Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No.2016/20.

[Ray Boyles]

Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No.2016/20.

The Musketeers
BBC One: Sat 28 May 2016, 21.30 – 22.30. 1 /10
Series three of the historical romp begins with Aramis in pacifist mode, having vowed never to take up his sword again. That is until a violent mercenary arrives at the monastery where the former musketeer now resides… Plus Rupert Everett joins the cast as the villainous Marquis de Feron.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07f0yqj

Shackleton
More4: Sat 28 May 2016, 21.00 – 23.15. 2 of 2 of lavish drama first broadcast in 2002.
Kenneth Branagh stars as Sir Ernest Shackleton in the ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1914. The tale concludes with the crossing to South Georgia Island and subsequent heroic recue of his stranded men.

Battle of Jutland: The Navy’s Bloodiest Day
BBC Two: Sunday 29 May 2016, 21.00 – 22.05
Dan Snow, Shini Somara and Nick Hewitt explore why the battle of Jutland, a naval clash between British and German fleets, resulted in so many casualties, and how it affected the outcome of the First World War.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07dps1x

Storm Troupers: The Fight to Forecast the Weather
BBC Four: Mon 30 May 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 2 / 3
Alok Jha considers the role of predicting the weather in the history of military strategy. In 1944, for instance, forecasters working at a secret location were called upon to answer a crucial question: would the weather be good enough for the D-Day landings to proceed? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07d7mqg

The Real Versailles
BBC Two: Mon 30 May 2016, 22.30 – 23.25. Rptd Wed 1 June 2016. 23.15 – 00.10.
Ahead of a sumptuous new drama set in the court of Louis XIV, historians Lucy Worsley and Helen Castor tell the story of the absolute monarch’s long reign. Expect tales of extravagant palace building, royal sibling rivalry and Machiavellian intrigue. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07dprr6

World War One Remembered: The Battle of Jutland
BBC One, Tuesday 31st May, 19.00 – 20.00
David Dimbleby and Aasmah Mir present live coverage from the Orkney Islands of centenary commemorations marking one of the greatest sea battles in naval history and a pivotal point in the First World War. The Duke of Edinburgh and the German president join local people, descendants of those who fought and currently serving sailors to remember all those who died. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07dnqdb

Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the 19th Century
BBC Four: Tues 31 May 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 1 / 3.
Suzy Klein tells the story of music through the 19th century. She begins by considering how the rise of an affluent new middle class freed composers to rip up the rulebook, as they no longer had to rely on the patronage of conservative nobles and royals in order to make a living. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07d9rwv

Vikings
History Channel: Tues 31 May 2016, 22.00 – 23.00. New Series 3. 2/ 10: The Wanderer
Ragnar and his wife Lagertha help to establish the Viking settlement in Wessex. Harbard, a mysterious wanderer, arrives in Kattegat, realizing the forewarned dreams of Aslaug, Siggy and Helga.
http://www.history.co.uk/shows/vikings/episode-guide/vikings-series-3

Drama: The Mystery of the Irish Crown Jewels
BBC Radio 4: Wed 3 June 2016, 14.15 – 15.00.
In June 1907, the Irish Crown Jewels were stolen from a safe located in the Office of the Ulster King of Arms, in the shadow of the then Detective Headquarters in Dublin Castle. Blame lay with the then King of Arms, but other theories suggest both that the Jewels were stolen by Unionists in order to derail Home Rule, or by Republicans in order to embarrass the occupying Crown Forces. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07cx2cl

Versailles
BBC Two: Wed 1 June 2016, 21.30 – 22.30. New series. 1 / 10.
France, 1667: proud young King Louis XIV wants to consolidate his power. So he decides to build the grandest palace ever seen on the site of his father’s hunting lodge. Simon Mirren and David Wolstencroft’s lavish historical drama, which comes with lashings of sex and violence, makes its courtly bow.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07f0xyz

Ben Building: Mussolini, Monuments and Modernism
BBC Four: Wed 1 June 2016, 21.00 – 22.30
Jonathan Meades visits Rome, Milan, Genoa and the new town of Sabaudia as he ponders what we can learn from the architecture of fascist Italy. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07d7nj9

Tommies
BBC Radio 4: Thu 2 June 2016, 14.15 – 15.00. 1 / 5:
Jonathan Ruffle’s ambitious drama chronicling life during wartime exactly a century ago returns with five new episodes. On the Western Front, Kitchener’s new army is gathering in the valley of the Somme ahead of an attack on German lines. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07cykcb

In Our Time: Margery Kempe and English Mysticism
BBC Radio 4: Thu 2 June 2016, 9.00 – 9.45
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the English mystic Margery Kempe (1373-1438) whose extraordinary life is recorded in a book she dictated, “The Book of Margery Kempe.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07cyfkg

Peaky Blinders
BBC Two: Thu 2 June 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 5 / 6.
As the Russians test the Peaky Blinders, Tommy realises that he is being seriously outmanoeuvred. But he has an ace up his sleeve in the form of an enemy turned ally – if only he can control him.http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07dwngq

Dan Cruickshank: At Home with the British
BBC Four: Thu 2 June 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 3 / 3: The Flat.
If modern Britain lives in a terrace house and loves a cottage, it cannot make its mind up about the high-rise flat. Is the skyscraper a blot on the landscape, or the answer to the national housing crisis? For Dan Cruickshank, the idea of living high above the city streets really is the future once again. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07d7sdp

Sources: Radio Times / History Extra

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