Blind Oarsmen

Swans, boats and bridges are celebrated by lyrical commentary and fine images in this delightful tour of the Thames from “trivial” beginnings to torrential end.

A mermaid, a fat man in a barrel and water-bound jockeys all appear in this brilliant short showing Londoners taking part in the Molesey Regatta.

A ceremonial swan census takes place on the river Thames.

A nostalgic pre-war voyage down the mighty Thames, shot by Technicolor maestro Jack Cardiff.

Don your straw boater and join Victorians at play as you potter down the river at Henley-on-Thames

A rare glimpse of 1930s London in colour: the Thames has never looked lovelier.

Jack Beresford wins his second Gold Cup on the River Thames

Female punks have fun boozing, smoking and talking in this fascinating film by London lifestyle chronicler Captain Zip.

Life, learning, sport and swatting in a Putney girls' grammar school.

Extended action from the Thames as Oxford and Cambridge compete in the last boat race before the outbreak of the First World War.

Swimming champion Walter Brickett enters the record books with an incredible feat of physical endurance.

The director of a documentary about British funk pioneers Cymande joins the band at BFI Southbank to talk about the film.

Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.

Filmmakers Jane Giles and Ali Catterall discuss their documentary Scala!!!, revisiting the legendary and inspirational cinema venue and some of the most notorious films that screened there.

Long thought lost, this Powell-directed promotional short for a veteran’s charity was only rediscovered in 2003.

A poignant, stirring letter from a recently deceased pilot to his mother is read by John Gielgud.

Former Bristol Poet Laureate, Miles Chambers reads a poem specially commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the NHS.