Air date: 2008-09-14

Runtime: 60 min

Helped by contributors including Shirley Williams, Douglas Hurd and Simon Hoggart, journalist Jonathan Freedland attempts to define the qualities which make a great US president.

Air date: 2008-10-09

Runtime: 60 min

Novelist Andrew Martin presents a documentary examining how the train came to shape the work of writers and film-makers, from Wordsworth and Dickens to The Railway Children.

Air date: 2008-10-16

Runtime: 60 min

Documentary that tells the surprising story of how Britain entered a new age of steam railways after the Second World War and why it quickly came to an end.

Air date: 2008-11-02

Runtime: 60 min

To mark 100 years of romance publishers Mills and Boon, literary novelist Stella Duffy takes on the challenge of writing for them, a task that ends up being harder than it looks.

Air date: 2008-11-10

Runtime: 60 min

Don Manley reveals the tricks that compilers use to bamboozle and entertain cryptic crossword solvers, while fans including Prunella Scales explain why they enjoy them.

Air date: 2008-12-22

Runtime: 60 min

Documentary which celebrates Britain's tradition of comic songs, from Noel Coward's Mad Dogs and Englishmen to Benny Hill's Ernie, and reveals the skill involved in creating them.

Air date: 2009-01-22

Runtime: 60 min

A team of fashion writers and commentators including Peter York, Colin McDowell, Ted Polhemus and Hilary Alexander looks at the relationship between British fashion and the BBC.

Air date: 2009-04-02

Runtime: 60 min

Journalist John Harris travels around England to find out why the north-south divide is still an economic reality following the decline of industry, and if it can be closed.