Railways: The Making of a Nation

Smoky Gap Railroad president Murray Lemantier is fed up with a bandit gang led by Buck Andrade constantly holding up his train and getting away with it. He hires ace detective David Cassidy to track down and get Buck, dead or alive. However, when Buck goes to see his dying mother she makes him promise to reform, and he does. Cassidy, though, doesn't care about that and tries to arrest him. Buck decides to do something that will once and for all show everyone that he has indeed reformed--especially Faith Lawson, a pretty station agent he's in love with.

In South Yorkshire, a small group of railway maintenance men discover that because of privatization, their lives will never be the same. When the trusty British Rail sign is replaced by one reading East Midland Infrastructure, it is clear that there will be the inevitable winners and losers as downsizing and efficiency become the new buzzwords.

A heart-stirring meditation on time, memory and mortality, “Of Time and the City” is Terence Davies’ poetic, conflicted ode to his birthplace of Liverpool, England. The visual content of the film consists largely of archival clips of the city from the 1940s to the 1960s, their nostalgic charm darkened by accompanying music and the counterpoint of Davies’ dry, at times dyspeptic, voice-over narration. His voice thickens with emotion as he recalls the delights of juvenile movie-going or the ritual of a holiday trip to New Brighton, across the River Mersey, and hardens with contempt when he turns his gaze on the hoopla surrounding Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953. The film is a powerful evocation of the director's youth in post-war Britain and a reflection on how his home city has changed over the years.

As the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.

The friendship of two working stiff railroad engineers is put to the test when one falls for the other’s wife.

A detailed and compelling portrait of one of the most formidable characters in British politics as she faces her final days in power. The year is 1990 and Margaret Thatcher's support within the government is wavering - her hold on the premiership hangs in the balance. Then, long-serving politician Sir Geoffrey Howe resigns over Thatcher's attitude to Europe. His resignation speech sparks a chain of events that leads to the overthrow of Britain's first woman prime minister. This modern dramatic tragedy illustrates the strengths and fatal flaws of this iconic woman more clearly than ever before and reveals how the very aspects of her character that helped her secure power are the ones that ensured her downfall. Drama starring Lindsay Duncan.

A section boss for the railroad sets out to catch a gang of thieves who have been stealing ore shipments from his company's trains.

Hobos encounter a sadistic railway conductor that will not let anyone "ride the rails" for free.

The printing press was the world's first mass-production machine. Its invention in the 1450s changed the world as dramatically as splitting the atom or sending men into space, sparking a cultural revolution which shaped the modern age.

Jim Vesser and his team of railroading men try to build a rail line through a mountain pass, while a group of less scrupulous construction workers sabotages the entire operation in the hopes that they can get their tracks laid first and get the money from the railroad.

A couple of roving vagabonds hitch a freight to the railroad town of Linda, and between bouts with the fright-yard bulls and other drifters, find romance in the persons of two waitresses at the camp restaurant. American-slang rules the dialogue to the point non-USA viewers need a slang-glossary to follow the dialogue.

Crooks discover a Genghis Khan treasure ship on the Canada-Alaska border but the treasure is hidden somewhere on land. In their efforts to find the hidden treasure they resort to murder and sabotage to stop the construction of the Alcan highway which will bring homesteaders to the area. Sergeant Royal of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police battles through 12 episodes to find the crooks and to learn the identity of their mysterious leader known only as 'The Boss'.

The story of a young boy so obsessed with placing pennies on the railroad tracks that it's in fact tearing his family apart. Soon he meets a hobo which changes his life forever.

With exclusive access to a major new excavation, Alice Roberts discovers what King Arthur's Britain was like, including surprisingly modern connections we all share with our past.

The Canadian Rockies by Rail takes viewers on a journey through the Pacific Northwest and the Canadian Rockies. The trip on board the Rocky Mountaineer train passes through some of North-America’s most stunning wilderness scenery. The trip includes stops in Vancouver, Kamloops, Banff and Jasper as well as a drive along the Icefields Parkway, often described as one of the most scenic drives in the world.

Michael Portillo takes to the tracks with a copy of George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. Portillo travels the length and breadth of the country to see how the railways changed us, and what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.

Climb up on the footplate and join historian and host Dan Cruickshank for a railway adventure like no other as he investigates how trains helped shape modern Britain. This three-part series resurrects an exhilarating age and kicks off by focusing on the railways' role in defeating Hitler, before unearthing the incredible engineering achievements of Isambard Brunel and embarking on a trip on the earliest steam engines.

Historian Diarmaid MacCulloch explores both what it means to be English and what has shaped English identity, from the Dark Ages, through the Reformation to modern times.

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.

Historian Dan Jones explores the millennium of history behind six of Great Britain's most famous castles: Warwick, Dover, Caernarfon, the Tower of London, Carrickfergus, and Stirling.

Liz McIvor looks at who built the nation's canal network, who funded it, those who worked on it and how they were regenerated following WWII.

With the help of Victorian steam enthusiasts across the country, historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Alex Langlands journey back in time to the era of steam which shaped modern Britain.

A family give up their modern lives for one summer to experience what life was like for Caribbeans who immigrated to Britain in the postwar period. Beginning in 1948, the year the Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury and discharged its passengers, the Irwin family travel through the 1950s and 60s, guided by presenter Giles Coren and social historian Emma Dabiri who introduce them to their new homes as well as the events of the time. Along the way the Irwins discover the food, work and entertainment of first-generation immigrants making their lives in Brixton.

A journey riding the rails around the world, from the locomotive to rail traffic control to the maintenance depot.

Actor Julie Walters rides upon the UK's most beautiful coastal railways.

David Olusoga tells the story of those who lived in one house, from the time it was built until now. Searching through city archives, scouring records, and tracking down their living descendants, presenter David Olusoga tells the untold stories of the people who once lived in the house and gains a unique insight into the making of modern Britain.

Restoration experts restore iconic rail carriages back to their former glory

Rob Bell explores the lost landscapes and infrastructure of some of Britain's former railway lines. From the 1960's the axe fell on 4,000 miles of Britain's rail network. Now, decades later, Rob Bell is going on journey to uncover those lost railway lines. Every week Rob will explore a different line; experiencing the hidden landscapes, lost infrastructure and forgotten worlds that disappeared when the line closed.

Series telling the story of how the craft and manufacturing skills have shaped the country's towns and cities and built modern Great Britain.

Archaeologists and historians use cutting-edge technology to investigate and explore some of the biggest mysteries surrounding the Underground Railroad, a secret network that helped enslaved African Americans escape to freedom.