SUMMARY:
Who wrote the first detective novel? When were books invented? Why do we like stories so much? In its own distinctive and irreverently accurate style, the episode takes a look at some of literature's greatest works and history's wackiest writers.
We learn how a party at Lord Byron’s house led to the writing of the Gothic masterpiece Frankenstein, and how Charles Dickens was the Harry Styles of his day. We meet The Bronte Sisters trying to get a book deal, and Roald Dahl enters the Great British Bake Off with a worm cake.
ORIGINAL AIRDATE:
Monday 11th July 2016
STARRING:
Jalaal Hartley
Tom Stourton
Jessica Ransom
Richard Atwill
Richard David-Caine
Thom Tuck
Gemma Whelan
Dominique Moore
Louise Ford
Daniel Lawrence-Taylor
Natalie Walter
GUEST-STARRING:
Mel Giedroyc
WRITTEN BY:
Lucy Clarke
Dave Cohen
Gerard Foster
Ben Partridge
Danny Peak
Ben Ward
Daniel Maier
EDITOR: Gareth Heal
PRODUCERS: Tom Miller, Lisa Mitchell
DIRECTOR: Steve Connelly
PUPPETEER: John Eccleston ANIMATION: Studio 43
COMPOSER: Richie Webb HISTORICAL CONSULTANT: Greg Jenner
ADDITIONAL VOICES: Jon Culshaw
FULL DESCIPTION:
In its own distinctive and irreverently accurate style, the episode takes a look at some of literature’s greatest works and history’s wackiest writers, from Stone Age times, right up present day. We learn how a party at Lord Byron’s house led to the writing of the Gothic masterpiece Frankenstein, and how Charles Dickens was the Harry Styles of his day. We meet The Bronte Sisters trying to get a book deal, and Roald Dahl enters the Great British Bake Off with a worm cake.
Spanning 3,000 years of recorded history, we take a look at the funny and ridiculous ways some of our finest writers cured their writing block – did you know Tennyson used to pretend to go the loo as a party trick? Or that DH Lawrence would climb mulberry trees in the nude to stimulate his imagination? And there’s a celebration of brilliant female writers, with Malorie Blackman, Enid Blyton, Jacqueline Wilson and Beatrix Potter (pictured) getting on down, Little Mix stylie.
SKETCHES:
Cave painting story performance
Early man puts on a show, telling a story through cave paintings
Tips for Struggling Writers No. 12
D.H Lawrence explains what bizarre thing he does when he gets a case of writer’s block
The Great Storytellers Bake Off
Roald Dahl, Lewis Carroll and Enid Blyton compete in a Bake Off, cooking up worm cake, edible teacups and water that can shrink!
Vishnu Shaama's stories
Famous Indian storyteller, Vishnu Shaama, struggles to get his stories morals across to one family
Tips for Struggling Writers No. 17
George Elliot explains her solution to how female writer’s in Victorian times can be taken seriously
Comedy (mini song)
Ancient Greek playwright, Aristophanes, explains his new idea of ‘comedy’ through a short song parody of ‘Tragedy’.
The only book that was printed in English
William Caxton struggles to deal with a customer who does not quite understand that the there is only one book printed in English in the whole medieval world
Famous fictional detectives
Three famous fictional detectives, Hercule Poirot, Sherlock Holmes and Chevalier Auguste Dupin, arrive at the scene of a supposed murder, only to be left arguing over which one of them was the greatest
Tips for Struggling Writers No. 64
Beatrix Potter explains the downside to writing in code
Scary stories at Lord Byron's House
Polidori and Mary Shelley come up with the ‘Vampyre’ and ‘Frankenstein’ on the same night during a scary storytelling competition at lord Byron’s house.
SONG: Book Magic
Beatrix Potter, Malorie Blackman, Enid Blyton and Jacqueline Wilson sing about their careers as female authors and the success their stories were.
Tips for Struggling Writers No. 80
Alfred Lords Tennyson reveals his top party trick to keep him amused
HHTV News: Dickens arrives in Ameica
Dickens arrives in America, 1867, only to be smothered by a large crowd of fans and lovers
Horrible Publishing: The Bronte Sisters
The Bronte Sisters try to get their work published, forgetting all about the Bronte brother
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