Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No.2016/10. 11 March 2016.

The Civil War
PBS America: Sun 6 Mar 2016, 07.20 – 21.25. (Sky 534, Virgin 276) Back-to-back episodes.
A re-mastered version of PBS’s most watched programme ever. This epic documentary on the American Civil War has been completely restored by Ken Burns and his team, 25 years after its original screening.
http://www.pbsamerica.co.uk/154/The-Civil-War/373

Lincoln’s Last Day
PBS America: Sun 6 Mar 2016, 06.25 – 07.20 & 21.25 – 22.25.
This documentary recalls the tragic events of April 14, 1865, following both the assassin and his victim Abraham Lincoln. http://www.pbsamerica.co.uk/154/Lincolns-Last-Day/884
Art of Scandinavia
BBC Four: Mon 14 Mar, 21.00 – 22.00. 1 /3: Dark Night of the Soul
Andrew Graham-Dixon explores the extraordinary art to come out of the dark Norwegian soul, most famous for producing The Scream by Edvard Munch. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b073mp87

Making History
BBC Radio 4: Tue 15 Mar 2016, 15.00 – 15.30. 6 / 8.
The latest historical and archaeological research. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07378d1

Brendan O’Carroll: My Family at War
BBC2: Wed 16 Mar 2016, 21.00 – 22.00
Almost one hundred years later, in a deeply personal film, writer and comedian Brendan O’Carroll, star of Mrs Brown’s Boys, tells the story of the Irish Easter Rising 1916. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b074719c

In Our Time: Bedlam
BBC Radio 4: Thu 17 Mar 2016, 09.00 – 09.45.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the early years of Bedlam, the name given to the London hospital of St Mary of Bethlehem outside Bishopsgate. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0739rfg

Digging for Britain
BBC Four: Thu 17 Mar 2016, 21.00 – 21.00. 2 /4. East.
Professor Alice Roberts explores the year’s most exciting archaeological finds in the east of Britain. A team unearths a mass grave, divers search the Thames for clues to a 17th-century tragedy, and a metal detectorist makes the find of a lifetime. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b073mr9r

The Easter Rising
BBC Radio 4: Fri 18 Mar 2016, 11.00 – 11.30. 1 / 2.
A two-part series presented by Heather Jones of the London School of Economics examining in forensic detail the events of Easter 1916 in Ireland and drawing on the latest research into this much-interpreted, much-debated subject. http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2016/11/the-easter-rising-1916

Briefings: 1916 Easter Rising.
BBC World Service – now on iPlayer until 22 March.
Professor Joe Lee of New York University delivers a lecture on the Easter Rising of 1916 at the Irish Embassy in London. Monday 18 January. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0730bg5/briefings-1916-easter-rising