TV

• Elizabeth I’s battle for God’s music (BBC Four one off, October 2017)

  Hello!  We have two new television projects for you: the first a tour of Europe, learning about the history of some of the best-known operas on BBC Two (that’s me as Carmen in the picture) and a history of the turbulent musical battles of the sixteenth century in Elizabeth I’s battle for God’s Music on BBC Four. I hope you enjoy them!

  

• Lucy Worsley’s Nights at the Opera (two parts, BBC Two, October 2017)

  Hello!  We have two new television projects for you: the first a tour of Europe, learning about the history of some of the best-known operas on BBC Two (that’s me as Carmen in the picture) and a history of the turbulent musical battles of the sixteenth century in Elizabeth I’s battle for God’s Music on BBC Four. I hope you enjoy them!

• Six Wives with Lucy Worsley, BBC One, December 2016

  In an ambitious and groundbreaking approach to drama and history, historian Lucy Worsley time travels back to the Tudor Court to witness some of the most dramatic moments in the lives of Henry VIII’s six wives.

  Combining drama, written by Chloe Moss, with Lucy’s own contemporary historical comment, Lucy will move seamlessly from the present to the past, appearing as a range of silent servants: a maid, a midwife, a nursemaid.

  By focusing on the women central to this significant period of history and uncovering private moments that were reported by eyewitnesses or recorded in historical documents, this landmark series provides a fresh new perspective on a familiar story.

   

• Lucy Worsley: Mozart’s London Odyssey, BBC Four April 2016

  Lucy Worsley traces the forgotten and fascinating story of the young Mozart’s adventures in Georgian London. Arriving in 1764 as an eight-year-old boy, London held the promise of unrivalled musical opportunity.But in telling the telling the tale of Mozart’s strange and unexpected encounters, Lucy reveals how life wasn’t easy for the little boy in a big bustling city. 

  With the demands of a royal performance, the humiliation of playing keyboard tricks in a London pub, a near fatal illness and finding himself heckled on the streets, it was a lot for a child to take. But London would prove pivotal, for it was here that the young Mozart made his musical breakthrough, blossoming from a precocious performer into a powerful new composer.

  Lucy reveals that it was on British soil that Mozart composed his first ever symphony and, with the help of a bespoke performance, she explores how Mozart’s experiences in London inspired his colossal achievement. But what should have earned him rapturous applause and the highest acclaim ended in suspicion, intrigue and accusations of fraud.

• Empire of the Tsars, Romanov Russia with Lucy Worsley, BBC Four series, January 2016

  Lucy Worsley travels to Russia to tell the extraordinary story of the dynasty that ruled the country for more than three centuries. It’s an epic tale that includes giant figures such as Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, the devastating struggle against Napoleon in 1812, and the political murders of Nicholas II and his family in 1918 which brought the dynasty to a brutal end.

  Lucy shows how the Romanovs embraced and sponsored the arts on an astonishing scale – from building spectacular palaces to commissioning grand artworks – that all still dazzle today.

  As well as studying this unique royal family, Lucy also considers the impact the Romanovs had on the lives of ordinary Russians, who were often little better than slaves to the elite.

   

• A Very British Romance, BBC Four series, October 2015

  What could be more natural than romance, finding the perfect partner and falling in love? In fact every ingredient in this scenario, so beloved of romantics everywhere, had to be invented. In this three-part series Lucy Worsley will delve into the history of romance to uncover the forces shaping our very British happily ever after. The series will reveal how even our most intimate thoughts and feelings have been affected by social, political and cultural ideas.
• Lucy Worsley’s Reins of Power: The Art of Horse Dancing, BBC Four, Sept 2015

  

  Strictly Come Prancing: Lucy Worsley learns to ride – in fact, she learns how to dance on horseback before putting on a show for the paying public!

