Category: Blog

Here you’ll find all of our blogs and recent posts, including Peter’s History in a nutshell blog, and the new Lockdown Treasures series from Bristol Cathedral.

Get involved! Let us know what you think by leaving a comment, and share the posts you want friends and colleagues to see. At SceneSpan we’re passionate about historical TV & film, and want to share the conversation.

If you have any topics or issues you’d like us to explore in our blogs, then let us know.

WARNING! The danger of reading historic art

May 19, 2022May 19, 2022

Tonsured monks in Henry VIII’s bedroom? Historic art is a great resource for productions, but interpretation is key.

The myth of the monochrome Tudors

April 22, 2022April 22, 2022

Do we understand the role of black men and women in our history and on our TV screens? We have a lot to learn about the black Tudors.

Can we lie about history?

July 5, 2021July 5, 2021

Are the makers of period drama allowed to fib about history? To what extent? And under what circumstances?

The Golden Rule of Historical Authenticity

July 2, 2021July 3, 2021

Is there a Golden Rule of historical authenticity in filmmaking? Well, this is mine. I recently received perhaps the greatest text message of my life. It was from a client producer on an active production, and it read: “Need you on 11 May on location if avail to advise on how heretics might have been […]

History in a nutshell: Lady Jane Grey

April 14, 2021April 16, 2021

Lady Jane Grey: How much do you really know about the queen we never had? Peter Wagstaff gives you Jane in a nutshell: a two-minute crash course in one the most curious stories in English history.