The Squeee

Do you know what day they hand out the Nobel Prizes? Most Swedes will be able to tell you: 10 December, the Nobel Day - Nobeldagen . The Peace Prize is given out in Norway, but the rest (as far as I know) are given out in Stockholm. In the evening, the Nobel party (Nobelfesten) is televised, and people do enjoy watching the winners, the royal family, politicians and a bunch of others arrive at the City Hall in Stockholm. TV commentators will talk about who's who, who's wearing what, what the people who have just arrived and are now being shown to their seats are going to eat, and so on.

Thanks to the fantabulous Laurence Rickard (@Lazbotron), I found this and had to share. It's a song from the new series (starts on Monday!), starring a group of Greek philosophers, singing a song very similar in style to that of The Monkees ... which is oddly topical .

They're back! Series four of Horrible Histories comes to CBBC soon, celebrating with a whole week of historical shenanigans! Keep your eyes peeled 9 - 13 April. Quoth the BBC Press Centre : In series four, viewers find out how historical figures such as Dick Whittington and Robert the Bruce get on pitching movies about their life story, and which Historical Apprentice teams will find out they’re fired. There are also more magnificent musical interludes including Victoria and Albert’s love ballad, Charles Darwin with a Bowie-esque rock tune, and a new Battle of Britain RAF Pilots boy band. Each episode features a mirthful mix of sketches from across the ages, from Slimy Stuarts to Rotten Romans, and is hosted by Rattus Rattus the talking rat. Death returns to quiz the recently deceased on the manner of their demise in Stupid Deaths, and King Henry VIII has a go at raising some much needed funds by taking part in a daytime TV show Cash in the Abbey. Hands up everyone who ju

Got the message through that the third series of Horrible Histories will be released toward the end of May but that it is now available to pre-order from Amazon UK. That's where my alert came from, but other retailers are available. Especially HMV, they could do with the custom. Third series of course includes songs about Dick Turpin, the Suffragettes, Richard III, William Wallace, Victorian children working, Incan priests and all the kings and queens since William the Conqueror. Indeed. Speaking of singing, Engelbert Humperdinck will be representing the UK in this year's Eurovision. Bloke's 75, but in today's day and age, even pensioners are required to work. Ah. Ha. Ha. Seriously though, will be interesting to see how he does, especially compared to Ireland, who are unleashing Jedward once again. We have some great singers here. Why don't we send Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones next year? That would be EPIC.

Or rather, have you heard of the campaign launched by some fans of Richard Armitage, to have his project about King Richard III come to fruition? If not, you really ought to check it out. :) There's a petition to sign and everything! Back in August, there was a "King Richard Week", which I forgot to mention at the time, as my parents were visiting so didn't have much time for computers. Thought it would be good to have a reminder about the project now, and perhaps find some more supporters. :) Richard Armitage has been talking about wanting to do a project about Richard III for some time now. He wants to do something historically accurate, because William Shakespeare ... well, he was paid by a Tudor, and seeing as how they defeated the Plantagenets (or something like that), trying to downplay the defeated king meant getting a paycheck. Here's the king himself to tell us what was going on, thanks to Horrible Histories :

The BBC Proms concert held in July has finally been given a date and time for airing, yay! So, without further ado: Horrible Histories at the BBC Proms will be broadcast on CBBC at 17:45 on 9 September 2011 and on BBC One at 16:00 on 16 September 2011 . Huzzah! It's apparently a one-hour show with the highlights from the concert itself. You can see the programme notes here - it has song lyrics and everything! Meanwhile, I've got the V+ to series link the show again, as for some reason it hasn't done that for some time. Don't know why. Shooting of Horrible Histories series four will begin in September and it's set to be broadcast in the spring of 2012. All good news! Other great news is that Laurence Rickard and his mate George Sawyer have got a new website up and running: Larry and George . Go check it out! And finally, Terry Deary, a.k.a. the author of the books which inspired the TV series, is going to run the length of Hadrian's Wall in Septemb

The Horrible Histories crew have been busy rehearsing for BBC Proms recently. Here's a first look at the show, which is set to air some time later this month! :D Many thanks to Montague Fuzzlepeck on Facebook for the tip!

