THU 2/12/10: 9pm BBC Two - At Home With The Georgians

How did we become so taken up with where we live? As Amanda Vickery reveals in a new three-part series, it’s an obsession that began in the 18th century. Drawing on diaries and letters from the era, Vickery explores Georgian attitudes to homes and setting up home.

WED 1/12/10: BBC2 9pm Ancient Worlds (4 of 6)

In Richard Miles's epic story of civilization, there have been plenty of examples of the great men of history, but none came close to the legend of Alexander of Macedon, known to us as 'the Great'. Uniting the fractious Greek city-states, he led them on a crusade against the old enemy, Persia, and in little more than a decade created an empire that stretched from Egypt in the west to Afghanistan in the east. Visit Site and watch the previous episodes and clips from this great series.

Tue 30/11/10: BBC1 9pm - Turn Back Time: The High Street 60s

In this episode the shopkeepers move into the swinging sixties, and big changes hit the high street. Every shop has transformed completely - 1960s mass production of meat, bread and clothing means the bakers find themselves running a milk bar, the butcher sells hardware and the dressmaker is now running a hair salon. The grocers has become self-service, bringing a more modern shopping experience to customers. The bakers have to produce milkshakes and burgers, while the dressmaker turns her hand to bouffants and beehives. The butcher finds himself in direct competition with the grocer.

MON 29/11/10: 9pm BBC Two - Ian Hislop’s Age Of The Do-Gooders

The Private Eye editor hosts a three-part series looking at 19th-century philanthropists and social engineers. William Wilbeforce, he argues, set the template. Following a conversion to evangelical Christianity, Wilberforce was fearless in the fight to end slavery but also something of a prude – he even campaigned for a discreet fig leaf to be placed on a statue of Achilles planned for Hyde Park.

SUN 28/11/10: 8pm Sky Drama: The Young Victoria

Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. Starring Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany. A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.

SAT 27/11/10: C4 8:30pm - Apocalypse: The Second World War

Episode 5/6 - The story of shifts to the Germany's first tastes of defeat at El Alamein and Stalingrad.


Watch full episodes here

BLACKADDER WEEKEND 27th & 28th NOV on the GOLD Channel

Blackadder, that dastardly dynasty spanning medieval times up to the present, gets the GOLD weekend treatment with every episode from all four series broadcast across two days.
Whatever time period Blackadder found himself in, he always had company thanks to his faithful companion Baldrick, as well as a cavalcade of top comedy talent - Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tony Robinson, Miranda Richardson, Tim McInnerny, Rick Mayall, Adrian Edmondson and Robbie Coltrane to name but eight.

Fri 26/11/10: FILM 4 6:25pm - Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World

The captain of a British warship engages in a tense battle of wits and an escalating test of nerves with his French counterpart during the Napoleonic wars, while his pursuit of the enemy takes his crew on a dangerous journey around South America. Seafaring drama, adapted from Patrick O'Brian's novel, starring Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, James D'Arcy, Billy Boyd and Edward Woodall.
Can use in Year 8 but you will need to edit it down and just really use the battle clips to show the reality of sea warfare.
Vocab and Grammar Apps on the iPhone

Thu 25/11/10: Yesterday Channel 9pm - Nazi Collaborators

Hard-hitting WWII series scrutinising the motives behind those who aided Germany's war-time effort. The Belgian Waffen-SS helped defend Berlin and safeguard the Eastern Front.

Wed 24/11/10: BBC4 7:30pm -A History Of The World: Suffragette City

Actress Sheila Hancock tells the extraordinary story of the Suffragettes and their battle to win votes for women through their relatives, historians, and a host of memorabilia and photos from the Museum of London. See a short clip here.

Useful for Year 9 and GCSE Students

Tue 23/11/10: BBC1 9pm - Turn Back Time: The High Street

This week the shopkeepers are faced with the problems of rationing as they are taken back to the Second World War. ‘Make do and mend’ was the motto of the day and the shopkeepers do their best to promote their wares to shoppers, while the townspeople have to decide whether to stick to their rations or dip into the black market.
Visit the site and watch previous shows on BBC'S iPlayer

Mon 22/11/10: BBC2 7pm - Michael Wood's Story of England

YEAR 9
NEW EDITION 6/6
In this final episode, helped by today's villagers Michael uncovers the secret history of a Victorian village more colourful than even Dickens could have imagined. Recreating their penny concerts of the 1880s, visiting World War I battlefields with the school and recalling the Home Guard, local land girls and the bombing of the village in 1940, the series finally moves into the brave new world of 'homes for heroes' and the villagers come together to leave a reminder of their world for future generations.

