Blenheim Palace
Dr Jonathan Foyle scales Britain's most iconic structures to reveal the buildings' secrets. Jonathan's journey takes him to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.
Dr Jonathan Foyle, architectural historian and novice climber, scales Britain's most iconic structures, from the Normans to the present day, to reveal the buildings' secrets and tell the story of how our architecture and construction have developed over 1,000 years.
The next step of Jonathan's journey celebrating British architecture takes him to the epitome of the English stately home - Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. Built in the early 1700s as a reward for the Duke of Marlborough's defeat of King Louis XIV of France, it's one of the finest examples of English Baroque buildings in the country.
With unprecedented access to Blenheim Palace, aided by champion climber Lucy Creamer, Jonathan scales the building to investigate the innovations and techniques used to construct it and to decipher the stories and propaganda carved all over the building. He climbs over 100 feet to reveal the story of how a bawdy playwright, a brave general and his strong-willed wife combined and clashed to create this most audacious masterpiece. He zips across the courtyard to see how the duke's epic victory is celebrated in stone through flamboyant and satirical sculpture, and he dangles precariously inside the Great Hall trying not to break the lamps, worth 250,000 pounds, to get a view of the spectacular hand-painted ceiling.
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Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Jonathan Foyle |
Participant | Lucy Creamer |
Camera Operator | Ian Burton |
Director | Kasia Uscinska |
Series Producer | Adam Barry |
Executive Producer | Emma Read |
Broadcasts
- Wed 15 Sep 2010 18:30大象传媒 HD & 大象传媒 Two
- Thu 3 Feb 2011 13:45大象传媒 Two England & Northern Ireland only
- Fri 4 Feb 2011 13:45大象传媒 Two Scotland
- Sun 6 Feb 2011 03:15
- Sat 19 Feb 2011 16:00大象传媒 Two Wales
- Wed 2 Mar 2011 18:00大象传媒 HD
- Fri 19 Aug 2011 18:00大象传媒 HD
- Wed 21 Sep 2011 18:30大象传媒 HD
- Wed 18 Jan 2012 19:30
- Mon 16 Jul 2012 13:00
- Thu 28 Aug 2014 12:30
- Thu 14 Sep 2023 19:30