The Hairy Bikers take their charm and humour on the road as they encounter brilliant, eccentric and fascinating people across Britain whose lives surround the nation's pubs. Their epic journey will take them into the secret world of the pubs that made Britain. From the first Roman taverns, to Anglo Saxon alehouses which sprung up in peoples' homes, and the travelers Inns providing respite for a more mobile population, they'll reveal the fascinating story of how Britain's pubs evolved - but also tells a bigger story of Britain itself.
Ian Hislop rescues the reputation of the maverick 'Do-Gooders' who he believes fixed the 19th century's version of 'broken Britain' in this new history series. Irresistibly easy to mock, these busy bodies are highly unfashionable today. But they are heroes to Ian - extraordinary men and women who precipitated the most remarkable period of social change in British history and, Ian argues, left us with a nation worth living in. And yet unlike notable Victorian royals, inventors, politicians and generals, many of them have been all but forgotten.