Industrial Revelations

Bread and Beer

Comedian Mark Williams explains how 19th-century Britons drank beer as a healthy alternative to water because the fermen

What to Wear?

Mark Williams discovers how 19th-century hats were made of rabbit fur that had been shrunk in urine

Gas on Wheels

The use of gas to power the machines and inventions from the Industrial Revolution are explained by Mark Williams

Print and Paper

In a look at the history of printing, Mark Williams discovers why early typesetters arranged lower-case letters accordin

Under Pressure

Mark Williams visits a pub cellar and bridges across the Tyne, all powered by hydraulics, revealing how the beer pump st

Building a Revolution

Documentary exploring how the massive construction boom triggered by the Industrial Revolution forced the building indus

Bright Sparks

How the electricity industry was created from scientific experimentation and entrepreneurial enthusiasm - becoming the w

Heavy Metals

The development of the Cornish mining industry, from pebble-picking in streams to the building of a honeycomb of mines b

Cutting it Fine

How silk was instrumental in the invention of the binary code, which went on to inspire the computer revolution.

Machine Tools

Mark Williams learns about Joseph Whitworth, the man who standardised the threaded screw. Plus, the total cost of wood r

Reaping the Whirlwind

The Canal King

Hot Metal

The Impossible Railway

Big Bang

Generation Electric

Industrial Espionage

Steam on the Water

Iron Men of Sweden

King Silk

Bread, Beer and Salt

With industrialisation, there were more mouths in towns and cities to feed and fewer men left to work the land. So how d

Building Europe

How did the building trade keep up with the demand for materials during the expansion of the Industrial Revolution, and

The City

Cities were traditionally developed around water until the railway age expanded their boundaries. As the population grew

Cotton, Linen and Rope

For centuries craftsmen and women turned natural fibres into clothes. Ronald Topp explores what happened when machines b

Eiffel's Tower

Eiffel was the world's greatest exponent of the use of iron in construction, creating the his famous Tower in 1889. How

Exploding Engines

Ronald Top examines the beginnings of motor cars. Benz and Daimler were early pioneers, but prior to that there were att

High Fliers

Flight has always been humanity's dream. Ronald Top discovers that thanks to some paper thrown onto a fire, a duck, a co

Perfect Porcelain

Ronald Topp investigates the new techniques and ways of working that turned local potteries into an international indust

Steaming up the Alps

Ronald Top examines how railways conquered the mountains, with a little help from George Stevenson. He's in the Alps to

Swedish Waterways

Waterways are flourishing in Europe, but how is it that a system designed for 17th-century trade is still viable in the

Buildings

Planes

Bridges

Vehicles

Ships

Transport Networks