A Poet's Guide to Britain - Season 1
Season 1
Episodes
William Wordsworth
Poet and author Owen Sheers presents a series in which he explores six great works of poetry set in the British landscape. Each poem explores a sense of place and identity across Britain and opens the doors to captivating stories about the places and the lives of the poets themselves. This episode features Composed upon Westminster Bridge by William Wordsworth.
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath is one of the most popular and influential poets of recent history but her poetry is often overshadowed by her life - the story of her marriage to Ted Hughes, her mental health problems and her tragic suicide at the age of 30. A rich and important area of her work that is often overlooked is the wealth of landscape poetry which she wrote throughout her life, some of the best of which was written about the Yorkshire moors.
George Mackay Brown
George Mackay Brown, who died in 1996, was the great poetic voice of the Orkneys and one of the foremost Scottish poets of the 20th century. Sheers travels to the place the locals call the Venice of the North, the Orkney town of Stromness, which was Mackay Brown's home and the backdrop for much of his work, including his great poem Hamnavoe.
Matthew Arnold
In 1851, a young school inspector and his wife spent a night of their honeymoon in a hotel in Dover overlooking the beach. Standing at the bedroom window and staring out at the moonlit sea, this newly-married man wrote a poem that sent a chill through his own and future generations - a poem that ends with the shocking conclusion that there is no hope, no comfort and no purpose in life.
Lynette Roberts
Lynette Roberts is not a famous poet. She only published one full collection of poems and her work has been almost forgotten, but her vivid, modern, hot-blooded writing about a Welsh village and her time there during the Second World War reveals an extraordinary woman and a brilliant poetic voice who Robert Graves described in the 1940s as 'one of the few true poets now writing'.
Louis MacNeice
Louis MacNeice was one of the big guns of British poetry in the 1930s and 40s but is less well known today. Sheers takes a stroll into one of his finest poems, called simply Woods, a brilliant evocation of one of the most English landscapes but also a poem that takes you into the life and mind of a fascinating poet.
Recently Updated Shows
Allegiance
Allegiance follows on identity and belonging, policing and politics, and finding truth within the heart of a flawed justice system. Sabrina Sohal is a star rookie police officer who must grapple with the limits of the justice system as she fights to exonerate her politician father Ajeet Sohal. Sohal serves her diverse hometown of Surrey alongside Vince Brambilla, a veteran training officer who sees her potential but doesn't always agree with her forward-thinking methods. Allegiance is the story of a young woman caught between her allegiance to her flag, to her badge, and to her family.
Fire Country
In Fire Country, seeking redemption and a shortened prison sentence, young convict Bode Donovan joins a firefighting program that returns him to his small Northern California hometown, where he and other inmates work alongside elite firefighters to extinguish massive blazes across the region.
Beyond the Gates
Beyond the Gates is set in a leafy Maryland suburb just outside of Washington D.C., and in one the most affluent African American counties in the United States. Here you'll find a posh gated community with winding tree-lined streets and luxurious mansions to call home. At the center of this community are the Duprees, a powerful and prestigious multi-generational family that is the very definition of Black royalty. But behind these pristine walls and lush, manicured gardens are juicy secrets and scandals waiting to be uncovered. And those that live outside these gates are watching closely. These are the places where our characters live, love, work and play. Those who have "made it" and those who haven't are all trying to navigate life … and some with more grace than others.
Bachelor in Paradise
Some of The Bachelor's biggest stars and villains are back. They all left The Bachelor or The Bachelorette with broken hearts, but now they know what it really takes to find love, and on Bachelor in Paradise they'll get a second chance to find their soul mates. Contestants will live together in an isolated romantic paradise in Mexico and explore new romantic relationships.
The Rainmaker
Fresh out of law school, Rudy Baylor goes head-to-head with courtroom lion Leo Drummond as well as his law school girlfriend. Rudy, along with his boss and her disheveled paralegal, uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client's son.