Jeremy Paxman TV - Janina Ramirez & John Bailey TV - Natural World TV - Joseph Conrad - Crimes that Shook Britain TV - The Secret World of Lewis Carroll TV - Jacob Bronowski TV - William Wordsworth - Tony Robinson - The River Thames: Then & Now TV - Panorama TV - The Five Billion Pound Super Sewer TV - Nursery Rhyme - Arthur Symonds - John Denham - Peter Ackroyd TV - Tim Marlow & David Starkey TV - Don Cruickshank TV - Matthew Collings TV - Nelson: Britain’s Great Naval Hero TV - How Britain’s Bridges the World TV - Sophie Campbell - Massive Engineering Mistakes TV - Rob Bell TV -
Found Drowned by G F Watts is an almost religious vision of the fallen woman. Stretched out like a martyr to Victorian morality ... Her body is bathed in a warm light. Set against a cold uncaring world. A single light shines down on her ... Its title was taken from a regular column in The Times newspaper which listed the number of women who had thrown themselves into the Thames. Jeremy Paxman: The Victorians: Home Sweet Home, BBC 2009
There is a certain magical stretch of the Thames in London that was at the centre of an 18th century cultural movement that changed our British landscapes for ever. At the heart of it was a fascination with the ancient concept of arcadia, where man and nature lived in perfect pastoral harmony. A radical group of writers and artists completely overturned the idea of what comprised a beautiful landscape. Janina Ramirez & John Bailey, In Search of Arcadia, BBC 2017
This seal can escape to the Thames should she choose to do so but prefers to stay [Billingsgate fish market] … ‘What she likes most are the squid … ‘salmon and trout.’ Natural World s30e14: Unnatural History of London, BBC 2012
When one talks of the Thames Docks beauty is a vain word. But romance has lived too long upon this river not to have thrown a mantle of glamour upon its banks. Joseph Conrad, 1906
It was a disaster that stunned the nation. Within two minutes one hundred and fifty excited party goers had been pitched into the black icy waters of the Thames. How fifty-one people could be killed in the middle of the nation’s capital on a calm summer’s evening mystified relatives and survivors. Crimes that Shook Britain s5e5: The Marchioness Disaster
One summer’s day the Reverend Charles Dodgson took ten-year-old Alice Liddell and her sisters on a boat trip along the River Thames. The girls were absolutely enchanted by his stories. The Secret World of Lewis Carroll, BBC 2015
In London he [Brunel] was building another suspension bridge over the Thames, the tunnel underneath it was inching along, he was also doing the docks in Sunderland, designing his first ship, and he got married … Jacob Bronowski, The Ascent of Man 9/13: Evolution: The Ladder of Creation, BBC 1973
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendor, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will.
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still! William Wordsworth, Sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge
We call it the Little Ice Age ... Cold enough to freeze the River Thames in London. Man on Earth with Tony Robinson III: Killer Climate, Channel 4 2009
I’ve always been fascinated by the River Thames. It runs right through the place where I was born – London … It’s the river that built Britain. The Thames: Britain’s Great River with Tony Robinson I, Channel 5 2019
I think I’m in the right field … the source of the Thames … not what I imagined … 300 years ago there was usually a stream here … About a mile away there is a more reliable source. ibid.
In my journey along the length of the Thames, I’m looking at a river that’s dramatically different from the one I grew up with. ibid.
The Thames hundreds of years ago would have been far too shallow for all but the smallest of boats. Today, managing water levels fall to the Environment Agency. The Thames: Britain’s Great River with Tony Robinson II
There’s 45 locks on the Thames.’ ibid. lock keeper Richard
A short stretch, barely eight miles, but it packs a punch like no other: because I’m walking through the heart of the capital. The Thames: Britain’s Great River with Tony Robinson III
The rise and fall of the tidal Thames can be as much as 23 feet. ibid.
I’m now on my home turf the east end of London on a bit of the river that was once the working power house of the Thames with docks and warehouses. The Thames: Britain’s Great River with Tony Robinson IV
The Thames: Britain’s busiest river … As we sleep, the river grafts through the night to ensure our 24/7 demands are being met … Welcome to the river that never sleeps. The Thames at Night with Tony Robinson I, Channel 5 2021
This is the eastern end of the Thames lined with industries that run through the night.
