How the Victorians Built Britain - Episode Guide

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

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.

Michael reveals how Victorians introduced gas power to the home, transforming the kitchen, lighting, heating and even home entertainment.

Cotton's place at the heart of mass production is examined, via the creation of the first inter-city railway, a game-changing industrial loam and the birth of the Manchester Ship Canal.

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 Brunel's bid to secure Bristol's future, and his creation of the fastest engine in the world.

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 visits Bristol and the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

How the seaside break became a British institution.

Michael Buerk discovers how bold Victorian experiments and cathedrals of medicine built Britain and revolutionised the medical world. He begins in Edinburgh with murderers Burke and Hare, revealing the gruesome roots of modern anatomy and the macabre justice dolled out for those caught flaunting the system. He then travels to the operating theatre of Old St Thomas' Hospital in London for a hands-on lesson in Victorian surgery.

How the Victorians instituted a revolution in law and order.

How Britain's first Super Sewer cleaned up the capital.

How the Victorians took on the world of exploration.