Rich Lives, Poor Lives
2025 · 2 seasons · 7 eps · Documentary
Returning Series Next episode: Aug 25, 2026
An immersive history series in which Ruth Goodman and Rob Rinder explore Britain's defining historical events through the contrasting experiences of the rich and the poor. Blending expert insight, authentic locations and compelling real-life stories, the series reveals how wealth, class and resilience shaped everyday life across Britain's most dramatic moments in history.
Directed by Stuart Elliott
Network: 5
Your Rating
Cast
-
Ruth Goodman Self - Presenter -
Robert Rinder Self - Presenter
More from Stuart ElliottSee all →
Edwardian Farm · 2010Edwardian Farm
★ 9.72010
SeriesDocumentaryReality
Edwardian Farm is an historical documentary TV series in twelve parts, first shown on BBC Two from November 2010 to January 2011. It depicts a group of historians trying to run a farm like it was done during the Edwardian era. It was made for the BBC by independent production company Lion Television and filmed at Morwellham Quay, an historic quay in Devon. The farming team was historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn. The series was devised and produced by David Upshal and directed by Stuart Elliott.
The series is a development from two previous series Victorian Farm and Victorian Pharmacy which were among BBC Two's biggest hits of 2009 and 2010, garnering audiences of up to 3.8 million per episode. The series was followed by Wartime Farm in September 2012, featuring the same team but this time in Hampshire on Manor Farm, living a full calendar year as wartime farmers.
An associated book by Goodman, Langlands, and Ginn, also titled Edwardian Farm, was published in 2010 by BBC Books. The series was also published on DVD, available in various regional formats.
Victorian Farm Christmas · 2009Victorian Farm Christmas
★ 9.72009
SeriesRealityDocumentary
Victorian Farm Christmas looks into the lives of 19th century farmers and shows you how to make traditional gifts, food, games and decorations.
Secrets of the Castle · 2014Secrets of the Castle
★ 9.42014
SeriesDocumentary
How do you build a medieval castle from scratch? Domestic historian Ruth Goodman and archeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold make perhaps their most ambitious foray into the past as they head to France to take part in a build that has been underway since 1997. Our intrepid history adventurers join this magnificent construction at Guédelon Castle to recreate authentic medieval castle living from within its rising walls.
Full Steam Ahead · 2016Full Steam Ahead
★ 9.32016
SeriesDocumentary
With the help of Victorian steam enthusiasts across the country, historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Alex Langlands journey back in time to the era of steam which shaped modern Britain.
Tudor Monastery Farm · 2013Tudor Monastery Farm
★ 9.12013
SeriesDocumentaryReality
Historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold turn the clock back 500 years to the early Tudor period to become tenant farmers on monastery land.
Henry VII: Winter King · 2013Henry VII: Winter King
★ 9.02013
MovieDocumentaryHistory
Historian Thomas Penn reveals the secrets of founder of Britain’s great Tudor Dynasty - and his amazing trajectory to power. Two weeks after landing on the shores Wales in 1485 with a small band of mercenaries, Henry of Richmond defeats the notorious Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. He is crowned Henry VII and then begins a career of realpolitik, a charming exterior making a savage ambition. The War of the Roses, his wife Elizabeth of York, and the beginning of the Renaissance are all part of this incredible history, as are Henry’s obsessions with money and astonishing spy network.
Victorian Farm · 2009Victorian Farm
★ 9.02009
SeriesDocumentary
Historical observational documentary series following a team who live the life of Victorian farmers for a year.
Wartime Farm · 2012Wartime Farm
★ 8.82012
SeriesRealityDocumentary
Historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn turn back the clock to run Manor Farm in Hampshire exactly as it would have been during World War II.
Lost Worlds · 2006Lost Worlds
★ 8.02006
SeriesDocumentary
Lost Worlds is a documentary television series by The History Channel that explores a variety of "lost" locations from ancient to modern times. These "great feats of engineering, technology, and culture" are revealed through the use of archaeological evidence, interviews with relevant experts while examining the sites, and CGI reproductions. These visual re-creations take the form of rendered 3D environments and photo manipulated overlays, allowing the "lost world" to be seen over its present-day state.
