Ovid: The Poet and the Emperor
BBC FOUR, 9.00PM
BBC Four pulls out the big guns for this programme marking the 2,000th anniversary of Ovid’s death. Presented by Michael Wood and featuring Simon Russell Beale reading extracts from the Roman poet’s autobiography as well as music from Bob Dylan, this is a fresh and thoroughly intelligent documentary. It’s followed by Ovid from the RSC: the World’s Greatest Storyteller, in which Beale, Fiona Shaw and RSC artistic director Gregory Doran discuss Ovid’s work. SH