ON OUR SCREENS…Carlo Gebler
AUTHOR, CARLO GEBLER, who lives outside Enniskillen, is to tell the story of the Siege of Derry of 1689, in a new BBC documentary.
Drawing on a range of sources, including personal accounts from inside the city walls and dramatic re-enactments, Carlo describes the events that led to Derry being besieged and explains what happened from late 1688, after the Apprentice Boys closed the city gates to the army of the Catholic King James II.
In the film – The Siege – which airs on Monday, April 15 on BBC One Northern Ireland at 10.35pm, Carlo explains in detail the great threat that King James’ crown was under from William of Orange and how the siege developed.
Along with contributors Richard Doherty, author of The Siege of Derry 1689 and Dr Eamonn O Ciardha and Dr William Kelly from the University of Ulster, Carlo explores how the story of the Siege is hugely dramatic yet still largely unknown and misunderstood.
Carlo also examines how this conflict was not just a pivotal moment in the history of Ireland and Britain – one that placed the city at the heart of an epic clash between Catholic and Protestant for the crown of England – but also at the centre of a European-wide power struggle.
Carlo Gebler says: “The Siege of Derry is a subject about which most of us are certain we know something.
“And it’s true, we all do: but what we know is usually small and slender and partial.
“Thus we tend to see the Siege as either the story of brave supporters of William of Orange resisting Catholic tyranny, or a stirring tale of James II’s heroic Catholic army defeated by their inept leadership. As this documentary explores, the Siege was as complicated as it was epic and right up until the very end the outcome was always in the balance.
“It could always have gone either way. If the story of the Siege teaches us anything it is that everything is always much more complicated than our received opinions would have us believe.”
The Siege is a DoubleBand production for BBC Northern Ireland with support from the Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund. It will air on BBC One Northern Ireland, Monday, April 15, 10.35pm.