Mark Steel (TV) Lectures - Series 1, 2, 3

Comedian and columnist Mark Steel returns with more lectures on historic figures

that radically changed the political and cultural landscape of the Western

world.



A co-production between the BBC and the Open University, The Mark Steel

Lectures feature subjects who have a global appeal across the fields of art,

literature, science and politics.



Viewers can expect to find out where Sylvia Pankhurst ran a café; how radical

reformer Thomas Paine had the best-selling book in the world, twice; why

Leonardo Da Vinci could never finish anything; why Mary Shelley kept the

Victorian greeting card industry in business; who Beethoven liked to pelt with

rotten eggs; and how Einstein got ready for a date.



Mark delves into the lives and works of famous historical figures whose ideas

and originality have shaped the world from 200 BC to the present day. But their

private lives often contained secrets that would have been tabloid scandals and

fodder for gossip columnists in the modern era. Amid the historical debate that

surrounds these figures, Mark paints his own provocative picture of these

figures of genius, dedication, conviction, oddness and above all, passion.



It’s passion which inspires Mark, and passion which attracts him to his

subjects. He reveals the hidden side of these legendary characters and comes to

his own unique conclusions about their motivations, ambitions and distinctive

contribution to the history of ideas.