After two Proms devoted to Doctor Who, this year's children's Prom ceded the floor today to the hugely popular CBBC television series Horrible Histories. The series is based, in case you don't know your Horrible Histories history, on the books initially written by Terry Deary.
Deary embarked on the books, all with alliterative titles like Groovy Greeks, Rotten Romans and Blitzed Brits, in order to give children a better grounding in history than he had (not) enjoyed at school. "Everything I learnt after 11 was a waste of time," he has said. "It was boring, badly taught and not related to the real world... Who decided that putting 30 kids with only their age in common in a classroom with one teacher was the best way of educating?"
The series has always featured songs. At the Horrible Histories Prom, the musical education went live with the help of conductor Nicholas Collon, the Aurora Orchestra, The Music Centre Choir, Kids Company Choir and the cast of Horrible Histories. For the hard of hearing the performance was signed with his usual communicative flair by Paul Whittaker, artistic director of Music and the Deaf.
The Prom kicks off with a snippet from Also Sprach Zarathustra segueing into the show's theme tune. Children who missed a great entertainment can listen again to the Prom on BBC iPlayer - click for part one and part two. In the mean time, here are some pictures to help visualise the performances.
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- Henry VIII
- Gorgeous Georgians
- More Vicious Vikings
- Stone Age Jazz
- Rattus Rattus and Charles II
- Death joins the Aurora Orchestra
- Charles II is accosted by Henry VIII's executioner
Find Horrible Histories on Amazon
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