The 17th Century (E01)

Monty Don uncovers the extraordinary stories behind Britain's 17th-century gardens. Starting his journey at the sole surviving garden of the 1600s – Levens Hall in Cumbria – Monty sets out to investigate what the gardens of this age would have looked like and what influenced and inspired their creation. Along the way, he sees a long-lost garden that – through archaeology and a German Luftwaffe photograph taken in the 1940s – reveals the hidden messages and religious beliefs of our 17th-century forebears. And Monty heads to Hampton Court, where politics, civil war and religious conflict played a key role in the evolving designs and fashions, including tastes in food, of the nation's finest gardens. (BBC)