Oh blow! To put it politely. My eyes alighted on your thread title Valerie, and I suddenly thought...er...oh drat! I completely forgot to record War Surgeons last night. Grrr!
Medieval Lives looks a good'un this week though...thanks as always, Val
SATURDAY 20th BBC 2 8.25pm Ancestors. Fifth in a series of six programmes developed from Meet the Ancestors. The Curse of Oxford Jail. 1577:charged with treason and sentenced to have his ears cut off, a bookseller places a curse on the prison court. Within days, according to parish records, hundreds of wealthy men who had been present died an agonising death. Last year an archaeological dig in the area unearthed 30 human skeletons. Could these bones reveal the truth behind the legend of the curse?
SUNDAY 21st BBC 1 7.00pm Noah's Ark. Could Noah really have built a 500ft ark and loaded it with thousands of species? This drama documentary presented by Jeremy Bowen, uses CGI and scientific detective work to put the great story to the test. Babylonian clay tablets and traces of a catastrophic flood in ancient Mesopotamia help piece together the story of the real-life figure who inspired the biblical epic.
BBC 2 9.00pm Gunpowder, Treason and Plot. Jimmy McGovern's drama inspired by the turbulent and bloody reigns of Mary, Queen of Scots and her son James VI of Scotland and I of England. The paranoid king has his financial demands rejected by Parliament and reneges on his policy of tolerance towards Catholics. In 1605 a group of devout Catholics including Guy Fawkes hatches a murderous plot.
Channel 4 5.00pm TIME TEAM ************* NOTE THE TIME Scotland's Forgotten Capital. The Team excavate a field in the Scottish Borders which was the site of the Mediaeval city of Roxburgh, a thriving trade hub which declined in the 16th century.
MONDAY 22nd BBC 2 8.00pm Terry Jones' Mediaeval Lives. Seventh in a series of eight programmes in which the ex-Python-turned-scholar re-assesses the cliches about the Middle Ages. The Outlaw. Is there any truth in the myth that outlaws behaved like Robin Hood and that all Sheriffs were evil? TJ reveals that Mediaeval officers were pen-pushing bureaucrats, while the greatest threat to peace came from gangs of upper-crust outlaws terrorising the country to get rich quick.
Channel 4 9.00pm TIME TEAM SPECIAL: STEEL CITY ***************** TR and the Team are in Sheffield, where they join archaeologists working to uncover the often brutal past of the Industrial Revolution's forgotten city.
TUESDAY 23rd BBC 2 8.00pm Two Men in a Trench. (Scotland only - AT LAST!!!) Second in a new series of six programmes. The Battle of Sedgemoor. 1685: the forces of Catholic James II face a rebel army raised by his nephew James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth. Archaeologists Tony Pollardand Neil Oliver head for the Somerset Levels to scour the battlefield for signs of the event and the royalist camp.
WEDNESDAY 24th Five 7.30pm Weapons of WWII. Rockets. The development of the German V1 and V2 "flying bombs" which terrorised England in 1944.
Five 8.00pm The Search for Atlantis: the True Story. Since the philosopher Plato described the "lost city" as a peaceful paradise, popular imagination has been captured. The Nazis believed Aryans were the pure descendants of Atlantans and this programme examines film of a Nazi-backed expedition to Guatemala in 1933 and the veracity of its claims that Atlantan skulls had been found.
Five 9.00pm The Curse of the Titanic Sisters: Revealed. Proclaimed as being "unsinkable", the Titanic and its sister ship the Britannic were consigned to watery graves within four years of each other, taking over 1,500 passengers with them. Was it a case of tragic coincidence or were the two disasters linked? A team of divers examines the wreck of the Britannic, sunk while in service as a Red Cross boat in the Aegean Sea, to find out.
THURSDAY 25th BBC 2 7.00pm (Not Scotland) Two Men in a Trench. Revisiting the Battle of Bannockburn.
BBC 2 8.30pm (Not England) The Scots at Sea. Fifth of six programmes exploring aspects of Scotland's maritime history, particularly during the last 200 years. How Scotland has played a major role in recent Royal Navy history. Thousands of lives were lost when Scots members of the RN joined in the struggle at the Battle of Jutland in 1916, having sailed from Scapa Flow in Orkney. Isolated lochs and inlets allowed Scotland to come into its own as a covert operations base - at Tobermory sailors were trained to hunt U-boats. Faslane, meanwhile, played a major role as the world entered the nuclear age.
