How Victorian England Celebrated Christmas | Victorian Farm: Christmas (3/3) | Real History

Christmas has been celebrated in England since around 1038, with unique and interesting ways of celebrating coming and going throughout history. Fun and festive feasts have always been the norm but the Tudors took this to the extreme.

The Victorian farmers - Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn - return to the Acton Scott estate in Shropshire to celebrate a traditional Victorian Christmas. There's an enormous amount of farm work to be done on the estate in the lead-up to the festive season, including the hay harvest, to make food for the animals over winter. Having been thwarted last time by rain, the team anxiously monitor the weather. Peter travels to the Royal Agricultural Society's annual show with sheep expert Richard Spencer to choose a new ram for the flock; back at the farm, Ruth makes mincemeat for the Christmas mince pies. She also prepares for the hoped-for hay harvest celebration with some essentials - bread and butter.

In 2005, the wreck of a German U-Boat was discovered in the Ligurian sea, just off the coast of Italy. The wreck was in almost perfect condition, leading researchers to question why this wreck was here in the first place. This documentary follows the amazing story behind how this U-Boat met it's tragic end.

Despite being popularised by the film of the same name, Pocahontas was actually inspired by real life events. The story of Pocahontas is quite different to the Disney version and the "truth" is often disputed by various sources. We take a look at the various versions of events of this 400 year old story.

Dan Snow joins food historian Annie Gray to explore festive food through the ages. Porpoises, beaver tails, boar's head and puffins: these are just some of the exquisite dishes that have appeared at festive feasts in the past. In this episode food historian, Annie Gray joins Dan Snow in his kitchen to cook up some delicious Christmas fare from ages past. They make wassail - an ancient alcoholic punch - and mince meat pies as they talk about the pagan rituals, medieval feasts and Victorian traditions that dictate what we put on our Christmas dinner tables. You can make these festive delicacies at home as you listen! Find the easy-to-follow traditional recipes Dan and Annie used here: Annie's book is called 'At Christmas We Feast'.

How does a civilisation that lasted for several thousand years begin? Joann Fletcher talks us through the genesis of ancient Egypt and how its story progressed. Fletcher also discusses some of the common misconceptions about ancient Egypt, and how we're still learning new things about it even now.