Episode two traces an alternative history of the Black Death of the Middle Ages. From the chaos of the Black Death comes creative renewal; survivors finding their voice through satire and a revived literature in English, including breakthrough works by women, and through new craft in cathedral building and stained glass.

A splintering of politics and religion in the British Isles under the Stuart kings leads to more questioning art, new science and architecture.

In the 18th century, trade and conquest funds an explosion of creativity, and art stirs a growing social conscience.

With the industrial revolution transforming the British Isles, cities and country are divided and artists respond to the upheaval to lives and the landscape.