Games Britannia is a three part documentary series that was shown originally shown on BBC Four in 2009. It was presented by author and journalist Benjamin Woolley.
Part one “Dicing with destiny” focused on the origin of games in ancient times. Something that was interesting was that most of these games had religious connections. Some games such as the modern day snakes and ladders are derived from an ancient indian game about spiritual enlightenment.
Other games while not directly related to religion could still be found in religious buildings. This was because when people went to churches to see the priest they would have to wait a long time. Therefore they would carve game boards into beaches and other similar items to give them something to do while they wait. Game boards had even been carved into the top of tomes.
Another interesting thing in the documentary is that a law was passed to ban dice. As they where being used for gambling games and gambling was considered evil by the church. This however did not stop people playing the games they either continued playing in secrecy or found alternatives to dice such as spinners as they where not banned but could do the same job.
In conclusion part one of this documentary showed that games have been a part of peoples lives for far longer than you would expect. Yet the specifics of the games say a lot about the clutter of society at the time.
