Episodes List
Ep.1 Bread and Beer
Air Date: 2005-01-10
Comedian Mark Williams explains how 19th-century Britons drank beer as a healthy alternative to water because the fermentation process killed many harmful bacteria
Ep.2 What to Wear?
Air Date: 2005-01-17
Mark Williams discovers how 19th-century hats were made of rabbit fur that had been shrunk in urine
Ep.3 Gas on Wheels
Air Date: 2005-01-24
The use of gas to power the machines and inventions from the Industrial Revolution are explained by Mark Williams
Ep.4 Print and Paper
Air Date: 2005-01-31
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
Ep.5 Under Pressure
Air Date: 2005-02-07
Mark Williams visits a pub cellar and bridges across the Tyne, all powered by hydraulics, revealing how the beer pump started a power revolution
Ep.6 Building a Revolution
Air Date: 2005-02-14
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.
Ep.7 Bright Sparks
Air Date: 2005-02-21
How the electricity industry was created from scientific experimentation and entrepreneurial enthusiasm - becoming the world's main power source.
Ep.8 Heavy Metals
Air Date: 2005-02-28
The development of the Cornish mining industry, from pebble-picking in streams to the building of a honeycomb of mines below the sea
Ep.9 Cutting it Fine
Air Date: 2005-03-07
How silk was instrumental in the invention of the binary code, which went on to inspire the computer revolution.
Ep.10 Machine Tools
Air Date: 2005-03-14
Mark Williams learns about Joseph Whitworth, the man who standardised the threaded screw. Plus, the total cost of wood required to build HMS Victory
