Documentaries

Factual: History

Original version

BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

The Essay Podcast

The Essay

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond, themed across a week - insight, opinion and intellectual surprise.

The Essay: Free Thinking 2010: New Histories of the North East

The Essay: Free Thinking 2010: New Histories of the North East: Part 2: Earl Grey and the Promise of Reform

Free Thinking 2010

Part 2 Part 2: Earl Grey and the Promise of Reform

Earl Grey and the Promise of Reform

BBC Radio 3 - The Essay, Free Thinking 2010, New Histories of the North East, Earl Grey and the Promise of ReformClose menu

Tom Shakespeare discusses  Charles Grey and the Great Reform Act of 1832.

Writer and sociologist Tom Shakespeare discusses former prime minister Charles Grey and the Great Reform Act of 1832.

Five Essays with new perspectives on the history of the North East.

Writer and sociologist Tom Shakespeare looks back at Charles Grey and the Great Reform Act of 1832. Grey was a leading figure in the North East and today his monument stands high above the centre of Newcastle. He became Whig Prime Minister in November 1830, got rid of the rotten boroughs, and took a major step towards modern parliamentary democracy. Following the recent expenses scandal, and with electoral reform on the coalition's agenda, Tom Shakespeare uses this historical comparison to ask: When does one of the oldest parliamentary systems in the world feel ready to reform itself? 

Recorded in front of an audience at the Sage Gateshead as part of BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking festival of ideas 2010.

Producer: Zahid Warley.

The Essay: Free Thinking 2010

New Histories of the North East

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Series recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking festival 2010

Series recorded in front of an audience at the Sage Gateshead for BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking festival 2010

Series of discussions offering new perspectives on the history of North East England

Series of discussions offering new perspectives on the history of North East England - all recorded in front of an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking festival 2010

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Essay

Free Thinking 2010

New Histories of the North East

Part 2: Earl Grey and the Promise of Reform

Genres

Brand

Series

Series

BBC Radio 3

About BBC Radio 3