Horrible Histories

Did you know that the Victorians invented films? Not only that, but one of the first stars of the moving image was Queen Victoria! Using real footage recently restored by the BFI, this special show takes a Horribly Historical look at the Victorians' obsession with film. We see some of Queen Vicky's very first filmic appearances (also featuring an initially reluctant Tsar Nicholas I), and also how the Victorians became obsessed with filming everything, from their holidays abroad to strapping cameramen to the front of a moving train (using only ropes) to make ‘Phantom Ride' films. 

Along the way we also meet the Lumiere brothers (one of whom looks a lot like First Dates' Fred Sirieix), Kaiser Wilhelm II, notable Victorian actor Herbert Beerbohm Tree, and we see that the Victorians were also early adopters of Fake News. The episode ends with a show-stopping song that traces the evolution of film from the Victorians' first forays through to the blockbusters we see in the multiplexes today.

From the ancient Egyptians pioneering smelling good (a heady mix of fat and perfume plonked on your head, so that it would gradually melt throughout the day and make you smell all lovely and fragrant), to Coco Chanel turning fashion for women on its head, this show brings you the Horrible History of looking good. 

Featuring some of fashion's greatest innovations, pioneers, and victims, we look at how the way people have dressed has had an impact on their lives. We visit ancient Rome, where wearing a cumbersome five-metre toga was the law and elsewhere, while in 'Viking Eye for the Saxon Guy' some marauding Vikings take time out of their busy pillaging schedule to give Dave the smelly Saxon some tips on looking good, and smelling a little bit better. 

We visit Henry VIII, who is having online beef with the Holy Roman Emperor over (literally) dressing to kill, as they argue over who's the best armour maker. Other royals featured include Elizabeth I (who is busy making her courtiers look exactly like her), and King Louis XV who, along with some of his courtiers, has dressed as a hedge for a fancy dress party, so that he can hide from his wife. 

Also, the Macaronis discover that their outrageous stylings aren't fashionable any more, the Victorians advise us on how to properly dress for mourning, and we look at some of the least practical shoes ever.

History is filled with tales of great minds coming together, and collaborating, to achieve incredible things. It's also full of idiots working together to create an unholy mess, and people forming partnerships for decidedly sinister reasons - welcome to Horrible Histories' Chaotic Collabs! 

The Black Hand Gang worked together to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, and thus trigger a chain of events that led to World War One, but did you know that their collaboration was almost unsuccessful, owing to how many mistakes they made? Here, we reveal how they achieved their aim almost by luck, rather than judgement. 

Elsewhere, Burke and Hare get jobs as supply business teachers in historical educating, King Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti collaborate with Sophie and Sebastian in a bid to rejuvenate their Gods, and "Ahoy!" magazine reveals how Admiral Nelson is seemingly enjoying a collaboration with someone else's wife. 

We admire one of history's great duos - Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay - whose journey together to be the first people to reach the summit of Everest is rightly the stuff of legend - but there seems to be some disagreement between them as to who was actually the very first to set foot on the top. 

The collaboration between Great Britain and America has often been referred to as a 'special relationship' - so special in fact, that Winston Churchill once made President Roosevelt take a meeting with him whilst he was in the bath. Literature and the arts are filled with tales of group creativity - did you know that William Shakespeare sometimes brainstormed his plays? One of these instances surrounds Macbeth, and the decision to change his fairy characters into witches. Finally, we take a musical look at one of the finest ever artistic groups: the romantic poets. 

Rattus is panicking, as the Rat Queen is visiting the sewer and he has no idea how to behave nicely around royalty! Not only that, if he can somehow appear attractive to the Queen, maybe he could be the next Rat King?! Luckily, help is at hand in the (very well-mannered) shape of First Dates' Fred Sirieix, a man who knows all about how to behave politely in high society. Fred will guide Rattus through the Horrible History of Manners and Etiquette, in a bid to help him on his quest. 

In terms of historical courting tips, we'll see how the Puritans did dating (mostly via an eight-foot-long brass tube), and how Tudor women would put an apple under their arms, which they wouldd then give to a potential partner as a token of their love. A squishy, odd-smelling token of their love. We will also take a trip to Historical Love Island, where Jane Austen is hoping to meet the modern man of her dreams. 

Rattus will also learn about ancient Greek hospitality customs, the first time the fork came to Britain, and how a man actually died in the Roman emperor's court from holding his farts in for too long (something Rattus definitely doesn't do). Other ancient customs will include the etiquette of dining with Queen Victoria (the key was speed - because as soon as she had finished eating, you had to stop too), and also of actually eating other people. 

There is also a look at the chivalric code (which, as well as fighting tips, included how to appreciate art and make music), and a handy guide to Victorian funeral customs - something they took very seriously, to the extent that they even hired professional mourners in a bid to give their nearest and dearest a proper send-off.

Families - sometimes you love them, sometimes you bicker with them, and sometimes you marry them off to consolidate your power in Europe. Welcome to a look at some of history's most fearsome families. 

