In the Footsteps of... with Gyles Brandreth

The life and locations that inspired Jane Austen, including Steventon, Bath and the seaside town of Lyme Regis; the importance of balls and dances in Georgian society; Jane Austen Museum, the cottage where the author wrote all of her six novels.

Giles travels to the West Yorkshire moors, known as "Bronte Country." It is an area that shaped the Bronte sisters, and in turn, helped shape it. The West Yorkshire moors, a landscape synonymous with the stories from Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte; Haworth; Bronte Parsonage Museum; Ponden Hall; a tour of the manor house, Norton Conyers.

Gyles Brandreth travels across Britain visiting the places that inspired one of Britain's most famous storytellers - Charles Dickens. Gyles unlocks the secrets behind the author's unforgettable novels, delves into their history and uncovers the true-life events that inspired some of the greatest stories ever told. Political sketch writer Quentin Letts offers insight into Dickens' life and his influences

Gyles Brandreth explores the landscape that influenced Thomas Hardy. The author spent most of his life in the south-west of England, and set his most famous novels - Tess of the D'Urbervilles, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Jude the Obscure and his breakthrough novel Far from the Madding Crowd - in the fictional county of Wessex. By inviting input from experts and celebrity fans, Gyles discovers that, although Wessex may be fictional, the locations Hardy describes are influenced by real places.