Skip to content or footer

Back to Home

Online Video

From viral memes to video essays, discover highlights from a new BFI National Archive collection...

First came the Cinema Age, then the TV Age, and now the age of Online Video. Digital film created for distribution online is today’s most dynamic, influential screen form. Encompassing much that’s new, from ASMR and Unboxing Videos to Twitch streaming and TikTok twerking, it’s also breathed new life into older film forms, filling our screens with fresh takes on advertising, journalism, satire, public information, campaigning, training and much else that’s been with us since time immemorial, and variously taking the forms of comedy, drama, documentary and animation. It’s become embedded into every aspect of UK (and world) society.

This unique collection of 50 online videos combines iconic highlights of British online video with other examples chosen to illustrate that sheer diversity. All were acquired by the BFI National Archive as part of the Lottery funded Our Screen Heritage programme. Our thanks to the Lottery, and lottery ticket buyers nationwide. for their support of this vital collecting and preservation work.

60 items in this collection

Inside the Archive: Collecting Online Moving Image

  • 2026-05-14
A short film recounts the story of the Trojan Room Coffee Pot, one of the world’s first webcams, and the images it captured before disappearing.

The Trojan Room Coffee Pot Movie

  • 2024-07-11

Online Caroline Walkthrough April 2025

  • 2025-05-01

Weymouth 2001

  • 2001
Meet The Booo Krooo – three animated MCs attempting to dominate the 2002 London music scene from their radio station Dunce FM.

THE BOOO KROO 'WORK IT'

  • 2002

We Like The Moon

  • 2002-02-23
One of the early web’s most recognisable viral animations, featuring dancing badgers, a mushroom and a snake in a hypnotic, endlessly looping Flash classic.

Badgers

  • 2003-09-02

Howard Davies Carr on Charlie bit my finger - again!

  • 2026-05-12
A spontaneous family moment between two brothers became one of YouTube’s earliest global viral hits, capturing the platform’s emerging culture of everyday shared video.

Charlie Bit My Finger - Again!

  • 2007-05-22

Paul Weedon on I can’t believe you’ve done this

  • 2026-05-12

I Can't Believe You've Done This

  • 2007-07-13
After DVDs and MySpace, YouTube became the home of Grime music, with the DIY stylings of Tim & Barry capturing a scene in full flow

CHIP | TIM & BARRY TV | 64 BAR STATEMENT

  • 2007-08-17

Scotch Mist

  • 2008-02-01

Red Hot Entertainment on Junior Spesh

  • 2026-05-12

Red Hot Entertainment - Junior Spesh (ft. Jaxor, Klayze Flaymz, Terra & Ray)

  • 2007-10-08
A snappy promotional trailer for the fictional videoblog series KateModern, following committed vlogger, Kate and her friends.

KateModern Trailer

  • 2007

No Through Road

  • 2009-01-16

Mandem On The Wall - Episode 1

  • 2011-12-24

The Nick Clegg Apology Song: I'm Sorry (The Autotune Remix)

  • 2012-09-20

How to Code Music with Raspberry Pi & Sonic Pi

  • 2013-10-06

British Gas Rampage

  • 2013-10-29
A sleep-inducing ASMR video of ‘ear’ massage and brushing, utilising the 3Dio binaural microphone.

Binaural ASMR Ear Massage & Ear Brushing

  • 2014-08-04
As her channel surpasses 4 million subscribers, YouTuber Zoe Sugg shares an early home video that shows her "vlogging" even as a little girl

Vlogging At 11 Years Old | Zoella

  • 2014-03-02
A sci‑fi vlog in which Adrian Bliss reports from the future, blending DIY effects with his early self‑aware comic style.

Vlog From The Future #4

  • 2015-10-30
Filmed during a research project in Costa Rica, this widely viewed video captures marine biologist Dr Nathan J. Robinson and the Leatherback Trust team removing a plastic fork lodged deep inside the nostril of an olive ridley sea turtle. The close‑up rescue highlights both the immediate harm caused by single‑use plastics and the delicate fieldwork required to treat affected marine animals. This footage follows Robinson’s earlier involvement in the similarly viral “sea turtle with a straw in its nostril” video, which amassed millions of views worldwide and inspired a wave of public outrage over ocean plastics. Both YouTube videos played a key role in drawing global attention to the issue and helped to catalyse discussions that led to plastic‑straw bans in several countries. The turtle’s struggle as the fork is removed makes the impact of plastic pollution painfully clear, offering a first‑hand glimpse of suffering that statistics alone can’t convey, and shows why such footage continues to spark global outrage online.

