TV PROGRAMME - fabric of Britain

For those of us in the UK a new BBC Four television series starts tonight called 'Fabric of Britain'. Tonight's programme focuses on knitting but surface designers will not want to miss next weeks episode to be broadcast on 26th September at 9pm called the story of wallpaper. Presenter Paul Martin explores the secret history of wallpaper, from lavish 17th-century offerings designed to look like embroidered textiles, through to the interior designs of the modern day. He reveals how 19th-century technological revolutions helped designers such as Augustus Pugin and William Morris, and explores how the UK's designers fought off the advance of the white-washed facades favoured by the likes of 20th-century modernist innovator Le Corbusier. The third episode (2 Oct) will focus on the history of embroidery.