Visit my Amazon Store

Visit the site and watch episode five on the iPlayer

NAZI COLLABORATORS Monday to Friday at 9pm

ON YESTERDAY CHANNEL

Out of so many questions of why and how, one still looms large in the 21st century - how could so many people have collaborated with the Nazis before and during World War II, even though the regime under Hitler was rampaging through Europe, ghettoising and exterminating all that stood in its way?
This 13-part series not only seeks to answer the question of why people collaborated with something so evil, but also tries to find out if we had faced the moral dilemmas those people had faced, would we have acted any differently.

SUN 21/11/10: BBC2 9pm - JFK: The Making of Modern Politics

Taking a closer look at former US president John F Kennedy, presenter Andrew Marr questions whether JFK’s legacy has tarnished politics and examines exactly what Kennedy stood for and how he got his message across. Was the 1960 election campaign really the making of modern politics? JFK on religion video
JFK FILM ON BBC2 at 11:30pm

SAT 20/11/10: BBC2 8:20pm - The American Dream

In this, the first of three programmes charting people’s experiences of the American Dream, archive footage and eye witness accounts explore whether the US ethos of happiness and prosperity for all, regardless of social status, is actually true.

FRI 19/11/10: 9pm History Channel - Britian AD: King Arthur's Britain

Francis Pryor reveals that the Roman invasion of Britain was not a brutal suppression of indigenous culture but a mutually beneficial experience that the Britons may have actually instigated.
Channel 4 Site for more info and watch on demand
Watch the episode now on Youtube

THU 18/11/10: 8pm on FIVE - The Virgin Queen’s Fatal Affair: Revealed

Exploring the possibility of a love affair between Elizabeth I and Lord Robert Dudley, this historical documentary examines evidence to suggest that Dudley’s wife, Amy Robsart, may have been murdered so Dudley could marry the queen.
The clip features Dudley's last letter from his dire circumstances his betrayals had place his him.

TUE 16/11/10: 9pm BBC 1 - Turn Back Time: The High Street

The Edwardian bazaar is now a toy shop, reflecting the shopkeepers' target customers - children. But it is far from plain sailing; the Bakers find themselves running a cake shop, but cakes aren't their forte. Rivalry builds between the grocers and the butchers, underminding the community spirit of the high street.

The shopkeepers spend a week selling the 1930s to the town, but they have to pull out all the stops for Empire day - can they persuade a whole new generation of the joys of the traditional high street?

MON 20/10/10: 9pm BBC2 Wood's Story of England

YEAR 8 AND 9 USE
NEW EDITION 5/6 The tale reaches the dramatic events of Henry VIII's Reformation and the battles of the English Civil War. We track Kibworth's 17th century dissenters, travel on the Grand Union Canal and meet an 18th century feminist writer from Kibworth who was a pioneer of children's books. Lastly, the Industrial Revolution comes to the village with framework knitting factories, changing the village and its people forever.

Visit my Amazon Store

Visit the site and watch the first three shows on the BBC iPlayer

Remembrance Sunday Shows

YESTERDAY Channel
7pm Harry Patch - The Last Tommy
8-10pm Victoria Cross Heroes - World War One Heroes featured at 9pm
DISCOVERY HISTORY Channel
All Day Finding the Fallen - Battlefield Archeaology
8pm Passchendaele
9pm Ypres

SUN 14/11/10: 9pm BBC 1 - Garrow's Law

Pioneering eighteenth century barrister William Garrow returns to the Old Bailey to champion the rights of prisoners against the power of the State, making powerful enemies along the way. Garrow prosecute the captain of a slave ship.

SAT 13/11/10: C4 8pm - Apocalypse: The Second World War

Episode 3/6 - The story of Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union, of Rommel's war against the British in North Africa and of the horrors of the murder of Russian Jews - sometimes known as the Holocaust by Bullets.

FRI 12/11/10: 8pm on Yesterday 1929: The Great Crash

SKY 537 & VIRGIN 203 & FREEVIEW 12
A solid documentary that is good viewing for GCSE and A-Level students looking into America History 1919-1941. A reflection on now?
Another US series featured below

WED/THUR 10&11/11/10: Five 8pm - Battle of Arnhem: Tour of Duty

Channel 5 takes a group of typical teenagers and trains them to recreate the famous September 1944 aerial parachute assault on Arnhem in the Netherlands.

