BBC Four
New commissioning announcements from BBC Four.
Published: 1 June 2017
I do always love the nitty-gritty, dirty detail of ephemeral things from the past. Sometimes it's the tiniest thing that can open up a portal into a whole lost world.
Fizz Bang Wallop - A Tudor Firework Spectacular
Historian Lucy Worsley (pictured) and materials scientist Zoe Laughlin explore the science and history of fireworks using an original pyrotechnics instruction manual from 1635 to recreate one of the most spectacular fireworks displays from the Tudor era.
In a 90-minute special, broadcast in the run-up to Guy Fawkes Night, BBC Four will assemble a team of top class pyrotechnicians to replicate a mind-blowing fireworks display especially designed for Queen Elizabeth I - one of the first documented firework displays in England.
Led by Lucy and Zoe, the team will apply their expertise in pyrotechnic science and Elizabethan history to replicate the original Tudor rockets, fireballs and fire-breathing dragons used to entertain The Virgin Queen herself at Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire.
The film will also use cutting-edge camera techniques to showcase fireworks like never before.
Lucy Worsley says: "I'm wildly keen to work with the inimitable and zany Zoe, and I do always love the nitty-gritty, dirty detail of ephemeral things from the past. Sometimes it's the tiniest thing that can open up a portal into a whole lost world. That's what we hope to do with our investigation into fireworks!"
Fizz Bang Wallop - A Tudor Firework Spectacular (1x90) was commissioned by Cassian Harrison, Channel Editor, BBC Four and Tom McDonald, Head of Commissioning, Natural History and Specialist Factual. The Commissioning Editor is Diene Petterle and it is being made by STV Productions where the Executive Producer is Peter Collins and the Producer/Director is Sid Bennett.
