Tony Robinson's History of Britain

Tony Robinson takes an in-depth delve into the life of king's knacker Thomas Grimes, who was pressed into service as executioner.

A bottom-up approach to history, told by exploring the lives of ordinary people. Tony Robinson travels back to the 1800s, meeting a girl who worked in a match factory.

Tony takes us to Georgian times, a period as nasty as any in history, looking at highwaymen, poachers, and press ganging.

Tony meets Eastenders star Babs Clark, who was just eight when the WWII began. Like many, Babs depended on the newly built Bethnal Green tube station as an air raid shelter during the Blitz.

Back nearly 2000 years to a time when Britain was under the Roman Empire, Tony tells the story of an African Roman soldier posted to its most northerly outpost: Hadrian's Wall.

Tony takes a look at the beginning of last century. It's a time of elegance, innovation, class division, and social progress.