Horrible Histories

The Houses of Parliament smell of poo, Cinderella struggles with the Blitz, and Helen of Troy reveals her complicated love life.

A bevy of bygone beauty and teenage love tips feature in this week's edition of the comedy sketch series. An advert for Oh Yea! magazine reveals the Tudors' tantalising beauty routines, in which Elizabeth I enjoyed four baths a year, and St Catherine Of Sienna divulges her rather unpalatable diet of pus and water. Helen of Troy's amorous exploits are imagined as a photo love story and the programme follows the Second World War alternative to stockings using gravy and eye-liner.

A Tudor doctor takes the helm in Historical Hospital; three knights romp through the rules of chivalry in song; and this week's Fairy Tale is Cinderella - the Second World War version. That Was Entertainment takes a look at entertainment from days gone by and features Jousting On Ice - the medieval pastime played by peasants when the Thames was frozen. Finally, Victorian parliamentarians put their noses together to sniff out a solution to the Big Stink of 1858.