History TV and radio in the UK: what's on our screens this week?
Can't decide which shows to watch or listen to this week? Here are the latest history radio and TV programmes airing in the UK that you won't want to miss
Archive On 4: Pétain On Trial: From Hero To Traitor
BBC Radio 4
Saturday 26th July, 8pm
A hero during the First World War, when he led the French Army, Philippe Pétain became head of the collaborationist Vichy France regime in 1940. Eight decades after Pétain’s trial for treason, Allan Little examines the marshal’s legacy and considers how his ideas have influenced the modern far right in France.
Don’t Lose Your Head
BBC Radio 4
Sunday 27th July, 7.15pm
The head of Simon Sudbury, one-time Archbishop of Canterbury, became separated from his body after he was executed by rebels during the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt. Should head and body be reunited at Canterbury Cathedral? The Rev Andrew Doarks of St Gregory’s Church in Sudbury, the current keeper of Sudbury’s head, investigates.
The Narrow Road To The Deep North
BBC One
Sunday 27th July, 9.15pm
Episode two of the big-budget Australian drama and the extent of the atrocities committed during the building of the Burma Railway are made all too clear. Meantime, as the series jumps around in time, the love affair between Dorrigo and Amy deepens.
Speed Of Light
BBC Radio 4
Monday 28th July, 11.45am
Laura Cummings reads from her study of the early years of photography. In the first of five weekday episodes, she focuses on Alexander Gardner, who captured haunting images of the American Civil War and whose subjects included Abraham Lincoln, whom Gardener photographed shortly before the president’s assassination.
Fake Or Fortune
BBC One
Monday 28th July, 9pm
Philip Mould and Fiona Bruce explore the provenance of two paintings: a portrait of a young girl and a landscape. Both pictures are small, but their value could be huge if, as their respective owners hope, either or both of the works can be attributed to Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
Kamikaze: An Untold History – pick of the week
BBC Four
Monday 28th July, 9pm
As the Second World War drew to a close, Japan’s imperial forces sent suicide missions against American shipping. Drawing on 15 years of interviews with both Japanese and American veterans, director Takayuki Oshima’s film considers how such a desperate tactic came to be adopted and what it was like to face kamikaze attack.
Natalie Haynes Stands Up For The Classics
BBC Radio 4
Tuesday 29th July, 9am
With contributions from academics Edith Hall and Islam Issa, the comedian and classicist tells the story of the Great Library of Alexandria. It was built with the intention of housing all the books in the world, but it was damaged in 48 BC when forces commanded by Julius Caesar set ships in the harbour ablaze and the fire spread.
Pompeii: Life In The City With Dan Snow
5
Tuesday 29th July, 9pm
In a new four-part series, Dan Snow and Dr Kate Lister explore what life would have been like in Pompeii. For some, it would have been a privileged experience, but the first of four episodes also reminds us that a third of the city’s working population were slaves.
The Nazi Cartel
Sky Documentaries
Tuesday 29th July, 9pm
Such was his brutality that gestapo officer Klaus Barbi was dubbed the “Butcher of Lyon”. Less well known is the story of his life in the wake of the Second World War, which, as this series explores, included time in Bolivia where he lived for 30 years and cultivated links to the drugs trade.
Bookish
U&Alibi
Wednesday 30th July, 8pm & 9.10pm
The excellent crime drama set in the wake of the Second World War concludes with sleuth Gabriel Book (Mark Gatiss) investigating the poisoning of an army officer, administered via cocktail, at the Walsingham Hotel. Featuring a guest-star turn from Paul McGann.
Queen Victoria: Secret Marriage, Secret Child?
Channel 4
Thursday 31st July, 9pm
What was the nature of the relationship between Victoria and her Highland servant, John Brown? Rob Rinder explores Dr Fern Riddell’s theory, based on research in the archives, that this may have been a romantic affair. Plus did Victoria have a baby with Brown?
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World with Bettany Hughes
Channel 5
Saturday 2 August, 6.30pm
Join Bettany Hughes as she explores the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. New augmented reality technology allows viewers a new perspective on on these sites, which include the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the Great Pyramid of Giza, the latter of which is the only ancient wonder still in existence.