Tony Robinson to dig into Britain's superstitious past for C4

2 June 2011

Channel 4 has commissioned Tony Robinson's Superstitions (working title), a 5 x 60-minute series by Wildfire TV which will see the Time Team presenter exploring the weird and wonderful history of belief, superstition and religious experience in Britain.

The prevalence of superstitions is an aspect of our past often overlooked by historians, but was in fact often influential in shaping our history.

In this series commissioned by Tanya Shaw for Channel 4, Tony Robinson will delve back through 2000 years of British history, from the Iron Age to the beginning of the Twentieth Century to investigate the beliefs of our ancestors. He'll reveal the extraordinary things that seem perfectly rational to them at the time; and he'll seek to understand why they believed them; as well as exploring the impact of those beliefs on the course of history.

Tanya Shaw, Commissioning Editor, Specialist Factual, said: "Tony will bring his humour and inquisitiveness to this new series; taking us on a fascinating, immersive journey through the history of superstition in Britain. The series will explore the funny, strange and frightening things we have believed throughout history, and the significant and surprising imprint they have left on modern culture."

Tony's investigation will focus on a recognition that many of the beliefs persist today - and not always outside the mainstream. As well as interviewing experts and seeking clues from the historical records, he'll don costume, experiment, take part in demonstrations, and share his thoughts in pieces to camera.

Each programme will look at one category of belief or superstition of particular importance to our ancestors.  In the course of each episode, Tony will set out to answer a fundamental question about the nature of the belief. 

The executive producers are Philip Clarke and Simon Raikes, and the series producer is Ian Holt.

The series was produced for Channel 4 in association with the National Geographic Channel.

Tony Robinson's Superstitions is due to TX this autumn on Channel 4.