By Cameron Tucker
Groundbreaking work carried out by the University of Kent’s research community will soon reach a nationwide audience on prime time television. Sure, Kent’s academics have featured in news reports or been asked before to sit in as expert panel members. Yet, from the beginning of July, the University will take centre stage on weekend nights from Bristol in the West Country, up the M5 and M6 to Liverpool, to across the Irish Sea in Belfast.
In an initiative spearheaded by KMTV, the University’s part-owned television station has teamed up with 33 channels which make up the Local Television Network (LTVN) to showcase the Kent Thinks Discovers documentary series between 6-8pm across the British Isles. The films will feature side by side with current affairs, music and history programming from the other LTVN stations, giving viewers a taste of what’s going on in all four corners of the country.
The LTVN has an audience reach in the millions, and KMTV Editor-in-chief Andy Richards says “At KMTV, we are constantly hearing about the incredible studies being carried out by academics at the University of Kent. Sharing these stories with our local viewers is a real privilege. Now, we have an opportunity, working side by side with other respected stations, such as those in Cardiff, Nottingham and Sheffield, to name a few, to bring these stories to a huge audience and celebrate what we have to offer here in Kent.”
The first documentaries to air will be “Mary Rose: A Chemical Conundrum” and “La Cristiada: A Civil War”, on 4 and 5 July. “Mary Rose”, features the work of Professors Alan Chadwick and Eleanor Schofield in preserving the famous Tudor warship in Portsmouth, while “La Cristiada” follows Dr Mark Lawrence as he unpicks one of the most divisive and bloodiest chapters in Mexico’s modern history.