TV : Documentary : TV quality : English


Rory McGrath's Bloody Britain – Series 1 (2004) (DVDRip [XviD])


Fresh, innovative, entertaining and revelatory, Rory McGrath's Bloody Britain combines strong historical research and story telling with hands-on historical experiments, an entertaining and extremely passionate presenter, and atmospheric and innovative animation. Action-packed and informative, each enthralling episode provides a fascinating and, at times, squeamish journey through some of Britain s most gruesome, awful, but momentous historical events. Each programme examines a key pre-archive event from British history. Whether it be battles, rebellions, wars, plagues, social unrest, betrayal, executions, injustice or even mass insanity, Bloody Britain concentrates on the mad, sad and bad moments from our past. In short, Bloody Britain zooms in on when history was truly horrible and asks why, when and how.

Further information: 
http://www.yourdiscovery.com/history/bloody_britain/index.shtml

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Part 1
The Battle of Trafalgar
The comedian climbs aboard the Victory at Portsmouth, to learn about the brutalities of life at sea for English sailors in the early 19th century.

Part 2
Bloody Mary
The presenter delves into the notorious life of Mary Tudor, alias Bloody Mary. He reveals the methods of torture used at the time, and discovers the right way to burn a heretic.

Part 3
The Body Snatchers
During the 17th and early 18th centuries, a grim profession emerged. A growing number of anatomists, keen to improve their medical knowledge, needed corpses on which to conduct dissections, which were often done in ‘theatres’, where members of the public could pay to watch.

Part 4
The Siege of Rochester.
Rory McGrath finds out how King John was able to burn down Rochester in 1215 during the First Barons' War (1215–17). This civil war was between a group of rebellious barons, led by Robert Fitzwalter and supported by a French army under the future Louis VIII of France, and King John of England. The war resulted from the king's refusal to accept and abide by the Magna Carta he had sealed (not signed) on 15 June 1215, and from the ambitions of the French prince, who dragged the war on after many of the rebel barons had made peace with John.

Part 5
The Witchfinder General
The largest witch-hunt in English history was held between 1645 and 1647, led by the self-appointed Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins. He was responsible for the execution of 200 women found guilty of witchcraft. A lot of these ‘witches’ were widows or spinsters, accused of devilish acts by their neighbours. By 1647, people were becoming tired of Hopkins' hunt and some villages refused him entry. Opinions are divided over Hopkins' own fate. Some believe he himself was found guilty of dealing with the devil and was hanged like his victims.

Part 6
The Monmouth Rebellion
Monmouth’s Rebellion in 1685, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, was an abortive attempt to overthrow the newly-crowned English monarch James II (VII of Scotland). To widespread Protestant dismay, the Roman Catholic James had succeeded his brother Charles II in February 1685. James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, claimed to be the rightful heir and attempted to foment uprisings in Great Britain, including one led by himself in the South West.

Part 7
Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper terrorised the area around Whitechapel in London in the Autumn of 1888 - the first British serial killer to hit the headlines. The Ripper’s five victims were all prostitutes working around Whitechapel. With no forensic scientific tests available, not even finger-printing, the police found it impossible to find the killer. Over the past century, many suspects have emerged, including local Polish immigrants, a teacher, an American doctor and even Queen Victoria’s grandson, the Duke of Clarence. But nearly all have been discounted. There have been arguments over whether the Ripper had some knowledge of anatomy, like a doctor or a butcher, because of the speed and accuracy with which he mutilated his victims. But one thing is sure. Who ever he was, Jack the Ripper has taken his place as one of the most infamous and bloody killers in British history.

Part 8
The Vikings
The Vikings were the scourge of Britain for almost 300 years. They came on raids from Norway, Denmark and Sweden, murdering, kidnapping and pillaging along the coast of Britain. Records for this period in British history are not completely reliable, because many accounts were written 200 years after the event. But we do have evidence from letters and chronicles written by churchmen and from archaeological finds both here and in Scandinavia.

Part 9
The Welsh Rebellions
English forces annexed Wales in the 12th century and rebellions followed for the next few centuries, the most famous being led by Owain Glyndwr at the start of the 15th century, who won back territories from England for a while. The uprising caused a great upsurge in Welsh identity.

Part 10
The Peasants' Revolt
The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, one of the most significant moments in British history, shows how newly empowered peasants came within an ace of toppling the monarchy. Using expert analysis and reconstruction, he illustrates the political, social and cultural background to the rebellion, and celebrates the roles those men and women played in challenging the status quo for one of the first times in history.

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Sample file information:

Part 1
Format: AVI
Length: 275 MiB for 23mn 31s 0ms
Video: MPEG-4 Visual at 1498 Kbps
Aspect: 720 x 480 (1.500) at 25.000 fps
Audio: MPEG Audio at 128 Kbps
Info: 2 channels, 44.1 KHz


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