Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 30 countries and sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Joseph Delaney

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Christopher Lee

The Sceptred Isle provided the definitive radio account of the British nation, from 55BC to the end of the 20th century. Now its attention turns towards the incredibly powerful families which have wielded power behind the scenes for the past 1,000 years. The Dynasties relates how the loyalties of this privileged elite, many of whom are older than the monarchy itself, were tested and rewarded; it also uncovers a multitude of murderous plots, bloody battles, adulteries, intrigues and shocking executions. 
 
The first volume examines three powerful houses: The Godwines, the north-dwelling Percys and the royalist Despensers. 
 
Volume two looks at the Mortimers, the Berkeleys and a triumvirate of warring Irish dysnasties: the Macmurroughs, the Fitzgeralds and the O'Neills. 
 
The third volume investigates the Churchills, the Cecils and the Scottish Dalrymples. 
 
In the fourth volume the Cavendishes appear, along with the Comptons and the Russells. 
 
In the fifth and final volume, the families examined include the Carringtons, the Waldegraves and the Norfolks. There is also a look at the families who today continue the tradition of dynastical power at the highest levels.

This Sceptred Isle: The Dynasties

The complete BBC collection

Tim McGarry

David Hume

Comedian Tim McGarry and Orangeman Dr David Hume investigate Irish history from different perspectives 
 
'We're basically the Little and Large of Irish history' Tim McGarry 
 
Tim McGarry and Dr David Hume couldn't be less alike. Tim's a six-foot-four funnyman from Belfast, while David's a vertically challenged historian from Ballycarry. But although they disagree about almost everything, they have a great rapport and a passionate interest in their native island - and in this fascinating series, they join forces for some good-natured, intelligent debate about Irish history, politics and culture. 
 
Travelling the length and breadth of Éire and Northern Ireland, they visit important historical sites, gain new insights into pivotal stories and people, and interview a wide range of experts to give listeners the long and the short of it. Mixed in with the discussions are humorous sketches, bringing the history alive and providing light relief. 
 
Over 41 episodes, Tim and David lock horns and trade blows over controversial topics including the 1798 Rebellion, the Great Famine, the Battle of the Boyne, the birth of the Orange Order, the Irish War of Independence and Civil War, and Home Rule. They also consider Ulster heroine Mary McCracken, ask whether renowned figures such as Sir Winston Churchill, Lord Edward Carson and James Craig were heroes or villains, and wonder whether the Vikings and Oliver Cromwell were really that bad. Plus, in the 2-part special The Long and the Short of Christmas, the duo unite to take a light-hearted but scholarly look at the history of the festive season, from the birth of Jesus to modern times. 
 
Winner of the Gold Award for Specialist Speech Programme at the 2021 IMRO Radio Awards, this wry, engaging and eye-opening series is full of jokes, facts, opinions - and arguments. Irish history has never been so much fun! 
 
Production credits 
Presented by Tim McGarry and Dr David Hume 
Produced by Zoe Robinson 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster & BBC Radio Foyle on 20 July-10 August 2014 (Series 1), 19 July-23 August 2015 (Series 2), 6 November-4 December 2016 (Series 3), 3 December 2017-7 January 2018 (Series 4), 9 May-13 June 2020 (Series 5), 24-25 December 2020 (The Long and the Short of Christmas), 24 April-29 May 2021 (Series 6), 27 August-1 October 2022 (Series 7). 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

The Long and the Short of It

A BBC History of Ireland

Sally Magnusson

Tracing Your Roots explores one of the UK's most popular pastimes: researching family history. Bestselling author Sally Magnusson follows the genealogy trail back in time, uncovering facets of social history through personal stories and giving you the information you need to add branches to your own family tree. With the right tools, you can not only find lost ancestors, but discover what they did for a living, what their lives were like, and maybe even what kind of people they were... 
 
Accompanied by resident genealogist Nick Barratt, who offers insider tips and ideas, she talks to professional and amateur researchers, revealing the wealth of resources available and how to make the most of them. In these six series, the duo determine what clues can be gleaned from photographs, diaries and DNA analysis, learn about unravelling wartime secrets, investigate how stories handed down through generations can offer a new slant on history and hear how the manner of an ancestor's death can offer clues to the life they led. They also explain why shady characters are good news for family history hunters, tackle the issues of illegitimacy and immigration, track down relatives who vanished without trace and probe mysteries surrounding name changes and adoption. 
 
Fascinating family stories are unearthed, as they talk to families including one woman who believes her grandmother may have been the illegitimate daughter of Louis XVI, another whose ancestor was locked away indefinitely on the Queen's orders, and two correspondents with Caribbean roots who suspect there is slavery on their family tree. Two follow-up episodes see Sally and Nick revisiting their favourite Tracing Your Roots tales, finding out what families did next and unveiling new information and lasting repercussions... 
 
In addition, a themed show, tied in with the British Library's 'History of the World in 100 Objects' project, investigates family heirlooms, and four special episodes mark events including the 90th anniversary of World War One, Scotland's Homecoming Year and the 2011 Census. 
 
Production credits 
Presented by Sally Magnusson, with resident genealogist Nick Barratt 
Produced by Anne McNaught (Series 1-2), Moira Hickey (Series 3, 5), Claire White (Series 4) and Lucy Lloyd (Series 6) 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 12 March-16 April 2007 (Series 1), 24 October-28 November 2007 (Series 2), 11 May 2008 (Family History Special), 20 August-24 September 2008 (Series 3), 7 November 2008 (90th Anniversary of World War 1 Special), 2 August 2009 (Homecoming Scotland Special), 31 August-28 September 2009 (Series 4), 14 September-12 October 2010 (Series 5), 20 March 2011 (Census Special), 13 September-11 October 2011 (Series 6) 
 
©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Tracing Your Roots

A BBC family history show

Sean Bean

The Second World War ended over 75 years ago, and the number of men and women who lived through it is rapidly dwindling. But its legacy casts a long shadow, and the memories of those who experienced the conflict left both powerful stories and often a complex inheritance behind for their children and grandchildren. 
 
In this series, Sean Bean investigates how the trauma of profound wartime experiences - whether spoken or unspoken - can be transferred down through subsequent generations. For although physical wounds may heal, emotional wounds can remain to inform family dynamics for good or ill. 
 
From prisoners of war and hero soldiers to infamous traitors and long-lost relatives, Sean meets 10 families who have been forever changed by World War II. He talks to Gethin Jones, whose father was a conscientious objector; Anne Godden and Barbara Sherman, daughters of returning soldiers whose marriages broke down; Tom Boden, who lived through the bombing of Liverpool and was evacuated twice; Ingrid Von Oelhafen, who discovered she was the victim of the Nazi's 'Lebensborn' programme in which children were stolen from their parents; and Stella Collis, daughter of a German POW who was interred at Wormwood Scrubs. 
 