BBC 2 9.00pm Horizon. The Truth of Troy. Is there any truth to the legend of Helen of Troy, the battle waged for love and the ten-year siege of the city? Since 1988, Professor Manfred Korfmann has been excavating the site of Troy, following a trail of clues to discover who actually attacked the city and why.
FRIDAY 26th BBC 2 9.00pm The Genius of Mozart. Second in a series of three programmes in a drama documentary looking at the composer's life. This episode charts how three of the composer's operas "The Magic Flute", "Idomeneo" and "The Marriage of Figaro", revolutionised the musical theatre.
Five 7.30pm Easter in Art. Second of three episodes in which Tim Marlow explores art's depiction of the Easter story. Crucifixion. Examining how artists have interpreted the most brutal part of the Easter story.
TIME TEAM REPEATS ON DISCOVERY
A TT programme is scheduled for 7.00am and 5.00pm on Saturday 20th, and at 7.00pm on Sunday 21st.
Monday The site of a grand colonial house on the Caribbean island of Nevis. Tuesday The team carry out a dig at Bawsey St James near the Norfolk coast. Wednesday No Time Team. Thursday The Team visits Kemerton, an Iron Age village in the Malvern Hills. Friday No Time Team.
And don't forget - UKHistory has a full schedule of historical/archaeological programmes for those with access to digital, satellite or cable. Voted best new channel of the year 2003.
Valerie that Wednesday and Friday where you say there is no Time Team, there is an edition on each of those days at 12 noon. I have a suspicion that on both days the evening listing might be wrong with a programme on the Wednesday lasting two hours, which I think is only 1 hour, and the two programmes on Dinosaurs running concurrently on the Friday might just be a mistake. Best keep an eye on the daily listings elsewhere all you TT fanatics so you don't miss anything
Five 9.00pm The Great Escape: Revealed. Stalag Luft 3 was a German maximum security camp built to house captured Allied airmen, many of whom were determined to get out. The story of an attempt by PoWs to dig their way out of this fortress was the source for the classic film "The Great Escape". The prisoners dug three huge tunnels, two of which were discovered and destroyed by the Germans. With the help of three veteran escapees, archaeologists try to find evidence of the remaining tunnel.
quote:Originally posted by John4256: Valerie that Wednesday and Friday where you say there is no Time Team, there is an edition on each of those days at 12 noon. I have a suspicion that on both days the evening listing might be wrong with a programme on the Wednesday lasting two hours, which I think is only 1 hour, and the two programmes on Dinosaurs running concurrently on the Friday might just be a mistake. Best keep an eye on the daily listings elsewhere all you TT fanatics so you don't miss anything
John
I love it when a plan comes together.
Thanks for that John.
According to my Radio Times there are TT episodes later on both those evenings - at 1am to be exact, so perhaps I should have put "No Time Team at 7pm" ..... which is the time that regular viewers would expect to see it.
Anyone with NTL analogue cable (like me!) would miss the 12 noon showings anyway as we get Discovery: Home and Leisure until 4pm.
SATURDAY 27th BBC 2 6.05pm ***Note the earlier time*** Ancestors. Last in a series of six programmes developed from Meet the Ancestors. The Stonehenge Enigma. Remarkable archaeological detective work conducted in the last few years has revolutionised understanding of the prehistoric monument Stonehenge. Archaeologist expert Julian Richards reveals the latest evidence, including new forensic tests on a prehistoric skeleton found at the site, and explains how the stones were erected as a revolutionary new culture swept through Europe. This breakthrough has shed new light on Stonehenge's purpose and its role in a crucial turning point in human history.
SUNDAY 28th Channel 4 5.05pm TIME TEAM ************* NOTE THE TIME Cranbourne Chase. The Team excavate a farm in Dorset that is packed with archaeological gems, including a large Roman building, a Bronze Age boundary ditch and burial sites that could date back to prehistoric times.
