Seven Wonders of the Industrial World

The Great Ship

Sep 4, 200350 min

This episode focuses on the construction of the SS Great Eastern, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to be both the first ship entirely made out of iron and the most luxurious vessel of the day. However, whilst the ship itself was a marvel

The Brooklyn Bridge

Sep 11, 200350 min

Focusing on the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, the episode examines the family that built it - John Augustus Roebling, who designed the bridge; his son, Washington Roebling, who took over construction following his father's death shor

The Bell Rock Lighthouse

Sep 18, 200350 min

This episode tells the story of the construction in the early nineteenth century of the offshore lighthouse on Bell Rock, by the Scottish engineer Robert Stevenson. Bell or Inchcape Rock was a place which had claimed the lives of sailors an

The Sewer King

Sep 25, 200350 min

Set in London during the 1850s, this episode focuses on the construction of the London sewerage system, built to replace the antiquated medieval system that was overworked and inadequate for the needs of the-then largest metropolis in the w

The Panama Canal

Oct 2, 200350 min

Both the French and the American efforts build a sea-level canal through Panama linking the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean are presented in this episode; firstly, the ill-fated effort by Ferdinand de Lesseps, the builder of the Suez

The Line

Oct 9, 200350 min

The episode follows the construction of the Pacific Railroad, the first transcontinental rail system, which would unite the eastern and western seaboards of the United States. Started in Sacramento by a consortium of local shopkeepers with