Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No.36. 9 Oct 2015.

[Ray Boyles]

Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. No.36. 9 Oct 2015.

1606: William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear
BBC Radio 4, Book of the Week: Weekdays Mon 12 to Fri 16 Oct 2015, 9.45-10.00. Five parts.
James Shapiro’s book traces Shakespeare’s life and times from the autumn of 1605, when he took an old and anonymous Elizabethan play, THE CHRONICLE HISTORY OF KING LEIR, and transformed it into his most searing tragedy, KING LEAR. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06gqdwm

God’s Revolution
BBC Radio 4 Extra, Weekdays continuing Mon 12 Oct 2015, 10.00-11.00. Rptd 15.00 – 16.00.
Concluding Don Taylor’s 1988 English Civil War drama; parts 8 to 12 of 12: The Disciplines of the War, The Man of Blood, England’s New Chains, The Sea Green Banner, and For the Agreement of the Sword.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00v4r8m
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00v4r8m/episodes/guide

The Celts: Blood, Iron and Sacrifice with Alice Roberts and Neil Oliver
BBC Two: Mon 12 Oct 2015, 21.00 – 22.00. 2 / 3.
Roberts and Oliver look back to an era when the La Tène warrior culture was in the ascendency and the Celtic world extended as far as central Turkey. We also hear about the conflict between the Gauls, led by Vercingetorixm, and the Roman Empire under Julius Caesar. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06jcxg7

The Secret Life of Books: The Faerie Queene
BBC Four: Tue 13 Oct 2015, 20.30 – 21.00.
The series exploring classic works of fiction returns. First up, Janina Ramirez focuses on Edmund Spenser’s Elizabethan-era poem. While it’s a text primarily associated with its fantasy elements, should we also see the book as a commentary on the brutality associated with the Tudor occupation of Ireland?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06j76l4

Restoring Britain’s Landmarks
Channel 4: Wed 14 Oct 2015, 20.00 – 21.00
The Landmark Trust restores dilapidated historical buildings and makes them available for holiday rental, which is a way to preserve the structures for the future. This new documentary series follows the charity’s work, including bringing Belmont House in Lyme Regis, a Georgian villa that was once home to novelist John Fowles of French Lieutenant’s Woman fame, back to life.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/restoring-britains-landmarks

Face of Britain by Simon Schama
BBC Two: Wed 14 Oct 2015, 21.00 – 21.00. 3 / 5: Faces of the People.
Episode three of his series on portraiture, and Simon Schama discusses fame and celebrity. He begins with Princess Diana before looping back to consider such figures as Francis Drake, Nelson’s squeeze Emma Hart, and Cecil Beaton’s photographs of bohemian aristocrats, the ‘Bright Young Things’ who dazzled the 1920s. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06jdh0n

In Our Time
BBC Radio 4, Thu 15 Oct 2015, 9.00 – 9.45.
In 1526, Bavarian artist Hans Holbein the Younger travelled to England in search of work. He would go on to paint, among others, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII and the young Edward VI. Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Holbein’s time in Henry’s court. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06gw3jj

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