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This episode traces the fortunes and fates of the European royal dynasties during the first half of the 20th century. Narrator Lesley Sharp links sequences showing an era of war, revolution, assassination and abdication. Includes footage of Queen Victoria at her diamond jubilee celebrations; Victoria's funeral; Edward VII out hunting; Tsar Nicholas II of Russia; Victor Emmanuel of Italy; Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany; Franz Josef of Austria in Sarajevo;...
Language
English
Description
Traveling from Devon to Cumbria, Scotland and Rome, Michael Wood tells the tale of King Alfred's grandson Aethelstan's wars and shows how he created a national coinage and established a political assembly that later became the English Parliament. But there's also a dark side, with legends that the king had his brother drowned at sea. Aethelstan defeated an invasion of Vikings and Scots in what became known as the Anglo-Saxon 'Great War.' Wood argues...
Language
English
Description
King Alfred the Great fights a desperate guerrilla war in the marshes of Somerset before his decisive victory at Edington. Creating towns, trade, and coinage, reviving learning and literacy, Alfred then laid the foundations of a single kingdom of 'all the English.' Filmed on location from Reading to Rome, using original texts read in Old English, and interviews with leading scholars, Michael Wood describes a man who was 'not just the greatest Briton,...
Language
English
Description
The year 2015 marks 200 years since the Battle of Waterloo. Using recently uncovered historical evidence and based upon almost a decade of research, this major, three-part series, sheds new light on Napoleon as an extraordinarily gifted military commander and a charismatic leader whose private life-contrary to popular belief 200 years later-was littered with disappointments and betrayals: not least in relation to Josephine. Part 2 examines the French...
Language
English
Description
The year 2015 marks 200 years since the Battle of Waterloo. Using recently uncovered historical evidence and based upon almost a decade of research, this major, three-part series, sheds new light on Napoleon as an extraordinarily gifted military commander and a charismatic leader whose private life-contrary to popular belief 200 years later-was littered with disappointments and betrayals: not least in relation to Josephine. Part 3 examines Napoleon's...
Language
English
Description
The year 2015 marks 200 years since the Battle of Waterloo. Using recently uncovered historical evidence and based upon almost a decade of research, this major, three-part series, sheds new light on Napoleon as an extraordinarily gifted military commander and a charismatic leader whose private life-contrary to popular belief 200 years later-was littered with disappointments and betrayals: not least in relation to Josephine. Part 1 examines his military...
Language
English
Description
Journey into the six decade reign of one of the world's most influential women. Follow Queen Elizabeth II's remarkable life, from her youth-when few expected she'd ever wear the crown-to her uncle Edward VIII's stunning abdication, and her father's subsequent coronation as King George VI. Witness her experiences during World War II, her own sudden ascension to the throne, and her eventful reign of more than 60 years. She defines the role of a modern...
Language
English
Description
Let's face it - there aren't many happy moments in King Lear. In fact, it may be the most bleak of all Shakespeare's plays, exemplifying both current and classical notions of tragedy. This program presents an enactment of Act IV, Scene 7, among the play's more lyrical and less ominous passages. A group of young British actors rehearses and performs a splendid rendition of the king's reunion with his daughter Cordelia. As a brief discussion afterwards...
Language
English
Description
A youth named Arthur emerges as a claimant to the English throne, challenging an already dubious royal establishment. Is this the story of Excalibur and the Round Table? No, it's Shakespeare's King John, a power-struggle narrative set centuries later than the Arthurian legends. But its action is every bit as stirring and its themes are equally resonant, as several young acting students discover while rehearsing and performing Scene 2 from Act V. Shakespeare...