Probably only be able to show elements of this is class. The inroduction, some training elements and the final assualt should be enough. Given it is over two nights there will have to be some editing on the part of enthisiastic history teachers.
A spokeswoman said: “This is the ultimate history lesson. Fifteen young people are going to find out just what it was like to be part of Britain’s most elite fighting force sent to battle Hitler’s armies. In 10 days, they will be trained like paratroopers to experience what it was like to be part of the largest airborne operation ever.

WED 10/11/10: ITV3 9pm My Boy Jack

Author Rudyard Kipling and his wife search for their 17-year-old son after he goes missing during WWI. The glory of war, its propaganda and then finally its gore is explored. US Trailer below - starring Daniel Radcliffe.

WED 10/11/10: BBC2 9pm Ancient Worlds (1 of 6)

Archaeologist and historian Richard Miles explores the roots of civilisation in an epic series that runs from the creation of the first cities in Mesopotamia to the fall of the Roman Empire. Visit Site
Starting in Uruk, the 'mother of all cities', in southern Iraq, Richard travels to Syria, Egypt, Anatolia and Greece, tracing the birth and development of technology and culture.

WEDS 10/11/10: GREAT NIGHT FOR HISTORY

Channel 5 8pm Battle of Arnhem: Tour of Duty (Part 1 - Part 2 shown tomorrow)
BBC2 8pm Edwardian Farm (New Series)
Sky Family 8pm Night at the Museum 2 (PG)
BBC2 9pm Ancient Worlds (1 of 6)
ITV3 9pm My Boy Jack (Harry Potter actor, Daniel Radcliffe in World War One drama)
ITV 1 10:35pm Air America (15 certificate - Vietnam Movie)

TUE 9/11/10 BBC 1 9pm Turn Back Time - The High Street: Edwardian

A group of shop-keeping families are transported back to the birth of the high street in the 1870s, and propelled through a century of change, right up to the modern era and the 1970s.

Watch Episode 1 - Victorians Series Trailer Below

MON 8/11/10: 7pm on BBC2 – Michael Wood's Story of England

Amazing finds in the school archive help trace peasant education back to the 14th century.
Yes, its a repeat but its great at showing you the life of peasant in the 14th century and the value of education.

Visit the site for more info on the series and watch most of the episodes on the BBC iPlayer

ALSO E4 9pm Night at The Museum

SUN 6/11/10: 9pm - BBC1 The First World War from Above

The story of the Great War told from a unique new aerial perspective. Featuring two remarkable historical finds, including a piece of archive footage filmed from an airship in summer 1919, capturing the trenches and battlefields in a way that's rarely been seen before. And aerial photographs taken by First World War pilots - developed for the first time in over ninety years - show not only the devastation inflicted during the fighting, but also quirks and human stories visible only from above. Presented by Fergal Keane.

SAT 6/11/10: 8:30pm - BBC2 Timewatch:The Last Day of World War One

Series editor John Farren writes:
Michael Palin's Great Uncle Harry died at the Somme. Like so many families, his was scarred by the "war to end all wars". We asked Michael to go on a journey through the last hours, and tell the sad and shocking stories of the last men to die, as the clock ticked down towards peace. It's a personal journey and a film that I am very proud of.
ALSO Channel 4 8pm Apocalypse: The Second World War : Dunkirk
ALSO CBS Drama 9pm Inside the 3rd Reich (2nd part tomorrow)

FRI 5/11/10: 9pm on YESTERDAY - The Nazis: A Warning From History

This is the fifth volume in a six-part series entitled The Nazis: A Warning From History. The Nazis' racial theory becomes the Final Solution. This segment covers Nazi programs of execution in regions of eastern Europe that are not often covered in documentaries on this war.Graphic retelling of the Final Solution.

THU 4/11/10: 8pm on SKY Family - Night at the Museum 2

Security guard Larry Daley infiltrates the Smithsonian Institution in order to rescue Jedediah and Octavius, who have been shipped to the museum by mistake. I like to do timelinew and anachronisms with this film.

WED 3/11/10: 10pm SKY DRAMA - The Young Victoria

A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert. Good for showing the early stages of her life

TUE 2/11/10: 9pm on NAT GEO - The Gunpowder Plot

Investigating the plot to blow up King James I and Parliament 400 years ago.
Here is one of my favourite kid friendly documentary on the event.