Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No.2016/27.

[Ray Boyles]

Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No.2016/27. 22 July 2016

The Musketeers
BBC One: Sat 23 July 2016, 20.30 – 21.25. 7 /10
In pursuit of Grimaud, the Musketeers stumble across a battle-scarred village where the women thrive without men. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07c8j0l

Saddam Goes to Hollywood
Channel 4: Sun 24 July 2016, 20.00 – 21.00
In the 1980s, Saddam Hussein bankrolled a film to tell the story of the birth of modern Iraq. As this documentary recounts, what with drunken star Oliver Reed running amok and the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war, things didn’t go too well. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/saddam-goes-to-hollywood

The Somme 1916 – From Both Sides of the Wire
BBC Two: Mon 25 July 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 2 / 3
Historian Peter Barton looks at the second phase of the battle of the Somme – the months from July to September 1916. This was a period when British tactics rarely varied, but the Germans were far more adept at adapting to conditions on the ground and successfully slowed the Allied advance. IMHO rightly dubbed by the Radio Times as “top-drawer television history”. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07m8bv4

Vikings
History Channel: Tues 26 July 2016, 22.00 – 23.00. 10 / 10: The Dead
Rollo’s destiny is recognised and Bjorn steps up as a leader. With one last chance to take Paris, Ragnar and his Vikings troops take a daring chance. http://www.history.co.uk/shows/vikings/episode-guide/vikings-series-3

Versailles
BBC Two: Wed 27 July 2016, 21.00 – 21.55. Episode 8 / 10.
While Louis proposes an audacious alliance with England, and an unexpected envoy to negotiate it, normally brazen Béatrice fears revelation of her secrets. The ‘palace of dreams’ is home to murderous schemes as the extravagant drama continues. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07ll6jy

Inside Versailles
BBC Two: Wed 27 July 2016, 21.55 – 23.00. Episode 8 / 10.
Inspired by drama series Versailles, Professor Kate Williams and Greg Jenner discuss Anglo-French relations in the age of Louis XIV. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07jd9xp

Masters of the Pacific Coast: The Tribes of the American Northwest
BBC Four: Wed 27 July 2016, 21.00 – 22.00. 1 / 2. Rpt: Thu 28 July 2016, 20.00 – 21.00.
The 1,400 miles of rugged coastline that extend from the Alaskan panhandle through British Columbia and Washington State have been occupied for 10,000 years. In a two-part documentary, the British Museum’s Jago Cooper charts the history of the longest continuing culture to be found anywhere in the Americas, revealing a complex society that developed without agriculture. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07m772h

An Obsessive Type: The Tale of the Doves Typeface
BBC Radio 4: Thu 28 July 2016, 11.30 – 12.00
In 1916, following an angry row with his business partner, artist and bookbinder TJ Cobden-Sanderson threw his distinctive Doves typeface into the Thames near Hammersmith Bridge. The Arts & Crafts font was thought lost forever. A century later, graphic designer Robert Green goes in search of the lost metal letters.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07lhh6z
Sources: Radio Times / History Extra

[Author]

Posts