HISTORY/HD (529) FACTUAL We factual... with Ross Kemp The world according to… I’ve had a sneak preview of new docs coming this month, and I’ll be watching quite Tony Robinson a few. I’ve visited ACTOR, AUTHOR AND PRESENTER, AGE 64, BORN LONDON Jersualem, and am fascinated by that part of the NEW SERIES DOWN UNDER WITH – it was the wettest and coolest summer Australia world, so I’ll catch Templar’s Last TONY ROBINSON Saturdays from Sat 25, has had for two decades. It wasn’t just a jolly! Stand, Tue 28, 9pm, Nat Geo/HD 10pm, History/HD (529) (526), about the slaughter of knights He shot to fame in a historical sitcom, playing There are many myths about Australia… at the Battle Of Jacob’s Ford. I also loveable buffoon Baldrick in Blackadder. But since People always think the early convicts were all petty won’t miss Surviving D-Day, Mon 6, then Tony Robinson has made a name for himself thieves. But huge numbers were political prisoners 10pm, Discovery History (522), fronting serious shows that dig into the past – – these were smart, literate people. Many went out which uses 3D reconstructions and including hit series Time Team. This month, he is there as convicted felons, but within a couple of interviews with veterans to assess casting an inquisitive eye on the history of Australia years created good little businesses for themselves. the chances of an individual soldier – from its discovery, through colonial times and up surviving the Second World to the present day. sky magazine caught up with The country’s early days were brutal… War landings. Tony to get his take on life and his new series... The prisoners who went out there and committed Then there’s other crimes were treated Finding Amelia, Always plan, but never abysmally, in a way that we all Wed 29, 9pm, plan your plans… That’s should still be ashamed of. Discovery/HD a brilliant adage an old hippy (536), about friend once said to me. Colonial-era Australia’s aviation pioneer It means be meticulous in worst job… Being a convict Amelia Earhart your preparation, but fl exible who was forced to build a road (inset), who vanished enough to change things into the outback. Gruelling, in July 1937. And as I love to when circumstances change. back-breaking work in such dispel conspiracy theories, I’ll catch Tony encounters Australian natives in his new vicious conditions from which JFK: The Ruby Connection, Sun 12, My life has been full of series – including kangaroos, of course there was no escape. 10pm, Discovery Channel/HD (536), fi ctional heroes… As a child I read every book which offers new theories. I’ll be I could. I identifi ed with every single hero in every The show’s got something for everybody… watching a lot of TV! Finally, I’m a big single one of them, and probably still do. Kids, family men, sadists, masochists! fan of Tony Robinson, so I’ll certainly watch his new series (left) too... I’ve always enjoyed the thrill of risks… If I hadn’t I’ve become a little jaded when it comes to dropped my A-levels to go to drama school, I think real-life heroes – particularly political ones… 50 I’d have turned my limited capabilities towards We all have feet of clay, and the closer you look at 51 being a professional gambler. I like the idea of anybody, the more obvious the cracks in that clay wearing a DJ and being at a roulette table. are. We fall into a bad trap if we lionise too much.

It’s some privilege to spend three months I’m asked about a fi fth Blackadder series… trekking around Australia… I’d visited it before, As many times per day as I’m asked, ‘Do you want but never in such a comprehensive way, where you to dig in my garden?’ get a real picture of so much of that huge continent. The only place to be is in the present… But that Size and optimism were the fi rst two things includes an awareness of potential futures, and Compelling Second World War reconstructions and recollections in Surviving D-Day that struck me about Australia… But not heat understanding the past and where you came from. INTERVIEW: NICK SCOTT My Sky Tip Want a better way to fi nd the best of the week’s TV? Join My Sky to get your weekly Sky Highlights email. Visit sky.com/mysky

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