Simon Schama's A History of Britain

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A History of Britain redirects here, for the books with that name, see A History of Britain (book).
A History of Britain
Image:histofbritain.jpg
Series title card
Picture format 16:9
Audio format Stereo
Episode duration 59 minutes
Producer(s) Janet Lee
Liz Hartford
Executive producer(s) Martin Davidson
Presented by Simon Schama
Music by John Harle
Country of origin United Kingdom
First shown on BBC One
Original run 30 September 2000–
18 June 2002
No. of episodes 15

A History of Britain is a BBC documentary series written and presented by Simon Schama, first transmitted in the United Kingdom from 30 September 2000.

A study of the history of the British Isles, each of the 15 episodes allows Schama to examine a particular period and tell of its events in his own style. All the programmes are of 59 minutes' duration and were broadcast over three series, ending 18 June 2002.

The series was produced in conjunction with The History Channel and the executive producer was Martin Davidson. The music was composed by John Harle, whose work was augmented by vocal soloists such as Emma Kirkby and Lucie Skeaping. Schama's illustrative presentation was aided by readings from actors, including Lindsay Duncan, Michael Kitchen, Christian Rodska, Samuel West and David Threlfall.

Contents

[edit] Background

When Simon Schama was approached by the BBC to make the series, he knew that it would be a big commitment and took a long time to decide if it were something he wanted to do. He surmised that if he was to take it on, he would want to "dive in" and be very involved with the production. Besides writing the scripts, which the historian saw as a "screenplay", he also had an input into other aspects, including the choice of locations.[1] He was concerned that even 15 hour-long programmes would not be enough to tell a story of such magnitude. Accordingly, he and the producers determined that to give each king and queen absolute equal coverage was out of the question: "That way lies madness," he said. Instead, he worked out the essential themes and stories that demanded to be related.[2]

Schama explained why, at the time of its making, it was right to produce another historical documentary on Great Britain. At that moment, he argued, Britain was entering a new phase of its relationship with Europe and the rest of the world, and where it ends up depends a great deal on where it's come from. He stated that the stories needed to be told again and again so that future generations can get a sense of their identity. Furthermore, he believed that Britain's history comprised a number of tales worth telling:

"No matter how much you tell them, you never quite know […] how compelling and moving they are."[3]

[edit] Criticisms

The main criticism of A History of Britain is that it mostly revolves around England and its history, rather than that of the entire British Isles (England, Scotland, Wales, and the island of Ireland). However, the title is "A History of Britain" rather than "A History of the British Isles", so this explains the exclusion of Ireland. It gives short shrift to the Celtic inhabitants and civilisation of the British Isles, including England.[4] In a BBC interview, Simon Schama stated that rather than designating different periods of screen time to different nations, he focused on the relationships between the different nations, primarily England and Scotland. This appears to be truer in "Nations", "The Body of the Queen" and "Britannia Incorporated" than at times when each of the nations is involved in the same event, such as the two episodes involving the revolutions in the seventeenth century, "The British Wars" and "Revolutions". By the latter episodes, however, all "Three Kingdoms" are parts of the United Kingdom.

In "Nations", it is stated that "...it's Edward's England which became the first country to perform a little act of ethnic cleansing on its Jews", but the history of antisemitism shows several such instances before this time, in both Christian and Muslim countries.

[edit] Episodes

"From its earliest days, Britain was an object of desire. Tacitus declared it pretium victoriae — 'worth the conquest', the best compliment that could occur to a Roman. He had never visited these shores but was nonetheless convinced that Britannia was rich in gold."

– Simon Schama's opening narration

  • The following summaries are taken from the BBC DVD.

[edit] 1. "Beginnings"

Broadcast 30 September 2000 and covering the period 3100 BC–1000 AD. Simon Schama starts his story in the Stone Age village of Skara Brae, Orkney. Over the next four thousand years Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Danes, and Christian missionaries arrive, fight, settle and leave their mark on what will become the nations of Britain.

[edit] 2. "Conquest!"

Broadcast 7 October 2000 and covering 1000–1087. 1066 is not the best remembered date in British history for nothing. In the space of nine hours whilst the Battle of Hastings raged, everything changed. Anglo-Saxon England became Norman and, for the next 300 years, its fate was decided by dynasties of French rulers.

[edit] 3. "Dynasty"

Broadcast 14 October 2000 and covering 1087–1216. There is no saga more powerful than that of the warring dynasty - domineering father, beautiful, scheming mother and squabbling, murderous sons and daughters, (particularly the nieces). In the years that followed the Norman Conquest, this was the drama played out on the stage of British history.

[edit] 4. "Nations"

Broadcast 21 October 2000 and covering 1216–1348, this is the epic account of how the nations of Britain emerged from under the hammer of England's "Longshanks" King Edward I, with a sense of who and what they were, which endures to this day.

