Hislop has presented several programmes for BBC Four, dealing with topics such as the Beeching Axe and the role of the Poet Laureate. The former, Ian Hislop Goes off the Rails, about the Beeching Report and its impact on the British railway network, was first aired on 2 October 2008, and achieved the second-highest audience to date for any BBC Four programme (and the highest for a documentary) with 1.3 million viewers. The latter, Ian Hislop's Changing of the Bard, launched the May 2009 BBC Four Poetry season, and Hislop recounted the history of the post from the first official holder, John Dryden, to the then recently announced first female, first Scot and first openly bisexual laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. His series on Victorian social reformers, Ian Hislop's Age of the Do-Gooders, aired on BBC Two beginning on 29 November 2010. His programme on the history of banks, When Bankers were Good, first aired on BBC Two in November 2011, and dealt with famous bankers from history, such as the Rothschilds, the Gurneys and the Lloyds, as well as 19th-century philanthropists and reformers such as Charles Dickens and Elizabeth Fry.
Hislop has presented several programmes for BBC Four, dealing with topics such as the Beeching Axe and the role of the Poet Laureate The former, Ian Hislop Goes off the Rails, about the Beeching Report and its impac.t on the British railway network, was first aired on 2 October 2008, and achieved the second-highest audience to date for any BBC Four programme (and the highest for a documentary) with 1.3 million viewers. The latter, Ian Hislop's Changing of the Bard, launched the May 2009 BBC Four Poetry season, and Hislop recounted the history of the post from the first official holder, John Dryden, to the then recently announced first female, first Scot and first openly bisexual laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. His series on Victorian social reformers, Ian Hislop's Age of the Do-Gooders, a.ired on BBC Two beginning on 29 November 2010 His programme on the history of banks, When Bankers were Good, first aired on BBC Two in November 2011, and dealt with famous bankers from history, such as the Rothschilds, the Gurneys and the Lloyds, as well as 19th-century philanthropists and reformers such as Charles Dickens and Elizabeth Fry.