How Britain Worked

TV Show · Documentary

Guy Martin celebrates the workers of the Industrial Revolution by working on restoration projects.

2012 · 44m
Starring Guy Martin, Bernard Hill
Director James Woodroffe

Season 1

  • EPISODE 2
    Episode 2
    Guy has a dual task here. He must get a Yorkshire saw mill - Gayle Mill in Wensleydale - up and running again, and then use it to make a replica of one of the less-celebrated inventions of the Victorian era: the first pedal-powered bicycle.
    45 min
  • EPISODE 3
    Episode 3
    Guy visits Llandudno to help get this Queen of Victorian resorts up to scratch in time for the summer season. The great British seaside holiday was a largely Victorian invention.
    44 min
  • EPISODE 4
    Episode 4
    Guy Martin teams up with the Black Country Living Museum to breathe new life into a Newcomen engine, a historically significant steam-powered machinery used in coal mines across Britain and the rest of Europe.
    45 min
  • EPISODE 5
    Episode 5
    Guy helps the £500,000 restoration of the world's oldest surviving Brixham sailing trawler, the boat that launched the modern fishing industry and transformed the way a nation ate. He experiences deep sea trawling, said to be the most dangerous job of the 19th century, for himself, and discovers how Britain acquired its taste for fish and chips.
    44 min
  • EPISODE 6
    Episode 6
    Guy helps to get the Birmingham Botanical Gardens back into shape, and tries to learn one of the Industrial Revolution's most skilful and dangerous jobs: blowing glass for the gardens' enormous greenhouses. He has a go at rebuilding the very first lawnmower: another great British invention. Guy also uses a little-known 19th-century technique to make his own rock.
    45 min

Related

  • British Steam
  • SS France: A Cruise Legend Returns
  • Top Gear
  • Truckers
  • Steam Train Britain
  • Plane Reclaimers
  • The Flying Scotsman
  • The Boat That Guy Built
  • Guy Martin's Battle of Britain

Cast & Crew

  • Guy Martin
    Host
  • Bernard Hill
    Narrator
  • J‌W
    James Woodroffe
    Director
  • N‌D
    Neil Duncanson
    Producer
  • J‌W
    James Woodroffe
    Producer

About

How Britain Worked

Documentary

Guy Martin celebrates the workers of the Industrial Revolution by working on restoration projects.

Information

Studio
C4
Released
2012
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Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahrain
  • Botswana
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Cape Verde
  • Egypt
  • Eswatini
  • Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • India
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Lebanon
  • Mauritius
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Niger (English)
  • Oman
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Africa
  • Sri Lanka
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkmenistan
  • Uganda
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Zimbabwe

Asia Pacific

  • Australia
  • Cambodia
  • Fiji
  • 香港
  • Indonesia (English)
  • 日本
  • Lao People's Democratic Republic
  • 澳門
  • Malaysia (English)
  • Micronesia, Federated States of
  • Mongolia
  • New Zealand
  • Philippines
  • Singapore
  • 대한민국
  • 台灣
  • Thailand
  • Turkmenistan
  • Vietnam

Europe

  • Armenia
  • Österreich
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Cyprus
  • Czechia
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France (Français)
  • Deutschland
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Italia
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg (English)
  • Malta
  • Moldova, Republic Of
  • Nederland
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal (Português)
  • Россия
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • España
  • Sverige
  • Schweiz
  • Türkiye (English)
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Anguilla
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Argentina (Español)
  • Bahamas
  • Belize
  • Bermuda
  • Bolivia (Español)
  • Brasil
  • Virgin Islands, British
  • Cayman Islands
  • Chile (Español)
  • Colombia (Español)
  • Costa Rica (Español)
  • Dominica
  • República Dominicana
  • Ecuador (Español)
  • El Salvador (Español)
  • Grenada
  • Guatemala (Español)
  • Honduras (Español)
  • México
  • Nicaragua (Español)
  • Panamá
  • Paraguay (Español)
  • Perú
  • St. Kitts and Nevis
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Venezuela (Español)

The United States and Canada

  • Canada (English)
  • Canada (Français)
  • United States
  • Estados Unidos (Español México)