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Lucy's romp through 300 years of love's rituals begins with the Georgian age, when the rules of courtship were being rewritten, and women and men made their own romantic choices.

Lucy Worsley presents a series about the 'invention' of British romance - our very own, surprisingly passionate, tradition of love.

Lucy's romp through three centuries of love's rituals begins with the Georgian age, when the rules of courtship were being rewritten. Traditionally, marriage had been as much about business as love. Now, a glamorisation of romantic love inspired women and men to make their own romantic choices - they could flirt in newly-built assembly rooms, or elope to Gretna Green as an act of romantic rebellion.

But the main force of change was the arrival of the novel - Samuel Richardson, Fanny Burney and Jane Austen didn't just map out women's changing desires, they made people seek out the feelings and emotions described in their own lives, permanently changing how the British feel.

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59 minutes

Last on

Mon 28 Nov 2022 02:40
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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:00

    Peter Skellern

    Love Is the Sweetest ThingΒ 

  • 00:00

    Peter Skellern

    Love Is The Sweetest Thing

  • 00:00

    Count Basie and His Orchestra

    Basie's Back in TownΒ 

  • 00:01

    Peter Skellern

    Love Is the Sweetest ThingΒ 

  • 00:02

    Carl Davis

    Pride & Prejudice ThemeΒ 

    Orchestra: The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
  • 00:08

    Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

    Rondo II

  • 00:16

    Robby PoitevinΒ 

    Forever YoursΒ 

  • 00:25

    Michel Blavet

    Flute Concerto in A MinorΒ 

  • 00:38

    Daft Punk

    Da Funk

  • 00:45

    Ennio Morricone

    Moments in LoveΒ 

  • 00:45

    Mando Diao

    Chet Baker

  • 00:47

    Todd Hannigan

    Thicker Than Water

Lucy on Jane Austen's "Persuasion"

Lucy on Jane Austen's "Persuasion"

Jane Austen’s final completed novel, Persuasion (1818) is one of the most romantic books ever written. About losing love and unexpectedly finding it again, it’s the first book in the world to reveal the thoughts and feelings of a normal woman approaching middle age and regretting turnings not taken.  

When the romance genre first emerged, it took place in faraway lands and its heroines were rich, beautiful and adventurous. But with Jane Austen romance was brought home to Georgian England, and unfolded in homes and locations her readers would have recognised from real life.


Credits

Presenter Lucy Worsley
Executive Producer Michael Poole
Executive Producer John Das
Director Sebastian Barfield
Producer Sebastian Barfield

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