Historical film TV and radio

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The Crown S5 E3 real history: exiled royals and the al-Fayeds

Prince Philip played by Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip and Natascha McElhone as Penelope Knatchbull

The Crown S5 E2 real history: Prince Philip’s ‘keeper of secrets’ and Andrew Morton’s book on Princess Diana

Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana and Dominic West as Prince Charles in episode one of season five of The Crown.

The Crown S5 E1 real history: ‘Queen Victoria Syndrome’ and a second honeymoon

Princess Margaret visits the new Docklands development in London, UK, July 1987. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)

Princess Margaret’s final years

Where is The Crown filmed? The Netflix drama’s locations and their royal links

The queen – dressed in dark clothing – stands up from a table to deliver a speech

Annus Horribilis What happened in the Queen’s horrible year?

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A still from a new adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front shows actor Felix Kammerer as a WW1 soldie

All Quiet on the Western Front inspiration: “As Remarque said, war is not an adventure. There’s nothing glorious about it” . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ben Foster as Jan Žižka in 'Medieval' (2022). (Photo by Alamy)

Jan Žižka: one of history’s greatest military leaders, who was blind but undefeated

First World War

All Quiet on the Western Front film "An ambitious, visceral exploration of life and loss in WW1"

Actor Viola Davis (right) holds a weapon aloft in new feature film The Woman King, inspired by the stories of female warriors in Dahomey

The warrior ‘Amazons’ of Dahomey

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A scene from the Luttrell Psalter, c1330, gives an idealised insight into everyday life in 14th-century rural England

Life as a medieval peasant How accurate are depictions on screen? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Protesters gather outside the Royal Courts of Justice during the 2003 Hutton inquiry into claims, broadcast on the BBC, that the case for war in Iraq had been “sexed up”.

BBC at 100 Rocked by scandal . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Jazz singer Adelaide Hall at Radiolympia, 1947

BBC at 100 Entry into the television age . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Anthony Eden addresses BBC cameras in 1956

BBC at 100 1950s friction between government and the BBC . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

St George lances a dragon

Tips from history How do you really kill a dragon?