A quick background note – when I was a student, my all-girls Catholic university prep school gave out awards to the top graduating student in each academic subject. I didn’t give a damn about most of them. Math? Happy just to pass. Biology? Meh. English? Also meh. But history? The history award was mine. Nothing and no one was going to stand between me and that award, which I did in fact win. I was a history nerd then, I was a history nerd throughout my four-year undergraduate career, and I remain a history nerd now, though largely in a hobbyist fashion.
One of my idols, who also happens to be a prolific television presenter, is the brilliant (and absolutely adorable) Lucy Worsely. Worsely is “by day Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, and by night a writer of history books”, as well as being the host of several BBC historical series. She’s also got great fashion sense, and her collection of cardigans is enough to make a librarian weak at the knees. Talk about a role model!
I have yet to see all of the programs she’s hosted, but of the ones I have seen, here are just a few of my favourites (all of which can easily be found on Youtube or on DVD at your local library). All program descriptions are taken from Lucy Worsely’s website. While Worsely specializes in royal history, and has worked on a number of programs profiling different monarchs, she also highlights everyday social history, which is what really fascinates me the most. Whether it’s the history of romance, dance, or the rooms in our homes, these everyday history programs help us understand what life was like for average people like you and me. If you have an interest in history, particularly British history, these engaging, approachable yet still highly informative documentaries are a must-see. Anyone who thinks history is dry and boring simply hasn’t interacted with the right historians!
A Very British Romance, BBC Four series, October 2015
What could be more natural than romance, finding the perfect partner and falling in love? In fact every ingredient in this scenario, so beloved of romantics everywhere, had to be invented. In this three-part series Lucy Worsley will delve into the history of romance to uncover the forces shaping our very British happily ever after. The series will reveal how even our most intimate thoughts and feelings have been affected by social, political and cultural ideas.
Dancing Cheek To Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance, BBC Four series, November 2014
Lucy Worsley and Len Goodman take to the floor to reveal the untold story of British dance. Over three episodes, they’ll show how Britain’s favourite popular dances from over the centuries offer a fascinating window into British society and our relationships with one another.
Tracking the story of popular dance from the 17th century to just before the Second World War, Len and Lucy will demonstrate how dance has always been about far more than just mastering the moves and feeling the rhythm. It’s about sex and seduction, power and politics, etiquette, economics, and of course, romance.
Tales from the Royal Wardrobe with Lucy Worsley, BBC Four, July 2014
Today, few people’s clothes attract as much attention as the royal family’s, but this is not a modern-day Hello-magazine-inspired obsession. As Dr Lucy Worsley reveals, it’s always been this way. Exploring the royal wardrobes of our kings and queens over the last 400 years, Lucy shows that the royal wardrobe’s significance goes way beyond the cut and colour of the clothing. Royal fashion is and has always been regarded as ruler’s personal statement to his or her people. So most kings and queens have carefully choreographed every aspect of their wardrobe and, for those who have failed to do so, there have sometimes been calamitous consequences.
A Very British Murder, BBC Four series, September 2013
Murder: a dark, shameful deed, but also a very strange and very British obsession. How did this fixation develop? And what does it tell us about ourselves? In A Very British Murder, we explore the development of the strange new genre of art that grew out of the British love of crime. Starting with the notorious Radcliffe Highway Murders of 1911, and finishing with Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock just before World War Two, the series charts the birth and development of our interest in murder, and how it led to ballads, broadsides, puppet shows, melodrama, detective fiction and film – and those weird Victorian ceramic figurines depicting celebrated killers. Includes interviews with P.J. James, Agatha Christie’s grandson, and a slew of specialist historians.
If Walls Could Talk, The History of the Home, 4-part BBC Four series, April 2011
This fun 4-part series for BBC4 explores the intimate history of your home, passing through the living room, bathroom, bedroom and kitchen. It was made by Silver River, has an accompanying book, and was nominated for ‘best history documentary’ at the Royal Television Society Awards 2012.
This is just a few of the many, many programs that Lucy Worsely has hosted, all of which are fascinating for history lovers and newbies alike. Highly recommended!
I’m a big history buff as well, but only recently saw my first ever Lucy Worsely special on PBS, “The Secrets of the Wives.”
I’ll have to see if any of the other ones you mentioned are at the library! The royal wardrobe one sounds especially interesting!
Hurray for history buffs! I am always just floored by the documentaries that the BBC produces, they’re just phenomenal.
You can also find all the documentaries I mentioned on Youtube, which is how I watch most of my TV these days. 😉