Anne McElvoy looks back to the Victorian age with Simon Heffer who argues it laid the foundations for modern society, from the evolution of British democracy, to new attitudes to education, religion and science. Professor of British Government, Anthony King, considers if the blunders of today's parliamentarians has anything on the antics of Gladstone and Disraeli. But the writer DJ Taylor believes it's the era's novels which have left a lasting impression. And the curator Sonia Solicari has created a miscellany of curiosities in her exhibition of contemporary artists influenced and inspired by Victoriana.

Producer: Katy Hickman.