Son of God

BBC1 Sundays, from April 1, 9-10pm.

The BBC’s former Middle East correspondent, Jeremy Bowen, is the presenter of this three-part investigation into the historical Jesus, using the latest technology to reconstruct the world of first-century Palestine. Director Jean-Claude Bragard says the series “will challenge the perceptions of people from all points of view, whether they are Christians, agnostics or atheists”. It will also provide some useful material for RE.

SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT

Bitesize Revision: PE

BBC2

Saturday, March 31, 3-5am.

This new unit (to be repeated nearer exams) features clips from TV series such as The Contenders, with voiceover and graphics to reinforce teaching points on anatomy, health-related exercise and performance. Together the programme and the website (www.bbc.co.ukrevision) cover the major elements of the GCSE syllabuses.

EDGAR ALLAN POE.

Biography Channel.

Monday, April 2, 7-8pm

Teachers of English for GCSE and A-level who have been studying Classic Short Prose and Dark Tales in The English Programme series on Channel 4 this year might like to note this portrait of Edgar Allan Poe. His was not a happy life, but it does much to explain the cast of mind reflected in his work.

BEST OF THE REST.

Talking Landscapes.

BBC2. Friday, April 6, 8-8.30pm

Britain started with a fairly uniform landscape of forests, but Bronze Age farmers (using tools that are demonstrated in the first programme in this series) changed all that. The landscapes hat emerged were astonishingly varied.

Aubrey Manning starts his investigation in the Weald of Kent, puzzled by the fact that this area has kept so much of its woodland. A combination of iron ore and clay soil probably explains why the Weald was not used for farming.

Gradually, as Manning and his expert guests tramp around in the mud, a complete history of the region is built up around clues on the ground and in the laboratory (where a palaeobotanist can tell what trees were grown in a particular place at particular times). Lots of material here for GCSE and A-level geography, and all the rambler needs for a real understanding of the countryside - once the footpaths reopen.

BEST ON RADIO.

Reith Lectures. The End of Age

Radio 4. Wednesday, April 4, 8.02-8.45pm.

In this year’s five Reith lectures, Tom Kirkwood, head of the department of gerontology at the University of Newcastle, asks if science has abolished the concept of “old age” and, if so, what that means for individuals and for society. “Our longer lives carry us into new territory - a brave old world - a new country for which we need to plan and prepare ourselves,” he says.

On the face of it, a brave old world sounds a bit like Bournemouth, but that is apparently not what Professor Kirkwood envisages for us. Good. An audience of experts and members of the public is on hand.

Robin Buss

Full education programme schedules can be found online at www.bbc.co.ukeducationlzonesched.shtmlwww.bbc.co.ukwhatsonwww.4learning. co.uk programmesspring2001.cfm.