Games Britannia

The Britannia series is a series of documentaries from BBC Four that began in 2005. The documentaries most often deal with the evolution of a music genre or other aspect of musical culture over a period of decades within the United Kingdom, although occasionally episodes have covered diverse subjects as comic books, games, satirical works and wildlife. The shows are usually presented in a three-episode format, but are often broadcast as one continuous block as part of a schedule of themed programming.

Games Britannia is a three-part series presented by historian Benjamin Woolley about popular games in Britain from the Iron Age to the Information Age, in which he unravels how an apparently trivial pursuit is a rich and entertaining source of cultural and social history.

Part 1: Dicing with Destiny
In part one, Woolley investigates how the instinct to play games is both as universal and elemental as language itself and takes us from 1st-century Britain to the Victorian era. Woolley goes on to talk about various ancient games, such as the Stanway game, Alea Evangeli, Backgammon and Nine Men's Morris.

According to the Libro de Los Juegos (the Book of Games) there are 3 types of games:

• Chance games
• Skill games
• Combination games

Games featured in this episode:

• The Stanway Game
• Alea Evangeli
• Backgammon
• Nine Men's Morris
• Hazard
• Faro
• Game of the Goose
• Gyan Chaupar
• Chess

Part 2: Monopolies and Mergers
In part two, Woolley traces the surprising political and social impact that board games have had in Britain over the last 200 years. 

Games featured in this episode:

• Brer Fox an Brer Rabbit
• Monopoly
• Cluedo
• Scrabble
• Game Shows
• Kensington
• Dungeons and Dragons

Part 3: Joystick Generation
In the final part, Woolley explores the journey games have taken from the board to the screen, reflecting the rapidly changing history of modern Britain.

Games featured in this episode:

• Elite
• Black and White
• Tomb Raider
• Wipeout
• Carmageddon
• Grand Theft Auto
• LittleBigPlanet