In Portsmouth, Alice Roberts learns about Nelson's dark side, the heat of the battle at Trafalgar, the role of the Navy in the British Empire, and more. Professor Alice Roberts explores Britain's rich and varied past through the stories of individual towns. In each programme Alice studies key periods in British history by delving into the secrets of historic towns. Alice combines the bigger national picture with local detail to give an accurate impression of what life was really like at key moments in Britain's turbulent past. Alice visits historic sites and meets local historians to understand how each town was shaped by the dominant forces of the age.