Seventh heaven

THE Beeb loves its history lessons. It has gone all out in recent weeks to get us clued up about the ever-troubled monarch Henry VIII, but now focuses instead on the surly king’s father, Henry VII, the first monarch of the House of Tudor, in Henry VII: Winter King.

He is credited with the restoration of political stability in England, but his 23- year reign wasn’t an easy one.

In this one-off documentary, author Thomas Penn tells all about the struggles of the often-enigmatic ruler, who won the throne when he defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, then rubbed salt in to the wound by marrying Elizabeth of York, Richard’s niece.

Penn says: “As King Henry VII, he would create the dynasty that bore his name – the Tudors. But Henry VII remains obscure, eclipsed by the monarch he deposed, Richard III, and by the glamour and notoriety of his wife-killing son, Henry VIII, and the charisma of his granddaughter, Elizabeth I. Yet Henry VII’s is possibly the most extraordinary story of them all.”

As he investigates, he discusses the ruthless tactics the monarch would use to cling on to that all-important prize – the throne. “With a hunger for power and an iron determination to hang on to the throne at all costs, he would rewrite history, ceasing the crown and rebuilding the monarchy in his own image,” he says.

“I’ve found that the deeper you go, the more you discover fascinating glimpses of this manipulative king, who created one of the strangest regimes in history - magnificent, oppressive and terrifying.”

SOME 8,000 years ago, this country was literally attached to the continent by a land mass the size of Germany.

In 6,000BC, Doggerland was washed into the sea by a raging tsunami and the floods that came in its wake.

With the aid of modern digital technology, Tony Robinson and his team of archaeologists take a virtual journey through the vanished landscape in Britain’s Stone Age Tsunami, unearthing evidence that the vast Mesolithic population that lived in this unfortunate area were not merely primitive hunter-gatherers, but sophisticated communities of people with their own houses and a variety of skills.

In one freak occurrence, an entire civilisation was wiped out. Food for thought, considering recent events in the Indian Ocean and Japan. Another disaster of this magnitude could leave Britain farther from Europe than ever.

THERE are some people who, if their name is attached to a project, you know it will be worth watching.

One such person is Jessica Hynes – and the actress and writer is the brains behind three-part sitcom Up the Women.

Set in Banbury in 1910, Hynes plays Margaret, a local woman who has become enamoured of the suffragette movement.

As a result, she tries to inspire her local ladies club, the Banbury Intricate Craft Circle, to take up the suffrage too. But rather than become overnight radicals, her friends and neighbours end up being the world’s least effective rebels, whose loyalty can be bought by a slice of cake.