Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No.2016/44.

[Ray Boyles]

Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No.2016/44. 16 Dec 2016

Archive on 4: Instant History
BBC Radio 4: Sat 17 Dec 2016, 20.00 – 21.00
What if you could create an archive in a day? The oral history team at the University of Hertfordshire are working to create snapshots of moments in time. Over one weekend in October, they create a project on retirement. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0855vzd

The History of Secrecy
BBC Radio 4: Mon 19 to Fri 23 Dec 2016, 13.45 – 14.00. Five weekday episodes.
Tiffany Jenkins traces the story of secrecy down the centuries, starting in the ancient world and the Middle Ages. Subsequent episodes look at the Vatican archives, state secrets, family secrecy and the notion of transparency. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08575yn

Time Commanders
BBC Four: Mon 19 Dec 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 2 / 3
Hosted by Gregg Wallace, the reboot of the gaming show reliving great battles from history continues with the Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815. A team of aquarium workers will be fighting as Napoleon’s French forces and a team of competitive archers represent the Iron Duke’s coalition. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0864zhl

Digging for Britain
BBC Four: Tues 20 Dec 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 3 / 3 East
Alice Roberts reports on the immaculately preserved 3,000-year-old Cambridgeshie village, the theatre where Shakespeare premiered Romeo and Juliet; and evidence potentially pinpointing the location of the 1471 battle of Barnet, in which Edward IV defeated the Earl of Warwick. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0864zvq

Six Wives with Lucy Worsley
BBC One: Wed 21 Dec 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 3 / 3
Concluding her fly-on-the-wall docudrama series, Lucy Worsley eavesdrops on the wedding night of Henry VIII and his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. Things do not go well, hence we also hear the stories of Henry’s marriages to Catherine Howard and Katherine Parr. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b086zd44

In Our Time: Four Quartets
BBC Radio 4: Thu 22 Dec 2016, 9.00 – 9.45.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Four Quartets, TS Eliot’s last great work which he composed, against a background of imminent and actual world war. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0858w43

Vienna: Empire, Dynasty and Dream
BBC Four: Thu 22 Dec 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 3 / 3
Simon Sebag Montefiore focuses on the final days of the Habsburg dynasty, which crumbled during the First World War. The historian also considers Vienna’s role in inventing the modern world via such influential figures as Freud and Klimt. Last in the series. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08651j3

Close to the Enemy
BBC2: Thu 22 Dec 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 7 / 7. (Repeated Fri 23 Dec 23.05 – 00.05)
Victor remains haunted by the effects of the war but ultimately learns that there are some people who are too important to prosecute no matter what they have done.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0872y3w

Sources: Radio Times / History Extra

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