People of the Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history.
7 episodes
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
Marlowe
Melvyn Bragg discusses Christopher Marlowe; a forger, a brawler, a spy, but above all a playwright, a poet and the most celebrated writer of his generation.
7 July 2005
Featuring: Katherine Duncan-Jones, Jonathan Bate, Emma Smith
16th-century English poets16th-century English male writersEnglish male dramatists and playwrights16th-century English dramatists and playwrights16th-century English translatorsPeople of the Elizabethan eraEnglish male poetsEnglish spiesLatin–English translatorsEnglish Renaissance dramatistsDeaths by stabbing in England, English murder victims, People murdered in England16th centuryMary, Queen of Scots
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, who might have united the French, English and Scottish thrones.
19 January 2017
Featuring: David Forsyth, Anna Groundwater, John Guy
Shakespeare and Literary Criticism
Melvyn Bragg discusses the enduring popular and academic appeal of Shakespeare and examines whether literary criticism and the academic institution ruins the pleasure of reading.
4 March 1999
Featuring: Harold Bloom, Jacqueline Rose
English Renaissance dramatists16th-century English poets17th-century English poetsEnglish male dramatists and playwrights16th-century English male actors, 17th-century English male actors, Burials in Warwickshire, English male stage actors, King's Men (playing company), Male actors from Stratford-upon-Avon, People educated at King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare family, William Shakespeare, Writers from Warwickshire16th-century English dramatists and playwrightsPeople of the Elizabethan eraSonneteers17th-century English male writersEnglish male poets17th-century English dramatists and playwrights16th century17th centuryShakespeare's Life
Melvyn Bragg discusses what we know about the life of William Shakespeare, a tantalising conundrum that has exercised minds since the day the playwright died.
15 March 2001
Featuring: Katherine Duncan-Jones, John Sutherland, Grace Ioppolo
English Renaissance dramatists16th-century English poets17th-century English poetsEnglish male dramatists and playwrights16th-century English male actors, 17th-century English male actors, Burials in Warwickshire, English male stage actors, King's Men (playing company), Male actors from Stratford-upon-Avon, People educated at King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare family, William Shakespeare, Writers from Warwickshire16th-century English dramatists and playwrightsPeople of the Elizabethan eraSonneteers17th-century English male writersEnglish male poets17th-century English dramatists and playwrights16th century17th centuryShakespeare's Work
Melvyn Bragg discusses whether the work of William Shakespeare is 'not of an age but for all time' or increasingly irrelevant museum pieces embalmed in out of reach language.
11 May 2000
Featuring: Frank Kermode, Michael Bogdanov, Germaine Greer
English Renaissance dramatists16th-century English poets17th-century English poetsEnglish male dramatists and playwrights16th-century English male actors, 17th-century English male actors, Burials in Warwickshire, English male stage actors, King's Men (playing company), Male actors from Stratford-upon-Avon, People educated at King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare family, William Shakespeare, Writers from Warwickshire16th-century English dramatists and playwrightsPeople of the Elizabethan eraSonneteers17th-century English male writersEnglish male poets17th-century English dramatists and playwrights16th century17th centuryThe Death of Elizabeth I
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the death of Queen Elizabeth I and its immediate impact, as a foreign monarch became King in the face of plots and plague.
15 October 2009
Featuring: John Guy, Clare Jackson, Helen Hackett
CultureEnglish people of Welsh descent16th-century English womenEnglish AnglicansPrisoners in the Tower of LondonHouse of TudorPeople excommunicated by the Catholic ChurchFounders of English schools and colleges16th-century English translatorsPeople of the Elizabethan eraEnglish women poets16th-century queens regnantBurials at Westminster Abbey16th centuryWilliam Cecil
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and influence of the 1st Baron Burghley, Elizabeth I's powerful Secretary of State who advanced England's interests throughout her reign
7 March 2019
Featuring: Diarmaid MacCulloch, Susan Doran, John Guy