In this episode, Fred Sirieix is on hand as Queen Victoria makes several trips to the Historical First Dates restaurant, in a bid to marry off her children for love, and definitely not to consolidate her empire. Elsewhere, Leopold Mozart is lovingly retiring his 18-year-old daughter Maria Anna from performing in public, in favour of bringing little Wolfgang into the spotlight, and Henry VIII's children Elizabeth, Mary and Edward are engaging in a regal game of 'Your Mum'. 

Paulina Pepys is grateful for the help from her brother Samuel when he offers to put her up in his home, right up until the point at which she discovers she is actually graciously being given a roof over her head in return for becoming one of his servants - and she is very much starting at the bottom of the servant scale. 

In Made In Macedonia, Alexander the Great can't quite work out why people who stand in the way of his advancement keep mysteriously dying, and his mum, Olympias, is completely in the dark about it too. 

Meanwhile, we take a look at what Puritan children did for fun as they head down to ‘fun' theme park 'Puritown', we see what happened back at home for Viking families when the male Vikings went away pillaging for months, and the Bronte sisters tell us about their triumph over adversity. Brother Branwell tries to get in on the act, too, but it seems that no-one really listens to him. 

A look at some of the various ways in which, throughout history, humans have lived with, worked with, and interacted with animals - from the very first socialising with wolves thousands of years ago through to farting fish almost starting a nuclear war in more recent history! 

We take a trip to Elizabeth I's menagerie which was housed at the Tower of London and home to exotic animal gifts from foreign rulers, and included wolves, hyenas, bears, leopards and even lions. There were also some nice dogs but, well, leopards. 

Sophie and Sebastian are on hand to advise both Alexander the Great and King Porus as to which animals they could use in battle to defeat their enemies, seemingly ignoring the fact that Alexander and Porus are actually fighting each other. 

Elsewhere, the Australian army faces the unruly might of an emu invasion, Romans release an album in praise of their favourite pet (eels), and Charles Darwin hosts Yummy Planet, a look at some of the animals he actually ate whilst on his travels. Plus, we take a look at how humans have used animal by-products in different ways, including drinking milk and the Victorian penchant for 'coprolite' - jewellery made from fossilised dinosaur poo

Comedian and space nerd Dara O Briain joins Rattus as guest host for a special show that marks the anniversary of the 1969 moon landings. 

For generations, we have looked to the stars and wondered as to the mysteries they contain, and have even used them as a form of celestial advisor, as shown when one Babylonian king bestows his crown upon a peasant because the heavens have foretold that 'the king would die' - so as long as the current king doesn't happen to be the actual king when the death happens, then surely all would be well?! 

Copernicus, Galileo and Newton are on hand with a floor-filler about their more scientific thoughts on the heavens and the universe and, in Historical Educating, 17th-century philosopher and supply teacher John Wilkins tells his class about their upcoming field trip, during which they will ride a flying chariot to the moon, so that they can meet the people that live there. 

We see the first manned rocket-powered flight, which occurred much earlier than you think it probably did and was an ill-advised (from a health and safety perspective at least) stunt at a celebration for a sultan. 

The Space Race proper gets under way in the 1950s, as America and Soviet Russia fight it out to be the first to harness that rocket power, and use it to get their people into space. We see Soviet Russia's fearsome Sputnik satellite (the first to reach space), and the even more scary Ivan Ivanovich - a mannequin that actually floated in space while reciting a recipe for Borscht. Owing to this Russian success, the Americans panic and enlist the help of Sophie and Sebastian to come up with some ideas as to how they can take the lead in the Space Race - suggestions include 'space pool', so it's fair to say that results are mixed, at best. 

We also discover that Yuri Gagarin's dad was less than impressed with his son being the first man in space, and meet America's solution to finally getting ahead in the race, and getting a man on the moon: a 'computer' called Katherine Johnson. 

Finally, we learn that the Apollo 10 crew faced the horror of someone's poo floating around in the cockpit, and the episode ends with a swinging tune from JFK and Khrushchev about 'flying to the moon'. 

Rattus has formed ‘The Demoratic Party', and has enlisted the help of a political advisor - Dani Dyer - to help him rise to political power. Although Dani may be a surprise appointment for some, her experiences on Love Island have actually given her the perfect experience of the back-stabbing, unholy alliances and lying needed for life in the political sphere. 

Together, they guide us through a history of politics from the birth of democracy in ancient Greece right up until the arrival on the scene of Britain's first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. 

Along the way, we see how the shift from monarchist to parliamentary rule began in Britain, and some of the workings of parliament itself. The speaker of the house oversees debates within parliament, but did you know that the speaker's chair actually used to include its own toilet facilities? ThesSpeaker could not leave the house while a debate was still ongoing, so here we see how 'the little speaker's room' might have come into play during a particularly lengthy parliamentary session. 

