Season 2

1. Bread and Beer

Comedian Mark Williams explains how 19th-century Britons drank beer as a healthy alternative to water because the fermentation process killed many harmful bacteria

2005-01-10 • 30 min

2. What to Wear?

Mark Williams discovers how 19th-century hats were made of rabbit fur that had been shrunk in urine

2005-01-17 • 30 min

3. Gas on Wheels

The use of gas to power the machines and inventions from the Industrial Revolution are explained by Mark Williams

2005-01-24 • 30 min

4. Print and Paper

In a look at the history of printing, Mark Williams discovers why early typesetters arranged lower-case letters according to their usage, with the most common being in the middle

2005-01-31 • 30 min

5. Under Pressure

Mark Williams visits a pub cellar and bridges across the Tyne, all powered by hydraulics, revealing how the beer pump started a power revolution

2005-02-07 • 30 min

6. Building a Revolution

Documentary exploring how the massive construction boom triggered by the Industrial Revolution forced the building industry to find new materials to cope with increasing demand.

2005-02-14 • 30 min

7. Bright Sparks

How the electricity industry was created from scientific experimentation and entrepreneurial enthusiasm - becoming the world's main power source.

2005-02-21 • 30 min

8. Heavy Metals

The development of the Cornish mining industry, from pebble-picking in streams to the building of a honeycomb of mines below the sea

2005-02-28 • 30 min

9. Cutting it Fine

How silk was instrumental in the invention of the binary code, which went on to inspire the computer revolution.

2005-03-07 • 30 min

10. Machine Tools

Mark Williams learns about Joseph Whitworth, the man who standardised the threaded screw. Plus, the total cost of wood required to build HMS Victory

2005-03-14 • 30 min