TV & radio: what to tune in to next week (3-9 October)
Can't decide what programmes to watch or listen to? Here we round up the history TV and radio shows you won't want to miss
Germany: Memories Of A Nation
Radio 4
Friday 3 October, 9.45am
Neil MacGregor continues his weekday series telling the story of Germany through objects. Episode five finds him considering what coins from the Holy Roman Empire era tell us. Next week’s shows begin with an episode focused on Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible.
Saturday Drama: Reykjavik
Radio 4
Saturday 4 October, 2.30pm
Jonathan Myerson’s drama recalls events in 1986 when Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev held a summit in Iceland. This was an informal meeting, yet astonihsingly it saw the men discussing dispensing with their countries’ nuclear arsenals. Based on both American and Russian transcripts of the meeting.
Archive On 4: From Inside – The Guildford Four
Radio 4
Saturday 4 October, 8.00pm
Martin McNamara introduces readings from the letters of Paul Hill, one of the Guildford Four wrongly convicted of bombing two pubs used by British soldiers in 1974. The Troubles also provide the backdrop for Who Won The War? (BBC Two, Thursday 9th October, 11.20pm, BBC Two), in which journalist Peter Taylor marks the 20th anniversary of the 1994 ceasefire.
Sacred Rivers With Simon Reeve
BBC Two
Sunday 5 October, 9.00pm
The intrepid travel journalist goes on a trio of journeys down holy waterways that have played key roles in world history. First up, Reeve heads to the source of the Blue Nile in the Ethiopian Highlands before making his away across the desert of Sudan towards Egypt and the Mediterranean.
Nazi Megastructures
More4
Sunday 5 October, 9.00pm
As the title here suggests, the Nazis liked big construction projects. A six-part series begins with the Atlantic Wall defences. Also this week on More4, Ark Of The Covenant: Treasures Decoded (Wednesday 8th October, 9.00pm) considers the stories that swirl around an object it’s said was made to carry the tablets on which the 10 Commandments were written.
Lost Kingdoms Of Central America
BBC Four
Monday 6 October, 9.00pm
In the final episode of what’s been an excellent series, Dr Jago Cooper focuses on the Teotihuacan civilisation. Amidst spectacular pyramids in Mexico, Cooper charts the story of a people who were empire builders and, 2,000 years ago, dominated Central America.
Pick of the Week…
Afternoon Drama: Tommies
Radio 4
Tuesday 7 October, 2.15pm
A drama series following life on the front line, with each episode set exactly 100 years ago, begins with soldier and wireless expert Mickey Bliss’s first day of conflict. It finds him in the valley of the Aisne, part of an effort to stop German forces reaching Paris.
World War One At Home: The Zeppelin Terror
BBC Four
Tuesday 7 October, 8.30pm
Historian Ben Robinson flies from Norfolk to London via helicopter. Not just for the fun of it but because it’s a way to explore the first attacks on the UK by German airships. A documentary first shown on BBC One East also features archive film and draws on eyewitness accounts.
Long Shadow
BBC Two
Wednesday 8 October, 8.00pm
Professor David Reynolds concludes his superb series on the aftermath of 1914-18 by looking at nationalism. The drastically altered European map of 1919, he argues, unleashed forces that destabilised the continent for much of the 20th century. Reynolds also looks at the struggle for Irish independence.
Who Do You Think You Are?
BBC One
Thursday 9th October, 9.00pm
Supermodel Twiggy traces her family history in the 100th episode of the genealogy series, discovering tales of hard times in Victorian London. Over on BBC Two, Peaky Blinders (9.00pm) finds Tommy Shelby meeting enigmatic London gang leader Alfie Solomons (Tom Hardy).
