What's coming up on 'SEX: A Bonkers History'
The show travels from Ancient Egypt, when the first contraceptive was created, all the way through to the 1970s to look at how the swinging craze swept through suburban Britain.
Image: SEX: A Bonkers History
This is the history that you were never taught at school. Hosted by actress, singer and presenter Amanda Holden, SEX: A Bonkers History explores how sexual behaviours through the ages have shaped civilisations in ways that we are only just beginning to discover.
Amanda is joined by Dan Jones, the best-selling author and historian, as they shine a light on the most seductive sex stories that are sure to get your heart racing. The show travels from Ancient Egypt, when the first contraceptive was created, all the way through to the 1970s to look at how the swinging craze swept through suburban Britain.
Amanda Holden said: ‘Believe me when I say our generation knows nothing about sex compared to the debauched antics of our ancestors! My goodness, I’ve really had my eyes opened, and had a real laugh, during the filming of this brilliant new series.
‘I have left it to Dan Jones to get his hands dirty whilst I’ve been on the sidelines as a very entertained voyeur.
'Although perhaps shocking at times, SEX: A Bonkers History is a truly fascinating and intellectual insight into the last 2500 years of our sexual history. This is horrible histories for grown-ups.’
Amanda and Dan are also joined by several other contributors to help tell the stories. These include Strictly Come Dancing’s Pasha Kovalev and Olympic medallist weightlifter Emily Campbell, as well as Bonny Hall form Love Honey to learn more about the billion-pound sex toy industry. For the final episode of the series, Amanda met the late Jacqueline Gold, executive chair of Anne Summers, in what was her final television appearance.
Read on below to find out more about what is covered in each of the exhilarating episodes.
Episode 1: The Ancients
In the opening episode, Amanda and Dan explore how attitudes towards sex differed drastically before the intervention of Christianity. Starting in Ancient Sparta, Amanda trains as a Spartan woman to learn how they were just as kick-ass as the men.
Meanwhile, Dan travels to the Chelsea Physic Garden to make the Ancient Egyptian equivalent of Viagra and spermicide. Amanda then gets to grips with the Kama Sutra to find out how it influenced tantric sex today and Dan gets involved with a dramatic reconstruction of what historians believe was the first sex-shamed woman in Ancient Rome.
Episode 2: The Tudors
Henry VIII’s affair with Anne Boleyn is brought to life showing how Anne’s sexual control over the King could only last so long before it ended disastrously for her. Amanda learns how Samuel Pepys wrote something hotter than even the Great Fire of London in his diary. Oh, and Dan learns how to joust.
Episode 3: The Georgians
Our hosts approach the Georgian era from two very different angles. Amanda learns how a true society girl was prepared to be a debutante in front of Queen Charlotte, while Dan makes his own animal intestine condom.
He then discovers a Georgian-era guide to London and reveals how many brothels existed in the city at that time. Amanda pulls back the covers on Anne Lister, the most famous lesbian of the period, and how she lived her trailblazing life.
Episode 4: The Victorians
Forget what you think you know about the Victorians because we’re about to reveal that behind closed doors they were one of the most sexually progressive societies in history. Amanda gets to grips with Queen Victoria’s biggest secrets and Dan looks at what historians believe was the mother of the modern-day vibrator.
Amanda finds out about the victims of Jack the Ripper and exposes Victorians’ fascination with the serial killer. She then learns about the Victorian BDSM scene and tries out her new-found skills on a consenting Dan Jones.
Episode 5: The 20th Century
We like to think that we are living in the most sexually liberal period in history, but we’re actually about to discover that sexual attitudes have changed more in the last century than any other. Dan finds out how sex was used to motivate the troops during WWII through the use of saucy cartoons.
Amanda and Dan both dress up as some of the biggest sexual icons of the century, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. Amanda also learns how sex changed for women with the advent of the birth control pill before finding out what got Brits swinging in the 1970s.
SEX: A Bonkers History premieres on Monday, 18 September at 9pm, only on Sky HISTORY.
