Britons were black ‘before these isles were British’, says Horrible Histories

Horrible Histories, inspired by author Terry Deary's books, was launched on CBBC in 2009 - BBC
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Early Britons were black “before these isles were British”, BBC children’s series Horrible Histories will tell its younger viewers in its first ever episode dedicated to black history.

The comedy series, inspired by author Terry Deary's books, was launched on CBBC in 2009 to introduce young people to gruesome elements of history through irreverent sketches and songs.

Now future episodes will focus more on diverse aspects of Britain’s history, starting with an episode dedicated entirely to black history in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests.

The first episode features abolitionists rapping that “our lives matter”, and an animation segment on the “shameful” Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Richard Bradley, creative lead at Horrible Histories from creators Lion television, told The Telegraph: “With the events of last summer, Black Lives Matter, the murder of George Floyd, and the Colston statue, it felt like the whole world had a moment to reevaluate what we thought about the past.

“We thought it was a good moment to think about how Horrible Histories might tackle the whole area of black history.”

While one-off sketches have dealt with aspects of this history, particularly the Civil Rights movement, Mr Bradley said the new dedicated episode will “go deeper” and explore how Britain has “always been a country with many races and ethnicities”.

To demonstrate Britain has had a black population “from the start”, the opening sketch will outline how African troops manned Hadrian’s Wall in the 3rd century AD.

One song will touch on Britain’s prehistoric population having dark skin “before these Isles were British”, in reference to the probable skin colour of the 10,000-year-old Cheddar Man remains.

Mr Bradley said the content on topical black history, treated comically but “carefully” by scriptwriters, was produced in response to the interests of young people and an “express demand” from their teachers.

He said: “We take our lead from what we think our young audience will want to know, what’s on their minds, and what they’re hearing about.

“When we started out we had no idea of the responsibility we would end up having. There is an onus on us to get it right.”

The new series will cover moments in history including the arrival of the Windrush generation - BBC
The new series will cover moments in history including the arrival of the Windrush generation - BBC

Mr Bradley said the British “dark sense of humour” could help in tackling uncomfortable aspects of the nation’s history, but the new episode comes after accusations Horrible Histories was “anti-British” for featuring a song about colonialism.

There was widespread anger last year at the lyrics which cited tea, sugar, cotton and even Queen Victoria as examples of supposedly “British things” that are “from abroad” or “frankly stolen”.

Mr Bradley has defended Horrible Histories as historically accurate, telling The Telegraph: “Horrible Histories is one of the most British of things.

“It's in the tradition of Blackadder and Monty Python. And going back to 1066 And All That. We engage with our history and we laugh at our history.”

The comic history presented in the first episode of a new Horrible Histories series will span Dark Age churchmen, servants of Tudor royalty, the Sons Of Africa abolitionist group, Second World War troops, all the way to the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush.

The programme will be available CBBC and iPlayer from May 7.