[edit] 5. "King Death"

Broadcast 28 October 2000 and covering 1348–1500. It took only six years for the plague to ravage the British Isles. Its impact was to last for generations. But from the ashes of this trauma an unexpected and unique class of Englishmen emerged.

[edit] 6. "Burning Convictions"

Broadcast 4 November 2000 and covering 1500–1558. Here Simon Schama charts the upheaval caused as a country renowned for its piety, whose king styled himself Defender of the Faith, turns into one of the most aggressive proponents of the new Protestant faith.

[edit] 7. "The Body of the Queen"

Broadcast 8 November 2000 and covering 1558–1603. This is the story of two queens: Elizabeth I, the consummate politician, and Mary Queen of Scots, the Catholic mother. It is also the story of the birth of a nation.

[edit] 8. "The British Wars"

Broadcast 8 May 2001 and covering 1603–1649. The turbulent civil wars of the early seventeenth century would culminate in two events unique to British history; the public execution of a king and the creation of a republic. Schama tells of the brutal war that tore the country in half and created a new Britain - divided by politics and religion and dominated by the first truly modern army, fighting for ideology, not individual leaders.

[edit] 9. "Revolutions"

Broadcast 15 May 2001 and covering 1649–1689. Political and religious revolutions racked Britain after Charles I's execution, when Britain was a joyless, kingless republic led by Oliver Cromwell. His rule became so unpopular that for many it was a relief when the monarchy was restored after his death, but Cromwell was also a man of vision who brought about significant reforms.

[edit] 10. "Britannia Incorporated"

Broadcast 22 May 2001 and covering 1690–1750. As the new century dawned, relations between Scotland and England had never been worse. Yet half a century later the two countries would be making a future together based on profit and interest. The new Britain was based on money, not God.

[edit] 11. "The Wrong Empire"

Broadcast 29 May 2001 and covering 1750–1800. The Wrong Empire is the exhilarating and terrible story of how one small group of islands came to dominate the world; a story of exploration and daring, but also one of exploitation and conflict.

[edit] 12. "Forces of Nature"

Broadcast 28 May 2002 and covering 1780–1832. Britain never had the kind of revolution experienced by France in 1789, but it did come close. In the mid-1770s the country was intoxicated by a great surge of political energy. Re-discovering England's wildernesses, the intellectuals of the "romantic generation" also discovered the plight of the common man, turning nature into a revolutionary force.

[edit] 13. "Victoria and Her Sisters"

Broadcast 4 June 2002 and covering 1830–1910. As the Victorian era began, the massive advance of technology and industrialisation was rapidly reshaping both the landscape and the social structure of the whole country. To a much greater extent than ever before women would take a centre-stage role in shaping society.

[edit] 14. "The Empire of Good Intentions"

Broadcast 11 June 2002 and covering 1830–1925. This episode charts the chequered life of the liberal empire from Ireland to India — the promise of civilisation and material betterment and the delivery of coercion and famine.

[edit] 15. "The Two Winstons"

Broadcast 18 June 2002 and covering 1910–1965. In the final episode, Schama examines the overwhelming presence of the past in the British twentieth century and the struggle of leaders to find a way to make a different national future. As towering figures of the twentieth century, Churchill and Orwell in their different ways exemplify lives spent brooding and acting on that imperial past, and most movingly for us, writing and shaping its history.

"…It's our cultural bloodstream, the secret of who we are, and it tells us to let go of the past, even as we honour it. To lament what ought to be lamented and to celebrate what should be celebrated. And if in the end, that history turns out to reveal itself as a patriot, well then I think that neither Churchill nor Orwell would have minded that very much, and as a matter of fact, neither do I."

– Simon Schama, in closing

A History of Britain: Volume 2
A History of Britain: Volume 2

[edit] DVDs and books

The series is available in the UK for Regions 2 and 4 as a 6-disc DVD (BBCDVD1127, released 18 November 2002) in widescreen PAL format. Its special features include short interviews with Simon Schama, a text-based biography of the historian, and the inaugural BBC History Lecture of Schama's "Television and the Trouble with History". It has since gone on to become the BBC's best-selling documentary DVD.

In Region 1, it was released as A History of Britain: The Complete Collection on 26 November 2002. A 5-disc set, the episodes were presented in fullframe NTSC format and included various text-based features.

Three accompanying books by Simon Schama have been published by BBC Books. All entitled A History of Britain, they were subtitled as follows:


[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ BBC Simon Schama interview
  2. ^ Tempus Fugit documentary from DVD
  3. ^ Promotional message from DVD
  4. ^ History News Network: Britain's History — The Celtic Version

[edit] External links

Languages