King’s College London Department of History alumni Ellie Clifford and Aidan Judd have produced a historical documentary titled Military memory and the Sacred Space for BBC Radio 4. Their audio documentary based on the battle of Passchendaele was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on November 10 2017.

Finding creative inspiration in history modules

Ellie and Aidan found their inspiration for the documentary in an audio recording about St. Paul’s Cathedral that featured on the History & Memory module at King’s, and a lecture about the link between memory and history by Professor Arthur Burns at this year’s Arts & Humanities Festival prompted further exploration of the topic. The audio recording mentioned an altar frontal for the war dead displayed at the cathedral for the centenary of WWI. While the narrative gradually changed during the production process, the 'notes from the lecture were certainly at the forefront of our discussion', Ellie said.

Skills and support from the Department of History

The King’s graduates welcomed the 'creative freedom' to explore ways of presenting the historical story in a 'medium other than an essay'. Both Ellie and Aidan felt that the research skills they developed at King’s guided them as they were conducting in-depth research for the radio project. 'King's taught us to give each argument and story the time that it needed to express itself', said Ellie, crediting Professor Burns, Dr Alana Harris, and Professor Paul Readman for their support.