Also in the Houses of Parliament, Spencer Perceval's PR team work hard to come up with some fittingly historic final words for him to utter, after he becomes the first (and only) prime minister to be shot within its hallowed halls. We also take a look at several political injustices, be it the European 'scramble for Africa', or the fight women had to undertake to even get themselves a voice in British politics - we see them having to sit in The Ladies Gallery (the only place from which they were allowed to watch parliamentary debates), we meet the suffragettes campaigning for women to get the right to vote, and we see how Margaret Thatcher even had to change her voice in a bid to be taken more seriously in her political career. 

Marking the eightieth anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, Horrible Histories looks at how the war affected those left back home in the UK, on the home front. 

We start with the initial panic following the declaration of war and the measures taken at home to prepare for an imminent Nazi invasion, which didn't actually turn out to be that imminent at all. However, the Nazis are busy planning their invasion - Operation Sea Lion is being carefully orchestrated to avoid damaging places in the UK that they have previously been to on holiday. 

We see how the blackout during the Blitz affected everyday life, and also how King George and Queen Elizabeth refused to leave Buckingham Palace while London was being bombed, despite being advised to head to Canada by their staff. We meet the 'ATA Girls' - the heroic women of the Air Transport Auxiliary led by Pauline Gower. It was their (horrendously dangerous) job to fly broken planes around the country, so that they could be fixed and put back into battle. The planes had no manuals, were often very badly damaged and had nothing in the way of guns mounted on them, so this was a hugely brave undertaking. 

We see how things on the home front change when the American GIs arrive, bringing with them items like chocolate and nylon tights, which had not been seen on these shores for some time! German spies were also a real concern for those on the home front, but we tell one real tale of a set of spies who were caught after they washed up in Scotland in possession of radios, guns and, most tellingly, German sausages. 

Finally, we chart the path to allied victory, including Churchill holding conversations with American president Roosevelt in his secret loo, and a barnstorming song as the nation celebrates VE Day. 

A show celebrating some of history's greatest and most formidable females. We begin with ancient tales of the Scythians – incredible warrior women who were part of the inspiration for the wonder women that we're more familiar with today (seemingly, the Scythians were a little more boozy and fighty than their comic book counterparts of today). Great women have often had to struggle to get their messages across, and this is something that Joan of Arc has to deal with when the director of Joan of Arc: The Movie has some ideas about killer lines for her to deliver as part of the film. 

Elsewhere, Marie Antoinette has a revolutionary go at social media, and we take a trip to Historical Love Island, where modern pencil salesman Sam gets way more than he bargained for after choosing to couple with Spartan warrior queen Gorgo. Queen Cleopatra also goes on Historical First Dates in search of a husband who is not her brother. 

We look at some specifically female jobs from history: in 1930s America, we meet the Hello Girls – women employed to work in the huge telephone exchanges, who wore rollerskates for speed and headsets that weighed roughly the same as two bags of sugar, as they navigated their way through miles of switchboards. Also, in Don't Call the Tudor Midwife, we peer into the mysterious world of Tudor midwifery, a place in which only women were allowed, and one that men would try to infiltrate in a bid to learn their birthing secrets (which included the use of snake skins, rabbit milk and reading). There's an epic a cappella-off between the suffragettes and the suffragists, and the show ends with some of history's most powerful female rulers - Queen Elizabeth I, Mary I, Mary, Queen of Scots and Lady Jane Gray, aka supergroup The Tudor Queens – joining together for a song celebrating the fact that they had the power. 

Alex Scott joins Rattus for a sport-themed special. Mary Queen of Scots goes grief-golfing, the H2 Freestylers take on a whole village, and sports-mad Henry VIII sings Get Sweaty. 

Rattus has launched his own radio station (‘BBC Radio Number Two') and who better to advise him on the songs he should be playing than social media star Holly H? Together, they bring us a collection of some of the best songs of this series, plus new material from some of the famous historical faces we meet along the way. 

Queen Elizabeth I, Mary I, Mary Queen of Scots and Lady Jane Gray - aka supergroup The Tudor Queens - are here to sing about having 'the power', before Elizabeth I tells us about using an astrologer for advice during her reign. 

The romantic poets (Wordsworth, Keats, Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron) sing about their love for nature, while Lord Byron takes time out of his roguish schedule to tell us about one of his favourite fashion accessories. 

Elsewhere, Queen Victoria sings about her many prime ministers in Mambo Number 10, the GIs make a musical entrance to British shores during World War Two, we take a look at Puritan dating in Court Me Maybe, top boyband The Founding Fathers make America great for the first time, and we finish with a barnstorming look at the Victorians' invention of cinema. 

A special show featuring some of history's greatest firsts, including the first ever library, Olympic Games, people on the moon and rat roller-skating on TV!

Doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken join Rattus for a selection of old and new sketches relating to bodies. 

Washington, Jefferson, Queen Elizabeth I, social media sensation Zack Septic-Tank and a host of plucky Puritans star in a show marking 400 years since the Mayflower's famous voyage.