  Now, if this sounds mad, horse ballet or manege was once the noblest of pursuits practised by everyone from courtier to king in the first half of the 17th century. Having become fascinated by this horsey hobby whilst writing her PhD, Lucy is on a quest to find out why this peculiar skill was once so de rigeur – learning the lost art from its modern masters; visiting the Spanish Riding School in Vienna to witness spectacular equestrian shows; exploring its military origins through donning Henry VIII-style jousting armour; and discovering horse ballet’s legacies in competitive dressage and, more surprisingly, in the performances of the Royal Horse Artillery, the King’s Troop today.

• Cake Bakers and Trouble Makers, Lucy Worsley’s 100 Years of the WI, BBC Two, July 2015

  

  In celebration of the WI’s centenary, Lucy Worsley goes beyond the stereotypes of jam and Jerusalem to reveal the surprisingly radical side of this Great British Institution.

  Beginning on the Welsh island of Anglesey, where the WI’s first meeting was held in a garden shed in 1915, Lucy discovers that its humble origins were no bar to the movement’s grand ambitions. Some of the institute’s founding members were suffragettes and it saw itself as a campaigning organisation, engaged in the fight for women’s rights. Lucy explores some of the WI’s most important campaigns, like its 1918 crusade for decent housing and its remarkably radical fight for equal pay in 1943.

  Lucy uncovers the crucial role the WI played on the home front during both world wars. In the Second World War, the institute’s 350,000 members took a leading role in feeding a hungry nation. With the help of some modern WI ladies, Lucy recreates a wartime institute jam factory, thousands of which were set up by branches up and down the country to produce hundreds of tonnes of jam.

  When she traces the story of the WI into the post-war period, Lucy discovers that membership began to decline as the institute struggled to cope with the social revolution of the 1960s. To find out how the WI reinvented itself for the 21st century, Lucy meets some of the members who combatted the WI’s staid and stodgy image by stripping naked for a charity calendar in 2000. She also joins a protest alongside the Shoreditch Sisters, one of a number of recently formed new-wave WIs whose proudly feminist stance is attracting a new generation of younger members.

• Britain’s Tudor Treasure: A Night at Hampton Court, BBC Two, January 2015

  As Hampton Court Palace celebrates its 500th anniversary in 2015, BBC Two brings a key event from the iconic building’s history vividly to life – the christening of Henry’s son and heir Prince Edward, the future Edward VI.

  With so few surviving buildings left associated with events from this period of British history and the reign of Henry VIII, Lucy Worsley and David Starkey offer audiences an unprecedented insight into Henry VIII’s world. Focusing on the events of 15 October 1537, Britain’s Tudor Treasure: A Night at Hampton Court will recreate the occasion that was a culmination of nearly three decades of Henry’s rule – the birth of a male heir. As Lucy and David eavesdrop across time, they reveal how Henry’s household came together to create an event that would have been perceived as almost magical by those who witnessed it.

  They will recreate the 90-person grand procession that would have transported baby Edward to his torch-lit christening service. This was the best recorded occasion staged at Hampton Court during Henry’s VIII’s reign, and the detailed records allow Lucy and David to show how this great celebration used every part of the palace, from the royal apartments to the kitchens to the Chapel Royal.

• Dancing Cheek To Cheek: An Intimate History of Dance, BBC Four series, November 2014

  Lucy Worsley and Len Goodman take to the floor to reveal the untold story of British dance. Over three episodes, they’ll show how Britain’s favourite popular dances from over the centuries offer a fascinating window into British society and our relationships with one another.

  Each week, Lucy and Len will research and investigate a number of historic dances as well as train alongside a group of amateur dancers to recreate an iconic dance finale in full costume in a historic location. Tracking the story of popular dance from the 17th century to just before the Second World War, Len and Lucy will demonstrate how dance has always been about far more than just mastering the moves and feeling the rhythm. It’s about sex and seduction, power and politics, etiquette, economics, and of course, romance.

  Read more or watch clips here.