Here is a link to a program on radio 4.Very interesting show.I apologise if it is repost I have just come out of hospital(knee op) haven't had time to catch up on all the postings!!! http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/Unearthing Mysteries
SATURDAY 16th BBC 2 7.10pm Durham Cathedral: Britain's Best Buildings. Dan Cruickshank continues his new four-part series looking at Britain's best buildings. Combining Gothic and Romanesque architecture, Durham Cathedral is one of the most majestic in Britain. But even this magnificent building has its imperfections - notably a deviant column in the south transept, regarded as a pleasing error. DC discovers how sacred geometry and the art of decoding mediaeval buildings can explain the reasons for this anomaly.
BBC 2 8.00pm A History of Britain by Simon Schama Another chance to see Simon Schama's flagship series evoking key moments of Britain's dramatic past. Forces of Nature. Shock waves were sent through Britain by the French Revolution. Some watched in delight, others in horror. Schama explains why the British proved immune to the siren call of liberty, equality and fraternity.
Channel 4 8.00pm The English Church. Writer and presenter Simon Jenkins continues his in-depth exploration of the evolution of the English church. Decadence. By the 17th century the Church of England should ahve been all-powerful, as it had split from Rome and was rich and influential. This penultimate chapter in the evolution of the English church explores how, from this position of strength, the Church of England fell into decadence and decline.
SUNDAY 17th BBC 1 7.00pm Rolf on Art The Austrian painter Gustav Klimt features in the second of Rolf Harris's four-part exploration of famous artists and their work. At London's Waterloo station the genial antipodean finds a couple on whom to model his interpretation of 1908's "Kiss", while in Vienna he finds out the techniques used in Klimt's oddly one-dimensional landscapes.
Channel 4 8.00pm The Spartans. The ancient Greek city of Sparta was a collective civilisation founded on discipline, sacrifice and frugality and focussed on the creation of the perfect warrior state. In the first of this three-part series chronicling its rise and fall, historian Bettany Hughes reveals the secrets and complexities of everyday Spartan life, where money was outlawed, equality was enforced, weaklings were put to death and women enjoyed an unusual level of social and sexual freedom.
Five 8.00pm - another one specially for Eddie and Mandy! Jurassic Shark. A look at the most sucessful predator of all time, which has lived in the world's ever-changing oceans for half-a-billion years.
MONDAY 18th BBC 2 7.30pm Fred Dibnah's Magnificent Monuments. I'm not getting this in Scotland, so I have no details.
Channel 4 8.00pm Lost Worlds. Secrets of the Sands. The origins of the pyramids are still shrouded in mystery nearly 5,000years after they were built. The film follows the work of Dr Farouk El-Baz, a geologist and space scientist at Boston University, who believes pictures taken from space hold the key to what inspired the pyramids' construction.
TUESDAY 19th BBC 2 7.30pm Time Flyers. Shown in England on Thursday. Third of a six-part series exploring Britain's history fromthe air. The First Roman Frontier. The Team fly to central Scotland and discover evidence of a wall which marked the very edge of the Roman Empire in the first century AD. Known as the Gask frontier, it lies 100 miles north of its more famous descendent, Hadrian's Wall.
Five 9.00pm The Hindenburg Mystery : Revealed. Re-examination of the events surrounding the explosion in 1937 that destroyed the Hindenburg airship. Modern air-accident investigation techniques uncover flaws in the original inquiry.
WEDNESDAY 20th BBC 2 9.00pm Thomas Cook ... and Me. Founded in 1841, travel agent Thomas Cook seemed to offer the world. The company encouraged air travellers to sample Spain then America, but competition was always fierce. James Bolam relates the firm's highs and lows.
THURSDAY 21st BBC 2 9.00pm Horizon. Stone Age Columbus. Archaeologists have long believed that the first settlers to populate America were the Clovis, an Asian people who had crossed a narrow land bridge linking Asia to Alaska. This documentary explores new evidence that scuppers this theory, and points to the first pioneers being European hunters who crossed the Atlantic during the Ice Age 17,000 years ago.
