How the Victorians Built Britain (2018)
How the Victorians Built Britain
2018This series travels the length and breadth of Britain to find out how the Victorians built Britain. It uncovers the incredible and surprising stories behind iconic landmarks; discovers the hidden heroes behind the epic constructions; and finds out how the incredible advances made by the Victorians forged the world we live in today.
Seasons & Episode
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.
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.
Michael Buerk discovers how bold Victorian experiments and Cathedrals of Medicine built Britain and revolutionised the medical world.
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.
Michael 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.
Michael Buerk discovers how the Victorians took on the world of exploration and adventure, and brought it home to Britain for everyone to share.
This series travels the length and breadth of Britain to find out how the Victorians built Britain. It uncovers the incredible and surprising stories behind iconic landmarks; discovers the hidden heroes behind the epic constructions; and finds out how the incredible advances made by the Victorians forged the world we live in today.