Episode 1

Rob Bell tells the story of the great Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, exploring his complex personality as well as his prolific achievements. Brunel was just 19 when his father appointed him his assistant and chief engineer on the Thames Tunnel. After a potentially fatal accident during the construction, he was recuperating in Bristol when he came up with a design for the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Later, he became the official engineer to the proposed Great Western Railway, and more was to follow.