FRIDAY 22nd BBC 2 8.00pm Hidden Gardens. The passion and style of six historic gardens and their creators is explored by Chris Beardshaw in this new series. Nestling in the heart of the Cotswolds, Hidcote is one of Britain's most visited gardens. In the third edition of the series, CB follows the project to retore the original planting of its creator - the influential American Lawrence Johnston.
BBC 2 9.00pm Great Britons - Churchill. In the summer of 1940, Britain looked to Prime Minister Winston Churchill to stem the imminent invasion by Hitler's forces. It was, avers former Cabinet Minister Mo Mowlam, the moment he had waited for all his life, following a neglected childhood and years spent as the lone voice warning of the danger posed by Germany. Since he fulfilled his destiny and led Britain to victory, Mowlam proposes Churchill as the greatest Briton. Last in the series. The results of the vote for the greatest Briton will be revealed next Sunday.
Channel 4 7.30pm TIME TEAM DIGS..... NOTE THE EARLIER TIME THIS WEEK The Romans. Continuing the series of the best of the team's early finds, with a second programme devoted to the Roman occupation of Britain, this time its later years. As Britain became wealthier, prosperous villages sprang up around towns such as Cirencester, where the team located a well-preserved mosaic and a large beautifully decorated villa. Evidence of industrial centres was also dug up in Kent and on the Isle of Wight, revealing secrets about the final days of Roman rule. With TR and historian Jo Storye.
This week's Time Team programmes on Discovery. Monday Worsall. Tuesday Burslem. Wednesday Papcastle. Thursday Thetford. Friday Cheddar.
And don't forget - the new channel UKHistory is now in full flow for those with access to digital, satellite or cable.
Right off topic but for anyone interested a new series of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue starts on Monday (18th) at 18:30 on Radio 4. Repeated Sunday at 12:04 and possibly available online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio
SATURDAY 23rd BBC 2 7.05pm Windsor: Britain's Best Buildings. Dan Cruickshank concludes his new four-part series looking at Britain's best buildings. From Edward III's recreation of Camelot to the Imperial dream of a playboy prince, Windsor Castle has been the stage on which kings have made claims of greatness. But it has also been a prison, an asylum and a mausoleum. DC visits the home of the romantic and ancient Order of the Garter.
BBC 2 7.55pm A History of Britain by Simon Schama Another chance to see Simon Schama's flagship series evoking key moments of Britain's dramatic past. Victoria and her Sisters. Queen Victoria ruled one of the most powerful empires in history. Victorian women were at the forefront of the fight against excess and inequality; campaigning for the rights of ordinary people in marriage, education, medecine and the vote.
Channel 4 7.00pm Danger, Unexploded Bomb. The first of two programmes revealing how WWII bomb-disposal squads risked their lives disarming explosive devices with the help of just a few crude tools.
Channel 4 8.00pm The English Church. Writer and presenter Simon Jenkins concludes his in-depth exploration of the evolution of the English church. Renaissance. At the end of the 18th-century, the Church of England was considered almost redundant in many quarters, but its fortunes were about to change. SJ explores this 19th-century renaissance, in which the Victorians managed to rekindle the awe and wonder of the Middle Ages.
SUNDAY 24th
BBC 1 5.35pm George Eliot: a Scandalous Life. The free-thinking author of Daniel Deronda and Middlemarch broke the sexual, religious and social rules of Victorian society. This drama-documentary explores the life of a woman ahead of her time, whose literary fame helped her triumph over adversity. Presented by Maureen Lipman.
BBC 1 7.20pm Rolf on Art The genial antipodean enlists the support of daughter Bindi as he swaps his paintbrush for a lump of clay and attempts to emulate the genius of sculptor Auguste Rodin in the third of his four-part exploration of famous artists and their work.
BBC 2 9.00pm Great Britons - the Greatest of Them All. A final chance to hear the arguments and to vote for the greatest Briton of all time. Anne Robinson is joined by the celebrities who championed the 10 nominees in the recent series of profiles, while Peter Snow has regular updates as the final viewers votes are cast.
