Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No.2016/25. 2 July 2016

The Musketeers
BBC One: Sat 2 July 2016, 20.30 – 21.25. 5 /10
The Musketeers battle to restore order in Paris after Grimaud and Feron stage an ambitious Chatelet breakout, setting free a lunatic with murderous designs on the Louvre. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07c173d

Sunday Feature: Dawn on the Somme
BBC Radio 3: Sun 3 July 2016, 18.45 – 19.30
Kate Kennedy looks back at the Somme by considering the lives of British composers and musicians who fought in Picardie in 1916. They include George Butterworth, who was shot dead by a sniper in August 1916, and Arthur Bliss, who survived the conflict. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07j3m4w

China’s Forgotten Emperor
Channel 4: Sun 3 July 2016, 20.00 – 21.00
Wu Zetian (624–705) rose from being a lowly concubine to become the only woman in Chinese history to assume the title of emperor. She is remembered as a vicious tyrant yet, as this documentary explores, new research offers a far more nuanced picture. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/chinas-forgotten-emperor

The Somme: The First 24 Hours
Discovery & Discovery History: Sun 3 July 2016, 20.00 – 21.00. (Repeated: Mon 4 July 2016, 21.00 – 22.00)
More than 19,000 British troops died on the first day of the Somme. How to convey such a tragedy? Drawing on a secret diary kept by soldier Frank Meakin, Tony Robinson focuses in on five ‘pals’ from Sheffield as a way to show the human cost of the battle.
http://www.discoveryuk.com/shows/the-somme-the-first-24-hours-with-tony-robinson/

War of Words: Soldier-Poets of the Somme
BBC4: Sun 3 July 2016, 21.00 – 22.30
Michael Sheen narrates the experiences of the poets and writers who served in the battle. Includes the work of Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, David Jones, Isaac Rosenberg and JRR Tolkien. First broadcast 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04pw01r

Hidden Histories: WWI’s Forgotten Photographs
BBC4: Sun 3 July 2016, 22.30 – 23.30
Documentary telling the extraordinary untold story of soldiers’ photography in the First World War. Some British and German soldiers marched off to war with secret ‘vest pocket’ cameras. First broadcast 2014.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03xsrvv

Spirits of the Somme
Discovery History: Sun 3 July 2016, 22.00 – 23.00
Explores the work being carried out by historians and enthusiasts to commemorate and increase the understanding of one of the bloodiest and most tragic battles of the 20th Century.

Cold War: Stories from the Big Freeze
BBC Radio 4: Mon 4 to Fri 8 July 2016, 13.45 – 14.00. Part of a new 15-part weekday series. 1 – 5 of 15.
As part of a Radio 4 season on the Cold War, Bridget Kendall considers key moments in its early history. She begins in Greece in 1944, when communists and forces loyal to the monarchy contended for power. Also this week – the communist takeover of Czechoslovakia, Italy’s 1948 election and the Berlin blockade.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07j40x0

The Essay: The Somme.
BBC Radio 3: Mon 4 to Fri 8 July 2016, 22.45 – 23.00.
In a week of broadcasts tracking the 100th anniversary of the first week of the Battle of the Somme, Radio 3’s Essay series is featuring five new poems written in response to the battle.
4th July: Paul Muldoon: July 1st 1916, With the Ulster Division
5th July: Yrsa Daley-Ward: When your mother calls you, come.
6th July: Bill Manhire: Known Unto God
7th July: Jackie Kay: Private Joseph Kay
8th July: Daljit Nagra: On your ‘A 1940 Memory’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07j3vnc

Vikings
History Channel: Tues 5 July 2016, 22.00 – 23.00. 7 / 10: Paris
The appearance of the Viking fleet causes panic among the population of Paris. It’s Commander, Count Odo, is confident that the city is prepared for an attack. The Emperor Charles announces in Court he will remain in the city. http://www.history.co.uk/shows/vikings/episode-guide/vikings-series-3

Versailles
BBC Two: Wed 6 July 2016, 21.00 – 21.55. 6 / 10.
A protest halts construction at the palace but Louis refuses to let Philippe help and matters escalate, allowing plotters to pose a genuine threat to the young king’s rule. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07k775c

Inside Versailles
BBC Two: Wed 6 July 2016, 21.55– 22.00. 6 /10
Historical discussion show inspired by drama series Versailles. Professor Kate Williams and Greg Jenner explore the topic of religious conflict in early modern France.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07jd9xp

In Our Time: The Invention of Photography
BBC Radio 4: Thu 7 July 2016, 9.00 – 9.45
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the development of photography in the 1830s, when techniques for ‘drawing with light’ evolved to the stage where, in 1839, both Daguerre and Fox Talbot made claims for its invention. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07j699g

Drama: Defoe – Merchant, Writer, Convict, Spy
BBC Radio 4: Fri 8 July 2016, 14.15 0 – 15.00
Philip Palmer’s biographical drama tells the story of a man trying to survive in an extremely hard world; of how Daniel Defoe wrote his way out of trouble in prison, came to the attention of one of the most powerful men in England, and became a spy for the government in the lead up to the Act of Union
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07j7nv3

Kipling’s Indian Adventure
BBC Two: Fri 8 July 2016, 23.35 – 00.35. (First broadcast Feb 2016)
This documentary film follows the footsteps of Rudyard Kipling, 19th-century English writer and a Nobel Prize winner. Patrick Hennessey travels to Lahore to reassess Kipling’s adventures and their impact on his literature
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b071xz0p

Sources: Radio Times / History Extra