The Open University

OU/BBC documentary to explore history of Milton Keynes

15 August 2017

Milton Keynes and Me: Wednesday 16 August 2017, 21:00: BBC Four The most famous new town in the UK – Milton Keynes – has turned 50 and so (it just so happens) has the documentary maker, Richard Macer, who grew up there. In this special programme, which is due to broadcast on BBC Four on […]

Prejudice & Pride: The People’s History of LGBTQ Britain

24 July 2017

A new BBC/Open University co-production will take a look back at the 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality – from the perspective of the people who lived through them. Prejudice & Pride: The People’s History of LGBTQ Britain begins on Thursday 27 July, on BBC Four, at 9pm. In 1967 the Sexual Offences […]

Radio show tribute to Asa Briggs: The Last Victorian Improver

4 January 2017

In a special ‘Archive on 4’ programme Tristram Hunt MP explores the exhaustingly energetic life of one of his heroes – the historian Asa Briggs, who was instrumental in the founding of the University of Sussex and The Open University. The programme airs on BBC Radio 4 this Saturday 7th January at 8pm. From a […]

The Open University Chancellor Asa Briggs addressing the audience at a graduation ceremony.

OU pays tribute to Asa Briggs, former OU Chancellor

5 October 2016

Members of the OU community, past and present, attended yesterday’s thanksgiving service for the late Asa Briggs. The former Vice-Chancellor Sir John Daniel, representing the OU and a close family friend, paid tribute to Asa’s remarkable contribution to the OU and announced the new Asa Briggs Chair in History. All the speakers brought out just […]

How the age of steam changed lives forever

28 July 2016

We’re living in an age of massive technological change, yet more than 100 years ago the introduction of the steam railways caused an equally seismic change to life in Victorian Britain. Decades later, the enduring appeal of this golden age persists and is the subject of a new six-part BBC/OU co-production. Full Steam Ahead explores […]

‘Twas millennia before Christmas

23 December 2015

Who doesn’t love Christmas? The tree standing proud, adorned with baubles, lights, and surrounded by gifts; the radio singing festive songs, whilst the turkey slowly roasts in the oven; and the family gathered around the television with the grandparents eagerly awaiting the Queen’s Christmas Speech. Where did it all begin? Reader in British History at […]

The free speech battle that forced Britain’s 18th-century radicals to flee

18 December 2015

Main picture: “The Friends of the People”, Isaac Cruikshank (1764–1811), Mary Mark Ockerbloom While emigration into Britain has often been (and still is) associated with fear of oppression and escape from conflict, there is a general perception that emigration out of the country has been a rather more positive pursuit. Leaving Britain has long been associated […]

Author and presenter Simon Reeve in Ireland. Image credit: BBC TWO

New TV series takes viewers on an Irish adventure

18 November 2015

In a new OU/BBC series, author and presenter Simon Reeve takes viewers on a journey to uncover the history of a country which he has never visited before: Ireland. Simon explores Ireland’s breath-taking scenery, and the surprising political and social history of the Irish; from the recent financial crisis that hit the country in 2008 and the legislation of […]

Street lamps and stone pavement at night. Image credit: Thinkstock

Acid bath murderers and poison: why dark tourism is important

3 November 2015

People love all things spooky and gory. I was reminded of the truth of this when I visited the Museum of London’s new exhibition The Crime Museum Uncovered. It was a tantalising prospect, promising “never-before-seen objects from the Metropolitan Police’s Crime Museum” on display “for the first time ever”. This Crime Museum was established in […]

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