous medieval bridge, designed by priests, inhabited by hundreds, and financed and managed by City merchants.

Exploring the buildings that were built to defend Britain from a German invasion during World War II. From coastal defences, to secret bases, travel across Britain looking at the buildings that were built to fight Hitler and his advancing army.

Anita Rani travels the country revealing the remarkable secret history of Britain's beaches.