Living Legends Season 1, Episode 2: Dick Whittington

Dick Turpin

Dick Turpin has been called the English cowboy, the epitome of a glamorous, mounted criminal. As a member of the infamous Gregory gang, he was the most celebrated villain in England. But the true facts of Turpin's life are squalid, sad and disturbing.

Robin Hood

Robin Hood is England's most celebrated legendary hero. Supremely brave, resourceful and loyal, he stands for the retribution of wrong in a corrupt society. For 600 years he has inspired ballads and epic tales of adventure; and, in the 20th century, he is the illustrious subject of many major films. But who was he?

Burke and Hare

For over 150 years a flourishing trade in bodysnatching went on in Britain, supplying corpses for medical dissection. In 1834 this traffic was brought to an end, thanks largely to two Irish navvies in Edinburgh, William Burke and William Hare. In their eagerness to supply their customer, Dr Knox, with fresh subjects, Burke and Hare had taken cunning steps to speed up the turnover of human bodies.

29 min

Guy Fawkes

Guy Fawkes , ' the devil in the vault ', arrested in the nick of time as he stands poised to blow up the entire leadership of Jacobean England-one of the most vivid images in English history, familiar from countless illustrations and tableaux. And even now, 350 years later, we still burn Guy Fawkes in effigy every year.

Captain Kidd

The real Captain Kidd was a merchant sea-captain, a man of property and an honoured citizen of New York. He was 50 when he was given the King's commission to hunt down pirates in the Indian Ocean. Two years later he died on the gallows in London, a convicted pirate himself.