Katherine Clements speaks to Bettany Hughes about women in history, gender equality and her love affair with Istanbul. ‘When I very first went into the BBC a producer said, “Nobody wants to be lectured at by a woman”.’ 25 years, 3 books and 250 million viewers later, I think it’s safe to say, that producer was […]
The Best Costume Dramas for Christmas
Katherine Clements picks the best costume drama to watch over the festive season. The Crown (Netflix, from 8th December) When The Crown first aired last year it was much hyped as the most expensive TV series ever made. I doubted whether a show about our current royals would live up to such grand claims. I was […]
Vikings Season 4: Episode 12, The Vision
The title of this episode, The Vision, refers to something that happened near the end of the hour, but I’m going to ignore that event because of spoilers. I’ll only note that my favorite part was the waterspout and the breathtaking final scene. Much of the rest of the episode, similar to last week, was […]
On the Trail of the Vikings
On a recent visit to County Wicklow, Ireland, I checked into a B&B just a few miles from where the History Channel’s Vikings series is filming at Lough Tay. I was hoping that I might catch a glimpse of Ragnar and Co. Or better yet, I might have a jolly sit-down with series creator/writer Michael […]
Upstart Crow: The New Blackadder?
Another one of those compelling BBC historical drama series has just finished. But don’t worry, a new series has already been commissioned along with a Christmas special. It may seem strange to mention Ben Elton’s latest comedy about William Shakespeare’s early career in the same genre as War and Peace and Wolf Hall. But historical […]