Things We Forgot to Remember - Series 3 - The Darien Scheme

Michael Portillo presents a series revisiting the great moments of history to discover that they often conceal other events of equal but forgotten importance. The real reason behind the 1707 Act of Union which saw England and Scotland merged was a disastrous colonial expedition. But why did a small settlement in what is now Panama bring a nation to its knees and why it has been reduced to such a tiny footnote in the story?