The Crown

The Crown 2016

8.20

The gripping, decades-spanning inside story of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers who shaped Britain's post-war destiny. The Crown tells the inside story of two of the most famous addresses in the world – Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street – and the intrigues, love lives and machinations behind the great events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. Two houses, two courts, one Crown.

2016

Have I Got a Bit More News for You

Have I Got a Bit More News for You 1970

7.00

Based on the week’s news and fronted by guest hosts, this extended version of the satirical news quiz features more of the stuff that wouldn't fit into the regular programme.

1970

Question Time

Question Time 1979

4.90

This topical debate series based on Any Questions? typically features politicians from at least the three major political parties as well as other public figures who answer pre-selected questions put to them by a carefully selected audience.

1979

The Thick of It

The Thick of It 2005

8.00

Set in the corridors of power and spin, the Minister for Social Affairs is continually harassed by Number 10's policy enforcer and dependent on his not-so-reliable team of civil servants.

2005

Yes Minister

Yes Minister 1980

8.30

Satirical sitcom set in the office of a UK Cabinet minister, Jim Hacker MP, who struggles with Civil Service bureaucracy and political machinations as he tries to get on with government business.

1980

Apocalypse: World War I

Apocalypse: World War I 2014

7.70

Colorized historical footage in ascending order of World War 1. Not only the relatively known Flanders and France battles, but also the generally unknown Italian-Austrian, German-Polish-Russian, Japanese-German, Ottoman Empire- Allied and African German Colonies, and other unknown or forgotten fronts and battles.

2014

The New Statesman

The New Statesman 1987

7.50

The New Statesman is a British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time.

1987

A Very English Scandal

A Very English Scandal 2018

7.10

It's the late 1960s, homosexuality has only just been legalised and Jeremy Thorpe, the leader of the Liberal party, has a secret he's desperate to hide.

2018

House of Cards

House of Cards 1990

8.10

Frustrated at a new moderate Conservative government and deprived of a promotion to a senior position, chief whip Francis Urquhart prepares a meticulous plot to bring down the Prime Minister then to take his place.

1990

Newscast

Newscast 2020

7.50

In a televised version of the popular podcast, Adam Fleming, Chris Mason, and guests chat about the stories behind the news.

2020

Spitting Image

Spitting Image 1984

1

Spitting Image is an award winning British satirical puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. The series was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Independent Television over 18 series which aired on the ITV from 1984 to 1996. The series was nominated and won numerous awards during its run including 10 BAFTA Awards, including one for editing in 1989, and even won two Emmy Awards in 1985 and 1986 in the Popular Arts Category. The series featured puppet caricatures of celebrities famous during the 1980s and 1990s, including British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and fellow Tory politicians, American president Ronald Reagan, and the British Royal Family. The Series was the first to caricature the Queen mother.

1984

Immigration: How British Politics Failed

Immigration: How British Politics Failed 2024

1

Co-produced by The Open University, Immigration: How British Politics Failed explores the political reasons behind immigration rules and policies and why the real issue was never addressed.

2024

Roadkill

Roadkill 2020

6.30

Politician Peter Laurence's private life is falling apart. Shamelessly untroubled by guilt or remorse, he seeks to further his own agenda whilst others plot to bring him down. Can he out-run his own secrets to win the ultimate prize?

2020

To Play the King

To Play the King 1993

8.10

Francis Urquhart's survival at the top is threatened by the new king's populist agenda.

1993

G.B.H.

G.B.H. 1991

6.30

GBH was a seven-part British television drama written by Alan Bleasdale shown in the summer of 1991 on Channel 4. The protagonists were Michael Murray, the Militant tendency-supporting Labour leader of a city council in the North of England and Jim Nelson, the headmaster of a school for disturbed children. The series was controversial partly because Murray appeared to be based on Derek Hatton, former Deputy Leader of Liverpool City Council — in an interview in the G.B.H. DVD Bleasdale recounts an accidental meeting with Hatton before the series, who indicates that he has caught wind of Bleasdale's intentions but does not mind as long as the actor playing him is "handsome". In normal parlance, the initials "GBH" refer to the criminal charge of grievous bodily harm - however, the actual intent of the letters is that it is supposed to stand for Great British Holiday.

1991

The First Churchills

The First Churchills 1969

6.33

The lives of the Duke of Marlborough and his wife Sarah, from their meeting in 1673 to the duke's death in 1722.

1969

Party Animals

Party Animals 2007

7.20

Party Animals presents Westminster from the ground up – the young researchers and advisors shouldering huge responsibility in a frantic, high-stakes world. It's no wonder their personal lives are so messy. Sons of an ex-Labour MP, Scott and Danny Foster have politics in their blood.

2007

The World Wars

The World Wars 2014

7.30

The story of three decades of war told through the eyes of various men who were its key players: Roosevelt, Hitler, Patton, Mussolini, Churchill, Tojo, DeGaulle and MacArthur. The series examines the two wars as one contiguous timeline starting in 1914 and concluding in 1945 with these unique individuals coming of age in World War I before ultimately calling the shots in World War II.

2014

A Very British Coup

A Very British Coup 1988

7.80

A Very British Coup is a British political thriller series based on the novel by Chris Mullin. It stars Ray McAnally as the newly elected left-wing prime minister Harry Perkins, who soon finds himself up to his neck in conspiracy.

1988

World War II: When Lions Roared

World War II: When Lions Roared 1994

6.80

A 1994 war television miniseries which portrays Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin as they maneuver their countries through several of the major events of World War II - such events include the Blitz, Operation Barbarossa, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the North African Campaign, the Allied invasion of Italy, and concluding with the Tehran Conference.

1994