Eye, eye

SCHOOL’S out for the summer, but the learning continues as the BBC is keen to educate us about the Normans.

Most of us know they had something to do with 1066 and all that, but the Beeb’s series of programmes will undoubtedly release an avalanche of information about their comings and goings. It all added up to these descendants of Viking conquerors creating one of the greatest empires on Earth.

The Normans follows Professor Robert Bartlett, considered to be one of the world’s most influential medieval historians, on his journey from Britain to Jerusalem, as he charts their ambitious expansion.

Along the way, he uses medieval manuscripts, Anglo-Saxon chronicles, art and architecture to look at how they rose to power between the tenth and 13th centuries.

Wake up at the back. No snoozing while the BBC gives you a history lesson.

Tonight’s programme, the first of three instalments, looks at where the Normans came from and how they rose to be powerful enough to conquer England in 1066.

Prof Bartlett explores how a Scandinavian giant called Rollo led the group of Viking descendants to become established in northern France, becoming the Normans.

One of their key achievements was the building of some of Christianity’s most impressive buildings.

When Duke William was born, the Normans’ expansion plans stepped up a gear.

A successful warrior and politician, he conquered the provinces around Normandy, before turning his attentions to England.

His claim that Edward the Confessor had promised him the English throne appeared to be backed up in the Bayeux Tapestry.

But when Edward died, Harold Godwinson took power, leading to a massive invasion, and the famous battle, just north of Hastings.

The season of programmes also includes a series called Dan Snow’s Norman Walks, in which The One Show reporter and son-of-Peter retraces the steps of the Normans, from way back when they first set foot on British soil.

He heads to the Sussex coastline, where William the Conqueror arrived before the Battle of Hastings, and where he successfully took control of England.

Snow tries to piece together what both sides of the battle were doing in the weeks leading up to it, as well as separating the truth from the many fictional tales that have come to represent one of the most famous periods in our history.

The Norman season is the first part of the BBC’s new Hands On History initiative, which encourages viewers to go one step further than just watching programmes and go out and look for the history around them.

Other shows coming up include The Domesday Book, presented by Dr Stephen Baxter, a look at the art of the Anglo-Saxons, with Dr Janina Ramirez, and The Stones Of Rosslyn, an exploration of one of the most famous medieval chapels in the world.

There’s also Armitage On Arthur, in which poet Simon Armitage reveals the greatest masterworks of Arthurian literature.

The BBC is working in partnership with more than 20 heritage and history organisations. See bbc.co.uk/history for full details.

IT used to take married couples seven years to realise they didn’t like each other. But it doesn’t take as long as that in the 21st Century. Almost as soon as they’ve said “I do”, they’re beginning to annoy one another.

Now we have The One Year Itch – so named, we’re told, because marriages are most likely to fail in the first couple of years.

At the start of 2009, Cutting Edge cameras attended the weddings of 50 British couples to see if tying the knot would change their lives for better or worse.

One year later, on their first wedding anniversary, the documentary-makers return to find out who’s survived their first year in Newlyweds: The One Year Itch.

No doubt there’ll be some surprises when viewers see who’s happy and who’s not.