Poetry: Between the Lines – The Romantics | Lord Byron – When we two parted

Poetry: Between the Lines – The Romantics | Lord Byron – When we two parted

When we two parted | BBC Two | 2015 | 5'54''

Hip-Hop star Akala discusses with poet, Mark Grist, the ideas and emotions in Byron’s...

Poetry: Between the Lines – The Romantics | Percy Bysshe Shelley – Ozymandias

Poetry: Between the Lines – The Romantics | Percy Bysshe Shelley – Ozymandias

Ozymandias | BBC Two | 2015 | 5'54''

Hip-Hop star, Akala meets the poet, Hannah Lowe, to explore Shelley’s poem ‘Ozymand...

Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale | Siegfried Sassoons influence on Anthem for Doomed Youth

Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale | Siegfried Sassoons influence on Anthem for Doomed Youth

BBC One | 2007 | 5'11''

Jeremy Paxman looks at original manuscripts and discovers how integral Siegfried S...

The Power of Poetry | Robert Browning’s ‘The Laboratory’

The Power of Poetry | Robert Browning’s ‘The Laboratory’

The Laboratory | BBC Two | 2010 | 3'41''

A contemporary dramatisation of Browning's poem, with the poisoning set in a nightclub.

Songs of Praise | A Reading of ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’

Songs of Praise | A Reading of ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’

BBC One | 2018 | 2'45''

Dame Patricia Routledge discusses how Wilfred Owen captured the horror of war in his poetry before readi...

Arena | Seamus Heaney and the Music of What Happens: Out of the Bag’

Arena | Seamus Heaney and the Music of What Happens: Out of the Bag’

BBC Two | 2019 | 1'04''

A reading of Heaney's poem 'Out of the Bag'.

Kirsty Wark Talks To | Requiem for the Croppies

Kirsty Wark Talks To | Requiem for the Croppies

BBC Four | 2004 | 1'57''

Seamus Heaney discusses his poem 'Requiem for the Croppies'.

Poetry: Between the Lines – The Romantics | William Blake’s ‘London’

Poetry: Between the Lines – The Romantics | William Blake’s ‘London’

London | BBC Two | 2015 | 5'44''

Akala presents a reading and discussion of 'London' from Blake's Songs of Experi...

My Life in Verse | Malorie Blackman reading ‘The British’ by Benjamin Zephaniah

My Life in Verse | Malorie Blackman reading ‘The British’ by Benjamin Zephaniah

The British | BBC Two | 2009 | 1'30''

Malorie Blackman talks about why she loves Benjamin Zephaniah's poem 'The British'.

English File | John Agard’s poem Half-caste

English File | John Agard’s poem Half-caste

Half-caste | BBC Two | 1999 | 7'16''

John Agard discusses and reads his poem 'Half-caste'.

English File | Dulce et Decorum Est

English File | Dulce et Decorum Est

Dulce et Decorum Est | BBC Two | 1995 | 4'04''

Dramatisation of the meeting between Owen and Sassoon, and a reading of Owen's Dulce et Decorum Est.

Armistice Day Poems | Armistice, by Imtiaz Dharker

Armistice Day Poems | Armistice, by Imtiaz Dharker

BBC Radio 4 | 2018 | 1'04''

Imtiaz Dharker reads her poem, Armistice. One of ten poems for Armistice day.

Armistice Day Poems | Poppy, by Zaffar Kunial

Armistice Day Poems | Poppy, by Zaffar Kunial

BBC Radio 4 | 2018 | 3'23''

Zaffar Kunial reads his poem, Poppy. One of ten poems for Armistice day. All our poems are taken from Armistice: A Laureate's C...

Gwlad Beirdd | S02E10: Hedd Wyn

Gwlad Beirdd | S02E10: Hedd Wyn

S4C | 2016 | 23'43''

We visit Trawsfynydd, the birthplace of Hedd Wyn and find out more about his life and works.

