British Museum Director Neil MacGregor presents Shakespeare's Restless World. The 20-part series looks at the world through the eyes of Shakespeare's audience by exploring objects from that turbulent period.
Episodes available:
Indefinitely 
Fri, 11 May 12
Duration:
14 mins
From a theatre on the banks of the Thames, Shakespeare's words have gone global. In the final programme, Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, studies a volume of the Complete Works of Shakespeare that consoled the inmates of Robben Island, including one Nelson Mandela.
Thu, 10 May 12
Duration:
14 mins
Shakespeare’s audience would have been familiar with the brutalities of torture. Traitors were hanged, cut down while still alive and their bodies hacked to pieces in front of blood-spattered crowds. The relic of an eye, encased in silver, was created after one Catholic member of such a crowd managed to grab the eye of Edward Oldcorne, a gentle Catholic priest executed in 1606. This gruesome relic serves as a spine-chilling reminder that the gruesome scenes in King Lear, Titus Andronicus and beyond would have been disconcertingly close to the real deal.
Wed, 9 May 12
Duration:
14 mins
King James I's coronation transported Londoners to another world. The deprivations waged by the plauge were temporarily forgotten. Across the City of London, seven towering triumphal arches stood 90 feet above the peering crowds. These elaborate displays of street theatre survive in a book published in 1604 called The Arches of Triumph, a sort of souvenir guide of the day.
Tue, 8 May 12
Duration:
14 mins
Plague was a deadly threat for England and an almighty challenge for James I. In 1603, a fresh epidemic swept through London forcing the theatres to close for almost a year. Join Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, as he surveys a plague proclamation.
Mon, 7 May 12
Duration:
14 mins
Perceptions of time were starting to shift in Shakespeare's day. To illustrate this, Neil MacGregor explores the workings of a chiming clock made in Blackfriars in 1598. There are over 80 references to clocks in his plays, making it clear to us that 'Shakespearean' time was well on its way to being modern time.
Fri, 4 May 12
Duration:
14 mins
A symbolic act of union proved a lot harder than it looked. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the problems of creating a flag that expressed the union of a Great Britain.
Thu, 3 May 12
Duration:
14 mins
Deception and religion, cross-dressing and travelling salesmen are all unpacked via a pedlar's trunk. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, reviews the lives of those who travelled England's roads.
Wed, 2 May 12
Duration:
14 mins
Sunken gold from West Africa sheds light on the complex relationship Elizabethan England had with the Moors of the Mediterranean. But behind the glistening gold lies a more disturbing tale of xenophobia, leading to the eventual expelling of Moors from Elizabethan England. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, presents.
Tue, 1 May 12
Duration:
14 mins
A delicate glass goblet reveals the twin seductions of Venice: its sought-after luxuries and its equally sought-after lecherous women. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, visits Venice - a melting pot of nationalities, religions, classes and cultures all existing within this magnificent city built on water.
Mon, 30 Apr 12
Duration:
14 mins
A tabloid history of Shakespeare's England, told through a collection of contemporary accounts of plots to murder Elizabeth I and James I - A Thankfull Remembrance of God's Mercy. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, presents.
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