The Secret Life of Books

TV Show · Documentary · History

Every book has a story to tell - literally and figuratively. `The Secret Life of Books' focuses on the behind-the-scenes stories dealing with the creation of classic books. The programme examines original texts, manuscripts, letters and diaries to discover how the featured works were created. Each episode is presented by a different celebrity. TV writer Tony Jordan, actor Simon Russell Beale, scientist Alice Roberts, singer Cerys Matthews, journalist Bidisha and writer Alexandra Harris are among the people who look into the books' backstories. The featured tomes include Great Expectations, Jane Eyre and Frankenstein.

2014 · 29m

EPISODE 1

Great Expectations

Tony Jordan, chief scriptwriter on `EastEnders' for 15 years and creator of `Life on Mars' and `Hustle', brings his writer's insight to a popular classic - Charles Dickens's `Great Expectations'.
EPISODE 2

Shakespeare's First Folio

Simon Russell Beale looks at what we can learn from Shakespeare's `First Folio'. With privileged access to this rare volume, the shadowy figure of William Shakespeare comes more into focus.
EPISODE 3

Mrs Dalloway

Award-winning writer Alexandra Harris shows how Virginia Woolf's classic work, `Mrs Dalloway', completely re-imagined what a novel might be.
EPISODE 4

The Mabinogion

Cerys Matthews tells the extraordinary story of one of the great literary treasures of the medieval world - `The Mabinogion'. Their influence can still be detected in works such as JRR Tolkien's `Lord of the Rings' and `Game of Thrones'.
EPISODE 5

Jane Eyre

Bringing a fresh and critical eye to this classic work, journalist and novelist Bidisha reassesses one of literature's most memorable heroines.
EPISODE 6

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley's `Frankenstein' is now shorthand for the horrors of science run amok. Professor Alice Roberts returns to the 18-year-old's manuscripts and finds someone concerned with the very act of creation itself.

Killing Sherlock: Lucy Worsley on the Case of Conan Doyle
William Shakespeare: The Life and Times Of
Britain's Lost Masterpieces
The King & the Playwright: A Jacobean History
Muse of Fire
Wonderland: Gothic
Who Do You Think You Are?
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Martin Chuzzlewit

Richard Bright

Producer

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