This Sceptred Isle

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What is Britishness? What allowed one small island group to rule a quarter of the world and, even today, to have the most spoken language after Chinese? What makes Americans admire the guts, traditions and loyalties of these island Anglo-Saxon and Celtic peoples? What is it that makes cynical Europeans and once-dominated Asians look to the British for opinion, literature, social norms and justice? The answers lie within the creation of British institutions, both Commoner and Aristocracy, during the past 2000 years.

This Sceptred Isle, brings to life the character and frustrations so carefully studied by allies and enemies for twenty-one centuries – from Romans to al-Qaeda. Here Lee makes all the connections with institutions and changing industrial and social characteristics that even show us that Britishness is not exclusively British.

At a time when a major section of the British, the English, appear to be less and less sure who they are and who they are meant to be, This Sceptred Isle confirms who it is we really are.

This Sceptred Isle is a radio series written by historian Christopher Lee about the story of the lands and peoples of Britain by the British Broadcasting Corporation. It was produced by Pete Atkin and broadcast in 1995 twice each day–in the morning and late at night–on Radio 4. The series comprised 216 episodes, each 12–14 minutes long, and had a total duration of 46 hours.

A 29-hour-long abridged version of the programmes has been issued on CD as part of the BBC Radio Collection.

Extensions and spin-offs

In 1999 the BBC and Christopher Lee extended the programme to cover the 20th century: from 1901, where the original series had ended, to the end of the millennium.

In 2001 another shorter series entitled This Sceptred Isle: Dynasties was produced. This told the stories of the powerful and influential families of Britain and Ireland, including the Godwines, the Despensers and the Churchills.

Over the course of several months in 2005 and 2006 Christopher Lee’s This Sceptred Isle: Empire, a 90-part history of the British Empire was broadcast on Radio 4. Each part was 15 minutes long.

