Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No.2016/28. 29 July 2016

Punt PI: The Suspicious Death of Emile Zola
BBC Radio 4: Sat 30 July 2016, 10.30 – 11.00
Comedian Steve Punt once again turns investigator to look back at unusual, controversial and often downright puzzling cases. In the first episode, he considers the death of Emile Zola in 1902 from carbon monoxide poisoning. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07m43rb

The Musketeers
BBC One: Sat 30 July 2016, 20.30 – 21.25. 9 /10
When death strikes the Louvre, Treville takes controversial steps to protect the Dauphin from the unholy alliance of Grimaud, Gaston and the Duke of Lorraine. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07csjkq

The Long View
BBC Radio 4: Mon 1 Aug 2016, 9.00 – 9.30.
In the final episode of the current series, Jonathan Freedland considers the EU referendum through the prism of the English Reformation. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07m50lt

The Somme 1916 – From Both Sides of the Wire
BBC Two: Mon 1 Aug 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 3 / 3 End Game – End Spiel
Historian Peter Barton looks at the final phase of the battle of the Somme, outlining how a change in German tactics both frustrated the Allies and extended the war. Barton also puts forward the argument that the battle ended not in 1916, but in the spring of 1917. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07n22gn

The Musketeers
BBC One: Mon 1 Aug 2016, 20.30 – 21.25. 10 /10
In the wake of a devastating tragedy, Grimaud declares war on the Musketeers, starting with the people they love, testing Athos’s resolve to the limit. Final episode. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07cxm09

Making History
BBC Radio 4: Tue 2 Aug 2016, 15.00 – 15.30
Helen Castor co-presents the history magazine show which returns for a new series. In the opening episode, Tom Holland considers how Brexit might contribute to the already complex story of border politics between Northern Ireland and Eire. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07m5nxt

The Bastard Executioner
History Channel: Tue 2 Aug 2016, 22.00 – 23.00. 1 / 10:
New historical drama series. Wilkin Brattle, a warrior knight for King Edward I, becomes a farmer, but can’t shake his past in the premiere of this drama set in the Middle Ages.
http://www.history.co.uk/shows/the-bastard-executioner/episode-guide/the-bastard-executioner

Versailles
BBC Two: Wed 3 Aug 2016, 21.00 – 21.55. Episode 9 / 10.
The traitor strikes in the palace prison, Henriette has a rocky reunion with her brother, Charles II of England, while Beatrice risks a rendezvous with Marchal. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07n7dbg

Inside Versailles
BBC Two: Wed 3 Aug 2016, 21.55 – 23.00. Episode 9 / 10.
Court etiquette in the age of Louis XIV is the focus of discussion between Professor Kate Williams and Greg Jenner. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07n6l00

Masters of the Pacific Coast: The Tribes of the American Northwest
BBC Four: Wed 3 Aug 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 2 / 2. Rpt: Thu 4 Aug 2016, 20.00 – 21.00.
The second part of Dr Jago Cooper’s documentary about the indigenous people of the American north-west begins in the 18th century. This was a time when Europeans had little interest in conquest and so initially simply traded with locals. Gradually, though, a more familiar narrative of colonialism and, tragically, epidemic disease emerges. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07mlplp

Full Steam Ahead
BBC Two: Thu 4 Aug 2016, 20.00 – 21.00. 1 / 3.
In episode three of the living history series, Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn consider how the railways transformed the national diet. The tradition of the Sunday roast, for example, can be linked to mass transportation of livestock beginning during the Victorian era. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07n3916

Sources: Radio Times / History Extra