AJP Taylor was rightly renowned as one of Britain’s finest historians, combining his academic work at Oxford with a successful career as author and broadcaster. Taylor established a reputation as one of the first television historians, noted for his ‘lecture’ style, programmes he made with no notes, covering subjects such as the Russian Revolution, the First World War and warlords. \n\nHistorian Andrew Roberts looks back on Taylor's 1976 series The War Lords, in which he examines the lives and motives of the key leaders in the Second World War. Find out why Mussolini’s rise to power came despite an obvious laziness; why Churchill believed the Battle of Britain was as much a key moment in history as the Battle of Trafalgar; and that coincidentally, Mussolini, Churchill and Stalin were all published authors - Stalin’s book being particularly boring!
Source: BBC 4
Andrew Roberts Remembers Ajp Taylor's The War Lords
AJP Taylor was rightly renowned as one of Britain’s finest historians, combining his academic work at Oxford with a successful career as author and broadcaster. Taylor est ...
12-05-2025
BBC 4
Elaine Paige Remembers A Night On The Town
Elaine Paige looks back on A Night on the Town – a musical extravaganza from the early 1980s, filmed with a mostly American cast of singers and dancers, such as Ann Reinki ...
11-05-2025
BBC 4
Jimmy Mcgovern Remembers… Common
Screenwriter Jimmy McGovern remembers his 2014 drama Common, which explores the concept and consequences of the law of joint association through the story of a fictional murder ...
07-05-2025
BBC 4
Gary Wilmot Remembers Showstoppers
Gary Wilmot looks back fondly on his time presenting Showstoppers, a 1995 series jam-packed with well-known hits from musical theatre. \n\nThe series started life as a one-off ...
04-05-2025
BBC 4
Jimmy Mcgovern Remembers Priest
Screenwriter Jimmy McGovern looks back on his acclaimed, but controversial, 1995 drama Priest, explaining how an initial desire to explore the notion of celibacy for Catholic pr ...
30-04-2025
BBC 4
Jimmy Mcgovern Remembers The Lakes
Writer Jimmy McGovern looks back on The Lakes, his 1997 drama that showed viewers one of Britain’s most-loved beauty spots in a whole new light, riddled with crime, drugs, ...
16-04-2025
BBC 4
Willard White Remembers Porgy And Bess
The great opera singer Sir Willard White recalls his experiences on the first televised production of Porgy and Bess, based itself on Trevor Nunn’s acclaimed 1986 Glyndebo ...
13-04-2025
BBC 4
David Olusoga Remembers Artists And Models
Historian David Olusoga looks back on the 1986 BBC drama documentary Artists and Models, which had a profound influence on him as a young man. \n\nDavid remembers how the serie ...
07-04-2025
BBC 4
Tony Marchant Remembers Take Me Home
Writer Tony Marchant looks back on his 1989 drama Take Me Home, a troubled love story set amidst a political backdrop of changing attitudes, technological advances and residenti ...
02-04-2025
BBC 4
Adrian Lester Remembers Company
Actor Adrian Lester looks back on the 1996 Donmar Warehouse production of Stephen Sondheim's musical Company. \n\nFirst performed over 50 years ago, Company still has the power ...
30-03-2025
BBC 4
Gary Wilmot Remembers Showstoppers
Gary Wilmot looks back fondly on his time presenting Showstoppers, a 1995 series jam-packed with well-known hits from musical theatre. \n\nThe series started life as a one-off ...
04-05-2025
BBC 4
Jimmy Mcgovern Remembers Priest
Screenwriter Jimmy McGovern looks back on his acclaimed, but controversial, 1995 drama Priest, explaining how an initial desire to explore the notion of celibacy for Catholic pr ...
30-04-2025
BBC 4
Jimmy Mcgovern Remembers… Common
Screenwriter Jimmy McGovern remembers his 2014 drama Common, which explores the concept and consequences of the law of joint association through the story of a fictional murder ...
07-05-2025
BBC 4
Willard White Remembers Porgy And Bess
The great opera singer Sir Willard White recalls his experiences on the first televised production of Porgy and Bess, based itself on Trevor Nunn’s acclaimed 1986 Glyndebo ...
13-04-2025
BBC 4
Adrian Lester Remembers Company
Actor Adrian Lester looks back on the 1996 Donmar Warehouse production of Stephen Sondheim's musical Company. \n\nFirst performed over 50 years ago, Company still has the power ...
30-03-2025
BBC 4
David Herman Remembers Face To Face
From Tony Hancock to Martin Luther King, Yoko Ono to Salman Rushdie, Face to Face interrogated some of the key figures in 20th-century culture. From its start in 1959, to its re ...
16-03-2025
BBC 4
David Olusoga Remembers Artists And Models
Historian David Olusoga looks back on the 1986 BBC drama documentary Artists and Models, which had a profound influence on him as a young man. \n\nDavid remembers how the serie ...
07-04-2025
BBC 4
Jimmy Mcgovern Remembers The Lakes
Writer Jimmy McGovern looks back on The Lakes, his 1997 drama that showed viewers one of Britain’s most-loved beauty spots in a whole new light, riddled with crime, drugs, ...
16-04-2025
BBC 4
Grey Granite With Vivien Heilbron
First broadcast in 1983, Grey Granite was the third and final part of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s A Scots Quair trilogy that the BBC adapted for television. Leading actress Viv ...
26-02-2025
BBC 4
Tony Marchant Remembers Take Me Home
Writer Tony Marchant looks back on his 1989 drama Take Me Home, a troubled love story set amidst a political backdrop of changing attitudes, technological advances and residenti ...
02-04-2025
BBC 4