Smoke & Steel

The Industrial Revolution transformed the world beyond recognition, and we still feel the impact of many of its ground-breaking advances today, whether we realise it or not. Born from the flames of that age of smoke and steel, and once celebrated as pioneering achievements, these are the forgotten stories of the sites that built the modern world. Visiting locations across the globe, the series reveals the dramatic and surprising histories behind these unique sites. Featured stories include a dark tunnel beneath the River Thames in London that began a subterranean revolution, a grand public works in Prague that helped transform life in our cities, an outlandish and ambitious mountain climbing railway in the remote wilderness of America, a warship on the south coast of England that forever altered warfare at sea, a vast structure in Brazil that played a key role in the story of international travel, and the final section of the TransSiberian Railway that completed Russia's desperate efforts to link east and west in an attempt to turn the tide of war. With exclusive access to the old facilities that continue to perform their roles today, and by exploring other sites of historical importance, we get up close to the action and see first-hand how those revolutionary technologies and engineering achievements set our world on a new course.