On June 15, 1215 the signatories to a momentous document gathered in a field by the banks of the Thames: a disgruntled King John, a gaggle of rebellious barons and a group of senior clergy led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton. Magna Carta (the Great Charter) is widely regarded as the founding text of English liberties, a key part of constitutions across the globe and the inspiration behind the UN's 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But all was not as it might seem from the vantage point of the present. The barons were far from being champions of the people. The Archbishop was not as impartial as he pretended. And even the Charter did not quite say what people later claimed it meant. How did the Magna Carta take on a force and reach that the original parties never intended or imagined?
Magna Carta, widely regarded as a foundational text of the British Constitution and an essential guarantor of basic freedoms, has inspired imitators across ages and across continents. To what extent is it right to see the Great Charter as a fount of freedom, democracy and rule of law, and how relevant is it today? Examining politics, science, society, law and warfare, this series show how the Magna Carta has helped make the modern world.
Director: Tom Russell, Hamish MacLeod, Yvonne Morley
Starring: Peter Warnock, Russell Wootton, Ian Cullen, Peter Hutchinson