| Genre: | Documentary |
| Director: | Jonty Claypole |
| Presenter: | David Dimbleby |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 7 |
| List Episodes: |
|
| Producer: | Jonty Claypole |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes |
| Channel: | BBC One BBC HD |
Seven Ages of Britain is a BBC television documentary series written and presented by David Dimbleby. The seven part series was first aired on Sunday nights at 9:00pm on BBC One starting on 31 January 2010.
The series covers the history of Britain's greatest art and artefacts over the past 2000 years. Each episode covers a different period in British history. In Australia, all seven episodes aired on ABC1 each Tuesday at 8:30pm from 7 September 2010.[1]
Originally the series was to air in late 2009, but was later rescheduled to early 2010.[2] The HD edition of the show aired on BBC HD and repeats aired on BBC Two.
In Summer 2009 artist Nathaniel Mellors was commissioned by the BBC to make a short "work of modern art" to introduce the final episode of the series. The resultant work The Seven Ages of Britain Teaser features Dimbleby voicing a silicon mask cast from his own face, alongside actors Gwendoline Christie (as 'The Operator') and Johnny Vivash (as 'Kadmus').
| Episode number | Title | Period covered | Airdate | Viewers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Age of Conquest" | AD 43 – 1066 | 31 January 2010 | 4.2 million (16%)[3] | |
| 2 | "Age of Worship" | 1170–1400 | 7 February 2010 | 4.3 million (16%)[4] | |
| 3 | "Age of Power" | 1509–1609 | 14 February 2010 | 4.5 million (17.1%)[5] | |
| 4 | "Age of Revolution" | 1603–1708 | 28 February 2010 | 4.4 million (16.5%)[6] | |
| 5 | "Age of Money" | 1700–1805 | 7 March 2010 | 3.82 million (14.2%)[7] | |
| 6 | "Age of Empire" | 1770–1911 | 14 March 2010 | 3.72 million (14.6%)[8] | |
| 7 | "Age of Ambition" | 1914 – Now | 21 March 2010 | 3.347 million (12.6%)[9] |
Channel 4 had previously aired a series by the same title but covering a broader time period in 2003, presented by Bettany Hughes. The series has since been picked up by the Discovery Channel.