We also hear the moving story of Barclay Patoir, who came to Britain from Guyana and survived war and prejudice to marry and raise a family; the extraordinary experiences of Kurt Marx, a Kindertransport refugee, and his wife Ingrid, who lived through Auschwitz; and the children of Nazi sympathiser John Beckett talk about their complicated, conflicted legacy. Shafquat Towheed reflects on the ways that his father's experience of the Bengal Famine stayed with him throughout his life - and the ways in which it is remembered. And in a fascinating voyage of discovery, Niki MacCarthy journeys to Nagasaki to find out about her father Aidan's life-saving medical work, and uncover the truth behind a very special family heirloom. 
 
©2021 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2014 BBC Worldwide Ltd 
Presented by Sean Bean 
Produced by Martin Williams, Kate Bissell and Mark Rickards 
 
Featuring: Gethin and Adam Russell-Jones; Betty and Max Paschal; Kurt, Michael and Johanna Marx; Anne Godden and Barbara Sherman; Clare Beckett-Wrighton and Francis Beckett; Juliet Weller; Shafquat Towheed, Niki and Adrienne MacCarthy; Tom Boden, Dawn Hann, Evie Thame and Michael Thame; Ingrid Von Oelhafen 
 
With thanks to: Michael Newman of the Association of Jewish Refugees, Diya Gupta and Brian Hann 
 
For more information about Kurt Marx's wartime experiences, please see Refugee Voices, a project of the AJR: https://www.ajrrefugeevoices.org.uk/ 
 
And for more information about the legacy of such experiences please visit the Second Generation Network and the Holocaust Memorial Trust: https://secondgeneration.org.uk/ and https://www.het.org.uk/ 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 13 May-10 August 2020

Legacy of War

A BBC World War 2 History

Richard Coles

Richard Coles examines same sex desire through the ages, in a journey reaching from the UK to India, Egypt, Greece and Native America. In episode one, his quest takes him to Saqqara, Egypt and the contested tomb of two men, Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum. Were the men lovers or brothers? He explores the ideas of the 'sexologists' and tells the story of Anne Lister, a 19th century Yorkshirewoman who had same sex relationships. In episode two, Richard explores the homosexuality of the ancients, tracing the transition from classical celebration to religious repression. Part three focuses on the complex relationship between sexuality and gender as Richard surveys the so-called 'third sex' in places such as India, Indonesia and Thailand. He concludes the series by looking at the globalisation of gay identity. Is the West attempting to promote ideas of gay liberation which are alien to the developing world? Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Out In The World A Global Gay History

Fergal Keane

A BBC Radio collection about Ireland and the Irish, hosted by Fergal Keane - plus bonus material 
 
Award-winning BBC foreign correspondent Fergal Keane grew up in Dublin and County Cork, and has always felt a deep attachment to his ancestral homeland. In these six absorbing programmes, he takes a wide-ranging look at Ireland's history, culture and people, in topics ranging from the political to the personal . Also included are two moving autobiographical pieces about fatherhood and his own childhood. 
 
How the Irish Shaped Britain explores the profound influence the Irish have had on the United Kingdom over many centuries. Beginning in the ancient Celtic world, Fergal travels through the time of the Vikings to the 19th and 20th Century and on to the present day, examining how Irish migrants and their descendants have shaped literature, business, sport and the physical landscape. 
 
Troubles Shared sees Fergal and fellow journalist Peter Taylor discussing their experiences of reporting on the Northern Ireland conflict. Over two episodes, they revisit the province to talk about what they saw, and ask what it all means now. Meanwhile, No Man is an Island takes Fergal from the Republic to Northern Ireland, as he charts the seismic changes that have taken place in both regions and reflects on the sectarian feuding which has dominated the history of Ulster. 
 
Keane on Keane... finds him presenting a profile of his uncle, celebrated playwright John B Keane. Visiting Dublin and the dramatist's home town of Listowel, Fergal hears how a country publican became an internationally-acclaimed writer. Another iconic figure is recalled in United Irishman, in which Keane recounts the colourful life of Wolfe Tone, the Protestant founding father of Irish republicanism. 
 
There Will Be Sunlight Later gives Fergal's impressions of life in Northern Ireland, as he talks to the country's citizens and listens to their poetry and music. And in two bonus essays, Letter to Daniel and My Grandmother's House, we receive insights into Fergal's own family life, through his poignant message to his newborn son and his recollections of his early days and his grandparents' home in Cork. 
 
 
How the Irish Shaped Britain 
Presented by Fergal Keane 
Produced by John Murphy &amp; Adele Armstrong 
Mixed by Eloise Whitmore 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 11-25 January 2021 
 
Troubles Shared 
Presented by Fergal Keane and Peter Taylor 
Produced by Conor Garrett 
First broadcast BBC Radio Ulster, 31 October-7 November 2020 
 
No Man is an Island 
Presented by Fergal Keane 
Produced by Tony Grant 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 18 November and 9 December 1996 
 
Keane on Keane... 
With Fergal Keane and John B Keane 
Produced by Chris Spurr 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 6 January 2005 
 
United Irishman 
Presented by Fergal Keane 
Produced by Chris Bowlby 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 14 November 1998 
 
There Will Be Sunlight Later 
Presented by Fergal Keane 
Produced by Cathy Packe 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 25 October 1990 
 
From Our Own Correspondent: Letter to Daniel 
Read by Fergal Keane 
Produced by Tony Grant 
First broadcast as BBC Radio 4, 15th February 1996 
 
My Grandmother's House 
Read by Fergal Keane 
Produced by Tony Grant 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 2 January 1999 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

How the Irish Shaped Britain

And 5 other BBC documentaries on Ireland

Daliso Chaponda

Britain’s Got Talent star Daliso Chaponda takes a comic look at the relationship between the UK and Africa in these two BBC Radio 4 series 
 
The UK and Africa have had a long and complicated past. These two series look at the history of this relationship, with Daliso as our relationship guidance counsellor, helping us navigate the rocky historical waters between the two places.A Malawian comedian who grew up all over the world, Daliso straddles cultural divides. He will help us all better understand how to sort out our differences. Or not... 
 
Along with his sidekick ‘The Other Guy’ (James Quinn), Daliso explores how the UK and Africa first met; looks at the people on both sides who don't want the relationship to work; considers charities and organisations who want to help and discusses the process of immigration. In addition, he talks about his personal experience of both cultures, from growing up in Africa to his experiences of racism in England. 
 
Shrewd, daring and irreverent, Daliso Chaponda finds the comedy in complex issues, raising awareness as well as laughs in this hilarious and thought-provoking show. 
 
Nominated for the 2019 Rose d'Or Award for Audio Entertainment. 
 
