Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No.2016/21. 4 June 2016.

D-Day: The Last Heroes
BBC Four: Sat 4 June 2016, 20.00 – 21.00. 1 / 2.
As we approach the anniversary of the D-Day landings, historian Dan Snow pieces together the dramatic events of June 1944. Surviving veterans recount their experiences, sharing stories of espionage, inventive tactics and meticulous planning. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0198pxz

The Musketeers
BBC One: 4 June 2016, 20.30 – 21.25. 2 /10
The musketeers’ riotous adventures through 17th-century France continue. With starving mouths to feed, executions to prevent and refugees to rescue, D’Artagnan and his friends must once again come to the rescue in Paris. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07g8sms

12 Years a Slave
Channel 4: Sat 4 June 2016, 21.00 – 23.45. Feature Film Drama.
Based on the real-life memoir of Solomon Northup, Steve McQueen’s historical drama tells the story of a free man kidnapped and sold into slavery in 19th-century America. The Oscar-winning film follows Northup’s bitter struggle to escape enslavement and make it back to his family alive.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/12-years-a-slave

Poetry Extra: Oh What a Lively War
BBC Radio 4 Extra: Sun 5 June 2016, 17.00 – 15.30
BBC Radio 4’s Poet in Residence, Daljit Nagra revisits BBC radio’s poetry archive with ‘Oh What a Lively War’ profiling French First World War poet, Guillaume Apollinaire. Original broadcast 2010.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vvx8m

Classic Serial, James Fenimore Cooper – The Spy
BBC Radio 4 Extra: Mon 6 June 2016, 10.00 – 11.00, rptd 15.00 – 16.00. Episode 1 of 2
New York State, 1778. Henry Wharton, a young soldier for the British in the American War of Independence, creeps into no-man’s land to spend an evening with his family. Dramatised by DJ Britton. First broadcast 2012.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019rgnv

Storm Troupers: The Fight to Forecast the Weather
BBC Four: Mon 6 June 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 3 / 3
In the last of the series, Alok Jha picks up his history of weather forecasting in the aftermath of the Second World War. He brings us up-to-date with a look at how the science of weather has been transformed into a multi-million dollar industry. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07f27j1

Classic Serial, James Fenimore Cooper – The Spy
BBC Radio 4 Extra: Tue 7 June 2016, 10.00 – 11.00, rptd 15.00 – 16.00. Episode 2 of 2
New York State, 1778. Henry Wharton, a young soldier for the British, has been captured by American forces while wearing a disguise in no-man’s land. He must stand trial as a spy, and if found guilty, he will hang. Can General Washington be found in time to issue a pardon? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b8yyb

Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the 19th Century
BBC Four: Tues 7 June 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 2 / 3.
Suzy Klein continues her foray into 19th-century musical history with an examination of how music acted as a rallying cry for revolution. She also looks at the ways in which the work of composers such as Chopin, Wagner and Verdi proved a powerful force for expressing nationalism in an age of uncertainty. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07f2blk

Vikings
History Channel: Tues 7 May 2016, 22.00 – 23.00. 3 / 10: Warrior’s Fate
King Ecbert visits the developing Viking settlement as the first harvest is sown and rebuffs criticism from his leading nobles. http://www.history.co.uk/shows/vikings/episode-guide/vikings-series-3

Versailles
BBC Two: Wed 8 June 2016, 21.30 – 22.30. Rpted Sat 11 June 22.55 New series. 2 / 10.
Scandal and intrigue at Louis XIV’s royal court deepen as the notorious French drama continues. Feeling the need to preserve his reputation and reassert his authority, the king turns to harsh measures to keep his courtiers in line. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07gb1fx

Tommies
BBC Radio 4: Thu 9 June 2016, 14.15 – 15.00. 2 / 5:
Meticulously based on war diaries and eye-witness accounts, each episode of TOMMIES traces one real day at war exactly 100 years ago. In this story by Michael Chaplin during the build up to the Somme Mickey Bliss’s plan to test Capitaine Vasserot’s new communication device in No Man’s Land doesn’t go according to plan.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07dnqjj

In Our Time: Penicillin
BBC Radio 4: Thu 9 June 2016, 9.00 – 9.45
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss penicillin, discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928. It is said he noticed some blue-green penicillium mould on an uncovered petri dish at his hospital laboratory, and that this mould had inhibited bacterial growth around it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07dnnkm

Peaky Blinders
BBC Two: Thu 9 June 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 6 / 6.
The latest series of Steven Knight’s gangster drama comes to a conclusion. Tommy Shelby faces ever-more dangerous decisions as he sets his sights on committing the Blinders’ biggest crime to date. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07fg86c

Sources: Radio Times / History Extra