Channel 4 8.00pm The Spartans. Classical historian Bettany Hughes focusses on Sparta's bitter rivalry with Athens and their strikingly different view of women in the second of this three-part documentary series. To the Athenians, Sparta was a frightening place that turned its children into fighting machines and allowed its women to be liberated, independent and opinionated. Spartan women enjoyed sexual freedom and weilded power in the absence of their men, making them an affront to Athenian notions of femininity. When the war between Sparta and Athens - two societies with very different notions of correct behaviour - finally came, it raged for decades and split the Greek world.
MONDAY 25th BBC 2 7.30pm Fred Dibnah's Magnificent Monuments. Places of Work. The Bolton steeplejack consideres how buildings have developed as workplaces, from the design of early agricultural tithe barns to today's sleek offices.
Channel 4 8.00pm Lost Worlds. The Emperor's Eternal Armies. This film in the series exploring lost ancient sites travels to the Xian province of central China, where the recent discovery of a miniature terracotta world of 500,000 figures offers radical new ideas on the birth of the most enduring empire on earth.
TUESDAY 26th BBC 2 7.30pm Time Flyers. Shown in England on Thursday. Fourth of a six-part series exploring Britain's history from the air. The Lost Avenue. What was the purpose of a recently discovered causeway that leads away from the stone circle at Avebury in Wiltshire - and how does it relate to the nearby site at Stonehenge? The team investigate.
BBC 2 9.00pm Chariot Queen. In this special edition from the Meet the Ancestors strand, Julian Richards joins the archaeologists in Yorkshire as they retrieve the fragile remains of a chariot that they found buried with the skeleton of the tallest British Iron Age woman ever found. Can they ascertain precisely what these remains were part of - a farm cart, a hearse or a war chariot, and will they be able to build a working replica.
THURSDAY 28th Channel 4 8.00pm Battle Stations. HMS Belfast. A new ten-part military history series looking at important battle machines begins with the story of HMS Belfast. Commissioned in 1938, this state-of-the-art cruiser patrolled the seaways of the British Empire. Using archive footage and detailed re-enactments, this film reveals how she helped to sink the German ship Scharnhorst and fired the first shells onto the Normandy beaches on D-Day.
FRIDAY 29th BBC 2 8.00pm Hidden Gardens. The passion and style of six historic gardens and their creators is explored by Chris Beardshaw in this new series. In Clynfyw, north Pembrokeshire, a landowner has gifted an overgrown Victorian walled kitchen garden to the community. CB follows its organic restoration.
BBC 2 9.00pm Building the Impossible. Beginning a new four-part series in which a team of experts tries to achieve some astounding feats of engineering. The First Submarine. Professor Chris Wise and Dr Caroline Baillie try to recreate the first submarine, which was allegedly made entirely of wood and was rowed seven miles under the River Thames nearly 400 years ago.
Channel 4 7.30pm TIME TEAM DIGS..... NOTE THE EARLIER TIME THIS WEEK The Dark Ages. While assessing past editions of the archaeology challenge show, TR finds that the turbulent period when Britain was colonised by Vikings, Saxons, Angles and Jutes was anything but dark. Viking settlements in Shetland and York have yeilded exquisite jewellery and evidence of a settled domestic life, whils Saxon burials in the south have always been rich in ornamental finds and reveal a sophisticated society.
This week's Time Team programmes on Discovery. Monday Plympton. Tuesday A 15th-century dockyard in Kent. Wednesday Beauport. Thursday Reedham. Friday A Roman Cotswolds villa at Turkdean.
And don't forget - the new channel UKHistory is now in full flow for those with access to digital, satellite or cable.
SATURDAY 30th BBC 2 7.55pm A History of Britain by Simon Schama Another chance to see Simon Schama's flagship series evoking key moments of Britain's dramatic past. The Empire of Good Intentions. The British Empire in the 19th century was the largest the world had seen, but the liberal politics and economics that drove it unravelled, resulting in the Irish potato famine and mutiny in India.
Channel 4 8.05pm Danger, Unexploded Bomb. In September 1940, unexploded German bombs were still confounding British bomb-disposal experts. This second of two programmes examines how the Bomb-Disposal Squads dealt with ever more sophisticated explosives - including the lethal butterfly bomb - turning defeat into victory through ingenuity, bravery and a little good luck.
