Magna Carta - BBC Two

We take our liberties for granted. They seem absolute and untouchable. But they are the result of a series of violent struggles fought over 800 years that, at times, have threatened to tear our society apart. On the frontline was a document originally inked on animal skin – Magna Carta. Distinguished constitutional historian David Starkey looks at the origins of the Great Charter in 1215 – to check the abuses of King John - and how it nearly died at birth. He explores its subsequent deployment, its contribution to making everyone – even the monarch – subject to the rule of law, and how this quintessentially English document migrated to the North American colonies and eventually became the foundation of the US Constitution.

Magna Carta has become a universal symbol of individual freedom against the tyranny of the state, but with ever-tightening government control on our lives, is it time to resurrect it?

David Starkey has a special encounter with an original Magna Carta manuscript at the British Library, one of only four from 1215 to survive. He also examines other unique Medieval manuscripts that trace the tumultuous history of Magna Carta, the ‘Article of the Barons’ listing their demands in June 1215, and the Papal Bull declaring Magna Carta null and void just 10 weeks after it was sealed.

BBC Two - Oxford Film and Television - 1 x 60

In this series for BBC Two, historian Amanda Vickery uncovers Britain’s longest war, the 300-year-long campaign by women for political and sex equality in Britain, revealing the largely forgotten heroines (and a few heroes) who fought for the cause. The suffragettes’ battle to win the vote is the popular symbol of this struggle, but Vickery places that struggle in a much wider context, from the Levellers, the first recorded women’s rights demonstration at the time of Cromwell, to the first custody battle in court over children in a divorce - producing the first piece of British legislation in support of women’s rights - and to the lessons she draws from a woman becoming Prime Minister just 50 years after the franchise was extended to all women over the age of 18, and the ongoing fight for equal status today.

BBC Two - Matchlight Productions - 3 x 60

Inside The Commons is a four-part documentary series presented by award-winning reporter Michael Cockerell, filmed over a remarkable year leading up to the General Election. Cameras have been given unprecedented access to the House of Commons and the result is a vivid picture of what goes on behind the scenes, providing a unique insight into how our democracy works.

Following everyone from ministers, whips and MPs to doorkeepers, clerks and clockmakers, Inside The Commons explores how the nation’s most important institution really works. We follow MPs from different shades of the political spectrum as they navigate the machinery of the House of Commons to fight their constituents’ battles. We experience the challenges faced by the staff of the House as they strive to keep the country’s most iconic and historic building functioning as a modern parliament. This is the heart of our democracy as never seen before.

BBC Two - Atlantic Productions - 4 x 60

As politicians gear up to battle it out at the General Election, Newsnight asks why so many people feel disaffected with politics and what can be done to fix this. Throughout the first week of February, thinkers, activists and writers will propose practical ways that the working of liberal democracy might be improved to get more of us involved and engaged in the political process.

UKIP is riding on a wave of success in byelections and polls but coverage normally focuses on just one man - leader Nigel Farage. This film goes to the beating heart of UKIP, the party stalwarts who work day in and day out to try and propel their leader to Parliament.

With long-term access to the UKIP activists of Thanet, the film explores, through their views and personalities, why this party seems to be making such an impact on voters who feel disenfranchised from Westminster politics. In June last year UKIP made huge gains across Thanet, winning a 46% share of the vote in the European elections - their highest share in any UK borough.

Thanet represents many parts of Britain. There are complaints about unemployment and immigration and a feeling that it has been forgotten by the metropolitan elite. But not everyone in Thanet sees UKIP as the answer and there is a fierce campaign against the party and its quest for election success. So can UKIP conquer Thanet? With special access, we follow the foot soldiers as they try and persuade the people that they have the answers.

BBC Two – BBC Productions – 1 x 60

Rory Bremner returns with Matt Forde, Sara Pascoe and John Bird together with a gallery of new characters as he takes on the coalition in a one-off special.

In May 2010, Britain went to the polls to elect a new government. Except they didn’t. ‘The people have spoken,’ as Bill Clinton remarked. ‘It’s just we don’t know what they said.’ Days later, two men got hitched in the Downing Street garden and promised to govern in the interests of the country. What happened next? Who won? Who lost? And while the Coalition continued like a marriage, with lots of arguments, what was going on elsewhere, in Scotland and beyond Westminster?

Recorded in front of a live audience, Rory Bremner brings a bunch of new characters to life, alongside old favourites to make sense of the nonsense and ask, ‘what is going on?’

BBC Two – Vera Productions - 1 x 30

Written by and starring Jessica Hynes (Spaced, Twenty Twelve) and also starring Rebecca Front (Nighty Night, The Thick Of It) Up The Women returns for a second series to BBC Two.

It’s 1910, and having been inspired by the Women’s Suffrage Movement in London, a group of villagers in Banbury, formerly known as the ‘Banbury Intricate Craft Circle’ have set up their own hilariously ineffectual movement, calling themselves ‘The Banbury Intricate Craft Circle Politely Request Women’s Suffrage’.

The first series saw the group picket the post office, overcome inner-circle disputes and receive a visit from the great Emmeline Pankhurst herself, but what next for the movement? What schemes will be cooked up in circle’s headquarters, Banbury Church Hall? The second series promises six more wittily written instalments of the group’s exploits and more excellent comic performances from the talented cast.

BBC Two - BBC Comedy/Baby Cow co-production - 6 x 30

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