'Ere be the Horrible Histories crew on ITV's Daybreak , from Monday 20 June 2011. Thanks to "hannouille" for uploading! :) It also has a very interesting piece of news at the end, grabbed from Daybreak site : They are also appearing at the BBC Proms on 30 July. Free tickets will be available from 8 July online, by phone and in person at the Royal Albert Hall box office. Featuring songs from the series and things. Ooh I hope they tape it and show it on telly. But they normally do with the proms, don't they? Can't wait to see it! :)

While we're waiting for this afternoon and the new, exciting series of Horrible Histories , let's write a few words about the DVD for series two, which is out today. Hooray! Well, actually, I had it on pre-order with Amazon so it arrived last Friday. I've had all weekend to watch it. Or rather, that's what I did on Friday evening after work. Couldn't pass up the opportunity of watching deleted scenes and outtakes! The series two DVD comes with the twelve episodes from TV, outtakes, deleted scenes, a quiz (haven't tried it yet), and "Savage Songs" (aired on TV as episode 2.13), which is a collection of nearly all the songs from the series with the addition of the four King Georges' Born to Rule from series one. The outtakes is a basic gag reel, where the actors fluff up lines, get the giggles and such. The one that made me giggle the most was Jim Howick as a viking drummer losing his drumsticks.

Just before tonight's Doctor Who episode, there was a trailer for Horrible Hero ... which was not just funny - it was a trailer for series three of Horrible Histories . Hooray! Finally! Play the Horrible Hero game on the CBBC website Set your V/Sky+ or any other DVR or video recorders (unless you're at home at the time) for CBBC at 17:15/5:15pm on Monday 30 May , because they're back, baby! Ooohhhh I can't wait! :D

Reading an article about Horrible Histories from The Guardian , there were some things that make me do little excited dances: 1. BBC One will broadcast a "repackaged version" presented by Stephen Fry instead of the rat, and they'll do it on prime time! 2. There might even be a Horrible Histories movie! 3. There might be a Horrible Histories stage show with the actors from the TV show ... and it could come this very autumn! (Tickets! My kingdom for some tickets!) And the third series is due out next month . Sweeeeeet!

I was curious to find out if there was going to be a third series of Horrible Histories , so I asked tweeting actors Laurence Rickard (@ Lazbotron ) and Ben Willbond (@ benwillbond ) about it, and one of them was kind enough to confirm it : @the_squeee Thank you please. Series 3 should be appearing on TVs some time in May. HOORAY! Can't wait! :D Thank you so much for answering the question, Mr. Rickard! In fact, thank you for just responding at all! First time I've ever had a response from a celeb tweeter, so I'm all tingly now. Yeah, I'm silly like that, sorry, but it just made my day. Laurence Rickard responded to my tweet. Squeee! "Stay calmer when you want to harm a llama, call a llama farmer!" Oh, and a P.S. Series 2 of Horrible Histories is available for pre-order from Amazon UK . It's released 2 May 2011. So yay for that as well! :D

Recently, at the British Comedy Awards, there was this kids TV show that won an award for Best Sketch Show! So I decided to check it out. And HOLY MOLY it's AWESOME! Horrible Histories on CBBC! Why is it awesome? Because it's about history and that's always a good thing, and that's just for starters. It's also fun, and very informative while being very playful. It's a history lesson made irresistible. Sure, I already like history as a subject, but this never fails to engage you. And there are songs and everything! And (admittedly) the stars are cute too, and they do sometimes wear cravats! ;) But mainly because it's a hoot to watch. So sit down, and let the history lesson commence! They really need to bring out an album with all of their songs! :D More: Wikipedia , IMDb , Amazon UK , official Horrible Histories website on CBBC