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Lucy Worsley Investigates (2022) #1426
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4x1 hour. BBC. Lucy Worsley investigates the mysteries of some of the most infamous and brutal chapters in British history, finding new witnesses and compelling evidence. What will she uncover? 1 The Witch Hunts We all think we know what we mean by a witch, but behind the clichés of pointy hats and broomsticks lies a terrifying history that’s been largely forgotten. Four hundred years ago, thousands of ordinary people, the vast majority of them women, were hunted down, tortured and killed in witch hunts across Scotland and England. Lucy Worsley investigates what lay behind these horrifying events. She begins her investigation in North Berwick, a seaside town not far from Edinburgh, where the witch hunting craze began. The story goes that, in 1590, a coven of witches gathered here to cast a spell to try to kill the King of Scotland, James VI. Using an account from the time called Newes from Scotland and other first-hand sources, Lucy uncovers a web of political intrigue that led to a woman called Agnes Sampson, a faith healer and midwife, being investigated. She was accused of witchcraft and interrogated at Holyrood Castle by King James himself before being tortured and executed. Agnes was caught in a perfect storm: hardline Protestant reformers wanting to make Scotland devout, a king out to prove himself a righteous leader, and a new ideology which claimed the Devil was actively recruiting women as witches. Under torture, Agnes gave the names of her supposed accomplices, some 59 other innocent people, resulting in the first successful large-scale witch hunt in Scotland. Its brutal success made it the model for trials rolled out across Scotland and England for the next hundred years. 2 The Black Death How did the Black Death change Britain? Lucy Worsley examines the latest science and explores how the huge death toll affected religious beliefs, class structure, work and women. 3 Princes in the Tower What really happened to the princes in the tower? Lucy Worsley uncovers the story of the two boys whose disappearance in 1483 has led to centuries of mystery and speculation. 4 Madness of King George How did George’s mental illness change Britain? Lucy Worsley uncovers Royal papers and explores how the attempt on his life by a mentally ill subject changed psychiatry forever. |
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Black Earth Rising (2018) #1144
TV DRAMA
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With Michaela Coel, John Goodman, Noma Dumezweni, Lucian Msamati. Kate Ashby was rescued as a child from the Rwandan genocide by her renowned international lawyer adopted mother Eve. Living in London and working for barrister Michael Ennis, Kate's mother takes on a case involving an African militia leader which will upend both their lives forever. 8x1 hour episodes. BBC. 1/8 In Other News: British citizen Kate Ashby finds the shadow of her Rwandan past impossible to escape. 2/8 Looking at the Past: A shocking incident in the Hague throws Kate into a new investigation. 3/8 A Ghost in Name: Facing down personal threats, Kate works with Michael to defend Alice Munezero. 4/8 A Bowl of Cornflakes: A notorious war criminal appears in the UK, creating tensions between Kate and Michael. 5/8 The Eyes of the Devil: Alienated from Michael, Kate considers helping the Rwandans bring Ganimana to justice. 6/8 The Game's True Nature: Kate risks her life to find a key file prepared by her mother years earlier. 7/8 Double Bogey on the Ninth: As Michael works to expose a crime, Kate learns the truth about her own history. 8/8 The Forgiving Earth: Kate travels alone to Africa seeking the final truths about her personal history. |
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Papillon (2017) #1213
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Directed by Michael Noer. With Charlie Hunnam, Rami Malek, Damijan Oklopdzic, Christopher Fairbank, Jason Ryan. Wrongfully convicted for murder, Henri Charriere forms an unlikely relationship with fellow inmate and quirky convicted counterfeiter Louis Dega, in an attempt to escape from the notorious penal colony on Devil's Island. |
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The Plantagenets (2015) #920
DOCUMENTARY
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3x1 hour episodes. BBC. Professor Robert Bartlett tells the extraordinary story of England's most dysfunctional, yet longest ruling, royal dynasty. 1/3 The Devil's Brood. Henry II forges a mighty empire encompassing England and much of France. 2/3 An English Empire. A clear sense of English nationhood emerges and parliament is born. 3/3 The Death of Kings. In the last century of their rule, four Plantagenet kings are deposed and murdered. |
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Dancing Cheek to Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance (2015) #935
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3x1 hour episodes. BBC. Len Goodman and Lucy Worsley uncover the British love affair with dancing, exploring the nation's favourite dances from the 17th to the 20th centuries. 1/3 The Devil's Work?. How dancing came to be celebrated as an essential social skill in the 18th century. 2/3 Revolution on the Dance Floor. How our dance floors were revolutionised in the 19th century by faster, freer dances. 3/3 The Shock of the New. How the early 20th century saw the most revolutionary change in British dance history. |
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Wolf Hall (2015) #1451
TV DRAMA
