Meet the Lords

Joining the Club New series. Documentary filmed over a year following life at the House of Lords, one of Britain's oldest, most idiosyncratic and most important institutions, going behind the scenes during a turbulent 12 months that has seen dramatic changes in the political landscape and the Lords battling it out with the Government. The first edition introduces the larger-than-life characters that populate the House, including new people's peers, hereditaries and political grandees, as they try to change legislation and follow their personal passions

Episode two of the exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary returns to the House as the government threatens to trim the Lords' powers if they rebel again, but will they comply? Rebellious peer Lord Dubs is on a crusade to push through an amendment to the Immigration Bill to allow unaccompanied refugee children into the country, and Admiral Lord West isn't happy about a public poll that has voted overwhelmingly to name a new polar research ship Boaty McBoatface. Over the course of a year, Meet the Lords follows some of the larger than life characters that inhabit the House of Lords, one of Britain's oldest, most idiosyncratic and important institutions. For the first time, free-roaming cameras have been allowed to film inside the Lords Chamber and in its committees to capture moments that matter to the UK, but usually go unseen. Featuring new people's peers, hereditaries and political grandees as they try to change or influence legislation, it follows their personal passions and clashes with the government, all in a gothic palace where centuries-old ceremony and tradition still dominate proceedings. It is filmed over a year where the nation has been split over Brexit and a Conservative government is for the first time having to tackle a Lords chamber where the opposition outnumber them.

Brexit hits the Lords with a bang when they vote on leaving Europe and become the centre of the nation's attention. They also have their biggest ceremonial day of the year when the Queen pays her annual visit. The Houses' Victorian sewage system is on its last legs and not equipped to deal with so many Lords. To fix the many structural problems an inquiry is considering a dramatic move for the five or so years the work will take. Some Lords have radical overhaul plans of their own and want the size of the House cut. And Baroness D'Souza is worrying about peers who claim their expenses without contributing and has some new research.