Hello, I'm Head of Programming, Connor Boyle.

Today, something a little different, we're excited to share with you a handpicked episode

of a brand new series, Hotels with History, produced by Intelligence Squared, in partnership

with Peron International.

From grand buildings that hosted royalty to secluded retreats that shaped cultural legends,

Hotels with History uncovers the remarkable stories behind some of the world's most storied hotels,

as well as the layered histories of the places they stand in.

In each episode, hosts Richard E. Grant and Jules Peron, travelled to a different hotel,

sharing the unforgettable moments that occurred both inside and outside the walls and grounds

and how the forces of history transformed entire regions into luxury destinations we know today.

Now over to Jules and Richard for hotels with history.

London has always been a city that knows how to entertain.

From Henry VIII, schmoozing the diplomats of the day at Hampton Court

with feasts of excess like we've never seen,

to November 1827 when Isambard Kingdom Brunel

held a party in the dim recesses of his yet-to-be-completed Thames Tunnel.

The 40 guests were illuminated with gas candelabras.

The dinner table was covered in red drapery, and the band of the Coldstream guards echoed around the space,

with renditions of rural Britannia

and see the conquering hero comes.

It is a city that has had Viking invasions, the Norman conquest, the great fire, the Industrial

Revolution, the great exhibition, the Blitz, the Olympics.

...