How the Victorians Built Britain

Episode 1

The Railway Revolution

44 mins

Michael Buerk returns with more stories of how Britain was transformed during the Victorian era, beginning by looking at the development of the railway network. Michael hops on board an original Victorian locomotive at Tanfield Railway and discovers the role this former coal track played in the development of the national railway. He also learns about Isambard Kingdom Brunel's bid to secure Bristol's future, and his creation of the fastest engine in the world.

Episode 2

Britannia Rules the Waves

60 mins

Michael Buerk learns how the Victorians built the biggest, fastest, most technologically advanced ships in the world, which helped the nation to dominate the high seas. In Portsmouth, he boards Queen Victoria's flagship HMS Warrior to reveal surprising construction secrets and the ways the ship kept the peace in international waters, before following in Brunel's footsteps aboard his luxury steamer SS Great Britain.

Episode 3

Bridging the Nation

Michael Buerk looks at the building of bridges around the nation during the era, visiting Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol to reveal the secret construction masterpiece that lay hidden in the structure's core for more than a century. He also discovers how the Tay Bridge disaster led to huge leaps in technology and how a new metal emerged as the bridge maker's building block of choice.

Episode 4

The Great British Holiday

Michael Buerk discovers how bold Victorian experiments and cathedrals of medicine built Britain and revolutionised the medical world. He begins in Edinburgh with murderers Burke and Hare, revealing the gruesome roots of modern anatomy and the macabre justice dolled out for those caught flaunting the system. He then travels to the operating theatre of Old St Thomas' Hospital in London for a hands-on lesson in Victorian surgery.

Episode 5

How Britain Healed the World

Michael Buerk discovers how bold Victorian experiments and cathedrals of medicine built Britain and revolutionised the medical world. He begins in Edinburgh with murderers Burke and Hare, revealing the gruesome roots of modern anatomy and the macabre justice dolled out for those caught flaunting the system. He then travels to the operating theatre of Old St Thomas' Hospital in London for a hands-on lesson in Victorian surgery.

Episode 6

The Birth of Law and Order

43 mins

Michael Buerk discovers how the Victorians instituted a revolution in law and order, created the first modern police force and built the prisons Britain still relies on today.

Episode 7

The Great Stink

Michael Buerk discovers how Britain's first super sewer cleaned up the capital, and inspired a fresh water revolution that would change the lives of millions of Victorians. He begins his journey in the cesspits of Victorian high society to discover the depths to which the capital sank to keep itself clean. Michael also heads to the pub to find out how boozing brewers helped unlock the key to ridding London of the deadliest epidemic since the Great Plague.

Episode 8

The Culture Revolution

Michael Buerk discovers how the Victorians took on the world of exploration and adventure, and brought it home to Britain for everyone to share. His voyage of discovery begins at the Natural History Museum, where Michael comes face to face with a dinosaur that changed the course of history. He travels to the Victorian 'living museum' - London Zoo - to find out about the way scientific study of the birds and the beasts led to the first ever public zoo. Last in the series.