Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No.28. 14 Aug 2015.

Walking Through History: England’s Last Battle: The West Country
Channel 4: Sat 15 Aug 2015, 19.00 – 20.00.
Tony Robinson’s walk leads you through Dorset, Devon and Somerset to Sedgemoor – the location of the last pitched battle on English soil. Details & walking guide / map:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/walking-through-history/articles/all/englands-last-battle-the-west-country

The History of the Peloponnesian War.
Daily Episodes 1 to 5 (rpt of Book of the Week April 2015)
BBC Radio 4: Mon 17 – Fri 21 Aug 2015, 9.45 – 10.00
Ancient Greek historian Thucydides’ spellbinding first-hand account chronicles the devastating 27-year-long war between Athens and Sparta during the 5th century BC. This abridgement is by Tom Holland.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b065ssqt

The Scandalous Lady W
BBC 2: Mon 17 Aug 2015, 21.00 – 22.30
Natalie Dormer stars as Seymour, Lady Worsley, who in 1781 ran off with her lover, George Bisset (Aneurin Bernard). What followed was a court case that scandalised society, as this 90-minute drama relates.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0671j78

Andrew Marr on Churchill: Blood, Sweat and Oil Paint
BBC Four: Mon 17 Aug 2015, 21.00 – 22.00
Winston Churchill was a keen amateur painter and, contends Andrew Marr, his hobby helped shape his public career in sometimes surprising ways. Marr also paints and the healing power of art, which the journalist says helped him recover from a stroke, is a recurring theme here.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06714yz

World War II: 1941 and the Man of Steel
BBC Four: Mon 17 Aug 2015, 22.00 – 23.30
Marking the 70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, historian Professor David Reynolds reassesses Stalin’s role in the life and death struggle between Germany and Russia in World War Two.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011wh1g

Making History.
BBC Radio 4: Tue 18 Aug 2015, 15.00 – 15.30. 7/8
Tom Holland is joined by Dr Adrian Green and Greg Jenner to discuss the housing crisis of the 1920s, the influence of radical Warrington, and the significance of facial hair in Roman times
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b065vrl6

The Unshakeable Hagia Sophia
PBS America: Tue 18 Aug 2015, 19.50 – 21.00.
Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was originally commissioned by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in 532AD.
This documentary takes a look at one of the world’s most magnificent structures and investigates how it has remained standing for 1,500 years. Fascinating subject matter albeit somewhat irritating narration.
http://pbsamerica.co.uk/155/The-Unshakable-Hagia-Sophia/859

Black Sails.
History: Tue 18 Aug 2015, 22.00 – 23.00. Episode 7.
Drama set in 1715. The Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean is at its apex. The cost of chasing the Andromache continues to mount for Flint: http://blacksails.tv/

Horizon: First Britons
BBC 2: Wed 19 Aug 2015, 20.00 – 21.00.
The science strand explores the latest archaeological discoveries, which have yielded results to challenge the idea that our ancestors lived a brutal existence as hunter-gatherers. Rather, the earliest native Britons were clever, adaptable and adept at managing the lands they relied upon for sustenance.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0675hcv

Confucius: Genius of The Ancient World
BBC Four: Wed 19 Aug 2015, 21.00 – 22.00
Bettany Hughes profiles the Chinese philosopher, whose ideas were in great part about promoting harmony and the whole business of getting along with our fellow humans. The influence of Confucius, Hughes discovers, has endured through China’s turbulent history, even when challenged, notably during Mao’s Cultural Revolution.: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b066d0v5

Decoding the Masterworks
BBC Radio 4: Thu 20 Aug 2015 11.30 – 12.04.
Dr Janina Ramirez is joined by Professor Martin Kemp and Professor Catherine Whistler of the Ashmolean museum to examine and decode the perspective brilliance of Paolo Uccello’s painting The Hunt in the Forest. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b065x676

Building the Ancient City: Athens and Rome
BBC 2: Thu 20 Aug 2015, 20.00 – 21.00. 1/2
In a two-part series, Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill considers how, more than two millennia ago, the Athenians and Romans made their cities work. He begins with Athens, the first city in the world to be controlled by its citizens rather than a monarch. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0671rt9