Timeline

Recreations of historical events staged as news reports. Sounds simple, eh? But it's the clever way it's put together, and the historical accuracy the show strove for that makes it fascinating. Stephen Bell is the news anchor, in a standard-looking news studio (in vaguely archaic clothes), while the various reporters are out on the scene, reporting, interviewing, and commenting. What makes the show great is the man-on-street interview format of much of the show - showing the way average people thought about various events. The show focused on big "newsworthy" events like the retaking by Spain of the Moorish areas, or the advent of the Mongols, the black plague, or the spreading of the ottoman empire. On top of it all, each episode included a couple of commercials - for something "of the era" like paper, or the telescope. Lovely.