BBC Four

Series combining human stories, expert interviews, book illustrations and historic archive to reveal the beauty of books.

Detective Dirk Gently operates based on the fundamental interconnectedness of all things.

A mock-documentary following the challenges – both personal and professional – faced by the team responsible for delivering the ...

Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch – one of the world’s leading historians – reveals the origins of Christianity and explores what ...

The Great Outdoors was a British television sitcom. The show follows the friendships of a misfit rambling club in Southern England in which ...

Dramatisation of the colourful memoirs of the late Conservative MP.

A documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that ...

Set in the corridors of power and spin, the Minister for Social Affairs is continually harassed by Number 10’s policy enforcer and ...

No easy answers? Decision-makers from Kissinger to Rice revisit how the US responded to conflicts from Rwanda to Iraq. Faced with human suffering ...

The main decision-makers from Israel, the Arab states, Russia and the US tell the inside story of the Arab-Israel conflict.

Classic Doctor Who duos are reunited as they board a very special TARDIS on a nostalgic voyage through space and time.

The often-hilarious stories of the BBC’s first 50 years. The corporation’s pioneers describe its evolution – which was often by ...

In 1955 Ruth Ellis was the last woman hanged in Britain for the murder of her lover. In this investigative three-part series film-maker Gillian ...

Richard E Grant packs his clothes and a bag of books and travels to the locations authors have fictionalised to gain a sense of the places that ...

Series tracking down lost, hidden, and misattributed paintings from local museums and galleries across Britain.

Join Grace Dent on a televisual trip back in time.

Historian Sam Willis traces the story of Britain’s castles and their unique role in our history, art and literature.

How the invention of writing gave humanity a history. From hieroglyphs to emojis, an exploration of the way in which the technology of writing ...

Three-part series about trains crossing borders in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, reconnecting families, cultures and history.

Bushcraft expert and survivalist Ray Mears explores the awe-inspiring landscape of that shaped the story of the Wild West. … Discover how ...

Classic books are considered with a fresh eye. Returning to the authors’ original manuscripts and letters, expert writers and performers ...

The story of the dance revolution – the beat, the clubs and the DJs that changed music culture forever.

Documentary series in which Dr Hannah Fry explores the mystery of maths. Is it invented like a language or is it discovered and part of the ...

Historian Bettany Hughes travels to India, Greece and China on the trail of three giants of ancient philosophy – Buddha, Socrates and Confucius.

How the Art Nouveau movement flourished in the burgeoning cities of Europe at the end of the 19th century.

The rise and fall of Lady Jane Grey. England’s Queen for only 9 days

From the Himalayas in the north to the Nilgiris in the south – for a hundred years these little trains have climbed through the clouds and ...

Catching History’s Criminals: The Forensics Story

Two-part documentary in which Jonathan Meades makes the case for 20th-century concrete Brutalist architecture in an homage to a style that he ...

Jim Al-Khalili tackles the greatest question in science – how the universe began. By recreating key experiments Jim unravels the mystery of ...

Andrew Graham-Dixon embarks on his most ambitious journey yet, an exploration of the rich, exciting and diverse art history of the United States ...

Series which celebrates an unlikely story of outstanding British aviation achievement at a time of national austerity, the breathtaking planes ...

A military attaché at the French embassy is drawn into a world of abduction, betrayal and intrigue in the diplomatic salons and back alleys of ...

Created from the novels by award winning crime writer Ann Cleeves, Shetland follows DI Jimmy Perez and his team as they investigate crime within ...

Treasures of Ancient Rome is a 2012 three-part documentary written and presented by Alastair Sooke. The series was produced by the BBC, and ...

Showcasing the best in international documentaries, Storyville has developed an enviable reputation since its inception more than a decade ago. ...

Map expert Professor Jerry Brotton uncovers how maps aren’t simply about getting from A to B, but are revealing snapshots of defining ...

Darkly comic series about life on a hospital ward and a nursing team who have to get on with the job despite challenges thrown up by the modern NHS.

The three-part complementary series features eminent scientists, theologians and conservationists discussing the environmental and conservation ...

Your monthly journey through the fascinating world of space and astronomy with the latest thinking on what’s out there in space and what ...

The fiendishly difficult quiz show in which two teams of three contestants have to find the connection between seemingly unrelated clues, where ...

The murder of Sonia Baker, a young political researcher, leads journalist Cal McCaffrey to uncover complex links between government and big business.