{"id":18805,"date":"2022-09-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=18805"},"modified":"2022-10-03T16:46:48","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T14:46:48","slug":"tv-film-radio-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/2022\/09\/29\/tv-film-radio-3\/","title":{"rendered":"TV, film & radio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u2022 <\/span>TV, FILM & RADIO<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
THE LATEST DOCUMENTARIES, BLOCKBUSTERS AND PERIOD DRAMAS<\/span><\/h5>\n\n
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Viola Davis (main<\/em>) and Lashana Lynch (below, seen tackling an adversary<\/em>) both star in a historical epic about the fierce female warriors who defended the Kingdom of Dahomey during the 19th century<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
ONE TO WATCH <\/h5>\n\n

Elite warriors <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
The Woman King <\/strong>
In cinemas from Tuesday 4 October <\/em><\/h5>\n\n

It was 2015 when film producer Maria Bello first pitched her idea for a movie about the Agojie and Dahomey to Academy Award winner Viola Davis. Considering this was done in a Los Angeles ballroom, where Bello was presenting Davis with an honour at the Women Making History Awards, it was quite some occasion. As Bello laid out a story of female warriors and a wealthy west African kingdom, the audience cheered. <\/p>\n\n

Now, in late 2022, The <\/em>Woman <\/em>King <\/em>is one of the autumn\u2019s most anticipated blockbusters. Set in the 19th century, it stars Davis as General Nanisca, a soldier overseeing the training of a new generation of warriors. <\/p>\n\n

If this sounds fantastical, it\u2019s worth emphasising the film draws on the historical record. The Kingdom of Dahomey, located within present-day Benin from c1600\u20131904, had a culture that promoted gender parity. The Agojie were among the most feared warriors in the region, a ferocious all-female regiment \u2013 and, incidentally, an inspiration for the Dora Milaje in Marvel\u2019s Black <\/em>Panther. <\/em>The Europeans who encountered them dubbed the women \u201cAmazons\u201d after the warriors of Greek mythology. <\/p>\n\n

Ultimately, all this wasn\u2019t enough to prevent Dahomey coming under French control, but it took two wars before the colonialists were able to incorporate the kingdom into French West Africa. The <\/em>Woman <\/em>King <\/em> dramatises an era of colonialist encroachment in Dahomey\u2019s history, and shows the kingdom at a point where its real-life monarch between en 1818 and 1858, King Ghezo (John Boyega) <\/span>has a chance to break his nation\u2019s economic dependence on the slave trade. <\/p>\n\n

The film\u2019s action scenes promise to be spectacular, not least because the cast spent months training for their roles. \u201cAfter a couple of weeks, I felt badass, I felt strong,\u201d Davis has said of her high-energy workouts and a high-protein, low-carb diet. Rounding out the cast, Lashana Lynch stars as Izogie, an experienced lieutenant who has to help knock new recruits such as Nawi (Thuso Mbedu) into shape. <\/p>\n\n

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\n\n
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The Cruelty: A Child Unclaimed<\/em> looks back at a tragic discovery that shocked the residents of Tayport, Fife \u2013 shown here from above <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
RADIO<\/h5>\n\n

Shrouded in mystery <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
The Cruelty: A Child Unclaimed <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
BBC Scotland podcast available as a boxset from Wednesday 28 September <\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

In May 1971, the body of a boy was washed up on Tayport Beach, Fife. Aged between two and three years old, \u2018The Unknown Bairn\u2019 has never been identified, despite an extensive investigation. Is it too late to give a name to the child? <\/p>\n\n

Davie Donaldson, a Scottish Traveller and activist, hopes not. In an eight-part podcast he attempts to unravel the sad mystery. Along the way he learns about a controversial 20th-century social experiment and, according to producer Kate Bissell, \u201chas to confront a shocking reality that hits close to home\u201d. <\/p>\n\n

The series features contributions from those involved at the time, including the family of Ian Robertson, who discovered the body and tended the boy\u2019s grave until his own death, in 2007. <\/p>\n\n

\n\n
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The life of Una Marson, pictured recording a broadcast for West Indian troops in 1942, is the subject of a new BBC Two drama-documentary <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
TV<\/h5>\n\n

Pioneering spirit <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
Una Marson: Our Lost Caribbean Voice <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
BBC Two, Sunday 23 October <\/em><\/h5>\n\n

There are historical figures who, for reasons that are often unclear and despite their importance, are not sufficiently celebrated. That\u2019s certainly the case with Una Marson (1905\u201365), a Jamaican activist, feminist, writer and broadcaster who defied the odds to become a public intellectual and a central figure in bringing Caribbean culture to the wider world. <\/p>\n\n

The BBC played a key role in her professional story. In 1941, when she was living in London, the corporation hired Marson to join its Empire Service, a precursor to the World Service. She rose to become a producer and developed Caribbean <\/em>Voices, <\/em>which ran from 1943\u201358 and helped to nurture the careers of writers such as VS Naipaul, Derek Walcott and Louise Bennett. <\/p>\n\n

A poet and playwright in her own right, she also championed women\u2019s rights, children\u2019s education and campaigned against racism \u2013 not least as a leading member of the League of Coloured Peoples civil rights organisation. However, these successes came at a high personal cost and Marson had bouts of mental illness. Today, much of her later life is still poorly documented and it seems likely that much of her writing has been lost forever.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

