Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Ancestors | 20080913 | John Sessions series charting the history of popular entertainment in the UK.
But rather than the usual wade through the shifting sands of film and TV celebrity, John is covering the period before electronic media.
He starts with our medieval ancestors and attempts to unpick a few myths about wandering minstrels and motley fools keeping the toiling peasants entertained.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2008.
John Sessions unpicks some medieval myths about wandering minstrels and motley fools. John Sessions charts the history of popular entertainment in Britain | |
| 01 | Ancestors | 20080913 | 20081225 (R4) | John Sessions series charting the history of popular entertainment in the UK.
But rather than the usual wade through the shifting sands of film and TV celebrity, John is covering the period before electronic media.
He starts with our medieval ancestors and attempts to unpick a few myths about wandering minstrels and motley fools keeping the toiling peasants entertained.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2008.
John Sessions unpicks some medieval myths about wandering minstrels and motley fools. John Sessions charts the history of popular entertainment in Britain |
| 02 | Elizabethan London | 20080920 | Ringside gambling, brutal bear-baiting and Bankside theatre - the age of the libertine. John Sessions charts the history of popular entertainment in Britain | |
| 02 | Elizabethan London | 20080920 | 20081225 (R4) | Ringside gambling, brutal bear-baiting and Bankside theatre - the age of the libertine. John Sessions charts the history of popular entertainment in Britain |
| 03 | The Sporting Hero | 20080927 | A look at the hundred-year period from the Restoration of 1660 onwards, and the rise of a new figure in popular entertainment: the sporting hero.
Plus, the importance of the increasing use of printing, as a way of spreading popular entertainment around the country and of establishing popular tunes and songs.
John Sessions continues his series charting the history of popular entertainment in Britain, from medieval minstrels to Victorian freakshows.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2008.
John Sessions explores the Restoration and development of new entertainment strands. John Sessions charts the history of popular entertainment in Britain | |
| 03 | The Sporting Hero | 20080927 | 20081225 (R4) | A look at the hundred-year period from the Restoration of 1660 onwards, and the rise of a new figure in popular entertainment: the sporting hero.
Plus, the importance of the increasing use of printing, as a way of spreading popular entertainment around the country and of establishing popular tunes and songs.
John Sessions continues his series charting the history of popular entertainment in Britain, from medieval minstrels to Victorian freakshows.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2008.
John Sessions explores the Restoration and development of new entertainment strands. John Sessions charts the history of popular entertainment in Britain |
| 04 | 20081004 | High-diving elks, the sporting munificence of Charles Dickens and the explosion in music hall entertainment all help bring to a close the merry little stroll John Sessions has been taking through the history of popular entertainment in the UK.
Having joined the restoration celebrations of 1660 and witnessed the rise of a new popular entertainment phenomenon, the sporting hero, John now ventures into the industrial heartlands of Victorian Britain to see how the masses were kept amused before the dawn of cinema and the emergence of a global entertainment industry worth billions of pounds.
Producer: Paul Kobrak
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2008.
The circus, music hall and the odd high-diving elk - a history of popular entertainment. John Sessions charts the history of popular entertainment in Britain | ||
| 04 | 20081004 | 20081225 (R4) | High-diving elks, the sporting munificence of Charles Dickens and the explosion in music hall entertainment all help bring to a close the merry little stroll John Sessions has been taking through the history of popular entertainment in the UK.
Having joined the restoration celebrations of 1660 and witnessed the rise of a new popular entertainment phenomenon, the sporting hero, John now ventures into the industrial heartlands of Victorian Britain to see how the masses were kept amused before the dawn of cinema and the emergence of a global entertainment industry worth billions of pounds.
Producer: Paul Kobrak
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2008.
The circus, music hall and the odd high-diving elk - a history of popular entertainment. John Sessions charts the history of popular entertainment in Britain |