Brits Who Made The Modern World - Season 1

First aired: 6/20/2008 6 episodes

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Episodes

1. Formula One

Aired: 6/20/2008

Peter Snow finds out how Britain's successful Formula One industry has its origins in a remarkable amateur racing club and a visionary group of motor enthusiasts. He meets the surviving members of the Lotus Engineering team whose revolutionary car, the Lotus 25, changed the sport forever.

2. Tilting Trains

Aired: 6/27/2008

Peter Snow introduces the story of the ill-fated Advanced Passenger Train which, despite being deemed a failure, was one of the greatest technological advances on the railways in 100 years. Commissioned by British Rail, the revolutionary trains were designed to tilt around curves. The designers of the experimental APT, Alan Wickens and Mike Newman reveal their story.

3. Rockets

Aired: 7/4/2008

Peter Snow explores the role played by two British engineers in the team behind Black Arrow, and the rocket programme that launched the country's first satellite almost 40 years ago.

4. Mobile Phones

Aired: 7/25/2008

In the early 1980s, a team of engineers developed software that laid out a system of phone masts around the country. Their work helped launch Vodafone - now one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world.

5. The Harrier

Aired: 7/15/2008

The documentary series looking at the untold stories of British scientific innovations focuses on the creation of the Harrier jump jet. Peter Snow discovers how the vision and persistence of two young designers led to the development of the world's first vertical take-off aircraft.

6. Video Games

Aired: 8/22/2008

The documentary series looking at the untold stories of British scientific innovations focuses on the development of Britain's 1.4 billion pound computer game industry. In the early 1980s, two pioneering Cambridge undergraduates set out to achieve the seemingly impossible task of developing the world's first 3-D computer game.