Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity - Revelations and Revolutions

Copyright: BBC Journeying after electricity Professor Jim Al-Khalili tells the electrifying story of our quest to master nature's most mysterious force - electricity in this, the final episode in a coproduction between The Open University & the BBC.

Until fairly recently, electricity was seen as a magical power, but it is now the lifeblood of the modern world and underpins every aspect of our technological advancements.

Without electricity, we would be lost. This series tells of dazzling leaps of imagination and extraordinary experiments - a story of maverick geniuses who used electricity to light our cities, to communicate across the seas and through the air, to create modern industry and to give us the digital revolution.

Try our Spark It Up game

Electricity is not just something that creates heat and light, it connects the world through networks and broadcasting. After centuries of man's experiments with electricity, the final episode tells the story of how a new age of real understanding dawned - how we discovered electric fields and electromagnetic waves.

Today we can hardly imagine life without electricity - it defines our era. As our understanding of it has increased so has our reliance upon it, and today we're on the brink of a new breakthrough, because if we can understand the secret of electrical superconductivity we could once again transform the world.

To find out more about the series, visit our Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity page

Shock And Awe: Reveleations & Revolutions was first broadcast on BBC Four, 20th October 2011. For further broadcast details, and to watch online where available, visit bbc.co.uk.