Review by Katie Connick
In my opinion, Horrible Histories is a great way to learn new things about the past, without having to flick through pages and pages of loads of history books and walk away only remembering 2-3 points of info.
With a very good cast, a brilliant, comical (and well-thought-through) script and fantastic costumes the cast really bring the characters of Terry Deary’s bestselling novels to life. The cast (Mat, Simon, Jim, Larry, Alice, Ben, Martha and many others) bring such comedy to the show, most of the time you would be laughing really hard at some of the jokes. The cast prepare really well for each of their many characters- it is very convincing. The sets are always brilliant, as are the props because they make the audience at home think they’re actually in the era the actors are portraying.
Nearly every era in history is covered by Horrible Histories, including; Roman, Spartan, Tudor, Stuarts, Stone age and many more. The shows also include short news bulletins that include reports on certain empires/ revolutions etc. these include;
The American & French revolutions, History of the british empire and the History of man.
The show also adapts real shows such as Crimewatch, Wife Swap, and Don’t Tell The Bride and adjust them into historical settings; Crimewatch becomes- Crimewatch BC, Wife swap becomes- Historical Wife Swap(comes in different editions e.g:Spartans, Victorians, French etc.) and Don’t Tell The Bride becomes- Historical Don’t Tell The Bride, (comes in different editions e.g: Stuart etc.) In my opinion Historical Wife Swap is very funny but they also manage to squeeze in some facts there too. One of the most comical clipsof each show is the ‘Stupid Deaths’, which is presented none other than the grim Reaper. Here, which as the name may suggest, we look at the ‘stupid deaths’ of some famous and some ordinary peoples in history, such as; Edmund 2nd, a greek boxer and Francis Bacon.
Also in some episodes, they feature Historical Doctor/Dentist, which as the name may suggest, a doctor/dentist from different historical periods, comes in to treat modern-day patients. I think, that nearly every (gross) aspect of these 3-4 minute clips, surprise nearly everybody who is watching at home. In some cases, it would nearly make you think why anybody would want to go to these doctors/dentists in the first place! Some of the doctors/dentists include; Mr. Saxon, Mr. Georgian, Mr. Tudor and Mr. Roman. All are very funny in their own (gross) way!
One song I’ve seen is a play on Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’. In this song, we look at four different roman emperors, (including Caligula, Elagabalus, Nero and Comodus), the song was basically a competition to see who was the worst emperor.
In some cases Horrible Histories actually proved the history books wrong, e.g; Dick Turpin’s (famous highwayman) horse was called ‘Black Bess’ when nobody really knows what it was called, Tutankhamun didn’t die from a head injury (as history books have said) he really died from an infected broken leg!
Some of my favourite clips from the Horrible Histories are; Roman Decimation, Stupid Deaths: Edmund 2nd ,the Human report, the battle of Thermopylae, causes of WW1, roman gods and the roman sausage smuggler.All these clips are very funny, but the actors and indeed the script get the point across in a way that all ages can understand, and with the endless amount of comedy everybody can find it interesting and fun.
I really think everyone should watch even one episode of Horrble Histories, as it is really for all ages and not just for young people. I also think it’s a really good way to study for a test – if your topic is covered(which nearly every topic is!)
I really enjoy it and think it’s veru benifitial for lots of people.
In my opinion, Horrible Histories is a great way to learn new things about the past, without having to flick through pages and pages of loads of history books and walk away only remembering 2-3 points of info.
With a very good cast, a brilliant, comical (and well-thought-through) script and fantastic costumes the cast really bring the characters of Terry Deary’s bestselling novels to life. The cast (Mat, Simon, Jim, Larry, Alice, Ben, Martha and many others) bring such comedy to the show, most of the time you would be laughing really hard at some of the jokes. The cast prepare really well for each of their many characters- it is very convincing. The sets are always brilliant, as are the props because they make the audience at home think they’re actually in the era the actors are portraying.
Nearly every era in history is covered by Horrible Histories, including; Roman, Spartan, Tudor, Stuarts, Stone age and many more. The shows also include short news bulletins that include reports on certain empires/ revolutions etc. these include;
The American & French revolutions, History of the british empire and the History of man.
The show also adapts real shows such as Crimewatch, Wife Swap, and Don’t Tell The Bride and adjust them into historical settings; Crimewatch becomes- Crimewatch BC, Wife swap becomes- Historical Wife Swap(comes in different editions e.g:Spartans, Victorians, French etc.) and Don’t Tell The Bride becomes- Historical Don’t Tell The Bride, (comes in different editions e.g: Stuart etc.) In my opinion Historical Wife Swap is very funny but they also manage to squeeze in some facts there too. One of the most comical clipsof each show is the ‘Stupid Deaths’, which is presented none other than the grim Reaper. Here, which as the name may suggest, we look at the ‘stupid deaths’ of some famous and some ordinary peoples in history, such as; Edmund 2nd, a greek boxer and Francis Bacon.
Also in some episodes, they feature Historical Doctor/Dentist, which as the name may suggest, a doctor/dentist from different historical periods, comes in to treat modern-day patients. I think, that nearly every (gross) aspect of these 3-4 minute clips, surprise nearly everybody who is watching at home. In some cases, it would nearly make you think why anybody would want to go to these doctors/dentists in the first place! Some of the doctors/dentists include; Mr. Saxon, Mr. Georgian, Mr. Tudor and Mr. Roman. All are very funny in their own (gross) way!
One song I’ve seen is a play on Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’. In this song, we look at four different roman emperors, (including Caligula, Elagabalus, Nero and Comodus), the song was basically a competition to see who was the worst emperor.
In some cases Horrible Histories actually proved the history books wrong, e.g; Dick Turpin’s (famous highwayman) horse was called ‘Black Bess’ when nobody really knows what it was called, Tutankhamun didn’t die from a head injury (as history books have said) he really died from an infected broken leg!
Some of my favourite clips from the Horrible Histories are; Roman Decimation, Stupid Deaths: Edmund 2nd ,the Human report, the battle of Thermopylae, causes of WW1, roman gods and the roman sausage smuggler.All these clips are very funny, but the actors and indeed the script get the point across in a way that all ages can understand, and with the endless amount of comedy everybody can find it interesting and fun.
I really think everyone should watch even one episode of Horrble Histories, as it is really for all ages and not just for young people. I also think it’s a really good way to study for a test – if your topic is covered(which nearly every topic is!)
I really enjoy it and think it’s veru benifitial for lots of people.