SUNDAY 1st BBC 1 7.00pm Rolf on Art After his adventures with clay, Rolf Harris returns to his beloved brushes and paints a jungle scene - with the aid of a pantograph - in the naive style of French Post-Impressionist painter Henri Rousseau in the last of his four-part series.
BBC 1 8.00pm Moses. Recognised as a hugely influential prophet in Christianity, Judaism and Islam, Moses outlined a basis for morality which has lasted over 3,000 years. Using the latest scientific evidence and dramatic reconstruction, Jeremy Bowen chronicles the life of the great spiritual leader, finds explanations for some of the miraculous events that were recorded, and assesses his legacy.
Channel 4 8.00pm The Spartans. Classical historian Bettany Hughes presents the final part of the trilogy describing how the war against Athens reached a brutal and bloody climax, with Sparta fnally emerging victorious as the most powerful city-state in Greece. However, under the fascinating, flawed King Agesilaus dreams of utopia were short-lived and soon came crashing down. By setting out to create a flawless society protected by perfect warriors, Sparta had amde an enemy of change. A collapsing birth-rate, too few soldiers, rebellious slaves and outdated weaponry combined to sow the seeds of Sparta's destruction.
MONDAY 2nd BBC 2 7.30pm Fred Dibnah's Magnificent Monuments. Bridges and Tunnels. Dibnah enjoys a selection of British engineering wonders such as Europe's first wrought-iron suspension bridge, the Thames Barrier and the Channel Tunnel.
Channel 4 8.00pm Lost Worlds. Persepolis. One of the most impressive and mysterious locations of the ancient world, Persepolis, was burnt and destroyed by Alexander the Great in 330 BC and lay forgotten for over 2,000 years. This film in the series exploring lost ancient sites travels to Iran to bring Persepolis back to life and to understand the complexities of the great Persian empire that was responsible for creating this wondrous city.
TUESDAY 3rd BBC 2 7.30pm Time Flyers. Shown in England on Thursday. Fifth of a six-part series exploring Britain's history from the air. In Search of Offa's Dyke. Constructed in the Dark Ages Offa's Dyke marked the boundary between England and Wales. A bank was created more than two metres high, with an accompanying ditch in places 20 metres wide. But uncertainty surrounds a missing stretch at Welshpool. Can the mystery be solved with help from a helicopter?
Five 9.00pm Hitler's Britain. Occupation. First of two films using Nazi documents as a basis for a reconstruction of what Britain would have been like had the Nazis successfully invaded in 1940.
THURSDAY 28th Channel 4 8.00pm Battle Stations. Radar. The military history series about important battle machines looks at the use of radar. Developed by Robert Watson-Watt, it became the Allies' most important tool during the Second World War, helping to fend off air attacks in the Battle of Britain and fitted to US submarines as they hunted their enemies in the Pacific. Detailed re-enactments and interviews show how radar was vital to the Allied victory.
FRIDAY 29th BBC 2 8.00pm Hidden Gardens. The passion and style of six historic gardens and their creators is explored by Chris Beardshaw in this new series. Lyveden New Bield in Northamptonshire is a unique survivor. Upon the death of the owner in 1605, the workers downed tools and abandoned the lodge and the makings of a stunning garden unfinished. CB uncovers its mysteries.
BBC 2 9.00pm Building the Impossible. A four-part series in which a team of experts tries to achieve some astounding feats of engineering. The Roman War Machine. The Romans used a huge torsion-sprung catapult to devastating effect during the Siege of Jerusalem in AD 70. Professor Chris Wise and Dr Caroline Baillie have just two weeks in which to construct such a weapon.
Channel 4 8.00pm TIME TEAM DIGS..... NOTE THE LATER TIME THIS WEEK Medieval Britain. TR and the Team re-examine some of their finestarchaeological discoveries to date and rediscover what has been learnt about specific periods of history. Tonight, digs that have uncovered medieval objects.
This week's Time Team programmes on Discovery. Monday An Iron Age village in the Malvern Hills. Tuesday The body of a murder victim in Norfolk. Wednesday Nevis. Thursday Second part of a visit to Nevis, Caribbean. Friday Roman pottery is found at an Anglo-Saxon burial ground.
