 |
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 9 -15 November 2000 Issue No.507 
| ||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 9 -15 November 2000 Issue No.507
| ||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Plain talk
On national and international occasions, history beckons. In some sense it is the discipline of disciplines, subsuming or illuminating many areas of endeavour. Being a great believer in history, I have, among other undertakings, started writing a television series called The Young Historian , in which I attempt to teach children what it is all about. And it seems I am not alone in feeling the importance of history in the lives not only of nations but people. The BBC, for one party, is embarking on a new blockbuster, a series of 16 episodes with the simple but telling title: A History of Britain..
From what I gather from the press, the series sets out to trace the place of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland in the world from the Iron Age until the present time. It is a chronological traipse through the centuries, as one writer describes it. One man is responsible for the shooting script, while a bevy of academic historians man the production team. The series has been described as "in the mould of those epics which a few years ago were viewed by fashionable broadcasters as, at best, belonging to a bygone age, at worst, reactionary." What characterises this series, further, is the lack of debate and analysis -- "just straight story-telling," accompanied by high-value production and filming.
Preparations for the series have been going on for the best part of two years. There were innumerable discussions of historical questions. Members of the production team say they have lost count of the number of historical experts consulted along the way. However contentious a viewpoint the scriptwriter was propounding, it had to be backed by a mass of evidence.
Some critics have contended that A History of England belongs with a genre long past its heyday. But to do something a little old-fashioned, the BBC people argue, can be quite radical. Reading about how the production team sought out and obtained their material, in fact, reveals the passion underlying the work. The team used stylised reconstructions and dramatic vignettes, often setting out at historical locations, not only in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, but in India, the USA, France, the Caribbean, the low countries -- wherever British history was made.
So much for the BBC series, though.
As I write I cannot help envisaging a similar History of Egypt. I can think of one person who can handle it: Dr Yunan Labib. We would not have to go back to the Iron Age, only to Pharaonic times. And we have so much material for such a series.
We keep hearing of wonderful films about Egyptian history produced by, say, The National Geographic, but sadly we have none of our own. I've always dreamt of films based on temple and tomb murals. With the play of light and colour, I am sure Ramses the Great's battles can be re-enacted, the mural musicians and dancers can do their work, harvesting and hunting can be undertaken, and the wrestlers of Beni Hassan can practice on.
The British series cost £5 million and took three years to complete. Can we not replace two or three of our usual soap operas with one such series, spending the exact same amounts of money and time? The Ministries of Information and Culture, fingers crossed, will answer that question in time.
Commenting on the British series, on the other hand, an English critic says that the dawn of the 21st century is the perfect timing for A History of Britain.. Britons, he adds, are questioning their past and future role in the world. This sounds like a message that we really should heed.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