Written and performed by Daliso Chaponda 
The Other Guy: James Quinn 
Additional material: Scott Bennett 
Voice of: Dylan Morris 
Theme music by Lawi 
Producer: Carl Cooper 
Production Coordinator: Beverly Tagg 
A BBC Studios Production 
Photo by Steve Ullathorne 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 2-23 May 2018 (Series 1), 23 Oct - 13 Nov 2019 (Series 2)

Daliso Chaponda: Citizen of Nowhere

Series 1 and 2

Matt Thompson

This 30-part Radio 4 series explores how our interactions with sound have shaped us over 100,000 years. These specially extended episodes, recorded on location around the world and in collaboration with curators of the British Library Sound Archive, take us from prehistory to the present, encompassing the shamanistic music of our cave-dwelling ancestors, the massacre of noisy cats in pre-revolutionary Paris, the nerve-destroying din of trench warfare, right through to the cacophony of the modern metropolis. This is sound as life and death, pleasure and pain, power and revolution. Written and presented by Professor David Hendy from the University of Sussex. Produced by Matt Thompson for Rockethouse Productions. Theme tune composed by Joe Acheson from Hidden Orchestra. Readings Director Cherry Cookson. Assistant Producer - Cathy FitzGerald  Includes a specially-composed 15-minute companion piece by electronic musician Matthew Herbert in which he retells the story of the whole series using only the sounds themselves.

Noise A Human History - The Complete Series

Michael Portillo

Michael Portillo uncovers the forgotten events concealed by famous moments in history 
 
History is complicated, and to make sense of it, we construct a narrative, editing and shaping the past to form a coherent story. But in doing so, there is much we leave out, leading to gaps in our collective memory. In this series, broadcaster and former politician Michael Portillo revisits some of history's best-known moments to fill in some of these gaps, rediscovering forgotten events that augment our understanding and shift our perspective. 
 
Reappraising milestones such as the Spanish Armada, the French Revolution, the First World War and the Great Depression, he probes our selective amnesia, asking what we have mythologised, and what we've ignored. Was Alfred the Great really a bold English hero, or an Anglo-Saxon spin doctor? Why is Georgian England remembered for its elegant architecture and regency refinement when this period of history was full of riots and political strife? And could the Bengal famine of 1943, a horrific event in British India that cost at least 1.5 million lives, have been avoided? 
 
Talking to leading historians and experts, Portillo peels back the layers of history to uncover the uncomfortable truths and murky, ambiguous stories behind iconic events such as the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688, the struggle for Indian independence and the Boston Tea Party. He also reveals a Suffragette plot to assassinate Herbert Asquith; shows how a disastrous attempt at overseas colonisation led to the 1707 Act of Union merging England and Scotland; and takes a look at the real losers of the Battle of Trafalgar - the Spanish. 
 
Not revisionist, but restorative, this fascinating series challenges the orthodox view of history without glossing over its complexities, presenting a surprising, thought-provoking re-evaluation of our past and reminding us that the events we choose to remember are not always those that are the most significant. 
 
Production credits 
Presented by Michael Portillo 
Produced by Julia Adamson, Tom Alban, Marya Burgess, Joanne Cayford, James Cook, James Crawford, Neil George, Laurence Grissell, Julia Johnson, Roger Mahony, Neil McCarthy, Paula McGinley and Philip Sellars 
Consultant: Chris Williams of the Open University 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: 
 
Series 1 
The Battle of Mers-el-Kebir 16 May 2005 
The Spanish Armada 23 May 2005 
The French Revolution 6 June 2005 
 
Series 2 
Jack the Ripper 27 November 2006 
The First World War 4 December 2006 
The 1945 Labour Government 11 December 2006 
 
Series 3 
On Suffragettes 24 December 2007 
The Darien Scheme 31 December 2007 
The Bengal Famine 7 January 2008 
The Battle of Trafalgar 14 January 2008 
 
Series 4 
The League of Nations 15 December 2008 
Alfred the Great 22 December 2008 
 
Series 5 
Chamberlain and 'Peace for our Time' 1938 14 December 2009 
The Hanseatic League 21 December 2009 
The Glorious Revolution 28 December 2009 
 
Series 6 
King Harold 15 November 2010 
The Violent Side of Indian Independence 29 November 2010 
The Great Depression in the USA 6 December 2010 
 
Series 7 
The Real Boston Tea Party, 1773 13 November 2011 
Police Strike 20 November 2011 
The English Armada 4 December 2011 
 
Series 8 
The Georgian Façade 11 June 2012 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Things We Forgot to Remember

A BBC Radio 4 history series

Michael Portillo presents these specially selected shows exploring the history of democracy and the modern political system 
 
In a parliamentary career spanning over 20 years, Michael Portillo served as a Conservative MP and held numerous Cabinet posts. Few people are better placed to comment on politics than him, and in these thought-provoking programmes, he gives us his take on the development of democracy and contemporary political theory. 
 
In the three-part series Democracy on Trial, Portillo investigates the difficult and dangerous global journey taken by this fragile ideal over 2,500 years, and the surprisingly tenuous grip it holds upon the world today. From Athens in the fifth century BC to the present day, he examines the effectiveness of a form of government we take for granted, and analyses its rise, fall and future. 
 
For Whom the Division Bell Tolled sees him looking at the history and peculiarities of the back-bencher, asking historians whether these traits have been present since the very first Parliaments in the 1300s. Across three episodes, he traces the origins of the back-bench revolt, recalls the good and noble works of back-benchers from the past, and wonders whether those on the back bench have always been more interested in keeping their jobs than changing the world. 
 
In The Right Stuff, Portillo considers the lasting influence of the author and philosopher Ayn Rand, questioning whether her work remains a blueprint for those on the political right. Talking to contemporaries and critics, he probes the origins and impact of Rand's writings, and assesses how her controversial ideas relate to the current political landscape. 
 
Capitalism on Trial finds him pondering years of bailouts, stagnating growth and market instability, and asking whether free-market capitalism is looking a little tarnished. Over two programmes, he talks to leading thinkers including Amartya Sen, Will Hutton and Gillian Tett as he weighs up the costs and benefits of the economic system that governs our lives. 
 
Finally, in Things We Forgot to Remember: The 1945 Labour Government, Portillo looks back at Clement Attlee's postwar government, querying how radical their agenda really was and how much our collective memory of it is due to myth-making by subsequent Labour administrations. 
 
Production credits 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: 
 
Democracy on Trial 
Episode 1 11 May 2010 
Episode 2 18 May 2010 
Episode 3 25 May 2010 
Produced by Philip Sellars and Julia Johnson 
 
For Whom the Division Bell Tolled 
Episode 1 14 May 2008 
Episode 2 21 May 2008 
Episode 3 28 May 2008 
Produced by Philip Sellars 
 
The Right Stuff 11 November 2008 
Produced by Owen McFadden 
 
Capitalism on Trial 
Episode 1 27 September 2011 
Episode 2 4 October 2011 
With Amartya Sen, Will Hutton, Ha-Joon Chang, Gillian Tett, Nigel Lawson and Hernando De Soto 
Produced by Julia Johnson 
 
Things We Forgot to Remember: The 1945 Labour Government 6 May 2007 
With Denis Healey, Peter Carrington and Tony Benn 
Produced by Julia Adamson 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Michael Portillo: On Politics

A BBC Radio Collection

Lenny Henry

Lenny Henry presents this groundbreaking BBC radio series exploring a century of black British theatre, TV and film 
 
In this fascinating ten-part series, Lenny Henry traces the long and painful road that black Britons have travelled on stage and screen, from the overt racial discrimination of the 19th Century, via the thinly veiled slurs that persisted through the first 70 years of the 20th, to today's more equal society. 
 
