Britain's Most Historic Towns

Alice Roberts explores the Regency era through the lens of Cheltenham, recognised as Britain’s most quintessential Regency town. She examines how the period’s rigid social hierarchy shaped the town’s development.

Regency Cheltenham is a television programme presented as an episode that centres on the early‑nineteenth‑century Regency era. The show falls within the documentary genre and is structured as a single instalment rather than a multi‑part series. Its focus is squarely on the historical period known for its distinctive architecture, fashion and social customs. In the episode, academic Alice Roberts narrates the story of the Regency age by turning her attention to Cheltenham, which is described as Britain’s most quintessential Regency town. Roberts uses the town’s development as a lens through which she can illustrate the broader cultural and societal currents of the time. By tracing Cheltenham’s growth, she highlights how the town exemplifies the defining characteristics of the period. A central thread of the programme is the investigation of the rigid social hierarchy that underpinned Regency society. Roberts examines how class distinctions were reinforced through architecture, leisure activities and public spaces in Cheltenham. The episode therefore offers a focused study of how the town’s layout and social life reflected the broader stratification of the age, providing viewers with a clear picture of the hierarchical structures that governed everyday interactions during the Regency.