History TV and radio in the UK: what's on our screens this week?
Can't decide which shows to watch or listen to this week? Here are the latest history radio and TV programmes airing in the UK that you won't want to miss
Royal Palaces At Christmas
Channel 5
Saturday 21st December, 7.30pm
For those who want to know how the Windsors spend the festive season, Channel 5 has the ideal double bill. First up is a documentary devoted to stories of the royals at Christmas, including the time a pub landlord had Elizabeth II as a customer during a snowstorm. Followed by Royal Christmas Traditions: Then And Now (9pm).
Archive On 4: A Child’s Christmas
BBC Radio 4
Saturday 21st December, 8pm
With the help of such guests as Katherine Rundell, Mark Gatiss and Lemn Sissay, Cerys Matthews explores the world of Christmas books written from a child’s perspective. In Archive On 4: The Dome (Saturday 28th December, 8pm), Paul Merton remembers how the Dome, which opened 25 years ago, came to be built.
Drama: Christmas Pudding
BBC Radio 4
Sunday 22nd December, 3pm
Adapted for radio by Robin Brook, Nancy Mitford’s comic short story is a tale of a penniless writer trying to get an invitation for Christmas at a country house. It should be a hoot. Also today, Drama On 3: Gershwin And Miss Swift (BBC Radio 3, 8pm) charts the 10-year love affair between composers George Gershwin and Kay Swift.
The Horse At The Door
BBC Radio 4
Sunday 22nd December, 7.15pm
Isy Sutti reflects on the folk tradition of mummers’ plays, often performed by troupes of actors at Christmas. Mummers also crop up in Book Of The Week: The Dead Of Winter (BBC Radio 4, weekdays from Monday 23rd December, 11.45am), in which Fenella Woolgar reads from Sarah Clegg’s book about lesser-known Christmas traditions.
A Christmas Carol: The Read With Anne-Marie Duff
BBC Four
Sunday 22nd December, 7.45pm
Scrooge. Ghosts. Bah humbug! The Bafta-winning actor performs Charles Dickens’ novella, first published in 1843. There’s more on Dickens in The Food Programme (BBC Radio 4, Friday 27th December, 11am), in which Dan Saladino and guests consider the writer’s influence on festive feasting.
Great Lives
BBC Radio 4
Monday 23rd December, 3pm
Lauren Cuthbertson, principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, discusses Margot Fonteyn. On Monday 30th December, it’s the turn of explorer Pen Hadow, who nominates Peter Scott, founder of Slimbridge wetland centre in Gloucestershire, as someone whose life is worth remembering. Presented by Matthew Parris.
History’s Youngest Heroes
BBC Radio 4
Monday 23rd December, 3.30pm
Nicola Coughlan tells the story of lighthouse keeper’s daughter Grace Darling, famous for participating in a daring rescue off the coast of Northumberland. On Monday 30th December, the spotlight falls on a young Audrey Hepburn and her support for the Dutch resistance in the Second World War.
Mackenzie Crook Remembers… Detectorists
BBC Two
Monday 23rd December, 10pm
The actor and writer explains how he came to write his hit comedy about amateur metal detectorists in Essex, a show that deftly explores Britons’ sense of connection to the past. Followed by repeats for two episodes, the very first show (10.20pm) and a Christmas special from 2015 (10.50pm).
Natalie Haynes Stands Up For The Classics
BBC Radio 4
Christmas Eve, 9.00am
The classicist and comedian celebrates Rome’s midwinter festival, Saturnalia. Pointy hats, cross-dressing, sweets and drinking were, we learn, all involved and the festival has been compared to a Christmas pantomime. Recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio Theatre.
A Ghost Story For Christmas
BBC Two
Christmas Eve, 10.15pm
The latest seasonal chiller from Mark Gatiss is an adaptation of E Nesbit’s spooky short story Man-Size In Marble. It’s a tale that begins with newlyweds, Laura and Jack, settling into their new cottage. Their housekeeper warns them about a local legend, but there’s nothing to worry about… is there?
The Reunion
BBC Radio 4
Christmas Day, 9am
For those up preparing the turkey or peeling spuds on Christmas morn, this should be a treat. Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, Jane Horrocks and producer Jon Plowman look back on making the hit sitcom Absolutely Fabulous in the 1990s. Presented by Kirsty Wark.
Call The Midwife
BBC One
Christmas Day, 8pm
The baby wranglers return. Rather than the feature-length episode of Christmases past, this year brings a two-parter that begins with Poplar’s residents nervous over the news that two escaped prisoners may be headed to the area. The double bill concludes on Boxing Day (7.30pm). A new series follows in January.
In Our Time
BBC Radio 4
Boxing Day, 9am
In the second half of the 18th century, ‘vase-mania’, a passion for pottery modelled on ancient designs, gripped Britain. Why? As Melvin Bragg discovers in the company of learned academics, it was all down to a combination of archaeological discoveries, the Grand Tour and the founding of the British Museum.
Dreaming Of Connie Converse
BBC Radio 4
Friday 27th December, 4.30pm
Some artists, for all the worth of their work, seem to drop out of the record. So it was with Connie Converse, a singer-songwriter pioneer in New York in the 1950s. Why isn’t she better remembered? And what happened to her? Poet Emily Berry tells Converse’s story.
Sunday Feature: An Organ For The Sultan
BBC Radio 4
Sunday 29th December, 7.15pm
Ben Cottam tells the story of organ builder Thomas Dallam. In particular, he focuses on how Dallam came to be sent to Constantinople to deliver an instrument as a gift from Elizabeth I to Sultan Memed III. The diplomatic intention here was to shift perceptions of England in the Ottoman Empire.
Archie
ITV1
Sunday 29th December, 9pm & 10pm
First shown on ITVX, Archie is a four-part biopic of Archibald Leach, born in Bristol in 1904, but better known to the world as Hollywood icon Cary Grant. Jason Isaacs excels in the lead role, which is structured to show Grant looking back over his life. Concludes on Monday 30 December (9pm & 10pm).
The Shipping Forecast: A Beginners’ Guide
BBC Radio 4
New Year’s Day, 9am
With Radio 4 marking the centenary of The Shipping Forecast, Paddy O’Connell kicks off proceedings with a guide to its history, its potential future and just what the arcane terminology employed actually means. Followed by an episode of Soul Music devoted to Sailing By (9.30am) and, at 11am, The Shipping Forecast at 100: The Shipping Postcards.
SAS Rogue Heroes – pick of the festive season
BBC One
New Year’s Day, 9pm
Guns! Drinking! Insubordination! Scripted by Steven Knight of Peaky Blinders fame, the hit drama about the early days of the Special Air Service returns for a much-anticipated second series. With David Stirling a POW, it’s down to Paddy Mayne (Jack O’Connell) to lead his men into action as the Allies land in Sicily. Continues Thursday 2 January (9pm).
Lockerbie: A Search For Truth
Sky Atlantic
Thursday 2 January, 9pm
Colin Firth stars as bereaved father Dr Jim Swire in a drama that deals with the aftermath of the Lockerbie bombing. In December 1988, Swire’s daughter was one of those who perished in the atrocity and he tirelessly campaigned to discover why chances to prevent her death, and that of 269 others, were missed.
Jack The Ripper: Lucy Worsley Investigates
BBC Two
Friday 3rd January, 9pm
Finding a new angle on the Jack the Ripper serial killer murders may sound a tough ask, but that’s precisely what Lucy Worsley manages as her Investigates series returns with four new episodes. Her focus here isn’t on identifying Jack, but on how the murders fuelled an appetite for lurid true crime stories. Excellent.
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