You’d perhaps not watch 1066: The Battle for Middle Earth if you read the poor, pointless and pretentious review by Sam Wollaston in The Guardian. Ignore him, he’s an obvious agenda.

This tired hack wants us to know his Anglo-Saxon is rusty, he's likely more educated than his readers, he’s been to Glastonbury, knows about hippie culture and Heavy Metal. Sounds like one of those mobile phone calls made for everybody else’s benefit, you know the sort of thing:

“Hi! Sam Wollaston here! Just to say I’ve got a life, I know many things and I can flog a dead horse in a one track review”

Wollaston's review smacks of resentment. His resentment born of the belief that History should be elitist. That History shouldn’t be made accessible for all. That History should be kept in ivory towers for the children of the privileged only.

Only read Wollaston’s vacuous review after you’ve read this or, better still, after you’ve seen Channel 4’s worthwhile programme yourself. Don’t let Wollaston’s resentment, I mean review, serve its pompous purpose and put you off.

Watch 1066: The Battle for Middle Earth, buy it on DVD and show your children. There’s a game which will reinforce what they’ve learnt via this link too (c/o Channel 4). They’ll likely take all this to be entertainment while they’re being surreptitiously educated – can’t be bad!

They’ll understand 1066 and all that far better than the National Curriculum demands. They’ll be introduced to some primary sources (Norse Sagas, Anglo-Saxon Poetry, Chronicles, maps) not just the Bayeux Tapestry. They’ll be able to identify with invaders and the invaded. They’ll have an overview of pivotal months in English history and how the events of 1066 still shape this country. They’ll know something about military history and the history of invasions – always relevant.

(Battle scenes included make this unsuitable for younger children)