And don't forget - the new channel UKHistory is now in full flow for those with access to digital, satellite or cable.
No doubt someone has already mentioned this but:- If anyone with Satellite Tv wants to watch Time Flyers on Tuesday night instead of Thursday, Scottish BBC2 is on channel 960. This weeks programme at Avebury was probably the best so far. (in my humble opinion)
SATURDAY 7th BBC 2 8.05pm A History of Britain by Simon Schama Another chance to see Simon Schama's flagship series evoking key moments of Britain's dramatic past. The Two Winstons. Schama looks at the lives of contrasting figures who both wrote and made history, and whose lives impacted on many key events of the twentieth century - the statesman Winston Churchill and author George Orwell. Last in series.
SUNDAY 8th Five 5.35pm Painting The Christmas Story. The Annunciation. First of a four-part series in which John Drury considers some of the most notable depictions of the Christmas story in the National Gallery, London. Today he looks at the Annunciation, as seen by Duccio, Fra Filippo Lippi and Poussin.
MONDAY 9th BBC 2 7.30pm Fred Dibnah's Magnificent Monuments. Pleasure Palaces. The Lancastrian steeplejack sizes up a range of buildings designed for leisure, from early Roman baths to Blackpool roller coasters. Last in series.
Channel 4 8.00pm Lost Worlds. Alexandria. Archaeologist Jean Yves Empereur has been working for the last twelve years to reveal the mysteries of Alexandria. He has already found extensive underwater ruins and the Egyptian port's ancient lighthouse. This documentary focusses on his most recent discovery - a massive Roman palace that offers an insight into the scale and magnificence of the Alexandria of antiquity.
TUESDAY 10th BBC 2 7.30pm Time Flyers. Shown in England on Thursday. Last of a six-part series exploring Britain's history from the air. The Missing Castle. Could mysterious marks on the ground at a site in Herefordshire point to the one-time presence of a medieval castle and jousting arena? The team take to the air to survey the evidence.
Five 9.00pm Hitler's Britain. Resistance. Second of two films using Nazi documents as a basis for a reconstruction of what Britain would have been like had the Nazis successfully invaded in 1940. This week, the recruitment of British resistance fighters.
WEDNESDAY 11th Reputations. Marie Antoinette. Denounced as a callous woman who epitomised the decadence of the French monarchy in the late 18th century, the Austrian-born queen paid the ultimate price as revolution swept through the country. Yet this programme in the occasional series finds that there is evidence to show that she tried hard to be a loving wife to the uninterested Louis XVI, who impressed even her foes with her courage and dignity in the face of adversity.
THURSDAY 12th BBC 2 9.00pm Horizon. The Day the Earth Nearly Died. 250 million years ago virtually all life on Earth was wiped out. This disaster is the biggest the planet has ever experienced, yet it left no evidence and the cause has long remained a mystery, with only a few scant clues found in Siberia and Antarctica. But a trip to Greenland may have finally revealed the truth.
Channel 4 8.00pm Battle Stations. D-Day Floating Harbours. When Winston Churchill was planning the Normandy landings during the Second World War, a major obstacle was the risk in trying to capture German-held ports in occupied France. He overcame this by by building two giant, floating harbours to accompany the Allied invasion force. Using archive film, re-enactments and interviews, this episode of the military history series chronicles the achievements of the engineers who built the harbours under fire as the Allies launched the D-Day attacks.
Channel 4 9.00pm The Crucified Soldier. On 24th April 1915, rumours began to circulate that a Canadian soldier had been found crucified at St. Julien, near Ypres in Belgium. The story caused international outrage and was used to symbolise the brutality of the German army. Germany's claim that the reports were Allied propaganda was later upheld, yet this documentary - the first in a new series of "Secret History" films about the First World War - offers new evidence supporting the story and puts a name to the victim. Featuring the testimonies of survivors and historians and the use of previously unknown documents.
