Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No.2016/15. 23 April 2016.

World War One: the Cultural Front
BBC Radio 4: Sat 23 Apr 2016, 10.30 – 11.00. 3 of 3: The Tank & the Home Front
That endless, terrible year of 1916. Francine Stock explores the struggle for meaning, freedom, sanity and possibility. Movements challenged the establishment, from the defiant darkness of Dadaism in Switzerland to the revolutions of the Easter Rising in Ireland. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0780jwq

Shakespeare’s Tomb
More 4: Sat 23 Apr 2016, 18.55 – 20.00
Documentary charting a two-year-long archeological investigation of William Shakespeare’s grave at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. For the first time since Shakespeare’s death 400 years ago, the church has authorised archaeologists to conduct a study, utilising state-of-the-art radar technology without disturbing the hallowed site. http://www.tvguide.co.uk/detail/2333078/117122403/shakespeares-tomb
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/shakespeares-tomb

Archive on 4: Rising Voices
BBC Radio 4: Sat 23 Apr 2016, 20.00 – 21.00.
Renowned journalist and broadcaster Fergal Keane explores the roots of a cultural revival which stoked the fires of the Easter Rising in 1916. With contributions from Prof Declan Kiberd, Dr Lucy Collins and Prof Roy Foster, and archive recordings from the BBC and the Irish National Bureau of Military History, Fergal demonstrates how language, poetry, drama and song helped to shape both the Rising and its legacy. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0783kvv

Shakespeare Live! From The RSC
BBC Two: Sat 23 Apr 2016, 20.30 – 22.30
The BBC’s season of Shakespeare programming to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death culminates in this live event hosted by Catherine Tate and David Tennant. A star-studded lineup including Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren join them to celebrate Shakespeare’s enduring legacy and influence. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0791mqd

The Rest Is History
BBC Radio 3: Sun 23 Apr 2016, 19.15 – 19.00
The historical panel show which Frank Skinner hosts and historian Kate Williams offers an expert perspective, This week are Chris Addison and Alun Cochrane, who discuss the three wise men, Jack Straw (not that one), Henry Austen and a weaponry timeline.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07858bs

The Hairy Bikers’ Pubs That Built Britain
BBC Two: Mon 25 to Fri 29 Apr 2016, 18.30 – 19.00. Five-part daily.
Si King and Dave Myers host a weekday series tracing the history of Britain’s public houses. They reach the swinging sixties in Liverpool. Si and Dave meet up with John Lennon’s 1950s drinking buddies and pay a visit one of the Beatles’ earliest gigging venues, the Cavern. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0794p2h

The Hollow Crown
BBC 4: Mon 25 to Thu 28 Apr 2016. Start times vary 4 days.
The Hollow Crown brings together four filmed adaptations of Shakespeare’s History Plays – Richard II, Henry IV parts 1 and 2, and Henry V. Starting in the year 1399, this continuous story of monarchy follows events during sixteen years of dynastic and political power play. Kings, with their families and followers, are threatened by rebellion and conflict. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00s90j1

The Ideas that made Us.
BBC Radio 4: Tue 26 Apr 2016, 9.30 – 10.00. 1 / 5: Pysche.
Bettany Hughes examines her psyche in her archaeology of philosophy. The surprising and invigorating history of the most influential ideas in the story of civilisation, described as ‘a double espresso shot of philosophy, history, science and the arts’. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04v30zq

Mary Beard’s Ultimate Rome: Empire without Limits
BBC Two: Wed 27 Apr 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 1 / 4.
Professor Mary Beard returns with a new series that asks some big questions about Rome’s dominance in the ancient world. How did a small Italian town come to conquer such a vast empire? What was responsible for the rise and fall of the Romans? In this first episode, Mary Beard examines how myths and legends can give us an insight into the Roman psyche. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0797ysr

The Anglo-Irish Century
BBC Radio 4: Fri 29 Apr 2016, 11.00 – 11.30. 2 / 4.
In the second programme in his series looking at the last hundred years of Anglo-Irish history historian Diarmaid Ferriter covers the period following the Anglo-Irish agreement of 1921 which brought into being the Irish Free State and saw then saw it descend, within a year, into a bitter civil war. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07889g8

A History of Ancient Britain.
BBC 4: Fri 29 Apr 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 3 / 4: Age of Cosmology.
Neil Oliver continues his journey through the world of Ancient Britain as he encounters an age of cosmological priests and some of the greatest monuments of the Stone Age, including Stonehenge itself. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z0k23