Episode List

1×01 – 55 BC to 1087
1×02 – 55 BC to 1087
1×03 – 55 BC to 1087
1×04 – 55 BC to 1087
1×05 – 1087 to 1327
1×06 – 1087 to 1327
1×07 – 1087 to 1327
1×08 – 1087 to 1327
1×09 – 1327 to 1547
1×10 – 1327 to 1547
1×11 – 1327 to 1547
1×12 – 1327 to 1547
1×13 – 1547 to 1660
1×14 – 1547 to 1660
1×15 – 1547 to 1660
1×16 – 1547 to 1660
1×17 – 1660 to 1702
1×18 – 1660 to 1702
1×19 – 1660 to 1702
1×20 – 1660 to 1702
1×21 – 1702 to 1760
1×22 – 1702 to 1760
1×23 – 1702 to 1760
1×24 – 1702 to 1760
1×25 – 1702 to 1760
1×26 – 1760 to 1792
1×27 – 1760 to 1792
1×28 – 1760 to 1792
1×29 – 1792 to 1815
1×30 – 1792 to 1815
1×31 – 1792 to 1815
1×32 – 1792 to 1815
1×33 – 1815 to 1837
1×34 – 1815 to 1837
1×35 – 1815 to 1837
1×36 – 1815 to 1837
1×37 – 1815 to 1901
1×38 – 1815 to 1901
1×39 – 1815 to 1901
1×40 – 1815 to 1901
2×01 – Dynasties – The Godwins – Part 1
2×02 – Dynasties – The Godwins – Part 2
2×03 – Dynasties – The Despensers
2×04 – Dynasties – The Irish Dynasties
2×05 – Dynasties – The Churchills
2×06 – Dynasties – The Berkeleys
2×07 – Dynasties – The Russells
2×08 – Dynasties – The Norfolks
2×09 – Dynasties – The Dalrymples
2×10 – Dynasties – The Carringtons
3×01 – Empire – No Grand Plan
3×02 – Empire – Ireland, The First Colony
3×03 – Empire – Elizabeth I And Ireland
3×04 – Empire – Looking For China
3×05 – Empire – Elizabeth, Trade, And Francis Drake
3×06 – Empire – John Hawkins And Humphrey Gilbert
3×07 – Empire – Martin Frobisher And Fool’s Gold
3×08 – Empire – Walter Raleigh And Virginia
3×09 – Empire – Disaster At Roanoke
3×10 – Empire – El Dorado And The Real Treasures
3×11 – Empire – Elizabeth And A New Economy
3×12 – Empire – The Spice Trade
3×13 – Empire – Towards The East Indies
3×14 – Empire – After The Armada And James Lancaster
3×15 – Empire – 1600 – The East India Company
3×16 – Empire – The England Of James I And VI
3×17 – Empire – 1606 – The Virginia Company
3×18 – Empire – Jamestown, Virginia
3×19 – Empire – Bermuda And Shipwreck
3×20 – Empire – Slavery – Black And White
3×21 – Empire – The Pilgrim Fathers And The Massachusetts Bay Company
3×22 – Empire – The West Indies And Sugar
3×23 – Empire – Barbados And Civil War In England
3×24 – Empire – Trade With India
3×25 – Empire – Clive Of India
3×26 – Empire – The Scottish Empire
3×27 – Empire – Gibraltar
3×28 – Empire – Canada – Wolfe And Montcalm
3×29 – Empire – America – The Way To Independence
3×30 – Empire – 1783, The Empire Loses America
3×31 – Empire – After The Revolution – The Boost To Canada
3×32 – Empire – Canada
3×33 – Empire – Australia – Captain Cook
3×34 – Empire – Australia – Transportation
3×35 – Empire – Australia – Sheep And Gold
3×36 – Empire – The Innocents
3×37 – Empire – Imperialism And Edward Wakefield
3×38 – Empire – New Zealand
3×39 – Empire – Shutting The Slave Market
3×40 – Empire – The Last Shackle Of Empire
3×41 – Empire – Warren Hastings
3×42 – Empire – The Trial Of Warren Hastings
3×43 – Empire – Nelson And Empire
3×44 – Empire – Raffles
3×45 – Empire – Ceylon
3×46 – Empire – Mungo Park
3×47 – Empire – The First Opium War
3×48 – Empire – The First Sikh War
3×49 – Empire – The Origins Of The Indian Mutiny
3×50 – Empire – The Sepoy Rebellion (I)
3×51 – Empire – The Sepoy Rebellion (II)
3×52 – Empire – End Of Mutiny
3×53 – Empire – The Viceroys
3×54 – Empire – Abyssinia
3×55 – Empire – West Africa – Jaw-Jaw
3×56 – Empire – The Missionaries
3×57 – Empire – South Africa – The British Arrive
3×58 – Empire – South Africa – Boers And Brits
3×59 – Empire – Zulu War
3×60 – Empire – Empress
3×61 – Empire – From Ireland To Ireland
3×62 – Empire – The Irish Question
3×63 – Empire – Egypt, Sudan, And The Suez Canal
3×64 – Empire – The Death Of General Gordon
