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| TV,
Jerry Carpenter,
20 January 1999 |
Rating: F4
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Oh there used to be a time when if I caught myself watching a historical documentary I’d punch myself in the face in order to wise up and flip channels. I woke up halfway into one of this series a fortnight ago and thankfully didn’t have to black my eye.
It’s one of those forensic archaeological shows (yup – there’s a LOT of those ) that has a go at cracking some of the facts from history books and is not afraid to use dramatic reconstruction tactics to hit it’s focus. Concentrating on some of the nastier episodes in history (War of the Roses, plagues, witch trials – yummy), there’s a whole load of dead bodies for the experts to get their metal probes and micro callipers into. Sometimes the conclusions are less than a revelation (people fighting in wars were brutally killed – stop the press), and sometimes they’re absolutely bizarre – the paranoia rampant in the Salem witch trial was caused by
a hallucinogenic fungus!
But it’s all done with compelling panache that plays effectively on the conceptual blind spots in the source material. And some of the boffins involved in the dirt-sifting are actually quite tasty. Most amusing are the personable reconstruction sequences, where they give it a good old go at putting some flesh on the bones, then ripping it all off again with a vast arsenal of clubs, flint arrows, iron swords and crossbows. So one minute we’re introduced to David the blacksmith, and the next we’re watching Dave cleaved in two by a guy in chain-mail. A lot more fun than your average slasher movie, and better prosthetic wounds. All in all, lot’s of fun.
Channel 4 Mon 21.00
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