The Mark Steel Lectures (2003) is a documentary, comedy web series in English. On MovieLinkBD: full story, cast, ratings, season & episode guide, official trailer and where to watch The Mark Steel Lectures online in HD.
The Mark Steel Lectures — Storyline
The Mark Steel Lectures are a series of radio and television programmes. Written and delivered by Mark Steel, each scripted lecture presents arguments for the importance of a historical figure.
The lectures were originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 over three series between 1999 and 2002. Many of the arguments were illustrated by miniature sketches. These sketches featured Mark Steel, Martin Hyder, Mel Hudson, Carla Mendonça, Femi Elufowoju Junior and Debbie Isitt. The first series was subtitled "A series of lectures about Englishmen who changed the course of history", with the remaining two changing this to "A series of lectures about people with a passion". The first series was produced by Phil Clark; the others by Lucy Armitage. The lecture on Ludwig van Beethoven was nominated for a Sony Radio Comedy Award.
The programme transferred to television in 2003, with an Open University series on BBC Four, which was later repeated on BBC Two. This variously featured:
⁕Gerard Logan as Lord Byron
⁕Martin Hyder as Isaac Newton, Sigmund Freud, Aristotle, Che Guevara, Oliver Cromwell, Ludwig van Beethoven and Charles Darwin
⁕Ainsley Harriott as Robert Boyle
⁕Linda Smith as Martha Freud
Cast & Crew
- Starring: Gerard Logan, Mark Steel
The Mark Steel Lectures — Series Details
| First Air Date | 2003-10-07 |
| Seasons | 3 |
| Episodes | 18 |
| Genre | Documentary, Comedy |
| Language | English |
| Network | BBC Four |
| Status | Ended |
| Rating | 7.5/10 (2 votes) |
The Mark Steel Lectures — Episode Guide
Season 1
- E1: Lord Byron (2003-10-07) — Mark Steel follows the glorious life of Lord Byron from his birth just off Oxford Street in London to his death in Greece thirty-six years later. We see Byron on the beach, Byron a
- E2: Isaac Newton (2003-10-14) — He was a scientist who thought he could turn lead into gold. He was an obsessive with a secret Swiss boyfriend. And, in the world of The Mark Steel Lectures, he likes Alphabetti Sp
- E3: Sigmund Freud (2003-10-21) — With a life measured out in cigar-cutters and cocaine wraps, Sigmund Freud was clearly a genius. Here was a man who looked around the world at the start of the 20th century, saw br
- E4: Aristotle (2003-10-28) — Mark Steel traces the history of Greek Philosophy from Pythagoras (“never ate beans”), to Plato (“old and bald”), to Aristotle (“made lists of Olympic champions for fun, and possib
- E5: Charles Darwin (2003-11-04) — Delving further, and more imaginatively, into the evolution of Charles Darwin than ever before, the Mark Steel Lecture takes this modern hero off the ten pound note and into the pr
- E6: Karl Marx (2003-11-11) — As he moved from Paris to London, Marx managed to leave a trail of uncleaned rooms and even more untidy relationships in his wake. Mark picks his way through the discarded Pot Nood
Season 2
- E1: Ludwig van Beethoven (2004-11-05) — Mark Steel turns up the volume on Beethoven with his tribute to a man who was the nearest eighteenth-century Vienna got to not only Jimi Hendrix, but also Captain Sensible. Unflinc
- E2: Leonardo da Vinci (2004-11-12) — Creator of some of the greatest works of art in human history, but at the same time barely able to finish them, Leonardo is possibly the most easily distracted genius who ever live
- E3: Mary Shelley (2004-11-19) — Like Dr Frankenstein himself, Mark Steel has taken the cold-cuts of the traditional TV lecture and brought it back to life with passion and electricity. Taking as its subjects both
- E4: Thomas Paine (2004-11-26) — Surely Britain’s greatest unknown international revolutionary, best-selling author and hobbyist bridge builder, Norfolk born corset-maker’s son Thomas Paine wrote the Rights of Man
- E5: Sylvia Pankhurst (2004-12-03) — Tracing her life from schooldays in radical Manchester to retirement in rural Essex, when Haile Selassie occasionally came to call, Sylvia Pankhurst the revolutionary and Rastafari
- E6: Albert Einstein (2004-12-10) — A great physicist but a lousy father, Einstein played with the nature of space and time as easily as he did his beloved violin. Mark Steel grapples with the fundamental nature of t
Season 3
- E1: Oliver Cromwell (2006-02-23) — Join Mark Steel as he charts Cromwell’s course through British history; his election and resignation from parliament, the formation of his New Model Army, the overthrow and subsequ
- E2: Charlie Chaplin (2006-03-02) — Join Mark as he charts Chaplin’s course through 20th century history, how through the initial success of the Little Tramp character he managed to negotiate the right to direct his
- E3: Rene Descartes (2006-03-09) — Join the award winning comedian Mark Steel as he charts Descartes course through scientific history; his stint as a card shark in the Dutch army, his invention of the little 2, the
- E4: Geoffrey Chaucer (2006-03-16) — Join Mark Steel as he charts Chaucer’s course through history, his appointments to the royal household, his kidnapping in France, his marrying into the aristocracy, and how through
- E5: Harriet Tubman (2006-03-23) — Harriet Tubman, described widely as the ‘Moses of her people’ was instrumental in the efforts to abolish slavery in mid 19th century America. Born into a life of bondage, she was f
- E6: Ernesto 'Che' Guevara (2006-03-30) — Walk down any high street in this country and chances are at some point you’ll see somebody wearing a Che Guevara t shirt. Most of whom have absolutely no idea who he was and what
Frequently Asked Questions
How many seasons does The Mark Steel Lectures have? 3 season(s) with 18 episodes.
Where can I watch The Mark Steel Lectures? See the Where to Watch section above for current streaming options.
