Exploring the hidden worlds behind four stately homes in Britain. It is a world that has provided a majestic backdrop to a range of movies and popular costume dramas to this day, including PBS' "Downton Abbey."But what was really going on behind these stately walls? "Secrets of the Manor House" looks beyond the fiction to the truth of what life was like in these British houses of yesteryear. They were communities where two separate worlds existed side by side: the poor worked as domestic servants, while the nation's wealthiest families enjoyed a lifestyle of luxury, and aristocrats ruled over their servants as they had done for a thousand years.
Throughout history, some of the world's most amazing works of art have simply disappeared. Through re-enactment, rare archive, and expert comment we see how these treasures were looted, stolen or vanished into the archives. Some have been recovered but many more are still waiting to be found