History's Heroes

Captured by the Nazis, Lieutenant Airey Neave is sent to Colditz Castle, a high-security prisoner of war camp in Germany. No British prisoner has ever escaped from here before. After months of preparation, and armed...

Elvira Chaudoir is a Peruvian playgirl with all the right connections… and a gambling debt. She’s also a double agent, locked in a dangerous game of deception. With D-Day on the horizon, can she convince the Germans...

Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for tales of deception, resistance and courage in History's Secret Heroes Series 4.

When did the British love affair with tea begin? In this first episode of Here For The History, Alice Loxton and Ben Henderson explore the origin story of the British love of tea. Starting with the first appearance of...

In 1950, a trial began for a gruesome murder, marking the first time a woman would lead a murder case in an English court. Can Rose Heilbron QC prove herself? Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to...

Disaster strikes when Washington Roebling is building a landmark suspension bridge connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn. Can his wife Emily help him deliver an impossible engineering feat? Stories of bold voices, with brave...

1849. The youngest queen of Sikh Emperor Ranjit Sing, Maharani Jindan was locked up in at Chunar fort, hundreds of miles from home. She was small, beautiful and powerful, and crucially she was the mother of 10-year-old...

Alex von Tunzelmann meets Professor Keith Allen to discuss Margaret Cavendish’s remarkable legacy. Keith, who is professor of philosophy at the University of York, has been researching Margaret Cavendish and...

In 17th Century Europe, a young woman escapes civil war and discovers a love of scientific learning and a remarkable literary talent. Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian...

In 1950s South Africa, under the system of apartheid, a powerful song catches fire among Black communities. But to sing it could result in imprisonment. Its author - the musician, poet and union organiser Vuyisile Mini...

In 19th Century France, a young woman escapes a life of drudgery, faces her fears and finds worldwide fame as an aeronaut. Sophie Blanchard performs for Napoleon and eventually becomes the official aeronaut of the...

Alex von Tunzelmann meets Dr Eleanor Janega to discuss Eleanor of Aquitaine, the extraordinary medieval woman who became Queen of France, then Queen of England. Dr Janega is a broadcaster and historian who was named...

Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine was in her 70s when disaster struck in the 1190s. Her sons were often at loggerheads and causing trouble. This time, her crusading son Richard the Lionheart had got into a spot of trouble and...

When a nuclear programme threatens Eileen Kampakuta Brown's traditional land in Australia, she brings together a group of Aboriginal women to resist. Their campaign across the country in a two-door wagon will take them...

For six days in thirteen eighty-one, Wat Tyler a mysterious, charismatic figure appears to hold the balance of power in England. Fired by a vision of social equality, he leads a peasants' revolt that threatens to...