A major part of South East Cornwall history features on television on December 8.

Brunel: The Man Who Built Britain (Channel 5, 8pm) focuses on Victorian visionary Isambard Kingdom Brunel, still regarded as one of Britain’s greatest ever engineers.

In this two-part documentary, Rob Bell takes a closer look at both Brunel’s extraordinary achievements and the complex personality that drove them, and discovers that he was obsessed with public acclaim.

He would also stop at nothing to bring his projects to fruition - as well as risking his own life, hundreds of people were killed while working for him.

In the first episode, Rob examines Brunel’s first major project, the Thames Tunnel, which is still in use today as part of the London Overground rail.