Fire of London

An air raid could come at any moment and Derby had to be ready to deal with the casualties. The people of Littleover were so well prepapred they filmed one of their exercises.

From their sandbagged headquarters, the Sandiacre ARP and Red Cross await their call to action.

Humphrey Jennings and Harry Watt’s famous GPO film is an enduring example of British self-mythology; a hymn to London’s resilience that helped persuade America to join the war.

Sweet and touching wartime cinema appeal for 300,000 London children spending Christmas far from home.

Step into the aftermath of a WWII bombing raid in south London in this startling amateur film.

Matter-of-fact wartime instruction in how to fit your gas mask efficiently - leaving no margin for error.

Journalists congregate outside the Japanese embassy in London following the announcement of the death of the Emperor Meiji.

Geeky Pavan takes his 'English Rose' on a date to the most authentic Indian restaurant in the city. To his horror she goes off-menu, in Hindi...

Capital scenes thanks to Victorian filmmakers

The Band of the First Life Guards approaches Westminster Bridge during Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

Horse-drawn traffic on one of London's busiest thoroughfares

Londoners turn out in their thousands to greet the returning Boer War hero after his famous defence of Ladysmith

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.