Seasons & episodes

S1 · E1Beginnings 2018-04-03 · 29 min＋

Philomena takes us right back to the beginning with the Big Bang and interviews Robert Peston about British politics.

S1 · E2The Empire Strikes Back 2018-04-10 · 29 min＋

Philomena's odyssey takes her from King Henry VIII to Lord Horatio Nelson.

S1 · E3The Third Episode 2018-04-17 · 29 min＋

Philomena examines the Victorians and is joined by Chris Packham who tries to shed some light on Darwin's discoveries.

S1 · E4Twentieth Century Shocks 2018-04-24 · 29 min＋

Philomena and Mark Lawson examine the first half of the 20th century, with two world wars but no world cup.

S1 · E5The Arse End of History 2018-05-01 · 29 min＋

In the final episode, Cunk has made it to the 21st century and Brexit.

S2 · E1In the Beginnings 2022-09-20 · 29 min＋

In this opening episode Cunk travels the world, heading down caves and up mountains in her search for Mankind’s first moments, and with the help of a variety of experts she explains how the earliest societies were formed: from the easier ones to spell like Rome and Greece, to the ones that are harder to spell, like Egypt and Mesopotamia.

S2 · E2Faith/Off 2022-09-27 · 28 min＋

Cunk tells the story of the birth of two of the world’s great religions and learns what came next: the fall of the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, the Crusades, and Genghis Khan. So a bit of a rough patch for Mankind, if we’re honest.

S2 · E3The Renaissance Will Not Be Televised 2022-10-04 · 29 min＋

Philomena Cunk explores the Renaissance and revolutions, including but not limited to the American one.

S2 · E4Rise of the Machines 2022-10-11 · 29 min＋

Cunk sees how science and industry ushered in an age of convenience but also threatened all life on earth. So swings and roundabouts really.

S2 · E5War(s) of the World(s)? 2022-10-18 · 29 min＋

Cunk concludes her profound and accurate history of humanity, bringing us up to the present day - which at the time of writing is Tuesday.