Boys watching TV in the 1950s

Historical film TV and radio

From binge-worthy period dramas to award-winning documentaries, find out why historical movies, TV and radio programs are more popular than ever, with this series of articles, podcasts and video

Princess Diana in 1994, attending an event at London’s Serpentine Gallery (left), and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, portraying the same moment in the so-called 'revenge dress' in The Crown

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Free-spirited drama or fake news? How The Crown morphed from ‘safe’ territory to controversy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Former British Prime Minister John Major (left) and Johnny Lee Miller as John Major in The Crown

20th Century

John Major: a brief guide to Britain’s prime minister in the 1990s

Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II and Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, in episode four of The Crown, season five

20th Century

The Crown S5 E4 real history: the Queen’s “annus horribilis” and Princess Margaret’s relationship with Peter Townsend

20th Century

The Crown S5 E3 real history: exiled royals and the al-Fayeds

Prince Philip played by Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip and Natascha McElhone as Penelope Knatchbull

20th Century

The Crown S5 E2 real history: Prince Philip’s ‘keeper of secrets’ and Andrew Morton’s book on Princess Diana

Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana and Dominic West as Prince Charles in episode one of season five of The Crown.

20th Century

The Crown S5 E1 real history: ‘Queen Victoria Syndrome’ and a second honeymoon

20th Century

Princess Margaret’s final years

21st Century

Where is The Crown filmed? The Netflix drama’s locations and their royal links

The queen – dressed in dark clothing – stands up from a table to deliver a speech

20th Century

Annus HorribilisWhat happened in the Queen’s horrible year?

A still from a new adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front shows actor Felix Kammerer as a WW1 soldie

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All Quiet on the Western Front inspiration: “As Remarque said, war is not an adventure. There’s nothing glorious about it”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Medieval

Jan Žižka: one of history's greatest military leaders, who was blind but undefeated

First World War

All Quiet on the Western Front film"An ambitious, visceral exploration of life and loss in WW1"

Actor Viola Davis (right) holds a weapon aloft in new feature film The Woman King, inspired by the stories of female warriors in Dahomey

Victorian

The warrior ‘Amazons’ of Dahomey

A scene from the Luttrell Psalter, c1330, gives an idealised insight into everyday life in 14th-century rural England

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Life as a medieval peasantHow accurate are depictions on screen?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Protesters gather outside the Royal Courts of Justice during the 2003 Hutton inquiry into claims, broadcast on the BBC, that the case for war in Iraq had been “sexed up”.

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BBC at 100Rocked by scandal. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Jazz singer Adelaide Hall at Radiolympia, 1947

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BBC at 100Entry into the television age. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Anthony Eden addresses BBC cameras in 1956

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BBC at 1001950s friction between government and the BBC. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

St George lances a dragon

Medieval

Tips from historyHow do you really kill a dragon?

Harry Lloyd (Richard III) and Sally Hawkins (Philippa Langley) in The Lost King

Medieval

The Lost KingThe difficult art of turning a true story into a movie

Elisabeth von Wittelsbach, c1860, (left) and actor Devrim Lingnau as Elisabeth in Netflix drama The Empress.

Victorian

Sisi: the tragic life of the lost and lonely Empress Elisabeth of Austria

The Serpent Queen stars Samantha Morton as Catherine de' Medici

Tudor

The Serpent QueenThe STARZ drama offers a caricature of the real Catherine de' Medici

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Episode 8What can history tell us about its future?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Medieval

House of the DragonThe real historical event behind the Game of Thrones prequel

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Hollywood history: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Dakota Johnson stars as Anne Elliot in Netflix's 2022 adaptation of Persuasion, the final completed novel by Jane Austen

Georgian

Persuasion“The essence and spirit of Austen’s work are fundamentally changed”

Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù as Mr Malcolm and Freida Pinto as Selina Dalton in Mr Malcolm's List

Georgian

What was on Mr. Malcolm’s List? The real history behind the Regency romance

Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II in 2006 film 'The Queen'

20th Century

Screen QueenElizabeth II on film

Jack Lowden as Siegfried Sassoon in Terence Davies’ feature film Benediction.

First World War

Benediction: a case of Sassoon the man v Sassoon the legend

Edwardian

The upstairs/downstairs world of Downton Abbey: how true to life is it?

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Operation Mincemeat: WW2 espionage on film. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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