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
Archive On 4: Prisoners, Saints And Persuaders
BBC Radio 4
Saturday 7th December, 8pm
Founded in 1954, Lew Grade’s ITC produced a string of hit dramas that are still repeated today, including, The Persuaders!, The Saint and cult classic The Prisoner. ITC also bankrolled Gerry Anderson’s Supermarionation series. All of which is excuse enough to dip into the archives to celebrate the company’s 70th anniversary.
Edward Vs George: The Windsors At War
Channel 4
Saturday 7th December, 9.15pm
Warring royal brothers, it seem, aren’t a new thing. This two-part documentary traces the relationship between two men who became king, the exiled Edward VIII and George V. First up, 103-year-old director and writer Georg Stefan Troller looks back on an explosive interview he conducted with Edward in 1966.
Emperor: Rise And Fall Of A Dynasty
Channel 5
Saturday 7th December, 9.15pm
In part because he had a limp and was slightly deaf, not much was expected of Claudius. Yet when he became emperor after Caligula’s assassination, Claudius broadly made a success of an impossible job before he too, it seems, was murdered, likely thanks to the machinations of his own wife, Agrippina the Younger.
Missing Pieces: The Lesbian Mothers Scandals
Radio 4
Sunday 8th December, 1.30pm
Between the 1970s and the early 1990s, there was a pattern of courts removing children from the care of lesbian mothers. Journalist Sophie Wilkinson meets some of those affected by this homophobic practice, including Linda Bellos, who was only allowed to see her children once a month because of a family court judge’s ruling.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light
BBC One
Sunday 8th December, 9pm
Enter wife number four for Henry VIII (Damian Lewis) as Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance) arranges for his monarch to marry Anne of Cleves (Dana Herfurth). The strategic reasons for the alliance are clear enough, but Henry proves less than enamoured with his new bride.
History’s Youngest Heroes – pick of the week
BBC Radio 4
Monday 9th December, 3.30pm
Nicola Coughlan of Bridgerton fame narrates a 10-part series celebrating those who, at a young age, changed the course of events. She begins with Nelson Mandela. Before he became South Africa’s elder statesman, we learn, he was a fierce young activist who challenged racist segregation laws.
Renaissance: The Blood And The Beauty
BBC Two
Monday 9th December, 9pm
The drama-documentary series picks up in 1501. Both Leonardo and Michelangelo have returned to Florence. Both are determined to become the city’s greatest-ever artist. But there’s a new kid in town, Raphael Santi, who begins to win commissions and upsets his elders in the process.
Purple Heart Warriors
BBC World Service
Wednesday 11th December, 1.30pm
Written by Iris Yamashita, who received an Oscar nomination for her script for Clint Eastwood’s Letters From Iwo Jima (2006), this six-part drama mixes elements of science fiction and historical drama to tell the Second World story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The regiment, famed for its soldiers’ bravery, was made up of Niseis, second-generation Japanese-Americans.
Drama: Lenin Forever!
BBC Radio 4
Wednesday 11th December, 3pm
It’s 1924 and two scientists, Vladimir and Boris, are charged with preserving the corpse of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin. The cost of failure, involving being sent to a faraway jail, doesn’t bear thinking about. A glorious dark comedy written by Orlando Wells and based on actual events.
The Hunt For The Oldest DNA
BBC Four
Wednesday 11th December, 9pm
How might we learn more about the deep, deep past? Ancient DNA potentially offers a way, but researchers have struggled to find it in fossils. So how about looking in soil instead? A documentary following the work of Danish scientist Eske Willerslev, who has pioneered this approach.
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