Secrets of the National Trust

The presenter returns to visit a house in West Sussex known as `the house of art'. Sat in beautiful Capability Brown-designed grounds, Petworth House was home to the third Earl of Egremont, whose passion for British art saw the abode become an art school for the nation's talents. Plus, Jennie Bond discovers a Grand Tour with a difference, and Peter Purves navigates the Chichester Canal to reveal it wasn't just the art world which benefitted from the Earl's investment.

Chartwell was the home of Winston Churchill for over 40 momentous years. Join Alan as he explores the house where Churchill made some of his most important decisions, and pursued his passions for painting and bricklaying. Alan also meets Winston’s granddaughter who shares her own tales of the man himself. Meanwhile historian Dan Jones ventures into the tunnels under the White Cliffs of Dover that sheltered soldiers during the Second World War and Miriam O’Reilly visits a secret army training ground at the Coleshill Estate.

Alan explores the lives of Plas Newydd’s former residents - from the brave 1st Marquess of Anglesey who fought in the Battle of Waterloo to his wild descendant who nearly bankrupted the family. Later Alan learns of the unrequited love between the great British artist Whistler and the daughter of the 6th Marquess. Jennie Bond is at the Wellington Monument in Somerset, built to mark the battle of Waterloo, while Suzannah Lipscombe travels to Hawkers Hut in Morwenstow to meet another eccentric character and Shappi Khorsandi visits Sissinghurst Castle to tell the story of a love which cannot be.

In Dorset, Alan unearths the story of William John Bankes, an Egyptologist who filled his family mansion with treasures while exiled abroad, but never got to see the home he lovingly created. At Corfe Castle, Oz Clarke learns about William’s great, great, great grandmother Dame Mary Bankes, who resisted a three-year siege during the Civil War. Meanwhile, Joan Bakewell travels to Cambridge where the secrets of one of Kingston Lacy’s paintings are uncovered using new technology.