How the Victorians Built Britain

Michael Buerk travels around the UK to find out how so much of modern Britain was created by the Victorians, from impressive engineering projects to Summer holidays.

10 Votes (8.4)

2018 HD United Kingdom English Returning Series
Documentary
british history engineering victorian england victorian era architecture

Credits:

Michael Buerk

Self - Presenter

S1E1 - How Britain Got Moving 2018-09-01

Michael reveals how Victorian engineers revolutionised public transport, with the inventions of the omnibus, the modern-day bicycle and the London Underground.

S1E2 - Saving the Nation's Health 2018-09-08

Michael reveals how Victorians created the sewer system, providing fresh, clean water for all. The revolution began in Liverpool, which suffered the highest mortality rates in the country. But it took the Great Stink of 1858 to convince Parliament to create a sewer system for the capital.

S1E3 - The Making of the Modern Home 2018-09-15

Michael begins his journey by exploring the massive explosion in house-building in the early Victorian period. He reveals how Victorians introduced gas power to the home, transforming the kitchen, lighting, heating and even home entertainment.

S1E4 - The Birth of the Machines 2018-09-22

Michael Buerk looks at the creation of mass manufacturing, which meant that goods could be produced at a rate that had never been seen before. In Manchester, he learns how engineer George Stephenson created the first intercity railway, so that cotton could be transported quickly and cheaply from Liverpool docks to Manchesters mills. Michael also discovers how the sewing machine - newly created in 1851 - created the rag trade, and visits what was probably the first shopping mall in the UK, the Burlington Arcade in London.

S2E1 - The Railway Revolution 2020-01-04

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 during the era. 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 Brunels bid to secure Bristols future, and his creation of the fastest engine in the world.

S2E2 - Britannia Rules the Waves 2020-01-11

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 Victorias flagship HMS Warrior to reveal surprising construction secrets and the ways the ship kept the peace in international waters, before following in Brunels footsteps aboard his luxury steamer SS Great Britain.

S2E3 - Bridging The Nation 2020-01-18

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 structures 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 makers building block of choice.

S2E4 - The Great British Holiday 2020-01-25

Michael Buerk discovers how the Victorians spent their leisure time, heading to Blackpool to learn how the seaside mini-break was transformed from a perk of the wealthy to a British institution. He steps onto one of the towns famous piers to learn how, thanks to architect and civil engineer Eugenius Birch, these humble loading aids became entertainment hubs. Michael also hears how a rivalry between two show business giants resulted in some of the areas most glorious architecture and how the advent of electricity fuelled the towns tourist industry, via its world-famous illuminations.

S2E5 - How Britain Healed The World 2020-08-31

Michael Buerk discovers how bold Victorian experiments and Cathedrals of Medicine built Britain and revolutionised the medical world.

S2E6 - The Birth Of Law And Order 2020-09-07

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 to house criminals today.