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: Taxi Driver At 50 – New York, Then And Now
BBC Radio 4
Saturday 31st January, 8pm
In the mid-1970s, New York faced bankruptcy. The city was visibly decaying. The era was vividly captured in director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader’s Taxi Driver, starring Robert De Niro as traumatised and violent Travis Bickle. Ex-Big Apple cabbie Michael Goldfarb looks back at the film and considers how New York has changed over the past 50 years.
The Assassinations Of Queen Victoria
5
Saturday 31st January, 8.30pm
There were eight separate attempts on the life of Queen Victoria during her reign, including an attack in 1840 when a teenage gunman fired at her from close range. But despite the risks involved, as this feature-length documentary charts, the monarch insisted on being visible to her subjects, many of whom only admired her more because of this courage.
Walden
BBC Radio 4
Sunday 1st February, 3pm
Henry David Thoreau’s Walden (1854) was a reflection on a year the author spent living simply and “deliberately” in a remote cabin located next to a pond in Massachusetts. Matthew Needham stars in Paul Farley’s dramatisation of the text. Broadcast as part of Radio 4’s ongoing celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Bolton: The Happiest Town On Earth?
BBC Radio 4
Sunday 1st February, 7.15pm
Broadcast in the Illuminated strand, Katherine Longworth looks back to the 1930s, when researchers descended on Bolton to discover residents largely happy with their lot in life. What’s changed in the years since? Is it tougher to be happier today than during the interwar era?
Call The Midwife
BBC One
Sunday 1st February, 8pm
Despite its cosy reputation, Call The Midwife is never worried about tackling difficult subjects. The latest episode is a case in point as a newborn baby is snatched from the maternity home, an incident that hits Sister Catherine badly. Elsewhere, the Turners have concerns over Christopher’s safety.
Understand: An American Journey
BBC Radio 4
Monday 2nd February, 11am
James Naughtie continues his travels aimed at exploring how the ideas of the Founding Fathers have shaped the contemporary USA. His theme in the third of four episodes is Establishing Justice. He begins in Alabama and its place in the story of the fight for Civil Rights.
Clive Myrie’s African Adventure
BBC Two
Monday 2nd February, 6.30pm
Continuing his travels, the broadcaster reaches the megacity of Lagos in Nigeria, where he investigates the vibrant local art scene. As the weekday series heads towards its conclusion, other programmes find Myrie heading north, and visiting Marrakech, Casablanca and Tangier.
The Essay: Almost Famous
BBC Radio 3
Monday 2nd February, 9.45pm
There are cultural figures from the past whose work is celebrated down the years. Others remain relatively unknown, but why? It’s a question central to Ian Sansom’s five weekday reflections on obscurity, which begins with an appreciation of the musician and composer Granville Bantock (1868–1946), whose name would once have been widely recognised.
Lost Grail With Alice Roberts – pick of the week
Sky History
Tuesday 3rd February, 1pm & 9pm
Down the years and despite these islands’ distance from the Holy Land, Grail myths have proliferated across Britain. Should we take any of them seriously? The reassuringly sensible Alice Roberts presents a new series interrogating some of these stories and visiting sites associated with Grail lore, such as Glastonbury Abbey.
Digging For Britain
BBC Two
Wednesday 4th February, 8pm
The latest series of the archaeology round-up concludes with two episodes shown over successive evenings. Highlights include reports from the site of a vast Roman compound, a farmstead that belonged to Isaac Newton’s mother and the origin story of St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall.