BBC Four announces season celebrating British diversity

BBC Four announces season celebrating British diversity

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Tuesday, 15th January 2019
(Credit: BBC)
(Credit: BBC)

BBC Four has announced a season of new programmes celebrating British diversity and the secret communities that have shaped modern British history.

Four part series A Very British History will tell the stories of various communities around Britain, including the Jewish community in Leeds, Afro-Caribbeans in Birmingham, Ugandan Asians in Leicester and Romany Gypsies in the home counties.

Photojournalist Don McCullin will travel the country, capturing its diversity in Don McCullin: Looking for England. After sixty years as a photographer, 83 year-old McCullin will visit communities around the UK, from inner cities to seaside towns, and lets TV cameras inside his darkroom for the first time.  

The season will also feature Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, a string of monologues detailing one family’s experiences arriving in England in the 1940s.

Curated by Kwame Kwei Armah,  the Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theatre in London, and co-produced with Sir Lenny Henry, Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle stars Vinette Robinson (Doctor Who), Montserrat Lombard (Upstart Crow) and Danielle Vitalis (Attack the Block).

Airing next month, the diverse programming will also include a contemporary dance piece by Phoenix Dance Theatre titled Windrush: Movement of the People which chronicles the rise of British multiculturalism.

“BBC Four is a unique proposition within British TV and we’re always proud to celebrate voices and stories that are less know,” commented Cassian Harrison, Channel Editor for BBC Four.

“This season of programming will take viewers into a whole series of hidden corners of our nation and its story. It’s a treat to be working with both established voices such as Sir Lenny Henry and Don McCullin and introducing a new generation of talent to our screens.”

The new season airs in February on BBC Four.

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BBC Four has announced a season of new programmes celebrating British diversity and the secret communities that have shaped modern British history.