DOCUMENTARY: Antiques Uncovered with Lucy Worsley and Mark Hill

Lucy Worsley is pretty much my goddess, she's a curator at Royal Historic Palaces does the most amazing documentaries for the BBC, focusing on the 17-19th century history and cultural changes. I was very skeptical about this series (antiques on the telly make me think of Antiques Roadshow or some horror like that) but it turned out to be absolutely amazing. Lucy Worsley and Mark Hill go through the history behind each object (or collection) they look at, discussing what cultural and social changes led to its creation, how it was originally used, what needs it fulfilled in a certain point in history. Besides presenting the most fascinating facts, this documentary gives incredible insights into the thinking of people in other ages and condition. Besides looking at antiques themselves, they also visit places that produce similar objects now, using traditional methods. My absolute favourite part was the Wedgwood Factory, which still produces exact replicas of the famous Portland Vase. They show exactly how the vase is thrown, how the designs are moulded and applied, what innovative (for the time) techniques were used to create it. The only irritating part was Mark Hill informing the audience how much various antiques cost, I don't really need to know that a menu that survived from the day of the sinking of the Titanic would cost so many thousands of pounds, I'm lucky if I can afford dinner. But other than that, a wonderful documentary, tremendously informative, insightful and gorgeous.