History TV and radio in the UK: what's on our screens this week?

Saturday 12th October, 8pm

In 1994, stand-up Patrick Kielty was making his way in Belfast telling jokes about the Troubles. He thus played a small part in a year when a new mood north and south of the border helped reshape perceptions of Ireland. Thirty years later, he recalls the year of the IRA ceasefire, Riverdance and the rise of the Celtic Tiger.

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Dickensian: Little Dorrit

BBC Radio 4

Sunday 13th October, 3pm

Writer Mike Walker’s three-part adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel (1855–57) begins with Arthur Clennam (Samuel Barnett) returning to England after 20 years in China. He carries with him his late father’s watch and a cryptic message for his mother.

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The Lion, The Witch And The Wonder

BBC Radio 4

Monday 14th October, 11.45am

Novelist Katherine Rundell reads from her own essays examining the power and politics of children’s fiction. The first of five weekday episodes, Magnificent Disasters, asks why some of the world’s greatest novelists, including Leo Tolstoy and Graham Greene, have struggled to write for younger audiences.

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Lady Swindlers With Lucy Worsley

BBC Radio 4

Monday 14th October, 3.30pm

With help from historian Leigh Straw and detective Christine Nixon, Lucy Worsley charts the life and times of Tilly Devine. Born in Camberwell, London, Devine emigrated as a young bride to Australia in the wake of the First World War. In Sydney, she became a notorious crime boss.

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The Art Mysteries

Sky Arts

Tuesday 15th October, 9pm

Waldemar Januszczak presents a series in which he looks for the secret meanings to be found in even the most familiar artworks. He begins with Melencolia I, an engraving made in 1514 by Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528). As the name hints, it’s a glum image – but why is the central figure, a female angel, so unhappy?

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Hitler’s British Island

Sky History

Tuesday 15th October, 9pm

For those with access to the channel, it’s worth looking at the Sky History schedules, currently replete with new series and one-off documentaries. Hitler’s British Island, which takes us to Alderney under Nazi occupation, looks among the most intriguing offerings.

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DNA Journey

ITV1

Wednesday 16th October, 9pm

Actors Sue Johnston and Ricky Tomlinson are close friends with an onscreen chemistry built through their appearances together on Brookside and The Royle family. Accordingly, the duo are good company as they team up to explore their respective family histories. At least one of Sue’s forebears is far posher than she ever anticipated.

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A House Through Time: Two Cities At War – pick of the week

BBC Two

Thursday 17th October, 9pm

The social history series returns and, this time around, David Olusoga explores the lives of the residents of not one house, but two apartment blocks – one in Berlin and one in London. Working towards the Second World War, Olusoga begins in the 1920s, years when events between 1914 and 1918 cast a long shadow.

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BBC Radio 4

Friday 18th October, 7.15pm

It’s been a decade since The Detectorists first aired, a cue for Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones to look at how archaeology has been portrayed in cinema and television down the years. In part because of the way filmmakers have mythologised archaeologists, the duo uncover a rich and even troubling cultural history.

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The Man Who Definitely Didn’t Steal Hollywood

BBC Two

Friday 18th October, 9pm

In 1990, movie mogul and former waiter Giancarlo Parretti purchased the film studio MGM/united Artists for more than $1 billion. Hollywood hoped he would invigorate a struggling business but, as this documentary charts, that’s not how things played out. But why – and what exactly happened? It proves to be an incredible story.

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