Season 2

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Episodes

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Episode 130 min2005-01-10

Bread and Beer

Comedian Mark Williams explains how 19th-century Britons drank beer as a healthy alternative to water because the fermentation process killed many harmful bacteria

Episode 230 min2005-01-17

What to Wear?

Mark Williams discovers how 19th-century hats were made of rabbit fur that had been shrunk in urine

Episode 330 min2005-01-24

Gas on Wheels

The use of gas to power the machines and inventions from the Industrial Revolution are explained by Mark Williams

Episode 430 min2005-01-31

Print and Paper

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

Episode 530 min2005-02-07

Under Pressure

Mark Williams visits a pub cellar and bridges across the Tyne, all powered by hydraulics, revealing how the beer pump started a power revolution

Episode 630 min2005-02-14

Building a Revolution

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.

Episode 730 min2005-02-21

Bright Sparks

How the electricity industry was created from scientific experimentation and entrepreneurial enthusiasm - becoming the world's main power source.

Episode 830 min2005-02-28

Heavy Metals

The development of the Cornish mining industry, from pebble-picking in streams to the building of a honeycomb of mines below the sea

Episode 930 min2005-03-07

Cutting it Fine

How silk was instrumental in the invention of the binary code, which went on to inspire the computer revolution.

Episode 1030 min2005-03-14

Machine Tools

Mark Williams learns about Joseph Whitworth, the man who standardised the threaded screw. Plus, the total cost of wood required to build HMS Victory

Season Cast

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Cast

Mark Williams

Cast

Rory McGrath

Cast

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