History Channel's The Celts

[Mahdi]

I'm currently watching the History Channels (I think?) The Celts, a two hour examination of the Celtic people.  It's pretty good but every once in awhile the host (who comes off as a real arrogant jerk, imo) says something that is blatantly untrue.

Last week I watched their The Barbarians - The Saxons episode, and was really disgusted.  There wasn't a single thing historical about it at all.  It was mostly a retelling of Geoffrey of Monmouth with some random crap that they seemed to make up.  Which would be fine if they had said that was the case... but they didn't!  They said that this was the way that it happened!

I haven't watched anything from the history channel in a long time (or much at all, really.  An expensive I can't really justify).  Is this the way most of its programming is now?  Is it the same as it has always been?  Has anyone else seen these programs?

[Hypatia]

Who was the host? There have been several series about the Celts, among other ancient civilizations, and the only ones I make an effort to see are those written and/or presented by Michael Wood.

The only regular History Channel viewing I've been doing lately is on Monday and Saturday, because they're showing the "Rome" TV series. I think there's just one or two episodes left, though. It's a visually pretty series, with some excellent actors, but the writers/producers did a crappy job with the historical research. Apparently Octavian's first marriage is to Livia, thus cancelling out his marriage to Scribonia -- the marriage that produced his daughter Julia, whose grandson, great-grandson, and great-great-grandson were Emperors (Claudius, Caligula, and Nero). Sheesh.  >:(

There have been some other interesting documentaries, about ancient underground cities and other archaeology sites. The last one I saw was about how the giant Olmec heads were created and how all that stone was transported from where it was quarried to where the heads were carved and set up.

Of course, sometimes the really interesting stuff isn't on until late or in the middle of the night...  :P

[Mahdi]

Rome (and Deadwood) are two of my absolute favourite TV shows.  No, they arn't historically accurate, but since they don't claim to be, it doesn't matter.  I've been trying to get them on DVD for months now.  I managed to find Deadwood season 3 for $24 at rogers back in march, but other than a few random episodes at blockbuster since (they had the second half of rome season one for sale today, but not the first half) I haven't found any that are at a reasonable price.  To buy them new is way to expensive.

I had looked up the name of the host at the end of the two-part special, but cannot remember now.  It was not Micheal Wood though.  I think it was something like Rudger? 

[Dunenewt]

Does the series go into the history of each of the 6 Celtic nations (Isle of Mann, Cornwall, Brittany, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland)?

[Hypatia]

I'm not familiar with that name. Another host I enjoy is John Rohmer. He does a lot of the Middle Eastern and biblical-based documentaries.

If you get APT, they've been showing Kevin Costner's "500 Nations" programs late at night.

Have you checked out Amazon.ca for "Rome" DVDs? You could probably find them for a reasonable price there.

[Mahdi]

It's not a series, it's a two part documentary trying to define what a Celt is.  In order to do so it exams modern celtic ideals (Scotland, Ireland, and those so called Druid wack jobs) and the history of the Celtic peoples.

As anyone who has studied history knows the Celts (a term which historians and archeologists hate) are a language and cultural group and there is no real actual ethnic basis for a Celtic people.  This is also the conclusion of the documentary.

It's actually an interesting documentary, if you can get by those occasionally blatantly wrong statements and the host.  I particularily enjoyed the segment on the Picts, a group largely ignored when people discuss the Celts.

Hypatia:  Amazon and Ebay are still expensive.  It seems better to wait and try to find a locally used copy.