Pests
Fleas spell disaster for people living in the Middle Ages. The inhabitants of an ancient Iraqi city hurl scorpions at an invading army. In Victorian London, a rat catcher turns his unsavoury professio...
26 Aug 202437min
Dinner Parties
A Roman emperor terrifies his guests with a macabre dining room display. At a feast in Norway, drunk Vikings engage in a rap battle. A teenage Alexander the Great makes a scene at his dad’s dinner par...
19 Aug 202435min
Windows
In medieval Ghana, an exhausted traveller stares in wonder at panes of glass glistening in walls. Craftsmen in 15th-century York assemble an intricate work of art, fit for the divine. A tax on windows...
12 Aug 202433min
Home Security
A gaggle of geese stands guard outside a whisky distillery in Scotland. Ninjas tread carefully over creaky floorboards in Japan. A nurse in New York invents a revolutionary surveillance system. And in...
5 Aug 202434min
Toilets
Ruth lifts the lid on the surprising history of toilets. A cesspit proves deadly for a noble assembly in 12th-century Germany. Pigs form an unlikely part of the sewage system in ancient China. And the...
29 Jul 202433min
Jewellery
Roman women get creative, and violent, with their hair pins. In the Middle Ages, poison rings are used to covertly contaminate food and drink. A ring seals the deal on a scandalous marriage in 16th ce...
22 Jul 202434min
Lawnmowers
Landscape gardening leads to the downfall of a powerful politician in 17th century France. In the 1820s, two Englishmen test their new lawn mowing invention in the middle of the night, much to the dis...
15 Jul 202432min
Ovens
In Neolithic Croatia, the world’s oldest oven provides around the clock perks to the locals. In Dublin, a celebrity chef sets up an innovative soup kitchen during the Great Irish Famine. And in Mughal...
8 Jul 202435min