MONDAY 29th BBC 2 8.00pm Terry Jones' Mediaeval Lives. Last in a series of eight programmes in which the ex-Python-turned-scholar re-assesses the cliches about the Middle Ages. The King. How much do we really know about our Mediaeval kings? TJ finds flaws in Richard the Lionheart, admirable qualities in the much maligned character of Richard II, negative bias in Shakespeare's portrayal of Richard III - and even a king airbrushed out of history.
Channel 4 9.00pm Secrets of the Dead. Shroud of Christ? Following the work of Swiss textile expert Dr Mechthild Flury-Lemberg who, in 2002, discovered a hitherto undetected stitch pattern on the Shroud of Turin that dated it back to the first century AD. Could the carbon dating process that branded the shroud a mediaeval fake in1988 have been mistaken?
TUESDAY 30th BBC 2 7.00pm Homeground. Frankton's Shadows. In 1942, Royal Marines paddled canoes 75 miles into enemy territory to put mines on German ships in Bordeaux - an event known as Operation Frankton. Ten Marines set out, but only two survived. Now, the truth is revealed in documents about the mission made famous in the film "The Cockleshell Heroes" - uncovering a tale of confusion and inter-departmental rivalry.
BBC 2 7.30pm Time Flyers. (Not Scotland) How a set of concrete ponds hold the key to a remarkable hoax.
BBC 2 8.00pm Two Men in a Trench. (Scotland only) Third in a new series of six programmes. The Battle of Edgehill. 1642: the English Civil War between King Charles I and his parliament begins at Edgehill in Warickshire. Packing a pair of 17th century pistols and saddling up a couple of cavalry horses, TP and NO set out to investigate the origins of this momentous battle.
WEDNESDAY 31st Five 7.30pm Weapons of WWII. Fast Attack Boats. A look at the high-speed, shallow-draft boats used by the British, Germans and the USA, all of which could fire torpedoes and cannons to deadly effect.
THURSDAY 1st BBC 2 7.00pm (Not Scotland) Two Men in a Trench. One of WWII's most remarkable battles.
BBC 2 8.30pm (Not England) The Scots at Sea. Last of six programmes exploring aspects of Scotland's maritime history, particularly during the last 200 years. Connecting the Isles. With such a rugged caostline, shipping had been a lifeline for remote communities. Remebering the Clyde's paddle ships and steamers - vessels which became integral to the Dunkirk evacuation. Also reflecting on the Waverley, the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world, the Viotal Spark, a boat which inspired a BBC TV series, and the Scottish lightouse service's role in naval engineering.
FRIDAY 2nd BBC 2 9.00pm The Genius of Mozart. Last in a series of three programmes in a drama documentary looking at the composer's life. During the final turbulent years of the composer's life, his father and four children died, his wife Constanze fell ill, and he was beset by financial difficulties. Yet in this period Mozart's music reached a peak of perfection
Five 7.30pm Easter in Art. Last of three episodes in which Tim Marlow explores art's depiction of the Easter story. Resurrection. TM looks at how Christ's Ascension has been interpreted by such artists as Giotto, Tintoretto and Sam Taylor-Wood.
TIME TEAM REPEATS ON DISCOVERY
A TT programme is scheduled for 7.00am and 5.00pm on Saturday 27th, and at 7.00pm on Sunday 28th.
Monday A dig at an Anglo-Saxon burial ground. Tuesday A dig at the tree-covered remains of a Norman castle in Alderton. Wednesday Investigating a mystery in a Welsh valley. Thursday A Roman villa at Waltham in the Cotswolds. Friday No Time Team at 7pm.
And don't forget - UKHistory has a full schedule of historical/archaeological programmes for those with access to digital, satellite or cable. Voted best new channel of the year 2003.
Just advance warning - as some of you will have realised from other threads, I am going to be away from home over the weekend. This means that next week's TV listings will be a little late - possibly Wednesday night, but more likely Thursday evening. So please don't panic when they don't appear on Tuesday.
Well that's me back home....and finally caught up with all the threads .... but I haven't yet bought my Radio Times - but promise that next week's listings will appear today (ie Thursday)
SATURDAY 3rd BBC 2 8.10pm Top 10 Egypt. Historian Michael Wood takes a whistle-stop tour of the land of the pharaohs as he selects his favourite Egyptian landmarks. Stopovers includes tourist staples like the temples at Karnak and Luxor, The Valley of the Kings and the pyramids at Giza, as well as surprise choices such as the oldest Christian monastery in the world.
