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Categories: Factual: History

  1. TV's Black Pioneers

    Documentary about the first generation of black actors that worked in UK entertainment.

    BBC Four

  2. Mortgaged to the Yanks

    The story of Britain's multi-billion dollar post-war debt to America.

    BBC Four

  3. Tales from the Front Room

    Documentary about front parlours, a British practice exported to the West Indies.

    BBC Four

  4. Election 83

    The BBC's 1983 election night programme, with analysis by Peter Snow and Tony King.

    BBC Parliament

  5.

    Decision 79 - Election Night

    A chance to relive the historic May 3 1979 General Election.

    BBC Parliament

  6.

    Decision 79 - The Morning After

    Archive coverage of the 1979 General Election which swept Margaret Thatcher to power.

    BBC Parliament

  7. North Korea: Crossing the Line

    Documentary about Comrade Joe, an American defector to the communist state of North Korea.

    BBC Four

  8. Shopping for England

    Documentary examining the high street consumer revolution of the early 20th century.

    BBC Two

  9. 1987 General Election

    A chance to relive the 1987 general election that returned Margaret Thatcher to power.

    BBC Parliament

  10. The Fall of the Iron Lady

    An account of the events leading up to the resignation of Margaret Thatcher.

    BBC Parliament

  11. Sir John Soane At Home

    Rosemary Hill uncovers the hidden history of Sir John Soane's museum in London

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  12. Lucifer Matches: The Letters of Charlotte Bronte

    In her correspondence, Jane Eyre's creator rarely minced her words.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  13. Falklands Night - BBC Coverage

    Falklands Task Force reporter Brian Hanrahan introduces a history of the Falklands War.

    BBC Parliament

  14. Falklands Night - House of Commons Debate

    Historic emergency debate in the House of Commons after the invasion of the Falklands.

    BBC Parliament

  15. A Gothic Cathedral

    Simon Fanshawe's story of Roget's Thesaurus compiled by an eminent Victorian.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  16. From Ivory To Plastic

    Pianist David Owen Norris goes on a journey in search of the private life of the piano.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  17. A Short History of the Fork

    Four curved prongs from a fat ridge, joined to a handle. Joe Farrell investigates forks.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  18. Stone Age Sound

    Can sound solve the mysteries of the 5,000-year-old Neolithic grave in Ireland?

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  19. The First Pirate

    The story of Captain Plugge's Radio Normandie, the first station to take on the BBC.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  20. Fragments in Time

    Christopher Morris searches for the owner of a 1940s wartime diary, found in Sussex.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  21. Opening Nights: Oliver

    Based on the Dickens' story, Lionel Bart's musical starring Ron Moody opened in 1960.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  22. Children Of The Enemy

    The story of German children fostered by Dutch families after the Second World War.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  23. Oh Yes I Am

    Mark Ravenhill asks why pantomime still attracts the Christmas crowds.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  24. A Tale of Harvest Festival

    Paul Heiney traces the origins of the Harvest Festival.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  25. Warpaint: The Story Of Camouflage

    How the military were helped by bohemians to create effective camouflage.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  26. The Music Factory

    BBC institution Music While You Work was created to give wartime productivity a boost.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  27. Within These Walls

    Professor Jeffrey Richards visits the prison and court at Lancaster Castle.

    BBC Radio 4

  28. Moving Pictures

    Emrys Evans recalls the 1939 evacuation of the National Gallery's entire art collection.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  29. Cooking Up A Royal Treat

    What was it like to serve in a 1930s country house?

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  30.

    From Dunkirk to D-Day

    Charles Wheeler recalls the epic of strategic success that made victory possible.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  31.

    The People's D-Day

    Libby Purves follows the way Britain prepared for the assault on Normandy in June 1944.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  32. Past Presence

    Why has King John’s Magna Carta of 1215 endured through wars and even EU arguments?

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  33. Balalaikas In Blackpool

    Cold War invasion plans revealed by maps of major British cities, ports and railheads.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  34. Losing The Children

    Michael Rosen explores the meaning behind one of Germany's greatest fairy tales.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  35. Barbed Wire Ballads

    Songs and stories recorded in German prisoner-of-war camps during the First World War.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  36. Champions of Civil Rights

    Davis Miller tells the story of Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali.

    BBC Radio 4

  37. The Boy who Bought a Field

    Francis Pryor meets the archaeologist who bought the land covering a lost medieval town.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  38.

    A Right Royal Rescue

    HRH the Duke of Edinburgh recalls his role in a daring rescue during WWII.

    BBC Radio 4

  39. The Man Who Sold Peerages

    Shaun Ley tells the tale of Maundy Gregory, who sold peerages on behalf of Lloyd George.

    BBC Radio 4

  40. Camel Train

    Matthew Parris joins traders on the ancient salt route in Ethiopia's Danakil Depression.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  41. Comrades

    Ivor Gaber recounts the history of the British Communist Party.

    BBC Radio 4

  42. The Q Camp

    Jolyon Jenkins recounts a forgotten story of the Second World War.

    BBC Radio 4

  43. When CB Ruled the Waves

    Dominic Arkwright recalls the heady days of CB radio, introduced in the UK in 1981.

    BBC Radio 4

  44. The Radical and the Emperor

    The story of feminist pioneer Sylvia Pankhurst's campaign for Ethiopian independence.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  45. A Thor in One's Side

    Tony Robinson tells the story of Thor Heyerdahl’s epic journey.

    BBC Radio 4 Extra

  46. Miss Buttolph's Marvellous Menu Collection

    The tale of a unique collection of 25,000 menus and the stories they can tell us.

    BBC Radio 4

  47.

    Prescott at Your Service

    Exploring a strange coincidence from 1957, when John Prescott was a cruise ship waiter.

    BBC Radio 4

  48. The World in a Briefcase

    Stephen Phelps recalls one of the most secret diplomatic missions of the Second World War.

    BBC Radio 4

  49. Endangered Sounds

    Simon Fanshawe explores how life's familiar sounds have changed with the times.

    BBC Radio 4

  50. Paradise Lost: The Story of the Chagos Islands

    The story of the islanders forced to leave to make way for a military base in the 1960s.

    BBC Radio 4

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