Revolutions That Changed History

This episode considers Wat Tyler, the leader of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. He proved the first great popular rebellion in English history, with his persona being one of the chief factors in the success of protest against the harsh taxation of the poorer classes.

From the outset of the Roman conquest of Britannia, the flame of rebellion was smouldering. Many Celtic tribes had to submit to Emperor Claudius, Roman soldiers' mistreatment and humiliation of the living monarch sparked fury, and Celtic Queen Boudica ignited an incendiary campaign for vengeance.

A look at the French Revolution, when the chance for the majority of ordinary people to escape lives of squalor could come only on a tide of change.

This episode focuses on the Third Servile War, also known as the Spartacus Revolt, which was a slave rebellion against the Roman Republic that took place from 73-71BC. The slaves were joined by thousands of other slaves, women, and children, and the rebel army grew to include as many as 120,000 people

The American Revolution, a rebellion and war that led to the creation of the United States of America, and had a profound impact on modern history. It began in the 1760s as a result of growing tensions between the British crown and its North American colonies.

Documentary detailing the failed coup d'état known as Decembrist Revolt. It was led by liberal military and political dissidents against the Russian Empire, orginating in Saint Petersburg in 1825. It marked the beginning of Russia's revolutionary movement.