Hedd Wyn: The Lost War Poet

Hedd Wyn: The Lost War Poet

BBC Two Wales | 2017 | 59'17''

Documentary in which Ifor ap Glyn reassesses the life and work of Welsh poet Hedd Wyn on the centenary of his death.

Hedd Wyn. The Poet and the Hero

Hedd Wyn. The Poet and the Hero

BBC Radio Wales | 2017 | 27'55''

Actor Huw Garmon looks back at the life of Welsh poet and hero Hedd Wyn, who was killed in the First World War and became a symbol for an ent...

Hedd Wyn (1992)

Hedd Wyn (1992)

S4C | 2017 | 1'49'58''

The Oscar-nominated film telling the tragic story of the celebrated poet Hedd Wyn, who died on 31 July 1917. In Welsh with English subtitles.

Antiques Roadshow | Wilfred Owen

Antiques Roadshow | Wilfred Owen

BBC One | 2017 | 2'20''

Items featured include a communion book originally owned by the poet Wilfred Owen.

In Two Minds | The Planter and the Gael

In Two Minds | The Planter and the Gael

BBC One Northern Ireland | 1972 | 58'50''

Lawrence Pitkethly examines the cultures of the two traditions of society in Northern Ireland, including History, Education, Sport an...

HARDtalk Extra | Seamus Heaney

HARDtalk Extra | Seamus Heaney

BBC World News | 2006 | 23'23''

Gavin Esler speaks to one of Ireland's most respected writers, the poet Seamus Heaney. He tells Gavin Esler why, since the start of Ireland's ...

Front Row | The Work, Life and Legacy of Poet Seamus Heaney

Front Row | The Work, Life and Legacy of Poet Seamus Heaney

BBC Radio 4 | 2019 | 28'14''

Seamus Heaney would have been 80 tomorrow. With poets, scholars, a composer and archive of the man himself Front ...

Four Sides of Seamus Heaney | 03: Seamus Heaney – The Troubles

Four Sides of Seamus Heaney | 03: Seamus Heaney – The Troubles

BBC Radio 4 | 2023 | 27'49''

Gail McConnell explores how Seamus Heaney, who died ten years ago, responded in his work to The Troubles...

The Greatest Poem of World War One: David Jones’s In Parenthesis

The Greatest Poem of World War One: David Jones’s In Parenthesis

In Parenthesis | BBC Two | 2016 | 59'19''

Documentary tracing the story of World War I poem In Parenthesis, widely considered to be one of the g...

Whine Gums | 04: Racism

Whine Gums | 04: Racism

BBC Three | 2003 | 13'37''

Vibrant performances from talented British poets, with a focus on racism.

Poets in Person | John Agard – Checking Out My History

Poets in Person | John Agard – Checking Out My History

BBC Two | 2011 | 5'03''

Six short films, each celebrating a different contemporary poem, featuring performances and personal insights fr...

Poets in Person | Imtiaz Dharker – The Right Word

Poets in Person | Imtiaz Dharker – The Right Word

BBC Two | 2011 | 5'00''

Six short films, each celebrating a different contemporary poem, featuring performances and personal insights from th...

Poets in Person | Grace Nichols – Praise Song For My Mother

Poets in Person | Grace Nichols – Praise Song For My Mother

BBC Two | 2011 | 4'35''

Six short films, each celebrating a different contemporary poem, featuring performances and personal insigh...

Simon Armitage: Writing Poems | ”Out of the Blue”

Simon Armitage: Writing Poems | ”Out of the Blue”

BBC Two | 2012 | 5'04''

Simon Armitage discusses his poem about 9/11, 'Out of the Blue'.

Simon Armitage: Writing Poems | ”The Manhunt”

Simon Armitage: Writing Poems | ”The Manhunt”

BBC Two | 2012 | 5'13''

Simon Armitage explores his response to war poetry, 'The Manhunt'.

Arena | Seamus Heaney and the Music of What Happens

Arena | Seamus Heaney and the Music of What Happens

BBC Two | 2019 | 1'27'45''

A portrait of Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney. Six years after his death, his family recalls the experiences that ...

