The Edwardians – The Birth Of Now
Society week
Ian Hislop's Scouting For Boys (91Èȱ¬ Four)
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Robert Baden-Powell's handbook Scouting For Boys (1908) may be largely forgotten today but it's right up there as one of the most influential and best-selling books of all time.
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In the 20th century only The Bible, The Koran and The Thoughts Of Chairman Mao sold more.
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In this entertaining and affectionate film, Ian Hislop uncovers the story behind the book which kick-started the Scout Movement.
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Ian discovers that Scouting For Boys addresses all issues that are thought of as modern today – such as citizenship; what to do with disaffected youth; and social responsibility.
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He reveals how the book was intended as a solution to Edwardian fear about the degeneration of society and the loss of the British Empire.
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Ian travels to Brownsea Island in Dorset to tell the story of the prototype Scout camp. He also talks to David Lammy MP – a former cub scout – to discuss how the aims of Scouting For Boys are far from outdated.
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The film explores the maverick brilliance of Baden-Powell, a national celebrity after his heroism in the Boer War, and considers how his personal anxieties might have influenced Scouting For Boys.
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Ian looks at the book's infamous warning on the dangers of masturbation and considers whether it was in step with the thinking of the day.
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Other contributors include Baden-Powell's grandson, the current Lord Baden-Powell; his biographer Tim Jeal; and Elleke Boehmer, editor of the re-issue of the original Scouting For Boys.
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Scouting For Boys is a Takeaway Media production.
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Edwardian People (91Èȱ¬ Four)
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In this film Dan Snow sets out on a journey to discover the truth about the Britain of his great-great grandfather, the reforming Liberal politician David Lloyd George.
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Was the Edwardian period one of comfortable calm after the energetic Victorian years and before the cataclysm of the First World War?
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Or was it a period of change and self-questioning, that heralded many of the developments of the later 20th century?
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Fortunately the Edwardians were obsessive collectors and analysers of data about themselves and the world in which they lived.
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So Dan starts by going back to information contained in the census of 1911. The census records details of the 35 million people living in the British Isles at the time and stretches to 35,000 volumes.
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The census itself will not be opened up until 2012, but parliamentary papers called the Blue Books contain detailed information, extracted from the census, about who was living in Britain, what they were doing and where they were living.
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Digging through the parliamentary archives housed in a tower in the House of Lords, Dan gets a picture of a country undergoing extraordinary change in occupations, in technology, in lifestyle, in almost every aspect of daily life.
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Armed with this information Dan sets out to get to know some characters who epitomise or who were leading the changes sweeping the country...
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In their pragmatic way these were very British revolutionaries.
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How To Be Edwardian (91Èȱ¬ Four)
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Get your moustache wax at the ready. Nicholas Craig (Nigel Planer), renowned thespian is about to take us through the trials and tribulations of being a player in the Edwardian era.
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Featuring wonderful masterpieces from the 91Èȱ¬ Edwardian Archive, viewers will be educated in a truly Edwardian fashion in this 60-minute film.
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How do you waggle your moustache in an engaging manner? How should one kiss a lady's hand and just when, within a first meeting, might one acceptably propose marriage?
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The mysteries behind other pursuits such as tea drinking, parasol usage and fraternising with the servants will be made simple to follow and brought magically to life by the maestro himself, Nicholas Craig.
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