Channel 4 7.05pm Leonardo's Dream Machines Two-part documentary investigating the practicalities of the devices envisaged by Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, who produced thousands of drawings and sketches of amny inventions, from his famed helicopter to more fantastical contraptions. 1. Teams of experts, including art historians, engineers and technicians, attempt to turn two of Leonardo's most imaginative and daring designs - for a glider and a crossbow - into reality. 2. (8.05) The crossbow team decide to risk everything with a daring test on their weapon, while glider pilot Judy Leden bravely climbs aboard the flying machine, a mere 500 years after it was first designed.
SUNDAY 4th BBC 2 8.00pm The Victoria Cross: for Valour. In 1944, Major Robert Cain won what was described as the finest VC of WWII. In an effort to find out what Cain did to win his medal and to discover what it takes to be a VC winner, Jeremy Clarkson travels to the scene of the battle, talks to military experts and meets eyewitnesses. He also meets some of the 15 living recipients of an honour that has only been conferred only 1,354 times. NB. For anyone that missed this programme the first time - I thoroughly recommend it - and that's from someone who normally can't stand Jeremy Clarkson!!!
Channel 4 5.00pm TIME TEAM ************* NOTE THE TIME A rare Bronze Age cemetery brings TR and the Team to Fife in east Scotland. Developers are keen to move onto the land and there is just time to excavate the graves. But can they solve the mystery of the huge stone-covered burial at the heart of the area.
MONDAY 5th BBC 2 7.30pm Art Crime Tiffany Tomb Raiders. On a moonlit night in1993 thieves stole a highly collectable Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass window from a mausoleum in New York. Not until five years later did the FBI stumble upon the clue that would lead them to the case's surprising conclusion.
TUESDAY 6th BBC 2 7.30pm Time Flyers. Super Rich Roman Britain. Archaeologists excavate a sumptuous mosaic and Roman villa complex hidden beneath a school playing field in Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. Who could have owned such a lavish home?
BBC 2 8.00pm Two Men in a Trench. (Scotland only) Fourth in a new series of six programmes. The Battle of Killiecrankie. July 1689: A Jacobite force led by "Bonnie" Dundee confronts the army of William III in a bid to restore the crown to the recently deposed catholic James II. TP and NO explore the battlefield in the Highlands, uncovering a snipers' den.
BBC 2 9.00pm Seven Wonders of the Industrial World. An episode from the Bafta TV Award-nominated drama-documentary series on technological achievements. The Line. In 1862, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act, authorising the construction of a 1,800-mile railway. This led to bitter rivalry between corporate giants as they raced to link America's east and west coasts.
WEDNESDAY 7th Five 7.30pm Daring Raids of WWII. New series chronicling audacious missions, carried out by small numbers of men with limited equipment, that scored valuable and morale-boosting victories for the British. Presented by historian Major Gordon Corrigan. Arctic Commando Assault. One of the first operations by the newly formed Commandos was on a factory producing fish oil, providing glycerine and vitamins for the Nazis, on a Norwegian island.
THURSDAY 8th BBC 2 7.30pm (Not Scotland) What The Industrial Revolution Did For Us. Dan Cruickshank traces the beginnings of the modern home and city.
BBC 2 8.00pm (Not Scotland) Dig With Dibnah. Fred visits working mines.
FRIDAY 9th BBC 2 5.30pm The War Behind The Wire. The Road To Colditz. A documentary examining the fate of Allied soldiers in WWII PoW camps. Seven former captives describe how they refused to give up their freedom, whether risking everything on the run in Italy, attempting an escape from Sachsen hausen concentration camp, or incarcerated in the notorious Colditz Castle.
TIME TEAM REPEATS ON DISCOVERY
A TT programme is scheduled for 7.00am and 5.00pm on Saturday 3rd.
No other Time Team programmes scheduled for this week
New series showing at 9pm Monday to Friday "Rory McGrath's Bloody History" Monday The brutality of life at sea for English sailors in the 1800s. Tuesday Exploring Mary Tudor's bloodthirsty reign. Wednesday Body-snatching. Thursday How King John burned down Rochester Castle with pig fat. Friday The nature of savage witch hunts in the 1640s.
