Peter Sommer (director)

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Peter Sommer is a British archaeologist, [1] television director and producer, and tour operator.

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The documentaries he has worked on include Tales from the Green Valley, a 12 part series about life on a farm in the year 1620 shown on BBC2 in 2005, Weapons That Made Britain shown on Channel 4, Britain's Finest Castles and Britain's Finest Ancient Monuments (Channel Five), Millennium: A thousand years of history (BBC/CNN), Commanding Heights: the Battle for the World Economy (PBS/BBC) and In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great (BBC/PBS).

Sommer received a first-class degree in Ancient History and Archaeology following by an MPhil. from Birmingham University, [2] before embarking on a PhD. at University College London.

In 1994, Sommer walked 2,000 miles across Turkey, [3] from Troy to the site of the battle of Issus, [4] retracing the route of Alexander the Great. For this journey he received The Explorers Club of America Young Expeditioners’ award.

A freelance writer, [5] who has written on topics including travel, [6] [7] archaeology, and documentary making, [8] Sommer also heads a British tour operator, Peter Sommer Travels, which specialises in expert-led cultural and archaeological tours. Sommer lives in Monmouthshire in Wales. [9]

Awards and recognition

Sommer was awarded the Learning on Screen Award in 2006 by the British Universities Film & Video Council, for the BBC TV series Tales from the Green Valley. [10] [11] The travel company he founded, Peter Sommer Travels, won the Tour Operator of the Year Gold Award in 2016 [12] and 2018 and the Silver Award in 2017, 2019 and 2020, given by AITO, [13] The (Association of Independent Tour Operators).

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References

  1. ↑ "Experts' and readers' tips. Holidays in Turkey Q&A". The Guardian website.
  2. ↑ "Old Joe: The University of Birmingham's Alumni and Friends Magazine" (PDF). The University of Birmingham website.
  3. ↑ "Intelligent Travel". National Geographic website.
  4. ↑ "Top Ten Learning Retreats". National Geographic Traveler website.
  5. ↑ "TravelwritersUK". TravelwritersUK website.
  6. ↑ "Turkey: in the Footsteps of Alexander". Current World Archaeology magazine website.
  7. ↑ "Istanbul: Queen of Cities". Retirement Today magazine website.
  8. ↑ "A window to the Past". Peter Sommer travel writing and photography website.
  9. ↑ "Following the footsteps of Alexander the Great". Wales Online website.
  10. ↑ All3Media: "Tales from the Green Valley"
  11. ↑ Learning on Screen Awards. Winners 2006"
  12. ↑ "Peter Sommer Travels Named 'Tour Operator of the Year' by AITO". GTP Headlines website.
  13. ↑ "AITO Awards". AITO website.
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