Mark Horton, Professor in Archaeology in the University of Bristol’s Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, will present a documentary celebrating the achievements of Edward Jenner, the Gloucestershire doctor who developed a vaccination for smallpox. His discovery saved billions of lives across the globe, leading to the eventual eradication of the disease 30 years ago. A monument is being unveiled in front of the World Health Organisation in Geneva to celebrate the milestone.

Jenner’s Marvellous Medicine will be broadcast tonight, Wednesday 17 November at 7.30 pm on BBC Four. 

Professor Horton is a trustee of the Jenner Museum in the Gloucestershire village of Berkeley. He argues a statue of Jenner that was erected in Trafalgar Square before being ousted by campaigners opposed to vaccinations should now be restored to its original position.

The documentary is part of a season of programmes telling a history of the world using objects in museums.  Mark Horton's chosen object is a cow horn reputed to have come from Blossom the cow, from whom an extract of cowpox was famously extracted to create the vaccination for smallpox.