| Genre: | Documentary |
| Starring: | Dan Jones/Billy McGrath (writer) |
| Language: | English |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Num Series: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 12 |
| List Episodes: |
|
| Location: | UK |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes |
| Company: | Sideline Productions and Motion Content Group |
| Channel: | Channel 5 |
| Related: | Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty Henry VIII and His Six Wives |
Secrets of Great British Castles is a British history documentary series that grew from the success of Irish TV series Tales of Irish Castles. The idea - initially created and written by Billy McGrath - was rejected by state broadcaster RTE. It was subsequently pitched to Ben Frow - the director of programming for Ireland's 1st ever commercial channel TV3 - and it proved a ratings success. When he returned to London to head up Channel 5 Ben asked Billy (then partner in Sideline Productions) to expand on a new idea based on UK castles. The result was the much more ambitious Secrets of Great British Castles produced by Dublin based Sideline in 12 parts. It was first broadcast between 3 April 2015 and 9 December 2016 (6 parts per season). Historian Dan Jones[1] came on board as host and writer to explore the history behind Great Britain's most famous castles and is currently broadcast on Netflix around the globe. International sales for SoGBC were secured by screen content distributors DCD Rights and sold to 160 countries world-wide. The deal with DCD was negotiated by ICM Partners London (now CAA).
| Season | Castle | Place | Broadcast |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dover Castle | England | 3 April 2015 |
| Tower of London | England | 10 April 2015 | |
| Warwick Castle | England | 17 April 2015 | |
| Caernarfon Castle | Wales | 24 April 2015 | |
| Stirling Castle | Scotland | 1 May 2015 | |
| Carrickfergus Castle | Northern Ireland | 8 May 2015 | |
| 2 | Edinburgh Castle | Scotland | 28 October 2016 |
| Cardiff Castle | Wales | 4 November 2016 | |
| York Castle | England | 18 November 2016 | |
| Leeds Castle | England | 25 November 2016 | |
| Lancaster Castle | England | 2 December 2016 | |
| Arundel Castle | England | 9 December 2016 |