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6 x 1 hour episodes. BBC. Historical drama chronicling the rise of Thomas Cromwell, the son of a humble blacksmith who became King Henry VIII's chief minister, as he navigated the corridors of power in the Tudor court.. 1 Three Card Trick 2 Entirely Beloved 3 Anna Regina 4 The Devil's Spit 5 Crows 6 Masters of Phantoms SEASON 2 The Mirror and the Light (2024) The irresistible rise of Thomas Cromwell - who defied and defined an era. Mark Rylance leads the acclaimed adaptation of Hilary Mantel's tales from the dark heart of Tudor history. 1. Wreckage: Thomas Cromwell steps over the wreckage of Anne's execution to a place by Henry’s side. 2. Obedience: A young nun profoundly shakes Cromwell’s view of himself and his place in the world. 3. Defiance: A religious rising in the north country puts Cromwell’s political skills to the test. 4. Jenneke: The birth of a prince gives Henry the heir that he longs for, but at a terrible price. 5. Mirror Cromwell’s marital diplomacy brings the Rhenish princess Anne of Cleves to Henry’s court. 6. Light:Cromwell is stripped of his titles and brought to the Tower on a charge of treason. |
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The Best of Men (2012) #330
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Directed by Tim Whitby. With George MacKay, Bee Bee Sanders, Leigh Quinn, Eddie Marsan. Towards the end of the second world war Dr Ludwig Guttmann, a brisk refugee from Nazi Germany, arrives at Stoke Mandeville hospital in Buckinghamshire and is appalled to find the partially paralysed spinal patients heavily sedated and left to rot with bed sores. He immediately begins a new regime,disposing of old equipment and sedatives, bringing him into conflict with stern Sister Edwards and ... |
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The Trouble with Tolstoy (2011) #701
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BBC 2 x 1 hour episodes: 1 At War with Himself, 2 In Search of Happiness. Alan Yentob takes an epic train ride through Tolstoy's Russia, examining how Russia's great novelist became her great troublemaker. In this first of two programmes, he reveals a difficult and troubled youth, obsessed with sex and gambling, who turned writer while serving as a soldier in Chechnya and the Crimea. His experiences on the frontline eventually fed into War and Peace, a book now recognised as, 'the gold standard by which all other novels are judged'. They also triggered his conversion to outspoken pacifist. Alan's expedition takes him to the Tatar city of Kazan, where Tolstoy was a teenager, the siege of Sevastopol on the Black Sea and Imperial St Petersburg, as well as the idyllic Tolstoy country estate, the writer's cradle and grave, and home throughout his passionate but brutal 48-year marriage to Sofya - a marriage that began with rape, produced 13 children and ended with desertion and denial. In the second episode... The success of War and Peace brought Tolstoy fame, wealth and a massive mid-life crisis. Alan follows the writer through the tortured second half of his life as he transformed himself from aristocrat to anarchist and turned his back on his novels, his possessions and finally his wife of 48 years. Alan travels east into the remote emptiness of the Russian steppe, through the dark pages of Tolstoy's great romantic novel Anna Karenina, on to the small town where Anna takes her life, and then on the pilgrimage to the spectacular monastery where Tolstoy's spiritual quest began. Using extraordinary early film of Tolstoy, we witness the tumultuous events of Tolstoy's final years and his passionate relationship with his disciple Chertkov, the man his wife called 'the devil incarnate'. Finally, Alan retraces Tolstoy's flight from home at the age of 82, a journey that ended in a remote railway station. Heartbreaking archive footage shows his wife Sofya being turned away from the deathbed of her husband. So great was Tolstoy's influence at the time of his death that the government feared the news would spark revolution. Contributors include Tolstoy's great great grandson Vladimir Tolstoy, AN Wilson and author of a Tolstoy biography, Rosamund Bartlett. |
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Devil (2010) #13
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Directed by John Erick Dowdle. With Chris Messina, Caroline Dhavernas, Bokeem Woodbine, Logan Marshall-Green. A group of people are trapped in an elevator and the Devil is mysteriously amongst them. |
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Joshua (2007) #167
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Directed by George Ratliff. With Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Jacob Kogan, Celia Weston. The arrival of a newborn girl causes the gradual disintegration of the Cairn family; particularly for 9-year-old Joshua (Kogan), an eccentric boy whose proper upbringing and refined tastes both take a sinister turn. aka The Devil's Child |
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The Omen (2006) #64
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Directed by John Moore. With Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, David Thewlis. A remake of the horror classic The Omen (1976), an American official realizes that his young son may literally be the devil incarnate. |
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The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) #130
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Directed by Colin Higgins. With Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton, Dom DeLuise, Charles Durning. A town's sheriff and regular patron of a historical whorehouse fights to keep it running when a TV preacher targets it as the Devil's playhouse. |
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The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) #143
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Directed by Colin Higgins. With Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton, Dom DeLuise, Charles Durning. A town's sheriff and regular patron of a historical whorehouse fights to keep it running when a TV preacher targets it as the Devil's playhouse. 16:9 |
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Bedazzled (1967) #1117
FILM
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Directed by Stanley Donen. With Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Eleanor Bron, Raquel Welch. A hapless loser sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for seven wishes, but has trouble winning over the girl of his dreams. |