But if there\u2019s material in the archives to be found, this drama-documentary may inspire someone to go looking. Starring Seroca Davis, it draws on Marson\u2019s surviving writing, letters and her BBC personnel file to help bring her to life. Academics and those who knew her, including theatre director and actor Anton Phillips, whose mother was a close friend of Marson, offer insights into Marson\u2019s life and work. A picture emerges of a formidable character who left a lasting cultural legacy. <\/p>\n\n

\n\n
\"\"
A new Channel 5 series sees Dr Bettany Hughes (below<\/em>) stopping off at the town of Vence (main<\/em>), which has a surprising connection to DH Lawrence <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
TV<\/h5>\n\n

A journey to the past <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
La Dolce Vita (title TBC) <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
Channel 5 and My5, late September <\/em><\/h5>\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Back in the 18th century, aristocrats were expected to have an appreciation of art and culture. So it was that young British nobles, accompanied by a tutor or an older relative to chaperone them and keep them out of trouble, would embark on a Grand Tour of Europe, a journey where the focus was often on the surviving marvels of the classical world. <\/p>\n\n

Would recreating such journeys today improve our lives? Dr Bettany Hughes is game to find out as she heads for France and Italy on a trip where art, culture and history, as well as good food and wine, are top of the agenda. <\/p>\n\n

Inevitably, this sees the historian visiting such popular tourist destinations as Paris, Florence and Rome. However, Hughes has a knack for finding unexpected historical angles, as when she recounts how the Venus de Milo, now located in the Louvre, was happened upon by a Greek farmer in 1820. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Other spots she visits are less familiar. Picturesque Vence, located in the hills north of Nice and Antibes, has down the years had a thriving artistic community. Its leading lights once included pottery shop owner Martha Gordon Crotch, Hughes\u2019 great-aunt, and a woman who exhibited a series of nudes painted by DH Lawrence, artwork banned in the UK. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

\n\n
\"\"
Simon Reeve\u2019s new series sees him visit both the city of Rio de Janeiro (main<\/em>) and the depths of the Amazon rainforest, where he meets the Waiapi people (below<\/em>) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
TV<\/h5>\n\n

Continental travels <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
Simon Reeve\u2019s South America <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, streaming now <\/em><\/h5>\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Continuing a journey interrupted by the pandemic and later by a mysterious illness contracted in the jungle, intrepid explorer Simon Reeve returns to the Americas to complete his travels down the entire length of two linked continents. It\u2019s an odyssey that begins in Venezuela in the north of South America and ends at Tierra Del Fuego, the icy southern archipelago shared by Argentina and Chile. <\/p>\n\n

Along the way, he visits great cities, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, but also sees remote communities in countries such as Paraguay and Peru. <\/p>\n\n

As with all this intrepid traveller\u2019s expeditions, much of what we see reflects contemporary concerns, as when Reeve joins a raid on an illegal goldmine with the French Foreign Legion or visits a jungle space port run by the European Space Agency, a locale where a former intern is now launch controller. <\/p>\n\n

However, South America, with its often troubled history of colonialism and conflict, is a region where the past inevitably plays into the present. This is an idea to the fore when, in the Peruvian Andes, Reeve visits the 15th-century Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, a prelude to spending a vertiginous night in a metal tube tethered to a mountain. <\/p>\n\n

At other times, we see how the recent past affects contemporary life. After decades of intermittent economic problems, South America is one of the most unequal continents on the planet, as Reeve sees when he visits a Rio favela, a place where a community leader has planted an urban forest as a way to overcome oppressive heat in one of the city\u2019s poorest districts. <\/p>\n\n

\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n
RADIO<\/h5>\n\n

Learned talk <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
In Our Time <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds, streaming now <\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

One of those shows it\u2019s somehow easy to overlook because of its sheer longevity, In Our Time <\/em>consistently offers compelling radio as Melvyn Bragg (pictured<\/em>) and his academic guests discuss the history of ideas.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

The show returned on Thursday 15 September with a programme about George Orwell\u2019s Nineteen Eighty-Four, <\/em>one of more than 900 episodes currently available via BBC Sounds. Future highlights include a discussion of the Knights Templar, the Catholic military order forever associated with the Crusades and around whom many legends swirl. <\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

GETTY IMAGES X2, ALAMY X1, SANDSTONE GLOBAL PRODUCTIONS X1, BBC\/ABIGAIL ZOE MARTIN X1, BBC\/JONATHAN YOUNG X2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest documentaries, blockbusters and period dramas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":19134,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"73","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"73","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_73-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_73-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"November-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"November-2022","purple_external_id":"November-2022-73-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"November-2022-73-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000090402||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000090402||","purple_android_product":"com.im.historyrevealed.113","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.historyrevealed.113","purple_ios_product":"com.im.historyrevealed.113","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.historyrevealed.113","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"a2288b80-d22c-492c-8b11-acb0804789ee","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-10-03T13:49:05Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"91b2f448-0825-4053-85ae-7746c6339e45","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-10-03T14:46:57Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AkbL0SAglQFOFrndGxjOeRQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[19],"tags":[55],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/DF-14262_r-e1664303813961.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"8","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/DF-14262_r-e1664303813961.jpg",1730,1160,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/DF-14262_r-e1664303813961-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/DF-14262_r-e1664303813961-300x201.jpg",300,201,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/DF-14262_r-e1664303813961-768x515.jpg",768,515,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/DF-14262_r-e1664303813961-1024x687.jpg",800,537,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/DF-14262_r-e1664303813961-1536x1030.jpg",1536,1030,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/DF-14262_r-e1664303813961.jpg",1730,1160,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The latest documentaries, blockbusters and period dramas","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18805"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18805"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19306,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18805\/revisions\/19306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}