David Olusoga

At its peak, The Black and White Minstrel Show was watched by a Saturday night audience of more than 20 million people. David Harewood goes on a mission to understand the roots of this strange, intensely problematic cultural form: where did the show come from, and what made it popular for so long? With the help of historians, actors and musicians, David uncovers how, at its core, blackface minstrelsy was simply an attempt to make racism into an art form - and can be traced back to a name and a date.

During the Second World War, thousands of men and women from the Caribbean colonies volunteered to come to Britain to join the fight against Hitler. They risked their lives for king and empire, but their contribution has largely been forgotten. Some of the last surviving Caribbean veterans tell their extraordinary wartime stories - from torpedo attacks by German U-boats and the RAF's blanket-bombing of Germany to the culture shock of Britain's freezing winters and war-torn landscapes. This brave sacrifice confronted the pioneers from the Caribbean with a lifelong challenge - to be treated as equals by the British government and the British people. With vivid first-hand testimony, observational documentary and rare archive footage, the programme gives a unique perspective on the Second World War and the history of 20th-century Britain.

Using modern technology and esteemed historians, The People's Piazza tells the story of the iconic Covent Garden Piazza, through stories of it's residents and the ever changing landscape.

David Olusoga opens secret government files to show how the Windrush scandal and the ‘hostile environment’ for black British immigrants has been 70 years in the making.

David Olusoga explores the incredible journey of the African novel – how a fearless collection of writers created books that were to define the image of Africa in the world.

Chronicling the felling of the statue of Edward Colston-a 17th Century slave trader-during a Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol, England, and how this act of rebellion made waves across the UK and the World.

As we emerge from a global pandemic that has turned our world upside down, David Olusoga explores the hidden history of the nurses, doctors and health workers who, for more than 70 years, have been coming to Britain from overseas to serve in the NHS. Without them the NHS would have been in danger of collapse - not least during the current COVID crisis - but from the very start the story of this beloved British institution has been intertwined with one of the most divisive social and political issue of the age, immigration. The people who came to this country to work in the NHS have found themselves fighting battles they neither sought nor expected.

Marking what would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s 100th year, this landmark documentary tells the story of her life alongside a century of momentous change in Britain. Through archive and eyewitness reflections, the film explores how she led the monarchy through profound social, political and cultural change. Contributions from some of Britain’s best-known faces and international figures, including Dame Helen Mirren, Sir David Attenborough, Barack Obama and Queen Camilla, reveal how she remained a constant in a changing world.

The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the treasures of the medieval world. Across 70 metres of exquisitely embroidered scenes, it tells the story of one of the most seismic events in British history – the Norman Invasion of 1066. For the last 950 years, this crucial part of Britain's national story has remained on the other side of the English Channel, in Bayeux, Normandy, but now it’s coming back to the UK. A stellar cast of historians and experts follow the painstaking efforts to bring this priceless work of art back to the UK, where experts believe it was made, for a once-in-a-millennium exhibition at the British Museum.

David Olusoga tells the story of those who lived in one house, from the time it was built until now. Searching through city archives, scouring records, and tracking down their living descendants, presenter David Olusoga tells the untold stories of the people who once lived in the house and gains a unique insight into the making of modern Britain.

Explore the science and medical innovations that conquered some of the world's deadliest diseases and doubled life expectations for many across the globe.

National identity, social class, inequality. David Olusoga shines a light on our fractured modern society through the lens of the past, exposing the fault lines dividing the UK.

How Britain as we know it was built on the profits of slavery, with abolition involving the shocking decision to compensate slave owners for their loss of 'property'.

The story of art from the dawn of human history to the present day—for the first time on a global scale. Inspired by Civilisation, Kenneth Clark’s acclaimed landmark 1969 series about Western art, this series broadens the canvas to reveal the role art and the creative imagination have played across multiple cultures and civilizations.