And don't forget - UKHistory has a full schedule of historical/archaeological programmes for those with access to digital, satellite or cable. Voted best new channel of the year 2003.
With such a great richness of material to choose from these days, this thread must be taking up more and more of your time, Valerie. Thanks again for your hard work.
Thank you kind sir! The occasional compliment is enough to keep me going
From Radio Times 10th - 16th April
SATURDAY 10th Channel 4 4.55pm Pilate: The Man Who Killed Christ. The role of Pontius Pilate in the trial and crucifixion of Christis re-examined, with testimony from some of Britain's most eminent scholars. The study attempts to reveal who was truely culpable for Jesus' death.
SUNDAY 11th Channel 4 5.00pm TIME TEAM ************* NOTE THE TIME A cliff-top mound known locally as the Giant's Grave brings TR and the Team to one of Shetland's outermost islands. But what is concealed by the hillock? And is it linked to Viking pottery found in a nearby garden?
MONDAY 12th Channel 4 6.35pm Resurrection. Tom Wright, The Bishop of Durham, believes that there is little justification for being a Christian unless one accepts that the Resurrection is a matter of historical fact. Here he turns scriptural detective as he embarks on a journey to the places where Jesus lived and died in an attempt to build up a picture of what really happened in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.
TUESDAY 13th BBC 2 7.30pm Time Flyers. Clash of the Clans. As excavations take place at the ancient sea-fort of Dun Eisdean on the Hebridean island of Lewis, the team make an aerial investigation of of the 16th-century feud between the clans Morrison and MacLeod.
BBC 2 8.00pm Two Men in a Trench. (Scotland only) Fourth in a new series of six programmes. The Battle of Bannockburn. June 1314: the warrior king Robert the Bruce takes on the might of the English led by Edward II. TP and NO use all the weapons in their archaeological armoury to find and explore the site where it happened.
Five 7.30pm Daring Raids of WWII. New series chronicling audacious missions, carried out by small numbers of men with limited equipment, that scored valuable and morale-boosting victories for the British. Presented by historian Major Gordon Corrigan. Arctic Commando Assault. One of the first operations by the newly formed Commandos was on a factory producing fish oil, providing glycerine and vitamins for the Nazis, on a Norwegian island.
Five 8.00pm Hitler's Britain. Occupation. Actors depict what life might have been like had the Nazis invaded Britain.
THURSDAY 15th Five 7.30pm Artists in Residence: Bloomsbury. As various members of the Bloomsbury set died or left Charleston, the large Sussex manor they made their retreat, the house began to crumble. This is the tale of how it was saved for the nation.
FRIDAY 16th BBC 2 9.00pm The Greaterst Storm - Timewatch Freak weather conditions on 31st January 1953 led to a storm that cut a destructive swathe across the North Sea coasts of Britain and the Netherlands. Over 2,000 people were killed and thousands left homeless in the worst national peacetime disaster of the 20th century. This documentary charts the course of events, uncovering poignant stories of heroism and suffering, and asks how this catastrophe came to be forgotten so quickly.
TIME TEAM REPEATS ON DISCOVERY
A TT programme is scheduled for 7.00am and 5.00pm on Saturday 10th.
Monday No Time Team programme. Tuesday Unearthing a Saxon skeleton. Wednesday Mosaics found under Somerset pigsties. Thursday Bones found in a Peak District cave. Friday Investigating the myth surrounding a cliff-top mound in the Shetlands.
New series showing at 9pm Monday to Friday "Rory McGrath's Bloody History" Monday Reliving the Monmouth rebellion of 1685. Tuesday Jack the Ripper's reign of murderous terror. Wednesday The story of a Viking dubbed "Hairy Trousers". Thursday The Welsh rebellions in the 15th century. Friday A look at the Peasants Revolt of 1381.
And don't forget - UKHistory has a full schedule of historical/archaeological programmes for those with access to digital, satellite or cable. Voted best new channel of the year 2003.