Interviewing playwrights, actors, directors and filmmakers – including Mustapha Matura, Roy Williams, Lolita Chakrabarti, Michael Buffong, Horace Ové and Steve McQueen – he tells the story of black drama and the influential artists who have shaped it over the past hundred years. 
 
Beginning with the breakthrough arrival of Kwame Kwei-Armah's celebrated tragedy Elmina's Kitchen to the West End, he goes on to examine the evolving depiction of Afro-Caribbeans on TV from Love Thy Neighbour to Desmond’s; explores the complex stage history of Othello; focuses on how Caribbean migration has been reflected on stage and screen; and journeys back to the 1960s and 70s to explore the spirit of protest that welled up with the advent of the Black Power movement. 
 
In addition, he looks at the burgeoning black theatre companies of the 1970s and 80s; charts the breakthrough of a host of powerful new voices in the 90s; scrutinizes attitudes towards homosexuality; investigates the current blossoming of new theatrical voices with roots in Africa and concludes with a look at future prospects and opportunities for black British talent.

Raising the Bar: 100 Years of Black British Theatre and Screen

Tim FitzHigham

Award winning comedian-author-adventurer, Tim FitzHigham and his nemesis Alex Horne embark on recreating bizarre and amusing bets from the 18th and 19th century in this engaging radio series. 
 
'His unflappable pluck in the face of impossible (or at least ridiculous) odds seldom fails to amuse' 
The Guardian 
 
Award-winning comedian Tim FitzHigham has a history of performing eccentric, record-breaking feats, including rowing across the Channel in a Victorian bathtub and blowing up the world's largest human-inflated balloon (he passed out twice during the attempt). Now, in this BBC Radio 4 series - based on his hugely successful 2011 Edinburgh Fringe show - he takes on some of the greatest (and oddest) bets in history, as he seeks to win a series of wacky wagers placed by Georgian and Victorian gamblers. 
 
In these nine episodes, he attempts to make a woollen coat from scratch - going from the sheep's back to his own back in a single day, tries to toss a cheeseboard over 4½ miles in under 100 throws, strives to outrun a racehorse in a 100-yard dash and endeavours to travel 25mph on water utilising only the methods existing in 1765. 
 
Tim also sets out to navigate central London blindfolded, bets that his pig can go over a bridge faster than a rower can scull across the river beneath it; and finds out if it's possible to cook a pudding ten feet underwater. In addition, accompanied by his nemesis Alex Horne, he recreates two legendary bets involving sending a missive 50 miles in an hour (using only the means available to a gentleman in 1753), and riding a horse from London to Dover and back before Alex can make a million dots on a piece of paper... 
 
Production credits 
Performed, written by and starring Tim FitzHigham with Alex Horne, Olivia Fitzroy and Bob Slayer 
Additional material by Paul Byrne, Jon Hunter and Joe Oldak 
Produced by Colin Anderson and Joe Nunnery 
Coat material supplied by the Derbyshire Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 17 February 2013 (Pilot), 6-27 April 2014 (Series 1) 1-22 April 2015 (Series 2) 
 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Gambler: Complete Series 1-2

A BBC Comedy

Susan Morrison

Comedian Susan Morrison zips through the centuries to explore Scottish history in this brilliant BBC radio series 
 
Glaswegian comedian and history enthusiast Susan Morrison mines the rich, sometimes murky, depths of Scotland's past. Aided by a host of 'history detectives', the amazing stories she uncovers are sometimes dark, sometimes funny - but always fascinating. 
 
From Black Flag pirates to WW2 spies, from jousting knights to accused witches, and from princess nuns to lion-taming ancestors, Susan examines the lives of ordinary and extraordinary people. Mary Queen of Scots and King Robert Bruce rub shoulders with medieval heresy hunters and male prostitutes, Highland bandits mingle with heroic nurses, and a revolutionary football player shares the spotlight with a ghost-busting minister in these 40 enthralling episodes. 
 
We meet a female slave owner, a dashing privateer, a First World War poet and a family planning pioneer; visit a Pictish monastery, a Goth pub and the lost village of Lassodie; find out about some of the bloodiest, most destructive campaigns on Scottish soil - the 16th Century wars of the 'Rough Wooing' - and dig deep into the intriguing world of Victorian true crime, and the grisly world of 18th Century dissection... 
 
Plus, there's a wealth of special shows themed around topics including Halloween, the Diaspora Tapestry, Suffragettes, the Scottish Women's Institute and World War One. 
 
Bin your Outlander box set and wave bye-bye to Braveheart - this is Scotland like you've never seen it before. 
 
©2021 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2021 BBC Worldwide Ltd 
Presented by Susan Morrison 
Resident historian and producer: Dr Louise Yeoman 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland, 16 May 2017- 6 December 2018.

Time Travels in Scotland

A BBC History

The first five volumes from the landmark BBC radio series This Sceptred Isle. Christopher Lee's epic history tells the story of Britain from the Romans to the death of Victoria. This collection includes the original first five volumes: 
 
55BC-1087: Julius Caesar to William the Conqueror From Britannia under the Romans to the Dark Ages and the invasions of Angles, Saxons, Danes, and Norwegians. 
 
1087-1327: The Making of the Nation The Crusades, Welsh and Scottish rebellions and the foundations of the modern state - including Magna Carta and the fledgling English Parliament. 
 
1327-1547 The Black Prince to Henry VIII The Hundred Years' War, the Peasants' Revolt, the Wars of the Roses and the reign of Henry VIII. 
 
1547-1660 Elizabeth I to Cromwell Elizabeth I's long reign; the Civil War, the execution of Charles I and the establishment of Cromwell as Lord Protector. 
 
1660-1702 Restoration and Glorious Revolution The return of Charles II, the Great Plague and Great Fire of London, and a ruler from a different country on the throne: William of Orange. 
 
Narrated by Anna Massey, with extracts from Sir Winston Churchill's A History of the English-speaking Peoples read by Paul Eddington and Peter Jeffrey, this is the definitive radio account of the events and personalities that have shaped our nation. 
 
The audio files for this title have been updated and they are now in the correct order. 
 
Duration: 15 hours approx.

This Sceptred Isle: Collection 1: 55BC - 1702

The Classic BBC Radio History

A collection of BBC radio shows presented by comedian and actor Lenny Henry. 
 
Stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, TV presenter: Lenny Henry is a multi-talented Renaissance man with a wide range of interests. But there are a few things (and people) he just doesn't get, despite their iconic status - and in What's So Great About...?, he explores them to find out what makes them so appealing. He questions the mystique surrounding Method Acting; discusses the benefits of Life Coaches with Phill Jupitus; hears about the joy of Maths from Carol Vorderman and asks Simon McBurney and Fiona Shaw to persuade him of the genius of Samuel Beckett. He also investigates the art of Jackson Pollock, meets stars from the world of Snooker to discover the lure of the cue and chats about Chaucer with Terry Jones. 
 
Lenny was once sceptical about Shakespeare too, but he's now a passionate convert. In Lenny Henry Plays Othello, we follow him as he embarks on his first straight stage role and first Shakespearean role, playing one of theatre's most tragic characters. From voice coaching to first night nerves, we eavesdrop on his journey from comedian to tragedian. 
 
In August Shines, inspired by his theatrical success in August Wilson's Fences, Lenny travels to Pittsburgh to tell the story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning African-American playwright. The city was also home to the bad-boy pop artist whose work Lenny explores in Andy Warhol: Time Regained. Visiting the Warhol Museum, he learns about the 'Time Capsules' - an artwork consisting of 300,000 eclectic objects assembled across the last 13 years of Warhol's life - and joins the audience for the unboxing of the mysterious Capsule 528... 
 
Finally, in the compelling 10-part series Raising the Bar: 100 Years of Black British Theatre and Screen, Lenny traces the long, painful road that black Britons have travelled on stage and screen, from the overt racial discrimination of the 19th Century, via the veiled slurs that persisted throughout the 20th, to today's more equal society. Talking to playwrights such as Kwame Kwei-Armah, and actors and directors including Carmen Munroe, Yvonne Brewster and Steve McQueen, he tells the story of black drama and the influential artists who have shaped it over the past century, and looks to the future to examine the prospects for young black British talent. 
 
Published by Penguin Random House Ltd 
Licensed by BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
MCPS 
Presented by Lenny Henry 
 
What's So Great About...? 
Produced by Simon Elmes 
With Ellen Burstyn, James Lipton, Phill Jupitus, Carol Vorderman, Celia Hoyles, Professor Brian Butterworth, Simon McBurney, Fiona Shaw, John Calder, James Knowlson, Brian Sewell, Julian Joseph, Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, Dennis Taylor, John Virgo, John Parrott, Terry Griffiths, Ardis Butterfield, Mike Poulton, Terry Jones 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 5 July 2008-11 June 2011 
 
Lenny Henry Plays Othello 
Produced by Simon Elmes 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20 February 2009 
 
August Shines 
Produced by Simon Elmes 
With Chris Rawson, Professor Larry Glasco, Kim Ellis, Jeff Folino, Sala Udin, Nelson Harrison 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9 October 2014 
 
Andy Warhol: Time Regained 
Produced by Simon Elmes 
With Ben Harrison, Rick Armstrong, Tim Marlow, Erin Byrne, Benjamin Liu, Donald Warhola 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 11 September 2014 
 
Raising the Bar: 100 Years of Black British Theatre and Screen 
Presented by Lenny Henry 
Produced by Simon Elmes 
Series Consultant: Dr Michael Pearce 
Featuring: Bola Agbaje, Yvonne Brewster, Michael Buffong, Lolita Chakrabarti, Isaac Julien, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Mustapha Matura, Steve McQueen, Carmen Munroe, Horace Ové, Winsome Pinnock, Paulette Randall, Roy Williams 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9-20 November 2015

Lenny Henry's What's So Great About...?

And 4 other BBC documentaries

Joanna Bourke

Eyewitness accounts from the BBC Archive are at the heart of this unique history of the latter half of the 20th Century, narrated by Tim Pigott-Smith. 
 
The events of 1950-1999 are described by the people who saw them happen, from the Festival of Britain in 1951 through to dawn of a new millennium at the end of 1999. 
 
Inbetween are the eras of the Angry Young Men, the Teddy Boys and the Punk Rockers; the arrival of rock and roll and the permissive society; the advent of industrial strife in England and sectarian unrest in Northern Ireland; the rise to power of Margaret Thatcher; the miners’ strike, three day week and Winter of Discontent; the Queen’s Silver Jubilee; the IRA’s campaign of bombing and the eventual Good Friday agreement; the marriage of Prince Charles, the death of Princess Diana, the Poll Tax riots, and the British participation in wars in the Middle East and Bosnia. 
 
Events both joyful and sorrowful are illustrated with fascinating and rarely heard archive recordings, with a linking narration by the historia Joanne Bourke. Thought-provoking and moving, these are the voices of the past speaking to the present day.

Eyewitness: 1950-1999

Voices from the BBC Archives

Mark Jones

The RMS Titanic  sailed from Southampton en route for New York on her maiden voyage with 2228 passengers and crew on board. On the 14th April at twenty minutes before midnight, sailing at almost full speed, she struck an iceberg and sank in just two and a half hours. Over 1500 lives were lost. This is the story of a great tragedy described by the surviving passengers, officers and crew who were on board that night. Firsthand accounts help to explain why so few of the passengers took to the lifeboats and later describe the miraculous survival of those forced to jump into the icy waters of the North Atlantic. The story of the Titanic is ultimately one of simple human loss and these laconic Edwardian voices bring it vividly to life. The hold that these events have on our imagination is as strong now as it ever has been in the 100 years since the great ship went down.

Titanic, The Voices From The BBC Archive

Mark Steel

Radical comedian Mark Steel profiles sixteen historical figures who shaped their era 
 
Sony Award-winning satirist and stand-up comedian Mark Steel takes us through the life stories of some of his favourite historical characters in this acclaimed radio series, which ran for three series on BBC Radio 4 before transferring to TV in 2003. From Oliver Cromwell to Ludvig van Beethoven, Mark’s chosen personalities are all passionate, driven – and more than a little eccentric... 
 
Among the inspirational people he profiles are W. G. Grace, one of cricket’s greatest players and the first modern celebrity; Mary Shelley, a radical’s daughter who married a poet and invented science fiction; Che Guevara, who became a left-wing hero despite chronic asthma; and Aristotle, who deserves to be remembered for much more than a line in a Monty Python song. 
 
In addition, he delves into the lives of Renaissance genius (and absent-minded buffoon) Leonardo da Vinci; Carthaginian elephant-wrangler and scourge of the Romans, Hannibal; jazz singer Billie Holiday, whose trademark song ‘Strange Fruit’ was so inflammatory that Columbia refused to record it; and gravity-defining mathematician Isaac Newton, who was obsessed with alchemy and tried to turn lead into gold. 
 
