Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez

The Genius of Leonardo Da Vinci

Janina Ramirez explores the BBC archives to create a TV history of Leonardo Da Vinci, discovering what lies beneath the Mona Lisa and even how he acquired his anatomical knowledge.

Saxon Hoard: A Golden Discovery

In 2009 metal-detecting enthusiast Terry Herbert discovered the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon treasure in the UK. Dan Snow travels across the old Kingdom of Mercia to unravel the secrets of the Staffordshire Hoard.

Apples, Pears and Paint: How to Make a Still Life Painting

The history of still life painting with oil paints

England's Reformation: Three Books That Changed a Nation

To mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Janina Ramirez tells the story of three books that defined this radical religious revolution in England.

Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries

Janina Ramirez discovers how monasteries shaped all aspects of medieval Britain and created a dazzling array of art, architecture and literature, a story of faith, sacrifice, violence and corruption.

Treasures of the Anglo-Saxons

In this hour-long documentary, Oxford academic Janina Ramirez tours the country in search of Anglo-Saxon art treasures. Her basic thesis - and it is a plausible one - is that we should not look upon their era as a "dark age" as compared, for example, to Roman times, but rather celebrate it as an age in which creativity flowered, especially in terms of artistic design as well as symbolism. She shows plenty of good examples, ranging from the Franks Casket to the Staffordshire Hoard, and the Lindisfarne Gospels.

Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years War

The Hundred Years’ war between England and France gave us the victories of Crecy and Agincourt, and made the reputations of Edward III and Henry V. It gave France a national heroine in Joan of Arc. But, even now, the jury is out as to its causes and outcome. Was it the final swansong of a redundant knightly class whose only reason for being was to fight? Was it a battle over ever more important territory to the emerging economies of England and France? Or was it the painful birth of two distinct national identities, forged through their long and violent divorce? Dr Janina Ramirez guides us through the stories of kings, great knights, bloody battles and cultural triumphs of this momentous conflict.

Pointless Celebrities

Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman present a celebrity version of the general knowledge quiz in which contestants try to come up with the answers that nobody else could think of.

Britain's Most Fragile Treasure

Historian Dr Janina Ramirez unlocks the secrets of a centuries-old masterpiece in glass. At 78 feet in height, the famous East Window at York Minster is the largest medieval stained-glass window in the country and it was the creative vision of a single artist - a mysterious master craftsman called John Thornton, one of the earliest named English artists. The East Window of York Minster is far more than a work of artistic genius, it is a window onto the medieval world and the medieval mind - telling us who were once were and who we still are, all preserved in the most fragile medium of all.

The Viking Sagas

Dr Janina Ramirez travels across glaciers and through the lava fields of Iceland to find out about one of the most compelling of the great Viking stories - the Laxdaela Saga. This hour-long film explores how the unique literary achievements of the Saga writers were possible at a time of such immense cultural, political and religious upheaval.

Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings

Through this three part series Art Historian Dr Janina Ramirez tells the story of the Medieval monarchy as preserved through stunning illuminated manuscripts from the British Library's Royal Manuscripts collection.

The Search for the Lost Manuscript: Julian of Norwich

In this hour-long documentary, Dr Janina Ramirez tells the incredible story of a book hidden for centuries in the shadows of history, the first book ever written in English by a woman, Julian of Norwich, in 1373. Revelations of Divine Love dared to present an alternative vision of man's relationship with God, a theology fundamentally at odds with the church of Julian's time, and for 500 years the book was suppressed. It re-emerged in the 20th century as an iconic text for the women's movement and was acknowledged as a literary masterpiece.

Female Filmmakers: BBC Introducing Arts

Janina Ramirez presents a set of short films by talented, emerging artists who use comedy, drama and dance to tell stories from a contemporary female perspective. A Flourishing Crown; Afro Hair Rituals; Being Better; Born to Flex; Justin, What Have You Done to Us?; Searching for Cowardice; Vlogger; Where Are You From?; Femme Fatale

Female Filmmakers Too: BBC Introducing Arts

Cultural historian Janina Ramirez presents a collection of intriguing and exciting short films by emerging female directors and artists. Each film gives a female perspective on modern-day topics from friendship and identity to freedom and belonging. Silent Pride; 0.5%; After the Break; Black. British. Muslim. Other.; Exhale; Hung Out to Dry; I Asked for Wonder; Midday; Sapphire of the Valley; The Skin I Move In; We know a better word than happy; Being Black in Northern Ireland

Architects of the Divine: The First Gothic Age

Medieval historian Dr Janina Ramirez looks back to a time when British craftsmen and their patrons created a new form of architecture. The art and architecture of France would dominate England for much of the medieval age. Yet British stonemasons and builders would make Gothic architecture their own, inventing a national style for the first time – Perpendicular Gothic – and giving Britain a patriotic backdrop to suit its new ambitions of chivalry and power. From a grand debut at Gloucester Cathedral to commemorate a murdered king to its final glorious flowering at King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, the Perpendicular age was Britain’s finest.

Screengrabbed: BBC Introducing Arts

Janina Ramirez presents a screengrab of inspiring, beautiful and urgent stories from emerging and established film-makers with their interpretations of life's big topics. A Fashion Show; Birdcage; Body to Body; Ffasiwn, The Film; Folk; Light Noise; Through a Screen Darkly; Be Different Today; Palm Tree; Shiner; Demons Before Breakfast; How Do You Know You're in Love?; Sensational Simmy; What Does It Mean to Be British?