SATURDAY 17th BBC 2 7.20pm Queen of Sheba: Behind the Myth Did the legendary Queen of Sheba, lover of King Solomon, ever exist? This archaeological detective tale, spearheaded by a team of experts and using computer-generated reconstructions, leads to a forgotten temple built 3,000 years ago deep in the Yemeni desert, in what is believed to be the kingdom of this fabled monarch.
BBC 2 8.10pm The Private Life of a Masterpiece. Little-known stories behind great artworks. The Great Wave. Arguably the most recognizable image in Far Eastern art, this Japanese mgnum opus is an accurate portrayal of the waves sailors swore they had encountered, despite universal scepticism. One of a series of wood-block prints begun in the 1820s by Katsushika Hokusai, then in his 70s, "The Great Wave" has a fascinating history that speaks volumes in the 21st century.
SUNDAY 18th Channel 4 5.00pm TIME TEAM ************* NOTE THE TIME While digging a small pond in their Northamptonshire garden, Morris and Pat Jones came across a skeleton laid out with a knife, ceremonial pottery and a valuable buckle. To find out whether a whole Saxon cemetery lies there, TR and the Team move in for three days.
MONDAY 19th BBC 2 7.40pm Terry Jones' Hidden Histories - Rome In the second of two films unearthing the secrets of ancient civilisations, TJ brings to light some surprising facts about the Romans - revelations which include drinking habits at the Priest and Cucumber and the major problem of burglary.
Channel 4 9.00pm TIME TEAM SPECIAL: LOCH TAY *********** The archaeology show goes aquatic in this special that joins husband-and -wife team Nick and Barrie Dixon as they investigate the remains of a collapsed crannog - an Iron Age dwelling built on stilts over water. The peatiness of Loch tay's water has preserved ancient items in near perfect condition, providing an incredible insight into the minutiae of life 2,600 years ago.
TUESDAY 20th BBC 2 7.30pm Time Flyers. The Stonehenge of the North. The Flyers investigate an area of North Yorkshire landscape which stretches for more than a mile and is dominated by an arrangement of giant earthworks, banks and ditches. Research into the subsequent discovery of three huge amphitheatres built over 5,000years previously leads archaeologists to uncover an astronomical link to suggest that these buildings, which attracted Neolithic pilgrims from across Britain, were one of the country's first temples to the heavens.
Five 7.30pm Daring Raids of WWII. New series chronicling audacious missions, carried out by small numbers of men with limited equipment, that scored valuable and morale-boosting victories for the British. Presented by historian Major Gordon Corrigan. Prison Busters. In 1944, 15 RAF crews flew to Amiens in France, where they precision-bombed a prison in a mission to free French Resistance fighters held there.
Five 8.00pm Hitler's Britain. Occupation. Actors depict what life might have been like had the Nazis invaded Britain. featuring Churchill's secret plans to set up underground units of civilianresistance fighters.
THURSDAY 22nd Five 7.30pm Artists in Residence: Bloomsbury. As various members of the Bloomsbury set died or left Charleston, the large Sussex manor they made their retreat, the house began to crumble. This is the tale of how it was saved for the nation.
TIME TEAM REPEATS ON DISCOVERY
A TT programme is scheduled for 7.00am and 5.00pm on Saturday 17th and 7.00pm on Sunday 18th.
Monday Looking for Henry VIII's lost armoury and jousting yard in Greenwich. Tuesday Liberty's first factory in South London. Wednesday A Roman road and cemetery in Bath. Thursday King Alfred's powerbase, Athelney. Friday George III's lost palace at Kew Gardens.
New series showing at 9pm Monday to Friday "Rory McGrath's Bloody History"
And don't forget - UKHistory has a full schedule of historical/archaeological programmes for those with access to digital, satellite or cable. Voted best new channel of the year 2003.
SATURDAY 24th BBC 2 7.20pm A Country Estate. In its heyday, Loton Park in Shropshire employed 19 servants and 6 gardeners. However, the estate has now shrunk to just three farms, and owner Sir Michael Leighton lives alone in the "big house". This documentary folows him as he struggles to reconcile his conventional views on estate management with a pressing need to make money through events such as public open days and weddings.
