Channel 5 - Britains Great Cathedrals (2018)

Britain's Great Cathedrals. A six part documentary series that looks at the architecture and tells the stories and characters behind six of Britain's Cathedrals. Sir Tony Robinson visits Britain's great cathedrals, considered some of the most magnificent in the world, to investigate their turbulent history and the treasures that they house. Dominating the landscape for centuries, ancient cathedrals and abbeys reflect Britain's history through their architectural grandeur-stories of its kings and queens and the religious and social changes brought about by the English Reformation, as well as many other tales of intrigue, love, faith and conviction.
For centuries the great religious buildings of Great Britain have inspired and fascinated pilgrims and visitors from around the world. Britain is well-known for its churches and cathedrals; buildings of great architecture and religious grandeur that form many of our recognisable skylines. But these grand structures are also full of facts, histories and stories that you may not have been aware of.
Actor and history enthusiast Tony Robinson takes us on a journey around the United Kingdom, showing us his highlights while providing fascinating details and stories along the way. Britain's Great Cathedrals take the viewer on a journey to look at the history and architecture, and learn about the characters who have made the cathedrals what they are today.
The series features interviews with historians and footage captured by drones filming the legendary facades and soaring interior spaces of York Minster, Canterbury, Salisbury, Durham, Liverpool and Winchester Cathedrals.

An Elephant House Studios Production For Viacom International Media Networks

Part 1: York Minster
In Episode One, Tony Robinson is at York Minster. York's cathedral church is one of the finest medieval buildings in Europe. The Minster is also known as St Peter's, its full name being the 'Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York'. It has sat at the heart of our nation for more than 800 years, and has been a backdrop to some of the most dramatic events in British history. A stone Saxon church survived Viking invasion in 866 but was ransacked by William the Conqueror's forces in 1069. The present Gothic-style church was designed to be the greatest cathedral in the kingdom. It was built over 250 years, between 1220 and 1472. Cathedral has survived fires, war and subsidence, it houses more than half of all the world's medieval glass and its bishops have been influential on the world stage.

Part 2: Canterbury Cathedral
Christ Church Cathedral Canterbury, in Kent, a breath-taking mixture of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, has been the seat of the spiritual head of the Church of England for nearly five centuries. Following the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170 AD and his subsequent canonisation it became a place of pilgrimage. Canterbury is Britain's oldest cathedral, a World Heritage site, the 'mother church' for over 85 million people, and has witnessed the rise and fall of kings and queens, the murder of saints and the birth of a religion. Tony tells the story of its foundation, rebuilding and of the pilgrims who visited it.

Part 3: Salisbury Cathedral
In Episode Three, one of the biggest engineering projects of the Middle Ages, Salisbury Cathedral was moved from a wind-blasted Iron Age hill fort to its current location - a feat accomplished in just 38 years, helping establish the Wiltshire city in the process. Britain's tallest medieval building has witnessed natural disasters, royal feuds and secret wartime operations. A place of both ancient tradition and home to one of the country's oldest choirs, Tony witnesses the ritual of inducting a new chorister and sees the oldest working clock in the world. The presenter also reflects on the cathedral's role in a clandestine operation that helped turn the tide of the Second World War.

Part 4: Durham Cathedral
Durham cathedral is one of Britain's first UNESCO World Heritage Sites and a leading tourist attraction with breath-taking Romanesque architecture, exquisite stained glass, and the most complete set of surviving monastic buildings. Durham Cathedral has been a place of prayer and pilgrimage for more than a millennium. Largely constructed between 1093 and 1133, the cathedral is an outstanding example of Romanesque architecture and a statement of Norman power. The cathedral is over 900 years old and stands 218 feet high. When it was first constructed, it was the country's tallest building.

Part 5: Liverpool Cathedral
Liverpool cathedral is the Church of England's newest cathedral, and the largest in Britain. It was designed in the Gothic style by Giles Gilbert Scott, who also designed the red telephone box. It took 74 years to build and was paid for by money donated from the people of Liverpool. National tragedies such as the sinking of the Titanic - many of whose crew came from Liverpool - and the Hillsborough football disaster are remembered within its walls. It is also where Paul McCartney composed and performed his first classical piece of music, the Liverpool Oratorio.

Part 6: Winchester Cathedral
Tony Robinson recounts the history of Winchester Cathedral, the longest medieval cathedral in northern Europe, and one of the Britain's oldest cathedrals which stands as a monument to the wealth and power of the Normans. It has witnessed civil wars, religious battles and struggled with collapsing foundations. Cathedral is the burial place of novelist Jane Austen - though only four people attended her funeral and originally her plaque made no mention of her writing. Tony learns that Winchester's bishops were among the richest, most influential and most badly behaved in the country and some were wealthier and more powerful than even England's kings.