Illustrated with idiosyncratic sketches featuring Melanie Hudson, Martin Hyder, Kim Wall, Carla Mendonça, Femi Elufowoju Junior and Debbie Isitt, these informative, accessible and hugely entertaining lectures celebrate the remarkable men and women whose ideas and enthusiasm changed the world. 
 
 
Written and performed by Mark Steel 
With Melanie Hudson, Martin Hyder, Kim Wall, Carla Mendonça, Femi Elufowoju Junior and Debbie Isitt 
Produced by Phil Clarke (Series 1) and Lucy Armitage (Series 2 & 3) 
Executive producer: Paul Schlesinger 
 
Contents: 
 
Series 1 
Oliver Cromwell 
W. G. Grace 
Charlie Chaplin 
Thomas Paine 
 
Series 2 
Lord Byron 
Aristotle 
Leonardo da Vinci 
Che Guevara 
Billie Holiday 
Karl Marx 
 
Series 3 
Ludwig van Beethoven 
Hannibal 
Isaac Newton 
Mary Shelley 
Muhammad Ali 
Napoleon Bonaparte 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 9-30 August 1999 (Series 1), 13 March – 17 April 2001 (Series 2), 18 September – 23 October 2002 (Series 3) 
 
© 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Mark Steel Lectures

The BBC Radio Comedy Series

Rana Mitter

Twenty audio portraits telling the story of China through key personalities - plus a bonus edition of In Our Time 
 
Award-winning author and historian Professor Rana Mitter introduces us to some of the remarkable individuals who have shaped the arc of Chinese history. Selecting men and women from ancient times to the modern era - some rich and powerful, others poor and unknown - he explores their sensational life stories, from Mongol emperors to 19th-century factory girls. 
 
Here is China's only female emperor, Wu Zetian, whose path to the top was littered with elite corpses; Mao Zedong, the man who revolutionised China, but at the cost of millions of lives; and Deng Xiaoping, who enabled China's economic miracle, but crushed protests with ferocity in 1989. Alongside them are numerous other extraordinary characters, including celebrated philosopher Confucius, Muslim sailor Zheng He, Jesuit mathematician Matteo Ricci, global film star Bruce Lee - and a pioneering TV documentary series, River Elegy, that started a national debate about regeneration and democracy. 
 
What can Ding Ling's lustful literary creation, Sophie, teach us about 1920s China? What role would kidnapped monk Kumarajiva play in the future of Chinese chanting? And how did Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Meiling become Asia's first power couple? Rana Mitter reveals the answers in this engrossing series, which ranges across time and geography to zoom in on the people and ideas that have made China what it is today. Insightful, stimulating and superbly researched, it shows the astonishing diversity and complexity of Chinese society, painting a multi-dimensional picture of the world's most populous nation. 
 
Also included is an episode of In Our Time, in which Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss China's Warring States period of 400 BC-200 AD, examining how this turbulent epoch sparked a Golden Age of intellectual and cultural productivity and laid the foundations for the first Chinese Empire. 
 
 
Production credits 
Presented by Rana Mitter 
Edited by Hugh Levinson 
Produced by Ben Crighton 
Researcher: Elizabeth Smith Rosser 
 
Contents: 
1. Wu Zetian: The Female Emperor 
2. Chiang Kai-Shek and Soong Meiling: Asian Power Couple 
3. Kumarajiva: Translator Monk 
4. Matteo Ricci: Jesuit and Geometrist 
5. Ding Ling: Sophie, Sensation and Sex 
6. Sima Qian: Grand Historian 
7. Kublai Khan: Cosmopolitan Conqueror 
8. Confucius: Becoming the Sage 
9. Li Qingzhao: Patriotic Poet 
10. River Elegy: River and Ocean 
11. Zheng He: The Admiral Goes to Africa 
12. Robert Hart: Chinese Customs 
13. Lu Xun: Compassionate Cynic 
14. Wang Jingwei: Revolutionary Renegade 
15. Hong Xiuquan v Zeng Guofan: The Duellists 
16. Cixi: Ambivalent Empress 
17. Factory Girls: Modern Girls, Modern Dreams 
18. Mao Zedong: The Man Who Made Modern China 
19. Bruce Lee: Screen Warrior 
20. Deng Xiaoping: Black Cat, Yellow Cat 
21. In Our Time: China's Warring States Period 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Chinese Characters

A BBC History of China in 20 Lives

Christopher Lee's highly-acclaimed and award-winning BBC Radio 4 history of the British Empire. 
 
Britain had the biggest empire the world has ever known. At one time a quarter of the global land mass was British. Over a third of the world was insured at Lloyds. At his coronation, more than 400 million people saluted George V. Truly, the sun never set on this historical phenomenon. Whatever the day, whatever the hour, somewhere on the globe, the empire worked and played the British game, often absurdly so. 
 
BBC Radio 4's monumental history of Britain tells the story of the British Empire from its earliest beginnings through the years when British influence grew steadily around the globe, years when Britain took full advantage of the technical advances of its industrial revolution. 
 
Here are the origins of the modern nations of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and of the ways in which British influence has affected, for better or for worse, nations such as India, Sri Lanka, and China. Here are the stories, not always happy and glorious, of Captain James Cook, Mungo Park, Warren Hastings, Sir Stamford Raffles, and David Livingstone. 
 
The story of the British Empire is one of enormous personalities, adventure, scientific and maritime development, and the building of one of the most complex international administrations the world has ever seen. 
 
©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

This Sceptred Isle: Empire

Natalie Haynes

Three more series of Natalie Haynes’ BBC Radio 4 show combining comedy with classicism – plus Christmas special ‘Saturnalia’ 
 
‘Rock star mythologist’ and reformed comedian Natalie Haynes is obsessed with the ancient world. Here, she explores key tales from the classical era that still have resonance today. Whether biographical, mythological or epic, they are always hilarious and revelatory – and they tell us more about contemporary humanity than seems possible of stories from several thousand years ago. 
 
Series 9 sees her standing up for Martial, whose satirical epigrams were both perfectly crafted and absolutely filthy; recounting the powerful story of Demeter's fight to get justice for her daughter Persephone; profiling the charismatic and bloodthirsty Athene, goddess of wisdom, war and...handicrafts; and looking at Livia, the first Empress of Rome and faithful wife to Augustus, who has gone down in history as a serial killer. 
 
In Series 10, she discusses Cleopatra, (brilliant and charismatic, but probably not an Elizabeth Taylor lookalike); Hesiod (cataloguer of the gods and author of a flatpack wagon manual); and Aphrodite (the goddess of love and beauty, who is mostly depicted naked and/or wet). Examining Artemis, she discovers that the celebrated huntress was not averse to the odd human sacrifice; and investigating Aesop, she finds that everything we think we know about this famous fable writer is contradicted somewhere. And it’s a similar story with Tacitus, whose fascinating works are long on persuasive prose, but short on evidence… 
 
Two tales of Alexandria open Series 11, as Natalie goes on to tell the stories of the Nine Earthly Muses; Hera, queen of the Olympian gods; the Roman love poet Catullus; and the overlooked ‘domestic goddess’ Hestia. And in a tour de force solo performance, Natalie takes on Virgil's great poem ‘The Aeneid’ in 28 minutes... and wins. 
 
