Sunday Feature: Out in the World - A Global Gay History

First in a series of four programmes in which Richard Coles explores the history of homosexuality through the ages, from the UK and India to Egypt, Greece and Native American reservations. Richard confronts the challenges of uncovering such a history, given that the idea of 'being gay' is a very modern phenomenon. He visits Saqqara in Egypt and the contested tomb of two men, Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum. Some claim the two men were lovers - others say they were twin brothers. He explores the ideas of the 'sexologists' so crucial to the formation of modern gay identity. And he tells the story of Anne Lister, a 19th-century Yorkshirewoman who had same sex relationships - but can we actually label her a lesbian?