Episode image for Armando Iannucci in Milton's Heaven and Hell

Duration: 59 minutes

Milton is often considered too difficult and obscure for today's reader, but to Armando Iannucci Paradise Lost is a thrilling work of creative genius that we ignore at our peril.

In this film, Iannucci journeys through Milton's life and his great poem, taking in everything from Satan and the start of spin to farting angels and the questioning of God's existence, offering his own passionate and illuminating response to Paradise Lost.

Along the way, he talks to schoolchildren, politicians and former prisoners to build up a picture of what Milton was like, and why his art may have turned out the way it did.

Last on

Wed 3 Jun 2009 21:00 BBC HD

  • BBC Poetry Season

    BBC Poetry Season

    This programme is part of a season exploring the lives and works of different poets.

    Milton on the BBC Poetry Season website

  • Clip: Paradise Lost

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    Members of the public recite the opening verses of Milton's classic Paradise Lost.

Credits

Presenter
Armando Iannucci
Director
Zoe Silver
Producer
Zoe Silver
Producer
Mary Sackville-West
Executive Producer
Eamon Hardy

Broadcasts

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