Revision television

Exam season is in full swing, and if you’re not frantically studying from your textbooks, you feel guilty about not revising. Worry not, two of our former deputy editors at the Boar have chosen their picks of TV shows that help them study for their course, whilst simultaneously acting as a revision break. 

Jill Lupupa’s Pick:

Studying Philosophy and literature generally means that there are quite a few TV opportunities out there that I can use as a pass for revision. The BBC, for instance, create many period dramas that are loosely connected to literature modules. For my Russian Narrative module, I watched the BBC drama adaption of War and Peace starring Lily James as Natasha Rostova. After reading the novel by Tolstoy it’s easy to lose track of the large list of characters, so watching the hour-long drama for just six episodes was helpful in getting to grips with the main plot and sequence of events. Russian dramas have been a running theme for me as I also ended up watching the BBC version of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and the 2012 film Anna Karenina. Both offered me the joy of feeling as though I was taking a TV break from revision and coursework, when in fact the dramas were helping me see the fictional characters from different perspectives which helped to inform my essays.

Cecily Grace Morgan’s pick:

One of the great thing about being a Modern Language student is that I can, and do, watch TV and call it revision. Whether it be my favourite box-set dubbed in German or spectacularly dramatic Mexican telenovelas, I can gleefully binge, safe in the knowledge that what other people consider procrastination, I can call speaking and listening exam practice. However, there’s one TV show that will always be my go-to when it comes to brushing up my French listening skills – Plus Belle la Vie, France’s favourite, and only, soap opera. I stumbled across it on an international channel when I was in Sixth Form and quickly became hooked. Set in the South of France and often featuring light-hearted storylines, it’s sunnier, both literally and metaphorically than the soaps we have in the UK, providing the perfect 25-minutes of both listening practice and escapism. The fast-paced nature of the show and the strong southern-French accents means that understanding isn’t always a walk in le parc, but I have no doubt that it’s prepared me better for listening exams than any material on Moodle could.