Consumers and Conscience
Consumers and Conscience traces the story of Britain in the 18th century, which saw an explosion of creativity and a country with enough money, from trade and conquest, to pay for it. But the money had a dark side: sculptor Thomas J Price visits Harewood House to see the elaborate Robert Adam-designed interiors, Joshua Reynolds portraits and Thomas Chippendale furniture that the slave trade paid for.
This was also the great age of mockery and artist Lubaina Himid reflects on William Hogarth's scabrous exposure of upper-class hypocrisies, while comedian Stewart Lee analyses the cutting humour of A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift's bitter satire about the treatment of the Irish poor, with passages performed by actor Jason Isaacs.
An age of exploitation was stirring up a growing social conscience. Emma Bridgewater examines how potter Josiah Wedgwood fought a campaign against slavery with teapots and porcelain abolition medallions while Martin Rowson analyses his hero James Gillray's invention of the biting political cartoon, poking fun of all sides. The Georgian era was also a great age of writing, from Olaudah Equiano's searing account of enslavement to Jane Austen's genius in novels. Sculptor Douglas Gordon explores what Robert Burns, his distinctive dialect and poems of ordinary life still means to Scots today.
Trailer
Recently Updated Shows
Chicago Fire
No job is more stressful, dangerous or exhilarating than those of the Firefighters, Rescue Squad and Paramedics of Chicago Firehouse 51. These are the courageous men and women who forge headfirst into danger when everyone else is running the other way and whose actions make the difference between life and death. These are their stories.
Ghosts
Samantha and Jay throw caution to the wind when they convert their recently inherited country estate into a bed-and-breakfast. Call it mislaid plans. Not only is the place falling apart, but it's also inhabited by spirits of previous residents -- whom only Samantha can see and hear. Ghosts spins the funny, heartfelt story about a newfound dream that reveals connection and self-discovery aren't just for the living.
Gold Rush
Gold Rush follows six men who, in the face of an economic meltdown, risk everything - their families, their dignity, and in some cases, their lives - to strike it rich mining for gold in the wilds of Alaska. Inspired by his father Jack, Todd Hoffman of Sandy, Oregon, leads a group of greenhorn miners to forge a new frontier and save their families from dire straits. While leasing a gold claim in Alaska, Todd and his company of newbies face the grandeur of Alaska as well as its hardships, including an impending winter that will halt operations and the opportunity to strike gold. In an effort to keep the operation running, the team takes fate into their own hands with a make or break venture that will change their lives forever.