In Wednesday’s episode, “Green Imagined Land”, Ian Hislop will be looking at J.R.R. Tolkien’s experience with industry in Birmingham and how that shaped the author’s works. Ian Hislop visits Sarehole Mill and the surrounding area.
In this current series “Ian Hislop’s Olden Days“, the Private Eye editor explores the British obsession with its own history. The first episode focused on King Arthur and Alfred the Great, whilst the second episode looked at the Victorians’ fascination with the Middle Ages.
The BBC‘s programme information about the forthcoming episode states:
Between the wars, swathes of the English countryside were built over, including Sarehole, a village just outside Birmingham and childhood home to JRR Tolkien. Tolkien immortalised the struggle between a rural arcadia (the Shire) and an industrial dystopia (Mordor) in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Episode 3, “Green Imagined Land”, of Ian Hislop’s Olden Days will be broadcast on BBC Two at 9pm on Wednesday 23rd April 2014. It will be available on iPlayer soon after.