BBC 2 8.10pm The Private Life of a Masterpiece. Little-known stories behind great artworks. Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. edgar Degas's bronze sculpture of a ballet dancer wearing a real tutuhas become one of the most widely appreciated European works of art. But when the original tinted wax version was first exhibited in 1881 it caused consternation, with contemporary critics dubbing Degas's petite danceuse variously as "a monster" and a "flower of the gutter". This documentary reveals how Degas broke every rule in the book to create his modern masterpiece, and also tells the poignant life story of the scuplture's model.
SUNDAY 25th BBC 1 7.00pm Wren - The Man Who Built Britain. Hugh Bonneville stars as architect and Renaissance man Christopher Wren in this drama-documentary charting his brilliant career, which culminated in the construction of St Paul's Cathedral in 1710.
Channel 4 5.00pm TIME TEAM ************* NOTE THE TIME An excavation at the Royal Crescent, a row of 18th-century houses in Bath, proves to be a process full of surprises. Bad weather and an unexpected discovery hamper the team's efforts to uncover a Roman burial ground and part of the Fosse Way, and the startling outcome of the dig poses more questions than it answers.
Channel 4 8.00pm Children of Abraham. Mark Dowd, a Catholic who trained as a Franciscan friar, sets off on a journey to the Holy Land, Egypt, Turkey, Bosnia and the USA, exploring both the shared roots and the divisive aspects of Christianity, Islam and Judaism along the way. The figure of Abraham is central to all three faiths but, despite the united future promised to the prophet, divisions remain. Dowd considers the logic for the existence of three monotheistic faiths if there is only one God, and asks why some use religion to demonise their enemies, while others reach out to them.
MONDAY 26th Channel 4 9.00pm TIME TEAM *********** (repeat) TR and the team face a frantic three days as they aim to put the Yorkshire town of Castleford firmly on the map of Roman Britain.
TUESDAY 27th Five 7.30pm Daring Raids of WWII. New series chronicling audacious missions, carried out by small numbers of men with limited equipment, that scored valuable and morale-boosting victories for the British. Presented by historian Major Gordon Corrigan. Radar Beam Raiders. In 1942, the newly-formed British paratroop regiment infiltrated occupied northern France on a mission to discover the secrets of Germany's radar supremacy.
TIME TEAM REPEATS ON DISCOVERY
A TT programme is scheduled for 7.00am and 5.00pm on Saturday 24th and 7.00pm on Sunday 25th.
Monday In Fife. Tuesday From Castle Howard, North Yorkshire. Wednesday Aerial photos of fields near Sedgefield reveal a lost Roman town. Thursday A police station on the site of 1771 jail. Friday A Byzantine bucket in Hampshire.
New series showing at 9pm Monday to Friday "Rory McGrath's Bloody History"
And don't forget - UKHistory has a full schedule of historical/archaeological programmes for those with access to digital, satellite or cable. Voted best new channel of the year 2003.
SATURDAY 1st BBC 2 7.10pm War at Sea. A rerun of the series recalling great Royal Navy battles. Trafalgar to Jutland. Nelson's victory over the French in 1805 was a feat of brilliance that still influences the Royal Navy today. During the WWI Battle of Jutland, however, this reputation became a millstone as 6,000 sailors perished. Using reconstructions, underwater footage of wrecks and personal testimonies of warfare, Professor Andrew Lambert recounts these turning points in history.
BBC 2 8.10pm The Private Life of a Masterpiece. Little-known stories behind great artworks. The Sunflowers. Viewed as one of the most famous works of art in the world, few people know the history behind Vincent Van Gogh's painting. Inspired by a bunch of flowers that the artist found lying in the gutter, "Sunflowers" became a personal favourite of the Dutch artist. A favourite so much that ten versions of the original were made, the first of which helped to form a fruitful but ultimately fraught relationship with fellow artist Paul Gaugin. Revealing these stories and how Van Gogh's passion for sunflowers followed him all the way to the grave, this documentary also looks to explain the enduring popularity behind the piece.
SUNDAY 2nd Channel 4 5.00pm TIME TEAM ************* NOTE THE TIME The discovery of pieces of pottery and metal in a field on the Isle of Wight leads to speculation that the site of a Roman villa will be unearthed. But as TR and the Team get to work, they uncover some conflicting evidence.