FRIDAY 29th BBC 2 8.00pm Hidden Gardens. The passion and style of six historic gardens and their creators is explored by Chris Beardshaw in this series. The Gibberd Garden in Essex was the creation of one of the most important British architects of the 20th century, Sir Frederick Gibberd. Renowned for its sculpture collection, CB follows the restoration of its original design. There's also archive footage of Gibberd talking about the agrden. Last in series.
BBC 2 9.00pm Building the Impossible. A four-part series in which a team of experts tries to achieve some astounding feats of engineering. The First Airship. Designed in 1783 by a French general - who was killed in battle before he could build it - the first-ever airship would have been enormous, powered by 30 men in a 20m longboat turning three huge propellers. Can Professor Chris Wise and Dr Caroline Baillie build and fly a replica of this behemoth without it plummeting to the ground?
Channel 4 8.00pm TIME TEAM DIGS. The Norman Conquest. A look back at what archaeological digs have taught the team about the Norman Conquest of Britain in 1066 and King William I. Castles in Shropshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, a grammar school in Norfolk, a large abbey and even a lost leper hospital have yielded secrets about this turbulent period in history.
Five 8.00pm To The Manor Bought. Documentary following efforts to turn an ancestral pile into a model estate. The owner of Dunstan Hall, Staffordshire, is Sir Stanley Clark, former plumber and self-made millionaire, and "stately home fixer" Adrian Wiley is brought in to turn round the ageing property.
This week's Time Team programmes on Discovery. Monday The remains of a Norman castle. Tuesday A mystery in a valley in deepest Wales. Wednesday Waltham. Thursday Blaenavon. Friday Rycote.
And don't forget - the new channel UKHistory is now in full flow for those with access to digital, satellite or cable.
quote:Originally posted by Julian Davey: Last week's scheduled Time Flyers was not shown, because of football, so it's unlikely that future episodes will be as previously announced.
This Tuesday's one was at Offa's Dyke in Shropshire, where it crosses the River Severn
Civil War Night presented by Richard Coles is a live evening of talk, music, documentaries and poetry, which remember a time when an English king lost his head and the country went to war with itself.
Studio guests including Ronald Hutton, Elaine Hobby, John Morrill and Mark Stoyle discuss the themes of new historical research into the English Civil War, among them the role of ordinary people and the question of allegiances. (Wed, BBC Radio 3, 1930-2300)
quote:Originally posted by Julian Davey: Last week's scheduled Time Flyers was not shown, because of football, so it's unlikely that future episodes will be as previously announced.
This Tuesday's one was at Offa's Dyke in Shropshire, where it crosses the River Severn
Perhaps you live outside England? Here, Time Flyers is shown on Thursdays, and today's was on Avebury, although Offa's Dyke was listed in Radio Times.
According to my 'Museums Journal', BBC 2 is going to show a programme entitled "Top Ten Treasures" on New Year's Day. It is described as "a hit parade of our most cherished archaeological finds from the prehistoric era to the 15th century chosen from the British Museum collection". The selection panel numbered the museum's international experts, and the finale of the programme features a Top of the Pops-style rundown to reveal their choice for the number one spot.
In date order the 10 objects are:-
Rillaton Gold Cup, Bronze Age. Mold Gold Cape, Bronze Age. Snettisham Torcs, Iron Age. Vindolanda Tablets, Roman Britain. Mildenhall Hoard, Late Roman. Hoxne Hoard, Late Roman. Sutton Hoo Boat Burial, Anglo-Saxon. Cuerdale Hoard, Viking. Lewis Chessmen, c.1150-1200. Fishpool Hoard, mid-15th century.
The Radio Times' are coming out thick and fast at the moment, but I will try (as far as possible) to keep to the usual schedule. So look out for the next update on Tuesday.
I wonder if anyone saw the Simon Schama lecture on BBC 4 Saturday night ? I thought it was quite interesting, he was talking about the presentation of history on the television. Followed by a question and answer session with the audience, where there were contributions from notable historians such as Michael Wood, and Julian Richards.
SATURDAY 14th BBC 2 8.10pm Murder at Harvard. In 1849 American society was shaken by the grisly news that a prominent and wealthy Bostonian, George Parkman, had been killed and dismembered. The subsequent trial found a Harvard medical professor, John White Webster, guilty of murder and he was sentenced to death by hanging. In this documentary for the Timewatch strand, historian Simon Schama investigates the case in the light of ongoing doubts about Webster's guilt, and attempts to solve the celebrated murder mystery once and for all.
