Special Collections and Archives on the BBC

On a very hot day last summer, a BBC film crew spent the afternoon in Special Collections and Archives filming Punch and other magazines for Celebrity Antiques Road Trip. Antiques expert James Braxton and TV presenter Martel Maxwell spoke to Professor Brian Maidment in the Special Collections Reading Room about his research on 19th century periodical illustrations. They discussed some of the social issues covered by Punch including the poor working conditions of seamstresses in the 19th century. Martel read the poem The Song of the Shirt, published in 1843. She was also very interested in the Femorabilia collection  of girls' comics as she had worked for DC Thomson, publishers of titles such as Jackie and Bunty, when she started her career in journalism in Scotland. After filming in the Aldham Robart Library they met two students from Graphic Design who drew caricatures of James. We are not sure how much will be shown, but the episode is scheduled for broadcast at 7pm on BBC2 on Thursday 24th January.