Milton keen

HE has made a living from taking the mickey out of politicians, and earned himself a reputation as one of the true originals of the comedy circuit.

But it turns out Armando Ianucci has a few more strings to his bow.

As part of the BBC’s celebration of poetry, he wants to share chapter-andverse on one of his literary heroes in his documentary Milton’s Heaven and Hell.

He sets out to address the question: why has John Milton gone down in history as little more than a miserable soand- so who didn’t know when to put a full stop?

He explores Paradise Lost in detail and looks at the way Milton’s extraordinary life, including being imprisoned in the Tower of London and losing his sight, all fed into his masterpiece.

Iannucci’s reasons for making this programme are, as you might expect, tinged with humour. ‘‘I tried to write a Phd on Paradise Lost when I was at university.

Tried – and failed miserably, so this is my desperate attempt to convince academia,”

he admits.

‘‘To be honest, I’ve always been very interested in it and have said so in a few interviews. Then the former controller of BBC Four asked if I’d like to do something for the BBC’s poetry season.

“Interestingly enough, I didn’t use my thesis. I couldn’t find it, which shows how much care I’ve taken of it since I wrote it.’’ He did learn something new about Milton’s epic work while making the documentary.

‘‘One of the things was just how straightforward Milton is,” he says. “He’s accused of being too abstract, classical and difficult, when in fact he was quite keen to make it very direct. He wanted it to be tangible, and the words he uses are simple.’’ He points out that Milton invented a lot of words while writing it, including pandemonium, diabolical and terrible. And he believes the lengthy work is still relevant to a modern audience.

‘‘Milton was very much in political life as he was Oliver Cromwell’s spin doctor, and became disillusioned when Cromwell began acting more like a king.

As a result, in Paradise Lost, Satan is described as very charismatic, not a villain.

He’s a noble figure and it comes down to the language and rhetoric Milton uses.’’ For him, the trickiest part of the programme to get across was the fact he was discussing literature. ‘‘It’s easy to talk about history or art, but literature is tough because it’s silent and subjective,’’ he says.

In contrast, he found approaching a class of 12-year-olds about the poem fairly easy. ‘‘They were drawing angels and demons and interested in all that’’ he says, adding: ‘‘Then they told me they didn’t think it was hard because nobody had told them it was.’’ MEDICAL journalist Michael Mosley looks at the latest scientific breakthroughs that could help you to slim down in 10 Things You Need to Know About Losing Weight. He even puts these top tips to the test, trying them out to see if he loses any weight.

The programme examines how the brain responds when meals are skipped, and investigates the practical benefits of eating soup. The documentary also considers how low-fat dairy products contribute to weight loss and reveals the best foods you can eat to help stave off hunger pangs.

MEANWHILE, Embarrassing Bodies continues to expose body parts and illnesses that other medical shows shy away from. This week, Dr Christian Jessen and his medical team catch up with former patients to see how they’re progressing.

There’s teenage mother Maria, whose morbid obesity was putting her life at risk, and another meeting with Chris to see if he’s sorted out his penile pain.

The doctors also discover if a hairy woman has dealt with her excess follicles, whether Margaret has followed instructions since the operation to correct her vaginal prolapse and if a tan-obsessed teenager has finally kicked the habit.