After seeing Charles VIII though Rome with an uncertain deal with pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia, we go back to see how the Borgias came to Italy from Spain with Alphonse of Aragon, rose to the papacy with Callixtus III who in turn raised his nephew Rodrigo. He would eventually, thanks to one of his many lovers, have three children before becoming pope, Cesare, Giovanni and Lucrezia, who would all go on to their own adventures.

To celebrate our 6th anniversary on 3rd January, we look back on some of the most memorable sketches that have accompanied the regular episodes. From the first appearance of the Great Turnip, through the fish, frog, falcon fly king, strange trade corporations in Florence, agreeing on baguette battles to a conversation with the supreme being himself. Follow us on a rather silly journey down memory lane.

We spoke to Travel book author, adventurer and novelist Simon Gaul about his new book "White Suicide" which covers a dark period of Italian history in which Christian Democrat Party leader Aldo Moro was kidnapped and assassinated just as he was about to sign a historical deal which would have allowed the Italian communist party a seat at the table of Italian government. The kidnapping and murder were claimed by the far left Red Brigades, but strong suspicions remain to this day about the involvement of members of the infamous P2 Masonic lodge, members of the Italian political establishment and even the CIA. In his novel on the affair, Simon brings together highly in-depth research with an intelligent fictional reconstruction of aspects we do not know to this day... and may never know.

We follow the life of mystic, prophet and monk, Gerolamo Savonarola, who came to have a great moral influence over Florence, particularly after the expulsion of the Medici. His increasing fiery denunciation of the immorality of the Florentines and then the church and pope Alexander VI made him more and more enemies, ready to pounce on him the moment his popularity waned.

Charles VIII of France starts to head into Italy, beginning with the lands of Savoy where a 2-year-old duke leaves things to his mum to deal with the expensive guest who also asks her for a loan. Meanwhile, the Neapolitans try to go on the offensive by attacking locations along the Tuscan and Ligurian coast to no avail. Charles then meets with Ludovico il Moro, then the real duke of Milan Gian Galeazzo Sforza, who then dies a week after the meeting, saying goodbye to his dogs and horses at his deathbed. Then it is to Florence, where the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Piero, after sitting on the fence for a while, rolls over and gives Charles more than necessary and hets kicked out of Florence for it. Charles, however, fares no better with the new Florentine government and after a confusing argument about horns and bells, he makes his way to Rome with reduced results from the negotiation.

We look at the background to the expedition by King Charles VIII of France into Italy to claim the throne of Naples. This takes us to explore the situation i Milan, with Duke Gian Galeazzo Sforza and his uncle Ludovico il Moro, then to Naples, where king Alphonse II has just succeeded his father Ferrante. We see the diplomatic and military preparation that once again sees the Italian powers, Milan, Venice, Florence, the Papal States and Naples have to decide which side to line up on, with the novelty of the most powerful army in Europe heading into the peninsula.This is the start of the Italian Wars, the conflict that really took Europe into the Modern Age.

Before charging into the modern age, we take our usual look back on past episodes for a recap. In this case we look at the middle to late 15th century as the "big five" Naples, Milan, Venice, Florence and the Papal States struggle for dominance in a complicated balance, without forgetting interesting minor players, such as Savoy, Urbino and Trentino.

We go back to a quiet mountain valley of north-eastern Italy where the peace was forever broken by one of the country's most ambitious architerctural and engineering projects that ended in one of the worst disasters in the history of Italy in the 20th century. This is the story of how progress and profit was put before thousands of human lives, this is the story of Vajont, a story that must be remenered,

Just a few seconds to let you knwo that we are almost ready to get back on track, but we need for the surroundings to go back so some minimal for of tranquility

We linger yet another episode in the Middle Ages to take a look at the Duchy of Urbino and in particular the "condottiero" Federico da Montefeltro, he of th eodd shped nose. There is also a murder mystery surrounding the death of his predessssor and some macbre pasrts with intimate bit being detatched.