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
You’re Dead To Me
BBC Radio 4
Saturday 10th January, 10am
How did medicine develop in Tudor and Stuart England? Before the reign of Henry VIII, learn host Greg Jenner and comedian Ria Lina, medical practice was still based on the theory of four humours, but then healthcare began to change. Historian Dr Alanna Skuse offers expert insights.
Music Matters: The President And The Polka
BBC Radio 3
Saturday 10th January, 1pm
In a new six-part series, journalist Justin Webb explores the relationship between American political history and classical music. As the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence approaches, listen out too for 1776 (BBC Radio 4, Sunday 11th January, 3pm), Martin Jarvis’s two-part adaptation of the 1969 historical musical by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone.
Valley Of The Kings: Secret Tomb Revealed
Channel 4
Saturday 10th January, 7pm
Cameras look on as German archaeologist Dr Anke Weber leads a team excavating the vast burial chamber of Ramses III, located in the Valley of the Kings. It’s a site that’s relatively undisturbed and so there are treasures to be found. Part one of two.
Call The Midwife
BBC One
Sunday 11th January, 8pm
Ahead of a prequel series and, currently in development, a film set in 1972, the Nonnatus House baby wranglers are back. The year is 1971 and the team are worried about the welfare of four young children. Plus the midwives head for a women’s liberation movement meeting.
What Happened To Progress?
BBC Radio 4
Monday 12th January, 11am
The overarching idea here is that progress, a sense of the world getting better for people, appears to have gone into reverse. Of necessity, Matthew Sweet inevitably looks back in time as he tests this notion. The theme in the final episode of three is international relations. The other shows are available via BBC Sounds.
Lucy Worsley’s Victorian Murder Club
BBC Two
Monday 12th January, 9pm
The historian continues her investigation into the so-called Thames Torso Murderer. In this coldest of cases, is there evidence to be found that might reveal the identity of the killer?Plus on Tuesday 13th January, Lady Killers With Lucy Worsley (BBC Radio 4, 3pm) continues with the story of Cloe, an enslaved black teenager who lived in 19th-century Pennsylvania.
Saving Country Houses With Penelope Keith
More4
Tuesday 13th January, 9pm
The star of To The Manor Born presents a new series in which she charts what it takes to maintain a stately home in the 21st century. First up, we’re offered behind-the-scenes looks at life in Chavenage House in Gloucestershire, Branceparth Castle in County Durham and a Rugby manor house central to the story of the Gunpowder Plot.
Digging For Britain
BBC Two
Wednesday 14th January, 9pm
Alice Roberts’ survey of the latest archaeological findings in the UK continues. Highlights this time around include rare finds within an Iron Age hoard, the earliest example of a Roman artist’s signature in Britain and a fiendishly tricky dig conducted adjacent to the White Cliffs of Dover.
In Our Time – pick of the week
BBC Radio 4
Thursday 15th January, 9am
After close to three decades helming the show that explores “the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world”, Sir Melvyn Bragg has stepped aside. Welcome instead Misha Glenny, chronicler of the Yugoslav Wars as a reporter in the 1990s and, latterly, an acclaimed writer, academic and the host of Radio 4’s Invention strand.
Free Thinking
BBC Radio 4
Friday 16th January, 9pm
Matthew Sweet chairs a discussion of Victorian values and how these have fed into our contemporary world. Those offering their insights are biographer AN Wilson, crossbench peer Baroness Gisela Stuart, and a trio of historians – Sarah Williams, Fern Riddel and Matthew Stallard.