This Sceptred Isle – The History of Britain

Those with the stamina to endure the duration (216 episodes of 15 minutes each) may be interested to know that the BBC’s 1995 series This Sceptred Isle is now being repeated on BBC7.

The series begins today, with Land of the Druids: Anna Massey narrates the History of Britain. The story begins in 55BC with the Pro-Consul of Gaul, one Gaius Julius Caesar. Episode 1 of 216.

The programme’s title is a quotation from act 2 scene 1 of Shakespeare’s King Richard II, attributed to John of Gaunt: “This royal throne of kings, this scepter’d isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars … This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England“.

Daily broadcast time is 13:45 to 14:00, and you can listen to BBC7 on digital radio or on digital tv (Freeview 708, Sky 0131, Tiscali 633 and Virgin Media 910) and through your computer, via the BBC Radio Player.

Using your computer means you don’t have to adhere to the daily schedule (or miss an episode) thanks to the BBC’s Listen Again option, where programmes become available the day after they are broadcast, and you can can listen to any of BBC7’s output from the past six days.

You can also Listen Live, which not only does the obvious thing, but also provided an extended listing of a number of recent broadcasts which you can listen too. Unlike Listen Again, some programmes listed here can appear just after being broadcast, and some stay available for more than six days – but not all!

The series was partnered with This Sceptred Isle: Empire in 2005, which covered the history of the British Empire in a similar way, this time over 90 episodes.