The Chain: How The World Works

The car journey wouldn’t be possible without the tires or the EV battery; the ball game wouldn’t happen without the stadium lights or the pitch; your fast-food meal wouldn’t get served without the trucks that deliver ingredients to food producers and restaurants. Every item – from tires to burger sauce – is the result of a remarkable supply chain, a process that sees companies and people working together to ensure products get to the right place at the right time. Our modern world relies on the chain and this series shows you how it works.

THE CHAIN is a science and history series that updates the classic ‘how it’s made’ format. Every episode begins with one familiar or relatable everyday event – like a football game or a motor race – and then tells the supply chain story of the key items that made that event possible; we’re going to tell you how each item was made. We head into quarries and factories and workshops to find out…and it’s a production journey that stretches around the world, connecting hundreds of people across dozens of countries. But what also discover what happens when things go wrong – seemingly distant disruptions like bad weather in one country can have a ripple effect on the production of a product in another.

This series highlights the importance of the chain to our modern world – because without the chain stores shelves would sit empty and the lights would go out.

The story of the chain is the story of how the world works.

Each of the six episodes focuses on one subject: FOOD, MEDICINE, TRANSPORT, CLOTHES, ELECTRONICS, ENTERTAINMENT