How true are your favourite historical dramas?
Delve into the real historical stories and people that inspired your favourite period dramas. Find out if the tales told on screen were really true, and where history has been bent out of shape in guise of creative licence...
The Gallows PoleThe true story of the Cragg Vale Coiners
Watch thisThe best historical movies and TV series streaming now
History TV and radio in the UK: what's on our screens this week?
The 'real' Bertha and George Russell: inside the high-society divorce that shocked the Gilded Age
Membershipvideo**Downton Abbey's wardrobe: inside the costume house that clothes your favourite period dramas. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.**
Bridgerton & Queen Charlotte: the real history behind the drama
Inspiring Bridgerton: the real South Asian women in Regency-era England
From balls to Bridgerton: a brief history of debutantes and the social season
The real story of Bridgerton’s Queen Charlotte: from glittering courts to tragic decline
![La Belle Assemblee - British women's magazine published 1806-1837, founded by John Bell (1745-1831), now best known for its Regency era fashion plates from "Fashions and Fashion Plates 1800-1900", by James Laver. [Penguin Books Limited, London and New York, 1943]. Artist Unknown.](https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2023/04/GettyImages-1155876968-4fb5cba-e1682500690578.jpg?quality=90&resize=93%2C62 "La Belle Assemblee - British women's magazine published 1806-1837, founded by John Bell (1745-1831), now best known for its Regency era fashion plates from \"Fashions and Fashion Plates 1800-1900\", by James Laver. [Penguin Books Limited, London and New York, 1943]. Artist Unknown.")
Was the Regency era a good time to be a woman?The truth not seen in Bridgerton
The real history of Bridgerton
The Last Kingdom – how real is Uhtred's tale?
Æthelstan: why is writing a biography of one of England's greatest kings so difficult?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
The astonishing Æthelstan. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
If King Alfred was great, was Æthelstan even greater?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Ælfweard and Æthelstan: were they rivals for the throne of Wessex?
The real history of The Last Kingdom
Vikings: Valhalla – the myths and the reality
Vikings: Valhalla – the real history behind Netflix’s successor to Vikings
Was Freydís Eiríksdóttir a hero or a deranged murderess?
Leif Erikson’s voyage to Vinland
Harald Hardrada: why there's more to the last great Viking than his death in 1066
The real history of Vikings: Valhalla
Find out the real history behind your favourite TV shows
Netflix’s The Crown: the real history behind the royal drama
Leonardo: the real history behind the new Renaissance drama
The upstairs/downstairs world of Downton Abbey: how true to life is it?
TV and film on the HistoryExtra podcast
Listen to our interviews about the latest historical movies and TV…
MembershipaudioHow to build the ultimate medieval castle. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
MembershipaudioHow Ghosts makes history funny – without getting it wrong. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
MembershipaudioFrida Kahlo: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
MembershipaudioHedy Lamarr: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
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Quizzes
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The ultimate Christmas quiz. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Week three quiz: education and school in Victorian Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
The ultimate Romans quiz. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Late-medieval England course: week four quiz. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
QuizHow much do you know about WW1?
QuizCan you find the odd one out?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
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