Battlefield Britain

The story begins in 60AD when a brutal assault on Boudicca and her daughters turned the queen into a rebel leader. It was perfect timing - much of the Roman army was in Anglesey, carrying out a slaughter of the Druids. Boudicca marched her entire tribe and their neighbours on the centre of Roman rule, Colchester, which was torched. London was next; it, too, burnt to the ground. The final confrontation between the two armies took place somewhere north of St Albans.The exact location is a matter of debate but Peter and Dan investigate the most recent suggestion: an area near the village of Paulerspury. Peter uses the remarkable computer graphics to show the Romans’ predicament – outnumbered 10 to one, it was only their discipline, tactics and the cunning choice of battlefield by Suetonius Paulinus that swung the battle in their favour. One account estimates that 80,000 Britons were slaughtered.The battle was to be the last serious threat to Roman supremacy in over 400 years of occupation.

The story starts in January of 1066. Following the death of King Edward the Confessor, Harold seized control of England.The move enraged William who saw himself as the rightful holder of the crown. He immediately prepared an army to invade. Harold readied his troops along the south coast but as he awaited the onslaught from across the Channel another came from an entirely unexpected direction:Vikings had landed in Yorkshire. Harold rushed his army to Stamford Bridge and successfully fought off the Norse invaders, but this was precisely the moment William made his move. The Norman army was in England and heading towards Hastings. What followed was a battle for the survival of Anglo-Saxon rule in this country but, in one of the most famous incidents of British history, Harold was killed when an arrow struck him in the eye.The Saxon defence crumpled and Norman rule in Britain was assured.The consequences of this were far-reaching – it brought about a change of ruling class, dynasty, language and culture.

By 1400,Wales had been ruled by English kings for over a century. Laws dictated where in Wales the Welsh could live, what jobs they could have, even who they could marry.Then in 1400, a Welsh nobleman, Owain Glyndwr, had land seized from him by a neighbouring English Lord.This prompted the outraged Glyndwr to lead a rebellion of independence against English rule that raged for over 10 years. Peter and Dan trace the path of the rebellion, starting with the dramatic defeat of the English on the phenomenally steep slopes of Pilleth.They describe how the battle of Shrewsbury – scene of the biggest clash between longbowmen ever seen on British soil – deprived Glyndwr of a powerful ally; and how, in a little-known moment of history, the Welsh invaded England.This final showdown, outside Worcester, brought any hope of Welsh independence to an end. Glyndwr’s rebellion would be the last ever attempt by a Welsh army to rid Wales of English rule.

Led by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, the Spaniards planned to sweep the Queen of England from her throne. All that stood in their way was a small navy led by Queen Elizabeth's cousin, Admiral Lord Howard, and the nation's favourite pirate, Francis Drake. In the summer of 1588, a vast Spanish invasion fleet sailed up the English Channel. England braced itself against invasion by the southern superpower and over the next 11 days, a series of ferocious sea battles ensued. Presenters Peter and Dan Snow demonstrate the different tactics the two sides used, how the English managed to fend off the bigger, more heavily armed ships, and how Spanish ships remained afloat despite being struck by English guns.

By 1645, the British Isles had been torn apart by fighting between the Royalists, who supported Charles I and his Divine Right to rule the country as he wished, and the Parliamentarians, who were unified in their belief that the King should serve the country in the best interests of the people. The Parliamentarians first suffered defeat at the battle of Newbury, which enraged newly appointed Oliver Cromwell to such an extent that he created Britain's first national army to be unified by discipline, uniforms, regulations, training, and command. The Battle of Naseby saw Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army win the decisive battle of the English Civil War, effectively bringing an end to the absolute power of the monarchy.

By 1688, Roman Catholic King James II had so alienated the Protestant majority of England that they ousted him from the throne. At the request of Parliament, William Prince of Orange became king and James fled to Ireland, his Catholic stronghold. William attacked the banks of the Boyne in July of 1690. Peter recounts each attempt by the Jacobites to repel the Williamites, while Dan attempts to understand the difficulties of the frontline troops who had to cross the river whilst keeping their gunpowder dry. The Battle of the Boyne was the last battle to be fought between two rivals for the British crown but left a legacy that would eventually lead to the last stand battle on British soil, the battle of Culloden, 50 years later.

In 1746, the British throne was occupied by the Hanoverian George II. James II, the last Stuart king, had been ousted at the Battle of the Boyne, and James' grandson, Bonnie Prince Charlie, hoped to restore his family to the throne. Leading his army from Scotland into England, Charlie was forced to turn back when the Redcoats of the English Army chased him from the outskirts of London. The conflict came to a head on Culloden Moor, but the exhausted and confused Jacobites were no match for the flintlock muskets or cannon fire of the Redcoats. The Battle of Culloden was Britain's last land battle and arguably the bloodiest in Scottish history, having a long-lasting impact on Scottish culture, religion, and the clans' relationship with the English government. Dan Snow highlights logistical difficulties of the Jacobite army, including a night march across the moors sans night-vision goggles, maps, or a compass. While at the same time revealing how close the Scots came to victory.

The final instalment looks to the skies and the RAF's struggle to prevent a Nazi invasion in the darkest days of WWII when Britain stood alone. Dan Snow experiences how the Battle of Britain was fought at the limits of human endurance when he takes flight in a high performance stunt plane. Recreating the spiralling turns of a dogfight, he feels the extraordinary side-effects of the high G forces felt by pilots in this critical battle of WWII. Using revolutionary graphics, Peter Snow gives a blow-by-blow account of the pivotal moments of the battle and how the RAF held off the might of the German Luftwaffe during the summer of 1940. The future of the entire country was at stake in this, the first great air battle in history.