Britain’s Most Historic Towns
Channel 4
Saturday 21 November
It’s all too easy to overlook how deeply many of our towns and cities are steeped in history. Here Prof Alice Roberts returns with new episodes of the series where she explores our urban centres to uncover evidence of their development during key moments in British history, stories that illuminate our wider history.
This time around, there are two episodes where maritime history plays a central role. In Portsmouth, Alice focuses on the role of the Royal Navy in establishing the British Empire. In Plymouth, she looks for stories of Elizabethan England, much helped by aerial archaeologist Ben Robinson, who uses drones to show why Plymouth Harbour was an ideal base for mariners such as Sir Francis Drake and his second cousin, Sir John Hawkins, who both grew rich from piracy and the slave trade.
Look out too for episodes on the impact of steam power on Glasgow; Georgian Edinburgh; and Manchester’s urban working class during the Industrial Revolution. Head to channel4. com/programmes/britains-mosthistoric-towns to catch up with programmes about medieval Lincoln and Restoration London, and indeed every episode in the programme’s first two series.