Blood of the Vikings BBC2, Tuesdays, 9-9.50pm

The Vikings have not had a good press. This is partly their own fault: even allowing for the fact that most of our written evidence for their activities in Britain comes from Christian sources, biased against marauding heathens, there is enough support from archaeology to show that they were not a peace-loving people. But the Hollywood image of the Viking warrior in his horned helmet, swinging an axe as he indulges in a wild bout of rape and pillage, is not entirely accurate, as archaeologist Julian Richards sets out to show in this five-part series. For a start, Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets.

It has to be said that the Hollywood myth is more fun (and Bede’s Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, with tales of Viking raids preceded by portents of flashes of lightning and fiery dragons, did more to send a shiver up the spine). There are not many flashes of lightning, let alone dragons, in Richards’s sober story of Viking burials, Scandinavian place names and Thor hammers. No blood is spilt; it all ends neatly packaged in test tubes, to yield information about our distant ancestry. Richards gets very excited by the results of a genetic survey that suggests the persistence of Viking genes in the British population.

The Way We Live Now BBC1, Sundays, from November 11, 8.45-10pm

The latest of Andrew Davies’s accomplished classic serial adaptations is a Trollope novel with a splendid villain, the financier Augustus Melmotte (played by David Suchet). The novel was previously adapted for television in the very different climate of the late Sixties and it will be interesting to compare the two versions.

BEST FOR SCHOOLS

History in Action: Film Century C4, November 14 and 20, 4-5.40am

This History in Action unit, consisting of 10 programmes being broadcast for recording over two nights, is intended to introduce 11 to 17- year-olds to techniques for interpreting evidence. It covers a variety of historical events, starting with the Russian Revolution, and analyses how they were recorded on film.

What is the value of cinema as history? What are the dangers of relying on it? The material is useful for film and media studies, and for 20th-century history.

Dream On: Sign Language C4, Tuesday, November 13, 4.50-5.40am

A play in five episodes about Danny, who is deaf, and his hearing friend Jamal, designed to introduce sign language to seven to 11-year-olds.

Using mainly British Sign Language, it will be of use not only in PSHE for teaching children about relationships and communication between deaf and hearing people, but also for language development and drama.

Winner of the Bafta best schools’ drama award for 2000, Dream On is now separately available on video and is supported by programme notes and a sign language CD-Rom.

Robin Buss

Full education programme schedules can be found online at www.bbc.co.ukeducationlzonesched.shtmlwww.bbc.co.ukwhatsonwww.4learning. co.ukprogrammesautumn2001.cfm