Historical film TV and radio

Harry Lloyd (Richard III) and Sally Hawkins (Philippa Langley) in The Lost King

The Lost King The difficult art of turning a true story into a movie

Elisabeth von Wittelsbach, c1860, (left) and actor Devrim Lingnau as Elisabeth in Netflix drama The Empress.

Sisi: the tragic life of the lost and lonely Empress Elisabeth of Austria

The Serpent Queen stars Samantha Morton as Catherine de' Medici

The Serpent Queen The STARZ drama offers a caricature of the real Catherine de' Medici

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Pod BBC at 100 series WL

Episode 8 What can history tell us about its future? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon (Photo by Ollie Upton/HBO)

House of the Dragon The real historical event behind the Game of Thrones prequel

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Pod Mark Glancey WL

Hollywood history: everything you wanted to know . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Dakota Johnson stars as Anne Elliot in Netflix's 2022 adaptation of Persuasion, the final completed novel by Jane Austen

Persuasion “The essence and spirit of Austen’s work are fundamentally changed”

Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù as Mr Malcolm and Freida Pinto as Selina Dalton in Mr Malcolm's List

What was on Mr. Malcolm’s List? The real history behind the Regency romance

Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II in 2006 film 'The Queen'

Screen Queen Elizabeth II on film

Jack Lowden as Siegfried Sassoon in Terence Davies’ feature film Benediction.

First World War

Benediction: a case of Sassoon the man v Sassoon the legend

The cast of Downton Abbey in front of Highclere Castle. (Image by Alamy)

The upstairs/downstairs world of Downton Abbey: how true to life is it?

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Pod Ben Macintyr WL2

Operation Mincemeat: WW2 espionage on film . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Alexander Skarsgård stars as Amleth in The Northman (Photo by Aidan Monaghan / © 2021 Focus Features, LLC)

The Northman How the real Viking prince Amleth inspired Shakespeare

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Pod Neil Price WL

The Northman: bringing the Viking world to life on screen . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Ben Macintryre is the author of Operation Mincemeat

Ben Macintryre "I had never realised quite how close Operation Mincemeat came to disaster" . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.