William Wordsworth was not only one of the greatest English poets but also a creative radical, and - at least in his student days - a political one too. 250 years after his birth in 1770, Professor Jonathan Bate travels in his footsteps to reveal the true story of the making of the poet.

2. Bliss Was It In That Dawn

Jonathan travels from Westminster Bridge to Paris and Calais as he relates the powerful and poignant story of Wordsworth's visit to Paris on the first anniversary of the French Revolution and in its aftermath. Alongside vivid recreations of Wordsworth's initial excitement about the possibility for real change, Jonathan also tells of his love affair with a royalist sympathiser, the birth of their illegitimate child, and Wordsworth's shift from radical politics to radical poetry in his later years.

With contributions from historian Professor Lynn Hunt, leading British poet Alice Oswald and writer and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg.

Featuring Simon Russell Beale as Wordsworth and music specially composed by Emily Levy. Also with Laura Christy as Dorothy Wordsworth and viola playing by Aby Vulliamy.

Professor Sir Jonathan Bate is a British academic, novelist and broadcaster, and the author of a forthcoming biography of Wordsworth

Producer: Beaty Rubens Show less