Boys watching TV in the 1950s

Historical film TV and radio

From binge-worthy period dramas to award-winning documentaries, find out why historical movies, TV and radio programs are more popular than ever, with this series of articles, podcasts and video

Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II in 2006 film 'The Queen'

Screen QueenElizabeth II on film

Jack Lowden as Siegfried Sassoon in Terence Davies’ feature film Benediction.

First World War

Benediction: a case of Sassoon the man v Sassoon the legend

The upstairs/downstairs world of Downton Abbey: how true to life is it?

Operation Mincemeat: WW2 espionage on film. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The NorthmanHow the real Viking prince Amleth inspired Shakespeare

The Northman: bringing the Viking world to life on screen. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ben Macintryre is the author of Operation Mincemeat

Ben Macintryre"I had never realised quite how close Operation Mincemeat came to disaster". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A still from James Cameron's 'Titanic'. (Image by Alamy)

How accurate are the most famous films about Titanic?

The Northman stars Alexander Skarsgård as Viking prince Amleth

“You are in their world, not in ours”: How The Northman makes the Viking Age real

Benjamin Franklin: portrait of a revolutionary. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Bridgerton: behind the scenes of season 2. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The 30th Annual Academy Awards, Los Angeles, 1958. (Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

13 remarkable moments in the history of the Oscars

Episode 3The corporation at war. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The real Amazons: how the legendary warrior women inspired fighters, feminists and Wonder Woman

Alexander Dreymon as Uhtred of Bebbanburg in The Last Kingdom season 5

The real Uhtred of BebbanburgThe historical inspirations for The Last Kingdom’s hero

The Last Kingdom season 5 starsAlexander Dreymon as Uhtred of Bebbanburg

The Last Kingdom: real history and historical accuracy

The Duke stars Jim Broadment and Helen Mirren, pictured with Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington

The Duke: The real story of Kempton Bunton and the theft of Goya’s Wellington portrait

Episode 2Establishment values in the 1930s. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Leif Erikson in Vikings Valhalla

Vikings: Valhalla – the real history behind Netflix’s successor to Vikings

Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby in season six of 'Peaky Blinders'

Peaky Blinders: The story so far, plus the real figures to expect in season 6

Episode 1Audio adventures in the 1920s. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

BBC employees at work in the control room at the new home at Broadcasting House (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

BBC at 100Broadcasting House: a new home for the BBC. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Gilded Age preview: “Entry into a world that really hasn't been covered on television before”

Munich: the real history behind the new film. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Jeremy Irons as Neville Chamberlain, in Munich – The Edge of War

Second World War

A martyr and a hero? How Munich – The Edge of War tries to soften Neville Chamberlain’s rotten reputation

The Gothic: from Dracula to The Shining. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Emma Dabiri"The Harder They Fall doesn’t engage with one of the main drivers behind the violence". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A group of BBC staff surround a large piece of broadcasting equipment

BBC at 100The BBC begins: how a group of radio pioneers launched one of Britain's most famous institutions. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The 1993 film ‘Schindler’s List’. (AF Archive/Alamy Stock Photo)

Second World War

7 must-see WW2 films, from Schindler’s List to Letters from Iwo Jima

Lindsay Duncan, who plays aristocratic adventurer Jane Digby in the BBC One adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days

Jane Digby: Lindsay Duncan on playing the aristocratic adventurer in Around the World in 80 Days