Rob Newman attempts to explain the sudden drop in numbers of successful women in business, engineering, science and management, as his series telling The History Of The World Backwards continues. In 1867, United States businessmen seeking a cheap, abundant energy source with which to replace oil and coal hit upon an ingenious solution: Negro slaves. Their plotting is overheard by black billionaire philanthropist Dougie Fredericks, who tries to foil their dastardly plan using a hard-to-conceal Edison phonograph for the world's last wire-tap. This leads to a quick getaway on the world's last aeroplane flight with wayward aeronautical engineer Orville Wright before Dougie can place the evidence before The Judge. George Stevenson gazes with pride at The Rocket on its maiden journey, only to find that his new-design steam locomotive has been bombed with tags from hip-hop graffiti artists. Meanwhile, John Merrick – the Elephant Man – runs away from St Barts hospital to join a travelling freak show. He explains how, at St Barts, he'd had a conversation with Charles Darwin who explained his new theory of "intelligent design". In 1610, to save Galileo from being burnt at the stake, Kepler is forced to reveal the secret of solar panels to the Duchess of Padua, who orders him to "rig up an improvised device like the A-Team".

• Richard McCabe
• Anton Lesser
• Colin McFarlane