Channel 4 8.00pm The War That Made The Nazis. Secret History's First World War season continues with a look at the role of the war in relation to the subsequent rise of the Nazi party. For many Germans, the years 1914 - 1918 inspired a fervent nationalism that, upon defeat, led to deep seated feelings of betrayal. The dream of German unity was driven underground, where it would fester and intensify for over a decade until a group of the bitterest of former soldiers - Hitler and his henchmen - stood on the brink of power, poised ready to re-fight the Great War.
SUNDAY 15th Five 5.40pm Painting The Christmas Story. The Adoration of the Shepherds. John Drury continues to follow the Christmas story through works exhibited at the National Gallery. Today he contrasts Poussin's and Rembrandt's interpretations of the Adoration of the Shepherds.
BBC 2 7.10pm Battlefields. An episode from the series presented by Professor Richard Holmes, looking at turning points in WWII using personal testimony withrarely seen archive film. El Alamein. Montgomery's victory over Rommel, Germany's commander in North Africa, in October 1942 was a brilliant success but was not without great human cost.
MONDAY 16th BBC 2 7.30pm Fred Dibnah's Building of Britain. I have no details - not showing in Scotland.
Channel 4 8.00pm Lost Worlds. Etruscans. A sophisticated society that flourished centuries before the Romans, the Etruscans were Western Europe's first great civilisation. Yet despite this they were a race that vanished into the mists of history. That was until salvage teams accidentally made a most remakable discovery - a 2,500 year-old Etruscan ship. Could this find unlock some of the mysteries of this one great race? Last in series.
TUESDAY 17th BBC 2 7.30pm Fred Dibnah's Building of Britain. I have no details - not showing in Scotland.
THURSDAY 19th BBC 2 9.00pm Horizon. The Secret of El Dorado. The legend of a lost kingdom of gold, lying hidden in the Amazon jungle, sparked on of the most famous wild-goose chases in history. But recent archaeological investigations have revealed traces of a society - as advanced as that of the Egyptians or the Incas - in the very heart of the rainforest. This civilisation possessed a secret with the power to transform their world; a secret that some believe could be used to transform ours.
Channel 4 8.00pm Battle Stations. Pacific Carriers. After the Pacific Fleet's destruction at Pearl Harbour, the US Navy turned to the aircraft carrier to counter the Japanese threat. The Essex-class carriers were the largest ships in US service, floating cities over 800ft in length that could launch hundreds of aircraft into battle at a time.
Channel 4 9.00pm Horror on the Home Front. The series of "Secret History" films about the First World War continues with a focus on the state of Britain's civilian population during the Great War. Popular belief paints the picture that death and horror remained only on the battlefield and that the citizens back home were left relatively unscathed. But by 1917 Britain was on its knees, and the population faced hunger, grief, illness, riots and strikes.
FRIDAY 20th BBC 2 9.00pm Building the Impossible. Last in the four-part series in which a team of experts led by Professor Chris Wise and Dr Caroline Baillie tries to achieve some astounding feats of engineering. Foiling the Tomb Raiders. From the time they were built, the tombs of ancient Egypt were targets for thieves. But engineers came up with a solution - burial chambers were hidden at the bottom of a shaft 25m deep and then filled with sand. Now, for the first time in over 2,000 years, can our experts recreate one such robber-proof tomb in just four weeks?
Channel 4 8.00pm TIME TEAM Special. The Bone Cave. TR leads the archaeology team in this one-off programme that uncovers evidence of Iron Age cannibalism in south-west England. Human remains found in a cave suggest a violent death. But who were the victims? The team have three days to solve the mystery.
This week's Time Team programmes on Discovery. Monday The team venture onto Salisbury Plain.. Tuesday Two cavers make a fascinating discovery. Wednesday Basildon. Thursday Holy Island. Friday Bridgenorth.
And don't forget - the new channel UKHistory is now in full flow for those with access to digital, satellite or cable.