3×65 – Empire – Bismarck’s Carve-Up
3×66 – Empire – The Munshi
3×67 – Empire – Diamond Jubilee
3×68 – Empire – Omdurman And Churchill
3×69 – Empire – Boers, Outlanders, And The Jameson Raid
3×70 – Empire – Gold And The Second Boer War
3×71 – Empire – The End Of The Second Boer War
3×72 – Empire – Death Of The Queen Empress
3×73 – Empire – The Most Hated Nation Of The World
3×74 – Empire – Tibet
3×75 – Empire – Lord Curzon – Duty And The Durbar
3×76 – Empire – Lord Curzon – Goodbye To All That
3×77 – Empire – A Greater Britain
3×78 – Empire – Imperial Preferences
3×79 – Empire – Defending The Empire
3×80 – Empire – The Last Imperial Reign
3×81 – Empire – Irish Home Rule And The Road To War
3×82 – Empire – The Empire And The First World War
3×83 – Empire – The Amritsar Massacre
3×84 – Empire – Defending The Empire
3×85 – Empire – High Street Durbars
3×86 – Empire – India – Dominion Or Not Dominion
3×87 – Empire – Gandhi Or Jinnah
3×88 – Empire – The Empire And The Second World War
3×89 – Empire – India – Independence
3×90 – Empire – What Happened Next
4×01 – The 20th Century – 1901 – A New King A New Century
4×02 – The 20th Century – 1902 – South Africa, Balfour And Education
4×03 – The 20th Century – 1903 – Naval Build-Up, Free Trade And Empire
4×04 – The 20th Century – 1904 – Ships, Cars, Conurbations And Churchill Crosses The Floor
4×05 – The 20th Century – 1905 – Rebellion In Russia And Balfour Resigns
4×06 – The 20th Century – 1906 – Cornflakes, Traffic And The Moroccan Question
4×07 – The 20th Century – 1907 – Women’s Rights, Religious Discrimination And Military Reform
4×08 – The 20th Century – 1908 – Asquith Pensions And The Balkans
4×09 – The 20th Century – 1909 – The Royal Navy And Trouble Brewing In The House Of Lords
4×10 – The 20th Century – 1910 – King George V
4×11 – The 20th Century – 1911 – Constitutional Confrontation And The Agadir Crisis
4×12 – The 20th Century – 1912 – The Titanic, Home Rule And The Marconi Affair
4×13 – The 20th Century – 1913 – Ireland, Emily Davison And The Tango
4×14 – The 20th Century – 1914 – The UVF And The Outbreak Of War
4×15 – The 20th Century – 1915-18 – The Great War
4×16 – The 20th Century – 1919 – The Origins Of The Second World War
4×17 – The 20th Century – 1920 – Russia And Ireland
4×18 – The 20th Century – 1922-23 – Lloyd George Out, Baldwin In
4×19 – The 20th Century – 1924 – The First Labour PM And The Zinoviev Letter
4×20 – The 20th Century – 1925-26 – Churchill’s First Budget And The General Strike
4×21 – The 20th Century – 1927-28 – Enter Hitler, And The Rise Of Motoring
4×22 – The 20th Century – 1929 – Red Buses And The Wall Street Crash
4×23 – The 20th Century – 1930 – European Union And India
4×24 – The 20th Century – 1931 – National Government And Naval Mutiny
4×25 – The 20th Century – 1932 – The King And The Dominions
4×26 – The 20th Century – 1933 – The Chancellor Of Germany
4×27 – The 20th Century – 1934 – The Night Of The Long Knives, And The Long March
4×28 – The 20th Century – 1935 – Macdonald Resigns And Hitler Rearms
4×29 – The 20th Century – 1936 – Edward VIII And Unemployment
4×30 – The 20th Century – 1937 – A Coronation As War Looms
4×31 – The 20th Century – 1938 – Anschluss And The Munich Agreement
4×32 – The 20th Century – 1939 – The Approach Of War
4×33 – The 20th Century – 1940 – Dunkirk, The Battle Of Britain, And The Evacuation
4×34 – The 20th Century – 1941 – Morale, Propaganda, And The USA
4×35 – The 20th Century – 1942 – The Atlantic Charter, India And Women
4×36 – The 20th Century – 1943 – The Turning Of The Tide And The Beveridge Report
4×37 – The 20th Century – 1944 – D-Day, Education, And The Birth Of The UN
4×38 – The 20th Century – 1945 – The End Of The War And A Labour Landslide
4×39 – The 20th Century – 1946 – Shortages, The National Health Bill And The UN Meet
4×40 – The 20th Century – 1947 – A Harsh Winter And Independence For India
4×41 – The 20th Century – 1948 – BR, The NHS And The Berlin Airlift
4×42 – The 20th Century – 1949 – The Republic Of Ireland, The Farthing And NATO
4×43 – The 20th Century – 1950 – War In Korea And The European Debate
4×44 – The 20th Century – 1951 – The Return Of Churchill
4×45 – The 20th Century – 1952 – The Death Of George
4×46 – The 20th Century – 1953 – The New Elizabeth Age
4×47 – The 20th Century – 1954 – The Four-Minute Mile, The H-Bomb And Eden’s Frustration
4×48 – The 20th Century – 1955 – The Warsaw Pact And The Departure Of Churchill
4×49 – The 20th Century – 1956 – The Suez Crisis
4×50 – The 20th Century – 1957 – Harold Macmillan Becomes PM And A Dog Goes Into Space
4×51 – The 20th Century – 1958 – CND, Cyprus And The End Of National Service
4×52 – The 20th Century – 1959 – Cuba, Cyprus, And The Russians Reach The Moon
4×53 – The 20th Century – 1960 – The Wind Of Change
4×54 – The 20th Century – 1961 – The Bay Of Pigs And The Building Of The Berlin Wall
4×55 – The 20th Century – 1962 – TW3, The Death Of Marilyn Monroe And The Cuban Missile Crisis
4×56 – The 20th Century – 1963 – Beeching, Profumo And Martin Luther King’s Dream
4×57 – The 20th Century – 1964 – Ian Smith, Harold Wilson And Vietnam
4×58 – The 20th Century – 1965 – The Death Of Churchill, Rolling Thunder And UDI
4×59 – The 20th Century – 1966 – Another Labour Victory
4×60 – The 20th Century – 1967 – The Six-Day War And Devaluation
4×61 – The 20th Century – 1968 – Revolution In Paris And Spring In Prague
4×62 – The 20th Century – 1969 – The Troubles, Biafra, And In Place Of Strife
4×63 – The 20th Century – 1970 – Edward Heath Becomes PM
4×64 – The 20th Century – 1971 – Decimalisation And Ulster In Flames
4×65 – The 20th Century – 1972 – Britain Joins Europe, Bloody Sunday, And Black September
4×66 – The 20th Century – 1973 – Rivers Of Blood, Europe, And The Yom Kippur War
4×67 – The 20th Century – 1974 – Who Governs Britain
4×68 – The 20th Century – 1975 – The Birth Of Thatcherism And A Referendum On Europe
4×69 – The 20th Century – 1976 – Wilson Resigns
4×70 – The 20th Century – 1977 – Jubilee And Charter 77
4×71 – The 20th Century – 1978 – Camp David Devolution And A Polish Pope
4×72 – The 20th Century – 1979 – Prime Minister Thatcher And The IRA
4×73 – The 20th Century – 1980 – Afghanistan And Michael Foot
4×74 – The 20th Century – 1981 – The SDP And IRA Hunger Strikes
4×75 – The 20th Century – 1982 – The Falklands War
4×76 – The 20th Century – 1983 – The Falklands Factor Election, And Star Wars
4×77 – The 20th Century – 1984 – The Miners’ Strike And The Brighton Bomb
4×78 – The 20th Century – 1985 – Gorbachev And The Anglo-Irish Agreement
4×79 – The 20th Century – 1986 – Chernobyl And The Westland Affair
4×80 – The 20th Century – 1987 – The Great Debate, Black Monday, And The Great Storm
4×81 – The 20th Century – 1988 – Another Thatcher Victory And Cabinet Divisions
4×82 – The 20th Century – 1989 – The Fall Of The Berlin Wall, And Tiananmen Square
4×83 – The 20th Century – 1990 – The Poll Tax, The ERM, And Exit Margaret Thatcher
4×84 – The 20th Century – 1991 – John Major And War With Iraq
4×85 – The 20th Century – 1992 – Oldies, Speculators, And Labour Falls Again
4×86 – The 20th Century – 1993-94 – The Death Of John Smith Maastricht And The Balkans
4×87 – The 20th Century – 1995-96 – Major Resigns And Labour Reforms
4×88 – The 20th Century – 1997 – The Death Of Diana And The Election Of New Labour
4×89 – The 20th Century – 1998-99 – Devolution Kosovo And The Lords
4×90 – The 20th Century – 2000 – 2000 Years Of Kinship