Synopsis
Simon Armitage goes on a journey to discover the language and landscape of our first great Arthurian romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. For JRR Tolkien, Gawain is 'a fairy tale for adults', but Armitage finds strong modern relevance in the trials of its stripling hero and a tale of do or die. A marvel of the imagination, Armitage argues that Gawain must take its place alongside Chaucer and Shakespeare at the head of the canon.
Alan Johnson: The Post Office and Me | WH Auden's "Night Mail"
Alan Johnson MP (and former postman) takes a ride on a Travelling Post Office - one of the mail-sorting trains that used to criss-cross the nation through the night and that were immortalised in the film Night Mail.
Ovid: The Poet and the Emperor
Michael Wood goes in search of the Roman poet Ovid. Metamorphoses made him a superstar but then came scandal and exile. His story is told in his own words, by Simon Russell Beale.