Joining Natalie for some witty conversation and well-informed analysis are guest experts including Robin Ince, Adam Rutherford, Dan Snow and Edith Hall. Also included is a special festive show, ‘Saturnalia’, in which Natalie celebrates the midwinter festival of Ancient Rome, described by Catullus as ‘the best of days’, in the company of André Vincent and Professor Llewelyn Morgan. Expect anarchy, jokes, cross-dressing, sweets, drinking games and the wearing of traditional pointy hats... 
 
Production credits 
Presented by Natalie Haynes 
Music by Sarah Gabriel and Sarah Angliss 
Produced by Mary Ward-Lowery and Beth O’Dea 
 
Special guests: Professor Llewelyn Morgan, Robin Ince, Dr Emma Southon, Jane Draycott, Professor Edith Hall, Alicia Stallings, Dr Adam Rutherford, Dan Snow, André Vincent, Dr Islam Issa, Nikita Gill and Dr Daisy Dunn 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 28 November-19 December 2023 (Series 9), 8 July-12 August 2024 (Series 10), 24 December 2024 (‘Saturnalia’), 22 July-2 September 2025 (Series 11) 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics: Series 9-11

Further Comical Tales from Ancient Greece and Rome

Anne McElvoy

Anne McElvoy presents this epic history of Britain's three biggest political movements, from their beginnings to the present day 
 
In these absorbing series, veteran journalist and current affairs commentator Anne McElvoy examines the origins and evolution of the three pre-eminent political movements in British history. Using interviews, readings and fascinating anecdotes, she guides us through 300 years of Conservatism, Liberalism and Socialism, deftly putting the emergence of these key ideologies in their historical and social contexts. 
 
Conservatism tells the story of the big challenges that have spurred leading British conservative thinkers into action, from the French Revolution to the growth of mass democracy, the welfare state the permissive society and the rise of free-market economics. We meet some of the party's big beasts, including Edmund Burkem Benjamin Disraeli and Margaret Thatcher, and hear how an ideology that began by focusing on the land, paternalist benevolence, traditional social hierarchies and the Church of England transformed itself into something rather different. 
 
Next, McElvoy charts the development of Liberalism, from the 'Glorious' Revolution to the Edwardian era, the Great Depression and the 1960s, when it reached its zenith. Taking in the life and work of pioneering philosophers and reformers including John Locke, Adam Smith and Mary Wollstonecraft - as well as pivotal politicians such as William Gladstone, Millicent Fawcett and Roy Jenkins - she shows how fundamental liberal ideas came into being, explores contrasting versions of the political creed, and discusses how liberalism has come under pressure: and what this tells us about its limits and its future. 
 
Finally, she traces the inception, growth and transformation of British Socialism, from its foundation in a 19th Century Scottish mill village to the Chartists, the Revolutionaries, the Fabian Society, the Women's Liberationists and the grassroots enthusiasm for Tony Benn in the 1980s. Along the way, she looks at the competing approaches to changing Britain in the interests of working people, and introduces us to a few of the iconic figures who shaped socialism, including Robert Owen, Keir Hardie, Ernest Bevin, Stafford Cripps, 'Red Ellen' Wilkinson - and Beatrix Potter. 
 
From Utopian visions of government and revolutionary zeal to the inner workings of Parliament and the position of Britain on a global scale, this compelling, comprehensive and inspiring history explains just how we arrived at our current political climate - and why. 
 
Presented by Anne McElvoy 
Produced by Phil Tinline and Sarah Shebbeare 
 
Conservatism featuring:Professor Richard Bourke, Professor Dinah Birch, Dr Tristram Hunt, Professor Jon Lawrence, Professor Richard Aldous, Dr Matthew Roberts, Fern Riddell, Professor Krista Cowman, Dr Dan Jackson, Professor Martin Pugh, Professor Simon Ball, Dominic Sandbrook, Dr Eliza Filby 
 
Liberalism featuring: Justin Champion, Hannah Dawson, Amanda Foreman, Keith Tribe, Barbara Taylor, Richard Huzzey, Eugenio Biagini, Stuart Jones, Ben Griffin, Edmund Fawcett, John Lawrence, Richard Cockett, Elizabeth Crawford, Helen McCarthy, Rebecca Hamilton, Gerard McDermott, Debra Baker, David Feldman 
 
Socialism featuring: Lorna Davidson, Gregory Claeys, Dr Katrina Navickas, Professor Malcolm Chase, Professor Jon Lawrence, Professor Tony Webster, Gillian Lonergan, Dr Tristram Hunt, Professor Mark Bevir, Professor Ruth Kinna, David Howell, Jim Smyth, Michael Ward, Baroness Dianne Hayter, Professor Steven Fielding, Laura Beers, David Howell, Professor Sally Alexander, Professor Barbara Taylor, Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 2-13 September 2013 (Conservatism), 7-18 December 2015 (Liberalism), 19 February-2 March 2018 (Socialism)

The Grand Tour: A Journey Through British Politics

300 Years of British Socialism, Conservatism and Liberalism

Mike Thompson

The BBC Radio 4 historical series that uses documentary evidence to shed new light on the past 
 
In this Sony Award-winning investigative history series, BBC international correspondent Mike Thomson and guest presenters pore over private papers, public records and primary sources, uncovering the hidden truth about historical events. 
 
As they follow the documentary trail, they talk to key participants, contemporary commentators and academic experts, and explore shocking stories of cover-ups, covert operations and collusion. Here are the extraordinary tales of the 1956 French offer to merge the UK and France; the Wall Street plot to overthrow Franklin D Roosevelt; and the journalist's notebook that came perilously close to revealing one of Britain's greatest Cold War secrets. 
 
Plus, Gordon Corera travels to Stockholm to investigate the assassination of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme, David Loyn investigates how a lost document is helping Afghanistan come to terms with its painful past, Heather Jones asks why an intelligence warning given seven weeks before Germany's 1939 invasion of Poland was ignored, and Sanchia Berg traces the career of an MI5 agent left out in the cold... 
 
From the clandestine Nazi radio station in Scotland to an MI6 chief's secret slush fund, the diaries of a Chinese ambassador to the Soviet Union and the CIA's attempts to subvert Albania, Documents That Changed The World will challenge your assumptions and make you question everything you thought you knew about history. 
 
