News / television
Documentary by Bristol historian nominated for top industry award
A documentary by the renowned Bristol-based historian David Olusoga has been nominated for a top industry award.
Empire with David Olusoga has been shortlisted for Best Single Documentary or Mini-series at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards.
The prestigious awards stand apart from many others as they are decided by media critics and journalists who specialise in writing and broadcasting about television, radio and the media, rather than the industry dons or the public.
Olusoga’s documentary is nominated alongside several hard-hitting productions including Live Aid at 40: When Rock ’n’ Roll Took on the World (BBC Two), Grenfell: Uncovered (Netflix), Louis Theroux: The Settlers (BBC Two) and Girlbands Forever (BBC Two).
Olusoga’s three-part series explores the rise, global reach, decline and lasting legacy of the British Empire.
Across the series, Olusoga travels to locations including the United States, India, Barbados and Australia to examine how Britain built the world’s largest empire and how its economic, political and cultural impact continues to shape modern societies.
The first episode takes the viewers to Dartmouth, a port that marks a seminal moment in England’s imperial ambitions.
The River Dart received the vast Portuguese carrack Madre de Deus, seized by the state-backed privateers thousands of miles away in the Atlantic.
The BAFTA-winning broadcatster and historian travelled the breadth of the former British Empire while making the documentary – photo: BBC / Hillgate Films and Voltage TV
The ship was packed with spices, gold, jewels, pearls, silver and ebony. When its cargo was auctioned in London, the profits were immense.
Elizabeth I, who had invested £3,000 in the venture, reportedly received £80,000 in return, the equivalent of around £29m in today’s money – a sum equal to roughly half the value of England’s entire annual trade at the time.
From ventures like this grew an empire built on trade, exploration and settlement that would eventually extend its rule over a quarter of the world.
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Through historical analysis, archive material and on-location storytelling, the programme examines themes of trade, migration, power, resistance and the human consequences of imperial rule.
It also considers how the legacy of the empire continues to shape debates about identity, inequality and history in Britain and around the world.
Olusoga is no stranger to high honours.
The Bristol-based historian charting the history of a house in Guinea Street in Bristol during his critically-acclaimed programme A House Through Time – photo: BBC
In 2023 he received a BAFTA Special Award, recognising his outstanding contribution to television and his work bringing new perspectives on British history to mainstream audiences.
The critically acclaimed series was described as “epic” by The Guardian, while New Statesman contrasted it with the 2012 programme Empire, presented by Jeremy Paxman. The Paxman series was described as “an incoherent, jumpy series”, whereas Empire with David Olusoga was lauded for its intellectually rigorous approach and for incorporating decades of new scholarship.
The magazine described the series as “impressively free of the moralism of that time, scrupulously even-handed and searching without bearing an agenda”.
Olusoga’s documentary is nominated alongside several hard-hitting productions including Live Aid at 40: When Rock ’n’ Roll Took on the World (BBC Two), Grenfell: Uncovered (Netflix), Louis Theroux: The Settlers (BBC Two) and Girlbands Forever (BBC Two) – photo: BBC / Hillgate Films and Voltage TV
A prolific writer and documentary maker, Olusoga has produced a wide range of books and television programmes exploring Britain’s past, empire and race.
His books include Black and British: A Forgotten History, The World’s War, Essential History and The Kaiser’s Holocaust.
On television he has fronted major series including Black and British: A Forgotten History, A House Through Time, Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners and Civilisations, helping bring complex historical stories to a wide public audience.
Olusoga has also played a role in public debates about history.
He was an expert witness during the Colston Four trial, providing historical evidence about Edward Colston after Colston’s statue was toppled in Bristol in June 2020.
The high-profile trial centred on four protesters charged with criminal damage after the statue was thrown into the harbour.
During the much-publicised Colston Four trail, David Olusoga was an expert witness who drew on his research on Edward Colston and Royal African Company – photo: Rob Browne
Drawing on his research into Britain’s imperial past, Olusoga explained Colston’s role in the Royal African Company, which transported tens of thousands of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic and outlined Bristol’s long and contentious debate about Colston’s legacy.
Olusoga is a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Society of Literature, the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Historical Society.
In September 2025 he hosted an in-conversation event with Barack Obama at The O2 Arena.
Currently professor of public history at the University of Manchester and director of Hillgate Films, Olusoga is widely regarded as one of Britain’s leading public historians, specialising in military history, empire and slavery.
Olusoga with Dr Marie-Annick Gournet, pro vice-chancellor (Reparative and Civic Futures) at the University of Bristol after receiving an honorary doctorate from the university – photo: University of Bristol
In 2025 he also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bristol.
Empire with David Olusoga was produced by Hillgate Films and Voltage TV for BBC Two.
The Broadcasting Press Guild Awards will take place at the Barbican Centre in London on March 18.
Main photo: BBC / Hillgate Films and Voltage TV
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