The concept for the series was developed after Valerie Singleton had presented a successful documentary 'special' with HRH Princess Anne when she had visited Kenya in 1971.
The first programme to be filmed was the one featuring Rome and included a personal address to the children of Britain from Pope Paul VI in The Vatican.
Later the show began to look at famous houses or famous individuals and included biographies of Vivaldi, The Brontë Sisters, The Duke of Wellington, Saint Therese of Lisieux, Marie Antoinette and Rudyard Kipling and both Lesley Judd and Peter Purves began presenting the series in place of Singleton.
The series theme was 'Rivers', with Singleton examining the Yukon and Niagara, while Purves reported on the Tamar, the Tweed and the Singapore Rivers.
The series was repeated on BBC1 in November/December 1973 with the broadcast order changed to: Rome, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Paris, City of London, Vienna.