Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No 45. 10 Dec 2015.

British Liberalism: The Grand Tour.
BBC Radio 4: Fri 11 Dec 2015, 21.00 – 22.00. Omnibus Episode 1 of 2
Anne McElvoy traces the story of 300 years of liberalism in Britain, from John Locke to New Liberalism. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06r8hr9

My History.
BBC Radio 4: Mon 14 – Fri 18 Dec 2015, 9.45 – 10.00. Five daily episodes of Book of the Week.
Historian Lady Antonia Fraser reads her memoir describes growing up in the 1930s and 1940s but its real concern is with her growing love of History. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06rx463

The Quizeum
BBC Four: Mon 14 Dec 2015, 20.30 – 21.00. 7 / 8
The Quizeum visits the Horniman Museum in London, which specialises in anthropology, natural history and musical instruments. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06s5vbc

British Liberalism: The Grand Tour
BBC Radio 4: Mon 14 to Fri 18 Dec 2015, 13.45 – 14.00. Episodes 6 to 10.
Anne McElvoy reflects on votes for women, explores rival solutions to the 1930s Depression and the distinctively embattled liberalism that emerged in the Cold War. She then traces the rise and fall of the 1960s liberals and how liberalism has since come under pressure, and what this tells us about liberalism’s limits, and its future. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06t44pc

Blood and Gold: The Making of Spain with Simon Sebag Montefiore
BBC Four: Tue 15 Dec 2015, 21.00 – 22.00. 2 / 3: Reconquest
Simon Sebag Montefiore continues his journey through Southern Spain to tell the story of how Christian Spain fought back against centuries of conquest. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03b2nqh

Tumanbay
BBC Radio 4: Wed 16 Dec 2015, 14.15 – 15.00. 3 / 10: Ship of the Dead
Adrift at sea in a small boat and captive to an escaped slave, fourteen year old daughter of slave merchant Ibn depends on her slave captor for her survival. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06rz91n. Key characters:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5hZDmXmPD09D1HVHFfm04jw/tumanbay-characters-to-watch-out-for

Ancient Ways with Bettany Hughes
BBC Radio 4: Fri 18 Dec 2015, 11.00 – 11.30. 3 / 3
Bettany completes the final section of the road through Turkey to Istanbul, tracking the movement of stories along the road and discovering the way the Ottomans adapted it to their new empire. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06s1b8r

British Liberalism: The Grand Tour.
BBC Radio 4: Fri 18 Dec 2015, 21.00 – 22.00. Omnibus Episode 2 of 2
From Millicent Fawcett to Multiculturalism: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06s1gcq

Blood and Gold: The Making of Spain with Simon Sebag Montefiore
BBC Four: Tue 22 Dec 2015, 21.00- 22.00. 3 / 3: Nation
Simon Sebag Montefiore explores Spain’s Golden Age under Philip II through to the Spanish Civil War and dictatorship under Franco from which Spain has emerged as a modern democratic monarchy. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03b2q95

• Producer Marion Milne discusses the series: http://www.historyextra.com/podcast/Atlantic-history-Spain

Tumanbay
BBC Radio 4: Wed 23 Dec 2015, 14.15 – 15.00. 4 / 10: Hidden Knowledge
Shajar, the sultan’s chief wife, plots her son Madu’s succession to the throne. Madu’s slave finds solace with an unlikely companion while marching with the army out to the provinces. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06s9j7l

Key characters:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5hZDmXmPD09D1HVHFfm04jw/tumanbay-characters-to-watch-out-for

The Quizeum: Christmas Special
BBC Four: Fri 25 Dec 2015, 19.00 – 19.30. 8 / 8
For this Christmas Day episode Griff Rhys Jones and his teams of experts visit the V&A Museum of Childhood. Originally founded as a museum for the East End area of London, today it houses the largest collection of childhood objects in the UK. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06ssj6l