BBC R4 - Shakespeare's Restless World

BBC R4 Documentary - 'Shakespeare's Restless World'

Broadcast in twenty parts April-May, 2012

Coded from a digital source at 64/22.1



1. England Goes Global

1/20 Assessing the impact of Sir Francis Drake's

Circumnavigation Medal.  



2. Communion and Conscience

2/20 Neil MacGregor uses the Stratford Chalice to

explore the world in Shakespeare's time.



3. Snacking Through Shakespeare

3/20 A fork found on the site of the Rose Theatre

reveals what people ate in the Bard's time.



4. Life without Elizabeth

4/20 The story behind a portrait justifying Elizabeth I's

position in the Tudor succession.



5. Swordplay and Swagger

5/20 Neil MacGregor explores the essential accoutrements

of any self-respecting gentleman.



6. Europe: Triumphs of the Past

6/20 What Henry V's armoury tells us about the depiction

of history on the Elizabeth stage.



7. Ireland: Failures in the Present

7/20 A rare woodcut offers an insight into the troubles

and tragedies of Elizabethan Ireland.



8. City Life, Urban Strife

8/20 Neil MacGregor explores life in Shakespeare's London

through an apprentice's woollen cap.



9. New Science, Old Magic

9/20 A disc of black obsidian from Mexico reflects the

Elizabethan fascination with astrology.



10. Toil and Trouble

10/20 A model ship hung in a church reveals the differences

between Scottish and English witches



11. Treason and Plots

11/20 Tabloid history of Shakespeare's England via contemporary

accounts of royal murder plots.



12. Sex and the City

12/20 Neil MacGregor on how a delicate glass goblet reveals

the twin seductions of Venice.



13. From London to Marrakech

13/20 Sunken gold from West Africa sheds light on England's

complex relationship with the Moors.



14. Disguise and Deception

14/20 A pedlar's trunk reveals deception and religion,

cross-dressing and travelling salesmen.



15. The Flag That Failed

15/20 The problems in creating a Great Britain are

encapsulated in designs for a common flag.



16. A Time of Change, a Change of Time

16/20 A striking clock reveals the changing relationship

Shakespeare's audiences had to time.



17. Plague and the Playhouse

17/20 Early 17th-century proclamations reveal the impact

of the 1603 plague outbreak.



18. London Becomes Rome

18/20 Neil MacGregor surveys the triumphal arches created

for James I's entry into London.



19. The Theatres of Cruelty

19/20 A human eyeball in a silver setting gives a striking

insight into the theatre of cruelty.



20. Shakespeare Goes Global

20/20 How a folio of collected plays in 1623 began the

creation of a global phenomenon.