Radio Times

Review by:

Jane Rackham

Another chapter of this thorough history of our sceptred isles. At the start of the 16th century many languages were spoken in Britain but there was only one religion: Catholicism. However, the Tudor era saw a massive reform with Catholic beliefs that had been held for hundreds of years condemned as papist superstition and – in the case of many abbeys, monasteries and churches including Llancarfan near Cardiff – literally whitewashed away.

As always Michael Wood charmingly cross-references historical events with modern concepts, a talent that throws up incredible snippets of information as well as making the past more accessible. And so we learn about the first black community who lived in Whitechapel, London, how the dissolution of the monasteries resulted in a property bonanza, while in 1590 entrepreneurs in Culross anticipated the Industrial Revolution by a couple of centuries by digging a coal mine in the sea.

About this programme

5/8. Michael Wood continues his exploration of Britain's history as seen through the eyes of ordinary people. As the second half of the series gets under way, he examines how Henry VIII's founding of the Church of England in 1534, followed by the dissolution of the Catholic monasteries, transformed the country's religious landscape, setting the tone for a century of sweeping change. He traces the rise of industry and commerce in Bristol and Scotland, discovers evidence of one of Britain's first black communities, and finds an artefact that sheds light on the Elizabethan conquest of Ireland - before explaining how a radical religious movement in Nottinghamshire laid the foundations for transatlantic migration.

Cast and crew

Cast

Presenter

Michael Wood

Crew

Series Producer

Rebecca Dobbs

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