Ian Hislop's Olden Days

This opening episode reveals how, ever since 1066, we have harked back to the Dark Ages. In particular, Ian turns his gaze on two of our most inspiring kings - King Arthur and King Alfred - one quite possibly entirely fictional, the other entirely historical, and yet each the stuff of legend.

Ian Hislop travels back to the era of the Industrial Revolution and Victorian Britain. This was a time of some of the greatest progress and modernisation the country had ever seen - and yet, throughout these decades, writers, artists and politicians were trying to make sense of this new world by retreating into a very old world indeed: the Middle Ages. The medieval revival had a huge impact on the country as it faced enormous upheaval. The novelist Walter Scott became a bestseller with his books Waverley and Ivanhoe, tales of gallant heroes and knights in armour. A dissatisfied workforce, faced with the threat of job losses from industrialisation, formed an ancient-style band of brothers to protest, calling themselves the Luddites. The Houses of Parliament were rebuilt in a medieval gothic style. And prime minister Benjamin Disraeli led a government that improved living and working conditions for millions by looking back to the values of the olden days. With rich storytelling, fascinating anecdotes and a wry sense of humour, Ian explains how the Middle Ages actually made Britain modern.

Ian Hislop explores the rural olden days - an idealised vision of the countryside - in this concluding film of his series exploring Britain's obsession with the past. Despite an overwhelmingly urban existence over the last 150 years, the British have increasingly looked to the supposedly timeless, unchanging countryside. It has inspired some of Britain's greatest writers and painters, and been just as influential in popular culture. It's no accident, Ian believes, that one of the most successful First World War recruitment posters used in British cities was of thatched cottages and rolling hills - with its slogan 'Isn't this worth fighting for?'.