Crime and Punishment

Forensics
Wellcome Images No. B0007100.

As part of their ‘Justice’ season, last night BBC4 broadcast Crime and Punishment: The Story of Corporal Punishment. Historians including Professor Joanna Bourke, Professor Vic Gatrell and the Wellcome Library’s Senior Archivist Dr Lesley Hall discussed the history of physical chastisement, and how attitudes towards corporal punishment and concepts of pain have changed throughout history.

The programme can be viewed in the UK on the BBC iPlayer until Tuesday 12 April. Tonight BBC4 will broadcast Crime and Punishment: The Story of Capital Punishment which will examine the history and protocol of public execution. The programme can be viewed live at 21.00 on the BBC website and on BBC4, or via the BBC iPlayer for UK viewers for a week after transmission.