BBC Four HD

Aminatta Forna tells the story of legendary Timbuktu and its long hidden legacy of hundreds of thousands of ancient manuscripts. With its university founded around the same time as Oxford, Timbuktu is proof that the reading and writing of books have long been as important to...

Liz McIvor discovers how carving up the landscape in order to build canals helped further our understanding of the earth below.

The village of Milton Abbas in Dorset perfectly captures the romantic notion of the idyllic English village, but as archaeologist Ben Robinson reveals, behind it lurks a history of one man's wealth and power. With help from local historians, Ben learns how the local landowner in...

Using 50 years of BBC History archive film, Dr Alice Roberts investigates how views and understanding of Roman Britain have changed over the decades. Along the way she investigates a diverse range of subjects from the Roman invasion, through Hadrian's Wall, the Vindolanda...

BBC FOUR is the BBC channel for people who want more. More depth, more range, more to stimulate the mind.