Cold War Poet

Cold War Poet

BBC Radio 4 | 2014 | 27'38''

Stephen Evans explores how Dylan Thomas's work sustained a generation of East Germans struggling with a totalitarian state and became an export for the British...

Dylan Thomas: A Poet at War

Dylan Thomas: A Poet at War

BBC Two | 2014 | 28'54''

Poet and broadcaster Ifor ap Glyn looks at Dylan Thomas' work as scriptwriter of propaganda films for the government during WWII.

Colouring in Britain | Benjamin Zephaniah

Colouring in Britain | Benjamin Zephaniah

BBC Radio 1xtra | 2022 | 36'38''

How renowned poet Benjamin Zephaniah used language and music to take on injustice and discrimination in Britain with the wickedest ...

Poetry Extra | The Poetry of History: 1: The Battle of Maldon

Poetry Extra | The Poetry of History: 1: The Battle of Maldon

Radio 4 Extra | 2007 | 30'37''

The 991 engagement is remembered in the traditional poem.

The Poetry of History | S01E04: TS Eliot and the Blitz

The Poetry of History | S01E04: TS Eliot and the Blitz

Radio 4 Extra | 2006 | 27'49''

Jonathan Bate investigates how the Blitz motivated TS Eliot's Four Quartets. How does history influence poetry?

The Poetry of History | S01E03: The English Civil War and Marvell

The Poetry of History | S01E03: The English Civil War and Marvell

Radio 4 Extra | 2006 | 27'28''

Jonathan Bate looks at the history behind An Horatian Ode, travelling to Westminster to investigate the Eng...

The Poetry of History | S01E02: Peterloo and Shelley

The Poetry of History | S01E02: Peterloo and Shelley

Radio 4 Extra | 2006 | 27'25''

Jonathan Bate looks at the history behind Shelley's The Mask of Anarchy, travelling to Manchester to investigate the Pet...

The Poetry of History | S01E01: Easter 1916, by WB Yeats

The Poetry of History | S01E01: Easter 1916, by WB Yeats

Radio 4 Extra | 2006 | 27'44''

Jonathan Bate looks at the history behind the poem, travelling to Dublin to investigate the 1916 Easter Rising.

Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale

Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale

BBC One | 2007 | 58'49''

Jeremy Paxman tells the tragic story of World War One poet Wilfred Owen. At a time of jingoism and wartime propaganda, one Shropshire lad wa...

Something to Write Home About: Seamus Heaney

Something to Write Home About: Seamus Heaney

BBC Four | 2013 | 28'48''

A tribute to Seamus Heaney, exploring his home ground, the boundaries and divisions and 'the possibility of true understanding'.

The Poetry of War | English File

The Poetry of War | English File

BBC Two | 1995 | 29'09''

The story of WW1 through drama, poetry and archive, focusing on three poets: Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke and Siegfried Sassoon. Aimed at 14-...

War Poetry | Culture Fix

War Poetry | Culture Fix

BBC Four | 2000 | 28'32''

Examining poetry that has helped to shape our view of war, and traces its origins back through Tennyson's 'Charge of the Light Brigade' to Homer's c...

The Power of Poetry | Tichborne’s Elegy

The Power of Poetry | Tichborne’s Elegy

Tichborne's Elegy | BBC Two | 2010 | 2'42''

A performance of Chidiock Tichborne's 1586 poem 'Tichborne's Elegy'.

The Power of Poetry | The Laboratory

The Power of Poetry | The Laboratory

The Laboratory | BBC Two | 2010 | 3'40''

A performance of Robert Browning's dramatic monologue, 'The Laboratory', set in a contemporary nightclub.

Great Welsh Writers | Alun Lewis

Great Welsh Writers | Alun Lewis

BBC One | 2015 | 28'38''

A portrait of Alun Lewis, considered by many to be the finest British writer of the Second World War and one of the greats of Welsh literature.
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