From the ascent of King James I in 1603 to the death of Queen Anne in 1714, the House of Stuart’s rule over England, Ireland and Scotland was marked by bloodshed, political turmoil, religious conflict, and occasional chaos. But it was also an era of scientific enlightenment, growing wealth in the British Isles, and radical thinking that ultimately paved the way for the creation of the modern United Kingdom – England and Scotland were officially united by Queen Anne in 1707, and merged with Ireland in 1801 – and its constitutional monarchy. Presented by the British comedian David Mitchell, this cleverly animated history condenses the tumultuous, pivotal Stuart period to a brisk few minutes.
War, conflict, bloodshed, upheaval or: how we got to Great Britain

videoNations and empires
Colonialism as mitosis – the rise and fall of empires, rendered as cell division
4 minutes

videoArt
Why a forcefully phallic portrait of Henry VIII is a masterful work of propaganda
6 minutes

videoTravel
Castles, croquet and kilts: on the tour bus from China through the photo ops of Britain
10 minutes

videoHistory of technology
The long-awaited arrival of TV to Shetland sparks debate in this vintage clip
9 minutes

videoThe ancient world
Archeological discoveries animate the life of the warrior queen who took on Rome
6 minutes

videoLanguage and linguistics
‘Whose language is it anyway?’ The evolution of English, from ‘loaf’ to ‘LOL’
11 minutes

videoHuman rights and justice
Hero or scoundrel? An iconoclastic biography of Winston Churchill
5 minutes

videoTechnology and the self
How the magic of photography brought Victorian England closer to the spirit realm
16 minutes

videoHistory of science
Meet the Quaker pacifist who shattered British science’s highest glass ceilings
14 minutes