Ian Hislop’s Olden days

By | 6 November 2013

Hislop filming (10)-001 (3)

After seeing the Official Papers collection on our libguide Official Papers: A guide to the collections, Wingspan Productions approached the Bodleian Law Library  to investigate filming census material from the Parliamentary Papers open shelf collection. After a busy week of arranging the filming and getting the material ready,  filming went ahead on Saturday 2nd November.  Ruth Bird the Law Librarian arrived to open up and let the film crew in at 7 am, Ian Hislop arrived an hour later, and after three and half hours, the two minutes of air time needed was in the bag.  So, look out for Ian Hislop’s Olden Days which will air on BBC2 in April.  “In a new three-part series, Ian Hislop explores perhaps the most distinctive, peculiar and deep-seated trait of the British – our obsession with the past – the olden days. In three films, Ian reveals how and why, throughout our history, we have continually plundered the past to make sense of and shape the present” (BBC Media Centre). The stars of the show were of course, the House of Commons volumes,  LXXXV and LXXXXVIII, session 1852/53, with Ian talking about the census material within.  The Official Papers Section will appear in episode three. Special thanks must go the Official Papers team, especially Julie and to Ruth for facilitating the film crew on a Saturday at 7 am!

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