Channel 4 8.00pm Children of Abraham. Mark Dowd, a Catholic who trained as a Franciscan friar, continues his journey to the Holy Land, Egypt, Turkey, Bosnia and the USA, exploring both the shared roots and the divisive aspects of Christianity, Islam and Judaism along the way. While in Jerusalem, he meets Chief Rabbi Professor Jonathon Sacks, an Israeli teacher who works in a Palestinian school, and a former Jew who converted to Islam and voices his approval of suicide bombings. Dowd considers whether a conflict that is, on the face of things, religious could have rather more political roots, and suggests that the differences between Muslims and Jews could come down to individual insecurities.
MONDAY 3rd Channel 4 4.05pm London: the Greatest City. State-of-the-art computer graphics and dramatic reconstruction combine to tell the compelling story of Britain's capital city. The film charts its early days as a burgeoning Roman settlement through dark times such as the eras of the Black Death, the Great Fire and the Blitz, to postwar reconstruction and its contemporary rebirth as one of the world's major financial and cultural centres.
Channel 4 9.00pm TIME TEAM SPECIAL *********** The Ten Million Pound House. TR and the Team help to uncover 700 years of design history as they contribute to the painstaking and costly restoration of Ightham Mote in Kent, the best-preserved medieval manor house in the country.
Five 9.00pm D-Day: the Ultimate Conflict. On 6 June 1944 over 200,000 Allied troops poured onto the beaches of France in the most momentous event of WWII. Backing up the steamroller offensive was a secret armoury which included amphibious tanks, fire-breathing machines and other gadgets to probe weak spots in the Nazi defences. This documentary looks at the team of creative and sometimes eccentric inventors behind the assault.
TUESDAY 4th BBC 2 6.30pm (7.30pm in England) Time Flyers. Millionaire Monks. The British countryside is littered with the remains of Cistercian abbeys and churches. But far from being isolated prayer houses, these abbeys were hives of industrial activity and home to some of the most astute and wealthiest businessmen of their day.
BBC 2 7.00pm (Scotland only) Two Men in a Trench. The Battle of the Big Guns. TP and NO visit Dover's famous white cliffs, the site of one of WWII's most remarkable battles. From 1940-1944 long-range British and German guns stationed on either side of the Channel exchanged fire in a bid to win control of this strategic 22-mile wide stretch of water.
Five 7.30pm Daring Raids of WWII. Series chronicling audacious missions, carried out by small numbers of men with limited equipment, that scored valuable and morale-boosting victories for the British. Presented by historian Major Gordon Corrigan. Stopping Hitler's A-Bomb. Chronicling a three-part operation, one of which ended in disaster, to eliminate a hydroelectric plant in Rjukan, Norway, used by the Nazis to produce "heavy water" - essential in the creation of nuclear weapons.
THURSDAY 6th Five 7.30pm Tim Marlow on El Greco. The art historian looks at the work of the 16th-century Greek master, subject of a current exhibition at London's National Gallery, and explains why he is seen as such a visionary painter.
FRIDAY 7th BBC 2 9.00pm London. First of three in a new series in which Peter Ackroyd brings to life the capital's colourful history in partly dramatised documentaries. Fire and Destiny. From Boudicca's torching of the city to the Blitz raids, PA examines how London survives fire.
TIME TEAM REPEATS ON DISCOVERY
A TT programme is scheduled for 7.00am and 5.00pm on Saturday 1st and 7.00pm on Sunday 2nd.
Monday The Team dig against the clock at Brading on the Isle of Wight. Tuesday Reconstructing a castle at Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire. Wednesday The Team help local people put Castleford on the Roman map. Thursday Evidence of settlement is uncovered at RAF Throckmorton. Friday The Team visits High Ercall, Shropshire, site of a Civil War siege.
And don't forget - UKHistory has a full schedule of historical/archaeological programmes for those with access to digital, satellite or cable. Voted best new channel of the year 2003.
SATURDAY 8th BBC 2 7.00pm War at Sea. A rerun of the series recalling great Royal Navy battles. Will to Win. Winston Churchill risked war with France when he ordered the Royal Navy to sink the French fleet rather than surrender it to Axis forces - a command that ultimately paid dividends, earning the confidence of the Americans. Presented by Professor Andrew Lambert.
BBC 2 9.30pm Restoration - the Story Continues....... Following last year's successful bid to save Manchester's
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