Copyright © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. ? 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
Presented by Mike Thomson, Jeremy Duns, Nick Rankin, Sarah Richardson, Gordon Corera, David Loyn, Heather Jones, Sanchia Berg, Dominic Streatfeild, Anne McElvoy, Dr Yee Wah Foo, Robert Bickers, Arne Westad, Jonny Foo, Andy Cheung, Jo Fox 
Produced by Tom Alban, Kate Borde, Mark Burman, Marya Burgess, James Cook, Isobel Eaton, Neil George, Patrick Gregory, Laurence Grissell, Roger Hermiston, Julia Johnson, Robert Ketteridge, Hannah Loy, Neil McCarthy, Paula McGinley, John Murphy, Sarah Shebbeare, Phil Tinline 
Executive producer: Philip Sellars 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 5 September 2005-4 December 2017

Documents That Changed The World

A BBC Radio 4 History

Thomas Dixon

Friendships, for many of us, are at the very centre of our daily existence and identity. Yet it hasn't always been this way. Our modern view of what makes a friend is shaped by centuries of political and social upheaval. In this landmark study, Dr Thomas Dixon considers both the differences and similarities between friendships in history and those we experience today. 
 
Now we tend to view friendships among children as a good thing, but did you know that in the 18th and 19th century they were seen as fraught with danger? Or that the Bible heavily influenced early companionship? Beginning with the social networks of the 16th century, Dr Dixon moves through history to examine the invention of the best friend, working class Friendly Societies, dogs as 'man's best friend', and the tragic impact of the First World War on male friendships. Finally, we look at how the old and the young are navigating friendships today, and how friendship might look in the technologically-enhanced future. This fascinating and surprising history provides a unique look at how human companionship has changed through the ages - and what comes next.

Five Hundred Years of Friendship

Ian Blatchford

Tilly Blyth

The landmark BBC series exploring science in art, developed by Radio 4 in partnership with the Science Museum - with an introduction read by Toby Jones 
 
'A real treat' The Spectator 
 
Art and science are often considered to be in conflict, with art dealing in creativity and science in cold, hard facts. But the two disciplines have always been interconnected, taking inspiration from each other and shaping each other's worlds. In this fascinating 20-part series, Sir Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum, and Dr Tilly Blyth, the Science Museum's Head of Collections, reveal how science's ingenuity has been incorporated into artistic expression - and how art's creativity has stimulated scientific progress and technological change. 
 
Beginning with the Enlightenment and concluding with our modern-day Age of Ambivalence, they take a chronological journey through 250 years of British history, looking at the often surprising relationships between iconic works of art and key scientific objects and ideas. Among the pieces they analyse are Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg's theatrical portrayal of the Industrial Revolution, Coalbrookdale by Night; Constable's cloud paintings; John Nasmyth's extraordinarily detailed photographs of the Moon; Roy Nockolds' Supersonic, the first abstract image to show the breaking of the sound barrier; and Longplayer, a 1000-year-long musical composition created by computer algorithm. 
 
From Joseph Wright's 1776 painting A Philosopher Giving A Lecture On The Orrery, illuminating a new scientific age of wonders, to Cornelia Parker's Einstein's Abstracts and Cold Dark Matter, shining cosmological light on what is yet to be known, we see that science and art are part of the same rich culture, engaged in an ongoing dialogue driven by mutual curiosity, creativity and imagination. 
 
Presented by Sir Ian Blatchford and Tilly Blyth 
Introduction read by Toby Jones 
Readers: Shaun Mason, Katherine Cusack and Sean Baker 
Music composed by Mark Russell 
Produced by Adrian Washbourne, in partnership with The Science Museum Group 
 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: 
 
The Scientific Sublime 23 September 2019 
Masters of Spectacle 24 September 2019 
Satirizing Science 25 September 2019 
Observing the Air 26 September 2019 
Tracking Progress 27 September 2019 
Plants on Paper 30 September 2019 
Reaching for the Moon 1 October 2019 
Dyeing to Display 2 October 2019 
Capturing Time 3 October 2019 
Celebrating Speed 4 October 2019 
Art as Protest 7 October 2019 
Humans in the Industrial Machine 8 October 2019 
Forms of Knowledge 9 October 2019 
Supersonic 10 October 2019 
Patterns from Atoms 11 October 2019 
Wonder Materials 14 October 2019 
Polaroid Perceptions 15 October 2019 
Protecting the Earth 16 October 2019 
Patterns of Thought 17 October 2019 
Imagining Matter 18 October 2019

The Art of Innovation

How art and science have inspired each other, a Radio 4 and the Science Museum collaboration.

Paul Sinha

In his fascinating and hilarious BBC Radio 4 stand up show, comedian and quizzer Paul Sinha shines a light on the important historical moments that you never got taught at school, and explains why so much of what you did learn is wrong. There will also, as ever, be puns. 
 
He explains how Portugal's invasion of Morocco in 1415 led directly to the 2014 World Cup; how the 1909 launch of an Austro-Hungarian submarine prevented Dr Zhivago from winning an Oscar; and the story of the black woman who refused to give up a seat on an Alabama bus and ended up changing the law - no, it wasn't Rosa Parks. 
 
"Sinha's gift for finding humour in it all makes him worth a listen" - The Telegraph 
 
Paul Sinha is an acclaimed stand-up who was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy award for his show Saint or Sinha?. He frequently appears on The News Quiz, The Now Show, and Fighting Talk, and he is a resident 'chaser' on the ITV quiz show The Chase. He wrote and starred in The Sinha Test (2011) and The Sinha Games (2012) on Radio 4 and in 2013 had his own four-part series, Paul Sinha's Citizenship Test. 
 
Paul Sinha’s History Revision was the winner of the 2016 Rose d’Or Award for 'Best Radio Comedy'. 
 
Written and performed by: Paul Sinha 
Producer: Ed Morrish

Paul Sinha's History Revision: The Complete Series 1-3

Clive Myrie

Clive Myrie presents a powerful four-part series documenting the events leading up to, surrounding and following the assassination of Martin Luther King - told by the people who were there. In 1968, Dr King was in Memphis to support a strike by the local sanitation workers, campaigning under the slogan "I Am A Man”. For the first time, those workers and their families tell their own stories, laying bare in often shocking detail the realities of the Civil Rights struggle in the Southern states of the US.In this compelling documentary series, we hear first-hand of the daily humiliations of the Jim Crow South, of the hope that Dr King brought and of the fallout from his death. Presenter Clive Myrie takes us on a journey to better understand the mistakes, the triumphs and what that era means for Memphis today.This immersive listen features testimony from a teacher arrested on a daily basis for attempting to break the colour bar in Memphis restaurants. We hear from a man who at six was the first black child in Memphis to attend a white school. A sanitation worker describes how he was beaten daily by police and too scared to go to hospital to have his wounds healed. Why did he strike? Because ‘they wouldn't treat me like a man’.This oral history features the music that was the soundtrack to the struggle, from Booker T., Chuck Berry, Quincy Jones, Dinah Washington, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin and Jimi Hendrix.Written and presented by Clive MyrieFirst Broadcast BBC Radio 2, 28th March - 18th April 2018©2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

I Have a Dream

Memphis and Martin Luther King

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