Plastic Fork Removed from a Sea Turtle's Nose!

  • 2015-12-08
Stay At Home Mum blogger Eileen Teo demonstrates how to make a Lunar New Year lantern, Blue Peter-style

Stapeless Chinese New Year Lantern Tutorial with KOKUYO

  • 2015-02-06

Fox chased and saboteur attacked

  • 2015-07-15

Rabz Lansiquot on Nyansapo

  • 2026-05-12
A Ghanian grandmother reflects on her experiences of emigrating to London after the end of colonial rule, while sharing her family recipe for jollof rice 

Nyansapo

  • 2017-12-07

Let Refugees Learn

  • 2017

Adjani Salmon & Natasha Jatania on Dreaming Whilst Black

  • 2026-05-12

The Great British Race Off

  • 2018-03-18

Charity Shop Sue | Part 1 | Sec*hand Chances

  • 2019-10-15

Ash Sarkar x Extinction Rebellion: Lovebomb the Cops?

  • 2019-10-08
From the Hays Code to the Yellow Power Ranger, video essayist Rowan Ellis delivers a crash course in queer theory and cinema.

The Evolution of Queerbaiting: from Queercoding to Queercatching

  • 2019-01-30

MAWAAN - Mango (Official Video)

  • 2019-07-10
A relaxing, real-time recording from the bow of David Johns’ narrowboat as it cruises along Macclesfield Canal on a sunny late-summer day.

207. Slow TV: Narrowboat Cruising along the Macclesfield Canal

  • 2020-01-23

Olive and Mabel. Episode 1 - The Dog's Breakfast Grand Final

  • 2020-03-20

The Movie Gifs That Keep on Giving

  • 2020-05-14

Hannah Witton on The Truth About Sexual Desire

  • 2026-05-12

The Truth About Sexual Desire | Hannah Witton

  • 2020-09-15
A passionate poem about language and cultural identity from Scots poet Len Pennie

I’m No Havin Children

  • 2021-06-19

Lucy Edwards on How Does a Blind Girld Do Her Own Makeup?

  • 2026-05-12

How Does A Blind Girl Do Her Own Makeup? #shorts

  • 2021-01-30

Mixed Feelings - by Nozomi Tolworthy

  • 2022-06-01
Maia Pace (@barbie_advocates) delivers a matter-of-fact monologue on the barriers people with chronic illnesses face when accessing care, all while flushing their (bejewelled) nose tube.

Know Your Own Mind and Stand Strong

  • 2022-08-12

Some Scots Can't Say "Purple Burglar Alarm"

  • 2021-08-28

What Isn't a Video Essay?

  • 2021-09-23

Day seven: Which wet lettuce will last longer?

  • 2022-10-20

Things I Would Hope Were General Knowledge

  • 2022-10-30

Chetna Makan on Cooking with Chetna

  • 2026-05-12

Mums Punjabi Kadhi | Delicious Punjabi Pakora kadhi | Easy Yogurt Curry | Food with Chetna

  • 2023-05-31

Is There a Trans Person Lurking in Your Bathroom? Message 5318008 to Report Suspicious Activity

  • 2023-02-16

STRAND Collective on NATIVES

  • 2026-05-12
A short documentary that explores the Yoruba language and its place amongst the British diaspora

NATIVES

  • 2023-10-01

Waiting List / Nowadays

  • 2023-10-06

Check in on Those around You | #WorldMentalHealthDay #youarenotalone

  • 2023-10-10

77 Squadron: A Raid Too Far

  • 2023-12-08
Curators from the British Museum tackle questions about the Roman Empire

Everything you wanted to ask about the ancient Roman Empire | History Hotline

  • 2024-05-30

Makaton Signs - Feelings / Emotions 😀☹️😫

  • 2025-04-07