History TV and radio in the UK: what's on our screens this week?
Can't decide which shows to watch or listen to this week? Here are the latest history radio and TV programmes airing in the UK that you won't want to miss
A Thousand Blows
Disney+
Now streaming
Set in Victorian London, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight’s latest drama stars Malachi Kirby as Hezekiah Moscow, a recent arrival from the Caribbean who gets caught up in the world of bare-knuckle boxing. Also starring Stephen Graham as a veteran pugilist and Erin Doherty as the leader of a band of female thieves.
Archive On 4: Trouble Staying Still – ADHD’s Identity Crisis
BBC Radio 4
Saturday 22nd February, 8pm
First identified in the 1950s, when it was dubbed hyperkinetic impulse disorder, ADHD has often been in the media spotlight. Most recently, as many celebrities have talked openly about their diagnoses, it has become associated with ‘wokeness’ and the culture wars. Professor Sally Marlow looks through the archives to see if they can help us better understand the condition.
Dope Girls – pick of the week
BBC One
Saturday 22nd February, 9.15pm
Set in seedy Soho in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, Dope Girls tells the story of Kate Galloway (Julianne Nicholson), a single mother who moves to London when tragedy strikes. An atmospheric, compelling and violent drama that vividly conjures up the nightlife of the capital in the interwar period.
Call The Midwife
BBC One
Sunday 23rd February, 8.05pm
In the penultimate episode of the latest series, the midwives help a family whose lives are blighted by addiction. Followed by the final instalment of Miss Austen (9.05pm), which finds Cassandra (Keeley Hawes) increasingly worried about Isabella’s prospects for the future.
Book Of The Week: The Many Lives Of James Lovelock
BBC Radio 4
Monday 24th February, 11.45am
Over five weekday episodes, Richard Goulding reads from Jonathan Watts’ biography of the man who co-created Gaia Theory, which sees life on Earth as a self-sustaining system. Based on more than 80 hours of interviews with Lovelock, Watts’ book tells the story of an autodidact who warned as early as 1966 that fossil fuels were damaging the environment.
Israel And The Palestinians: The Road To 7 October
BBC Two
Monday 24th February, 9pm
How did we get to the current crisis point in the Middle East? This three-part documentary series looks back over the 20 years between 2003 and 2023. Contributors include Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice and, filmed just weeks before he was killed, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Drama: Moorgate
BBC Radio 4
Wednesday 26th February, 2.15pm
Marking the 50th anniversary of the disaster at Moorgate, when a packed Tube train crashed into a dead-end tunnel, this two-part drama by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gren looks back at what happened. The first instalment conveys events primarily from the perspective of those trying to rescue people trapped in the wreckage. Concludes Thursday.
James May’s Great Explorers
Channel 5
Thursday 27th February, 9pm
In the final episode of the series, May charts the career of Captain James Cook (1728–79). It’s the tale of a farmer’s son who became one of the greatest explorers in the age of sail, a man forever associated with his voyages of discovery in the Pacific.
Loch Ness: They Created A Monster
BBC Two
Friday 28th February, 9pm
Whether or not Nessie really exists, the cultural history surrounding the Loch Ness Monster, laid out here in a feature-length documentary first shown on BBC Scotland, is utterly fascinating. Expect tales of Second World War veterans, mad scientists, hippies – plus at least one decidedly dark turn of events.
Free Thinking
BBC Radio 4
Friday 28th February, 9pm
The highbrow but entertaining discussion series turns its attention to the subject of salt. Salt appears in stories in the Bible, it’s long been used as a preservative and its taxation has been a point of political contention. How does salt, then, help us think about the past and present? Presented by Matthew Sweet.