The pilot episode "Palenque: Metropolis of the Maya" was first aired on April 4, 2005. It was followed by 12 more episodes in 2006, and a further 19 episodes in 2007.
Electric Dreams · 2009Electric Dreams
★ 8.02009
SeriesReality
A family of six and their home are stripped of all their modern technology to live a life of decades past. In each episode, the family lives through a given decade at a rate of a year per day. They have their own Technical Support Team to source and supply them with the vintage technology that would have been available to British households during the decade.
Irresistible: Why We Can't Stop Eating · 2024Irresistible: Why We Can't Stop Eating
★ 7.02024
MovieDocumentary
Chris van Tulleken takes a personal view at why ultra-processed foods are so irresistible and how they have come to dominate food culture.
Viking Apocalypse · 2011Viking Apocalypse
★ 5.82011
MovieDocumentary
Viking Apocalypse is a examines the Ridgeway Hill Viking burial pit in Weymouth, UK, a site of a suspected mass execution long ago.[1] As they begin digging, archaeologists discover many male Viking skulls and search for clues that may reveal why Weymouth would have been a site for these beheadings.[2]
Nero's Sunken City · 2017Nero's Sunken City
★ 5.02017
MovieHistoryDocumentary
Beneath the turquoise waves of the Bay of Naples lies an extraordinary underwater archeology site, the ancient Roman city of Baiae. From the first century to the third century AD, Baiae was the exclusive playground for the rich and powerful among Rome’s elite. What made Baiae such a special place? What really went on there? And why did it disappear?
The Pedestrian · 2011The Pedestrian
2011
MovieComedy
Most of us walk to get from A to B. But some are obsessed with getting to B quicker than everyone else. Jonathon Collins is such a walker. He's never lost a 'Walk Off' in his life. This is a statistic that he's a bit too keen to share with the world. But his love affair with walking is put in jeopardy with the arrival of a new fleet-footed nemesis. And there's also the cute Charity worker who always catches his eye. If only he could slow down long enough to chat to her.
The Hot Spot · 2025The Hot Spot
2025
Movie
Lorna's mission to get her Dad's memorial bench moved from its current location: a hot spot for doggers.
Egypt's Lost Pyramid · 2019Egypt's Lost Pyramid
2019
MovieDocumentary
Follows archaeologists working on a 4,000-year-old pyramid containing a burial chamber, still apparently sealed. As light enters the tomb for the first time, the artifacts contained within reveal a gripping detective story as although there are no signs of entry, the contents have been disturbed. To solve the mystery, Egyptologists explore the nearby Black Pyramid to see how pyramid builders used every trick in the book to protect the treasures, discovering a dark and complex labyrinth of dummy tombs, false passages and stone portcullises to fool robbers.
More Like This
Zoboomafoo · 1999Zoboomafoo
★ 6.81999
SeriesComedyKids
Zoboomafoo is an American children's television series that aired from January 25, 1999, to April 28, 2001, and is still shown today in syndication depending on the area, and it is regularly shown on PBS Kids Sprout. A total of 65 episodes were aired. A creation of the Kratt Brothers, it features a talking Coquerel's Sifaka, a type of lemur, named Zoboomafoo, or Zoboo for short, and a collection of repeat animal guests. Every episode begins with the Kratt brothers in "Animal Junction", a peculiar place in which the rules of nature change and wild animals come to visit and play. After January 16, 2004, the show was pulled from its weekday airing on most PBS stations, though some continue to air the show.
Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston · 2026Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston
★ 7.52026
SeriesDocumentaryDrama
A historical exploration about the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. and the preserved Roman city it left behind.
The War · 2007The War
★ 8.12007
SeriesDocumentaryWar & Politics
The story of the Second World War through the personal accounts of a handful of men and women from four American towns. The war touched the lives of every family on every street in every town in America and demonstrated that in extraordinary times, there are no ordinary lives.
