Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Ship's Chronometer From Hms Beagle | 20101011 | 20211108 (R4) | Neil MacGregor's history of the world as told through things. Throughout this week he is examining the global economy of the 19th century - of mass production and mass consumption. Today he is with an instrument that first helped Europeans to navigate with precision around the world - a marine chronometer. The one Neil has chosen actually accompanied Darwin on his great voyage to South America and the Galapagos Islands - a journey that was to help lead him to his revolutionary theories on evolution. The geographer Nigel Thrift and the geneticist Steve Jones celebrate the chronometer and the profound changes it prompted. Producer: Anthony Denselow Neil MacGregor with a chronometer that accompanied Darwin to South America. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |
| 02 | Early Victorian Tea Set | 20101012 | 20211109 (R4) | This week Neil MacGregor's history of the world is looking at how the global economy became cemented in the 19th century, a time of mass production and mass consumption. He tells the story of how tea became the defining national drink in Britain - why have we become so closely associated with a brew made from leaves mainly grown in China and India? The object he has chosen to reflect this curious history is an early Victorian tea set, made in Staffordshire and perfectly familiar to all of us. The historian Celina Fox and Monique Simmonds from Kew gardens find new meaning in the ubiquitous cuppa. Producer: Anthony Denselow Neil MacGregor tells the story of the global trade in tea - with a Victorian tea set. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |
| 03 | Hokusai's The Great Wave | 20101013 | 20211110 (R4) | The history of humanity - as told through one hundred objects from the British Museum in London - is once again in Japan. This week Neil MacGregor, the museum's director, is looking at the global economy in the 19th century - at mass production and mass consumption. Today he is with an image that rapidly made its way around the world - Hokusai's print, The Great Wave, the now familiar seascape with a snow topped Mount Fuji in the background that became emblematic of the newly emerging Japan. Neil explores the conditions that produced this famous image - with help from Japan watchers Donald Keene and Christine Guth. Producer: Anthony Denselow Neil MacGregor with a familiar image - Hokusai's The Great Wave. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |
| 04 | Sudanese Slit Drum | 20101014 | 20211111 (R4) | Neil MacGregor's history of the world as told through things. Throughout this week he is examining the great shifts in the global economy and in imperial power in the 19th century. Today he is with a large wooden drum that the legendary Kitchener of Khartoum brought from Sudan for Queen Victoria, just after his army had killed 11000 Sudanese soldiers in battle. The drum takes Neil back to the extraordinary history that has played out along the Nile and to the great internal power struggles of the period. The writer Dominic Green and the broadcaster Zeinab Badawi reflect on the meaning of the drum and its place in Sudanese history. Producer: Anthony Denselow Neil MacGregor with a wooden drum from Sudan that Kitchener presented to Queen Victoria. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |
| 05 | Suffragette-defaced Penny | 20101015 | 20211112 (R4) | Neil MacGregor's world history told through objects from the British Museum in London. The objects he has chosen this week have reflected on mass production and mass consumption in the 19th century. Today' he is with the first object from the 20th century, a coin that leads Neil to consider the rise of mass political engagement in Britain and the dramatic emergence of suffragette power. It's a penny coin from 1903 on which the image of King Edward V11 has been stamped with the words 'Votes for Women'. The programme explores the rise of women's suffrage and the implications of the notorious suffragette protests. The human rights lawyer and reformer Helena Kennedy and the artist Felicity Powell react to this defaced penny coin. Producer: Anthony Denselow Neil MacGregor with a penny coin defaced by suffragettes with the words 'Votes for women'. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |