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.

Along the way, Philomena asks experts hard-hitting questions about humanity's progress, and stands on or near impressive old ruins and inside museums, before the shot cuts away to some archive of the bits that don't exist anymore or were too expensive to film at.

Cunk continues her ambitious march across the face of mankind into an age of industry and science. With the help of historians, and a science-historian, she explains the scientific breakthroughs of Marie Curie and Albert Einstein. She demonstrates the inventions that changed the world, and covers how the US Civil War, World War I and World War II taught humanity how to use its new grasp of technology to shoot, blow up and irradiate itself in huge numbers.