Horrible Histories
Sketch & varietySketches, segments and variety formats.This show: 9/10Real historyReal historical events and figures woven into the story.This show: 9/10Kids & familyGenuinely watchable for and with children.This show: 8/10British TVThe British television sensibility: tone, restraint and format traditions.This show: 8/10Family-safeNothing to worry about with anyone in the room.This show: 8/10EpisodicSelf-contained episodes you can watch in almost any order.This show: 8/10Easy watchingLow-demand television where half your attention is enough.This show: 7/10
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Starring
Jessica RansomTom StourtonJim HowickSimon FarnabyMathew BayntonMartha Howe-Douglas
Starring
Jessica RansomTom StourtonJim HowickSimon FarnabyMathew BayntonMartha Howe-Douglas
Ratings per Episode
Votes per Episode
Horrible Histories Episode Ratings Heatmap
| Avg | E1 | E2 | E3 | E4 | E5 | E6 | E7 | E8 | E9 | E10 | E11 | E12 | E13 | E14 | E15 | E16 | E17 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | 7.8 | 7.5 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.2 | |||||
| S2 | 8.2 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 7.9 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.6 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.1 | ||||
| S3 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.0 | |||||
| S4 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.6 | 8.4 | 8.7 | 8.2 | 8.6 | 9.1 | |||
| S5 | 8.6 | 8.5 | 8.6 | 8.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.7 | 8.5 | 8.6 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.5 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 9.1 | 8.9 | |||
| S6 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 6.8 | 6.7 | 8.4 | 7.4 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 7.1 | 7.2 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 7.7 | 6.9 | 7.7 | 8.6 | ||
| S7 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 7.2 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 7.2 | 7.8 | 6.9 | 8.6 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.2 | 7.3 | 5.9 | 6.6 | |||
| S8 | 7.3 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.6 | 7.9 | 8.2 | 8.4 | 7.5 | 8.0 | 7.0 | 7.2 | 6.4 | 6.2 | 6.0 | 6.2 | |||
| S9 | 6.0 | 4.9 | 7.4 | 6.5 | 5.6 | 6.7 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 7.3 | 5.6 | 6.1 | ||||||
| S10 | 5.7 | 6.5 | 5.4 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 5.2 | 4.5 | 6.4 | |||||||||||
| S11 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 5.6 |
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About
"History class rewritten as gleeful, gross sketch comedy"
Horrible Histories is a British sketch-comedy series that mines history for its grossest, funniest, and strangest true stories, from Roman toilets to Georgian dentistry. Each episode zips through rapid-fire sketches, catchy genre-parody songs, and recurring characters lampooning kings, plagues, and empires, aimed at kids but stuffed with jokes adults will actually laugh at. The pace is relentless and the production values punch well above a children's show, with genuinely clever writing and memorable musical numbers. It's educational by accident, funny by design, and works equally well as background family viewing or a deep binge.
Watch it for
the wickedly catchy historical parody songs that somehow teach real facts.
Maybe skip if
you want continuous storylines rather than rapid-fire unconnected sketches.
Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.
All Seasons
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Series 12009
7.8932136h 15m
All 13 episodes of the BBC series! History with the nasty bits left in! Based on the bestselling series of books for kids (and for adults, but they just won't admit it), Horrible Histories is an anarchic, surprising and unconventional take on history's most gruesome and funny moments. Foul facts, rotten rulers, beastly battles and evil inventions feature in horribly hilarious sketches, songs, cartoons and quizzes - all linked by the show's host, a talking rat! Liberally splattered with guts, blood and poo, Horrible Histories romps through the ages with fascinating facts from the Savage Stone Age, Awful Egyptians, Rotten Romans and Vicious Vikings, taking in the Measly Middle Ages, Terrible Tudors, Gorgeous Georgians and Vile Victorians, right up to the Woeful Second World War.
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Series 22010
8.2601146h 20m
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Series 32011
8.3468136h 24m
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Series 42012
8.5500156h 59m
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Series 52013
8.6435156h 57m
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Series 62015
7.5357167h 13m
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Series 72017
7.5253156h 14m
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Season 82019
7.3182154h 11m
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Season 92021
6.013312
Historical sketch show, based on the successful books by Terry Deary.
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Season 102023
5.7561528m
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Season 112025
5.4128
Full Cast & Crew
Cast
Jessica Ransom Various, Queen Victoria, Florence Nightingale
Tom Stourton Various, Henry VIII, Puritan
Jim Howick Various, George IV, Henry II
Simon Farnaby Various, Death, George III
Mathew Baynton Various
Martha Howe-Douglas Various, Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria
Ben Willbond Various, Henry Viii
James McNicholas Various, Additional Voices
Laurence Rickard Various, Henry I, Henry V
Jon Culshaw Additional Voices, Various
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