Institutional Insanity • 2024 • episode "S1E3" • Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War

46:53

The story of Henry VIII's fear of Catholic Europe, told via his castles, cannons and spies. The first episode examines the surviving traces of Henry VIII's fear of invasion from Catholic Europe through physical reminders, including mighty castles and cannons, that survive to this day. At her headquarter in Walmer Castle, built in 1540 in Kent to defend the town against a French invasion, Alice gets her hands on a vast hoard of Tudor coins and a 500-year-old jousting scorecard, as she learns how Henry's greed and ambition led him to bankrupt the nation and lay the foundations for the modern secret service. Danielle visits Henry's mighty castle at Deal and witnesses the awesome power of the cannons built to defend England, while Onyeka gets within touching distance of the iconic Mary Rose.

S1E1 • Fortress Britain • 2022 • History

57:40

As King Charles III is crowned, Katty Kay sets out to discover what he could learn from Europe's royal families. They face many of the same challenges as Charles: how to modernise, how to steer clear of politics and how to heal very public family rifts. So how do they handle them – and what's the point of a monarchy in a 21st century democracy? Travelling from Denmark to Albania, she meets Europe's modern royals.

2023 • History

45:28

The Allies must capture the Abbaye d Ardenne, which guards the city of Caen but is held by a notorious Panzer unit accused of horrific war crimes.

S1E1 • Hitler's Last Stand • 2018 • History

43:59

King Harold of England takes on two invasion forces. First, his brother Tostig attacks the south coast. He is repelled, but there is more to come. Later in the year, a vast Viking invasion force led by King Harald Hardrada of Norway lands in the north.

S1E2 • Europe's Last Warrior Kings • 2018 • History

58:59

China's last empire, the Qing, lasted from 1644 to 1912. It began in violence and war as the Manchus swept down from the north, but invaders became emperors, with three generations of one family ruling the country. Among them, Michael Wood argues, was China's greatest emperor - Kangxi.

S1E5 • The Story of China • 2016 • History

43:35

The young Caligula has a difficult childhood when his family members are either murdered or exiled at the hands of the emperor Tiberius.

S3E1 • Roman Empire • 2019 • History