Thames Barrier: The gates are rotated into place using massive hydraulic rams. ibid.
I’m in central London, the iconic section of the Thames. These river views are known the world over, a skyline steeped in history. Behind the scenes, an army of people are keeping that heritage alive. The Thames at Night with Tony Robinson II
These days the Observatory is a museum. Up to 4,000 visitors a day walk through these corridors. ibid.
One of London’s oldest markets: this is Borough Market. ibid.
‘She [Thames] looks nice. But you don’t really trust her.’ ibid. restorer
The Thames can rise twenty feet in six hours. ibid.
The City’s transport system … and helping to relieve the pressure the Thames. I’m on my way to a stretch of river that flows between the Thames Barrier and Greenwich … a vital part of the river for keeping London moving. The Thames at Night with Tony Robinson III
The Thames Clippers boats run in continuous loops from Putney in the west to Woolwich in the east. ibid.
This is the Blackwall tunnel completely empty. 50,000 vehicles come down here every day. ibid.
I’m on the stretch of the river that flows from Waterloo out to Richmond in west London … I’ll be meeting workers who contend with the tide night after night. The Thames at Night with Tony Robinson IV
‘At certain times of the year you would be able to walk across the river bed.’ ibid.
I’m taking part in a search and rescue drill with the Fire Service. ibid.
The Thames: Lifeblood of Britain’s capital. An empire was born on its banks, and from here it traded with the world. Throughout its long life the river has sustained its people. But at times it has been fierce and unpredictable. A focus for work and play. The River Thames: Then & Now, Channel 5 2020
The River Thames flows 215 miles to the North Sea. Its epic course takes it into the heart of London, passing landmarks recognised the world over. Lightermen have been hauling cargo along the Thames for centuries. ibid.
In the early twentieth century, in the age before smokeless fuel, London was often shrouded in fog known as Pea Soupers. ibid.
‘Eight miles of docks on either side’ … ‘It was tough manual work’ … ibid.
In the post-war years the docks continued to thrive. Few Londoners could imagine a city without a working port and an army of working men at its heart. But by the 1960s that future was disappearing in front of the workers’ eyes. ibid.
Back then the key to London’s wealth was its docks. ibid.
Now the Thames handles more than five million tons of cargo. The vast majority of cargo now arrives and leaves in containers. ibid.
‘The first container ship arrived in this country in the early 1960s. And that was the beginning of the end. And very fast about 35,000 people lost their jobs on the docks and then all the ancillary workers, and it was catastrophic.’ ibid. Sophie Campbell, historian
Battersea would be key as London went electric … The largest brick construction in Europe. ibid.
Twenty-eight bridges span the river … ‘I’m standing in front of the most iconic bridge on the Thames: Tower Bridge. Everybody knows it. It’s got those twin towers. And it was built in 1894 so that the shipping could still come into this very valuable bit of water, the pool of London … It looks medieval, and that was the plan … It’s a really early steel-framed construction, but on the outside they put Cornish Granite and Portland Stone dressings … So it looks like a medieval castle.’ ibid. Sophie Campbell
An extraordinary structure that helps keep the floodwater away … The Barrier had closed nearly 200 times since becoming operational in 1982. ibid.
1858 was the year of the Great Stink. A smell of old Father Thames was so bad that MPs moved parliament out of London. For centuries, untreated human waste was pumped directly into the Thames … Bazalgette built 1,100 miles of sewers. ibid.
The scandal of our polluted rivers. We capture evidence of untreated sewage being dumped. We see the damage sewage causes. And we expose the water companies breaking the law. Panorama: The River Pollution Scandal, BBC 2021
The Thames is a world-famous river and it’s an essential part of London life. But despite its importance, parts of the river are being used as an open sewer. ibid.
This is Barnes in south-west London. Now the river’s pretty low at the moment, so I’m standing on what you might think is the river-bed. Except it isn’t. It’s a mound of wet-wipes. ibid.
This isn’t the exception: it’s commonplace. ibid.