British History’s Biggest Fibs

You might think history is a reliable record but in this series Lucy Worsley shows how events in Britain’s past have been manipulated and mythologised. Tonight, she looks at the Wars of the Roses.
(Image credit: BBC/Sam Elvin)

Lucy Worsley shows how events in Britain’s past have been manipulated and mythologised

You might think history is a reliable record but in this series Lucy Worsley shows how events in Britain’s past have been manipulated and mythologised. Tonight, she looks at the Wars of the Roses.

It’s tempting to buy into the myth that black puddings and Yorkshire puddings were used as missiles by Lancastrians and Yorkists when they ran out of ammunition but sadly it’s not true.

More deeply ingrained in history is the idea that Richard III was evil, thanks to Shakespeare’s plays and Henry VII’s spinning of the truth. Lucy tries to set the record straight – and any programme that encourages you to challenge facts is no bad thing.