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If you have listened to episode  4, you will understand that in the year 793 there was no country called England. Instead there were a number of separate Anglo Saxon Kingdoms - Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia and Wessex. 

But in 793 that was all about to change.

The Anglo Saxon world was about to be blown apart and England brought to its very knees.

Within 80 years the Vikings will have conquered Northumbria, East Anglia and Mercia.

Now just Wessex faced them, the Last Kingdom of the Anglo Saxons.

This is the story of that critical moment in the history of Britain, and all eyes are on their new king...Alfred.

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This is the story of how the disparate Anglo Saxon communities eventually consolidated into 7 kingdoms covering what we now know as England and how they each vied for supremacy.

Back in the 600's, Raedwald of East Anglia becomes "Top Dog" when he defeats the Northumbrians but when he dies, so does the prominence of East Anglia.

Northumbria then become the leading power in the land and try to push their influence into the land of the Picts.

Eventually, it is the turn of Mercia and their king Offa.

In fact, it is looking like the final power-play will be between Mercia and Wessex when some ships are sighted off the island of Lindisfarne on the North East coast of England....

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In 410 the desperate citizens of the Roman province of Britannia sent the Emperor a plea for help against increasing attacks from pirates and the Picts from beyond Hadrians Wall.

The Emperor, Honorius sent them a simple reply which basically said  "You are on your own."

Britain descended into chaos - "The Dark Ages"

The urban sophistication of the Roman years was abandoned, the land was ruled by warlords.

And into this chaos arrived a group of invaders turned settlers - the Anglo Saxons.

This is the story of how they tried to establish themselves on the island and how the locals fought back. It is the story of legendary warriors like King Arthur and real warriors like Urien of Rheged.

Legends and truths end up mixed together in "The Dark Ages."

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In AD43, the Romans began their invasion of Britain.

For the next 400 years, most of Britain would be a far-flung province of the Roman Empire.

A huge wall was constructed in the north to mark the furthest limit of Roman control. It is still there today, Hadrian's Wall.

But for all the so-called civilisation that the Romans brought, the Britons weren't convinced.

Roman rule was harsh and eventually there was an explosion.

The tribes of eastern Britain rose in revolt under a Queen whose name resonates down the centuries...Boudica.

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Britain has had an impact on the world way beyond its size.

But it hasn't always been that way.

Long, long before the British had established their won worldwide empire, they were a far-flung part of someone else's empire - The Romans.

The story of Britain begins even further back than that...

To a time when Britain was just part of a north European plain with tribes migrating backwards and forwards across Doggerland, now submerged beneath the North Sea.

When the last Ice Age ended, the sea levels rose and Britain became an island.

This episode is the story of those early years; of Stonehenge, Iron-Age Hillforts, Druids and Celts.

And then in 55BC a Roman general with huge ambitions landed upon the shores of the Island on the Edge of the World and history would never be the same again...


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