Giles Brandreth/Jane Austen tonight.

I like the sound of that, thanks for highlighting.

Thank you.

Channel 5 have some amazing programmes theses days. I’m watching it more and more.

I’ll watch that, thank you for the alert.

From The Telegraph today:

“Those who feel a little Gyles Brandreth goes a long way may want to steer clear of Channel 5 for the next few Wednesdays, as he explores the lives and works of Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens and the Brontë sisters. That said, he’s on relatively restrained form for this opening episode, reining in the archness and not dressing up any more than, say, Lucy Worsley might on a similar assignment to visit key locations in Jane Austen’s life and talk to the experts.

Along the way he encounters the scribblings of a teenage Jane that showcase her imagination already at work, splicing her name with a fictional person called Fitzwilliam. He takes the waters in Bath just as she did while accompanying her brother in search of a cure for his gout, and joins Austentatious, the popular Jane-inspired improv gang, for a skit, alongside more serious excursions into her political views and private life. None of it will come as news to hardened Janeites (a term popularised by confirmed fan Rudyard Kipling), but that’s hardly the point. Bursting with clips from the many Austen adaptations of recent years, this is literature done Channel 5 style, and none the worse for that”

Is any one watching his programmes on canal journeys in a narrowboat with Sheila Hancock, on More 4? A delight.

MayBee70 Channel 5 seems to be either really interesting historical and cultural programmes and total rubbish. The good stuff is definitely worth looking for.

I love the Ben Fogle programmes about people living in wild places. I always wanted to do something like that which is a bit daft because I’m totally impractical. So I like watching other people do it.

Thank you. We really enjoyed it and look forward to the rest of the series.

I enjoyed it immensely and it brought back memories of studying Persuasion at A level.
I'm not sure whether I like Giles presenting. Sometimes he pulls silly faces and talks to us like children. He also likes telling us about himself a lot.
Thanks for the alert. Channel 5 is getting better and better in my opinion.

I enjoyed it too - Giles Brandreth is a bit OTT, but there was a lot of content in the programme which more than made up for that. Will be watching the rest of the series.

Liked the material he presented, the photography and everything but don't like Brandreth's facetious attitude. Not one of my favourite historians.

Her father's church was beautiful.

I’ve never been keen on Jane Austen, so only know basic facts about her. This programme filled in some of the gaps. It’s always interesting to see actual places. I’d have preferred a rather more scholarly approach, but I still enjoyed it - apart from the unnecessary and unsuitable music.