Michael Buerk learns how the Victorians built the biggest, fastest, most technologically advanced ships in the world, which helped the nation to dominate the high seas. In Portsmouth, he boards Queen Victoria's flagship HMS Warrior to reveal surprising construction secrets and the ways the ship kept the peace in international waters, before following in Brunel's footsteps aboard his luxury steamer SS Great Britain.

Michael Buerk discovers how the Victorians spent their leisure time, heading to Blackpool to learn how the seaside mini-break was transformed from a perk of the wealthy to a British institution. He steps onto one of the town's famous piers to learn how, thanks to architect and civil engineer Eugenius Birch, these humble loading aids became entertainment hubs. Michael also hears how a rivalry between two showbusiness giants resulted in some of the area's most glorious architecture and how the advent of electricity fuelled the town's tourist industry, via its world famous illuminations.