The enormous popularity of recent British dramas such as Downton Abbey, Mr. Selfridge, and Sherlock, has led to vast interest in the real-life stories and history of the icons of Great Britain. Each episode of this series visits a famous British building or institution to explore its past and present, meeting a wide range of experts and historians along the way.
The Tower of London is England’s most formidable royal fortress, standing guard on the banks of the great River Thames. It is home to a thousand years of bloody history and is one…
On the surface, London is a buzzing metropolis. But underneath lies secret, hidden worlds, all but forgotten by the millions of people above. These places make up the countless la…
From the outside, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are the classic London scene. Go inside the Gothic walls to explore the hidden world of the Houses of Commons and Lords, ful…
Her Majesty’s Secret Service, or MI6 as it is known, is the world’s most legendary spy agency, thanks to the James Bond stories. Set up in 1909 as the Secret Service Bureau, the e…
Secrets of Scotland Yard breaks through the façade of the most famous police headquarters in the world: the very name Scotland Yard is synonymous with all that’s best in the detec…
On London’s world famous Oxford Street, Selfridges department store stands out as a neo-classical landmark. A fact most of its customers don’t realize is this iconic British insti…