I am woefully lacking in all sorts of knowledge, but none more than the historical kind. My cohort’s history GCSE comprised “the evolution of medicine” and “Britain 1815-51”. Not more. Not less. As an education in how the political, social or cultural shaped the world into its current form, it was wildly lacking. Although if you ever need to trepan a Chartist, give me a call.
So I am always on the lookout for kind people and programmers ready, willing and able to try to disperse some of my profound ignorance. Such a person and such a programme is Union With David Olusoga (although my English GCSE tells me there should ideally be a comma in the title to prevent unwanted misunderstandings). This ambitious and stylishly confident four-part series looks at the origins and development of our septic isle, Great Britain, and the identity that has emerged out of the maelstrom of forces, influences, actions and reactions that have operated on it over the centuries.
Olusoga begins in 1603 with King James VI of Scotland on his way to London to be crowned James I of England and become the first monarch to rule over both kingdoms. Heirless Elizabeth has carked it and England is keen for a Protestant, any Protestant, even a Scottish one, to take over and stop the nation falling back into the hands of those dreadful Catholics. They were less keen on James’s plan to unite under one flag with Scotland, and its prevention was one of the less acknowledged motivations behind the Gunpowder Plot in 1605.
I can tell you all this and much more without even referring to my notes because Union is a cut above most of what passes for historical documentary, especially on the BBC. Usually they are – despite and often because of best efforts – both dull and frustrating. Experts are brought in, asked long, boring questions by the presenter that contain the answer within them so the person with a wealth of detailed information stored in a brain that has been dedicated to whatever huge subject is being documentaried for the last 30 years is reduced to saying “That’s right” and pointing to a document that proves it. If the programme is made by nervous types, of course we get the bells, whistles and endless reconstructions because nobody can believe the audience’s attention could ever be held by … the actual subject they’ve tuned in to watch. In both cases, the scripts are drearily simplistic and send you cross-eyed with boredom.
Under Olusoga’s rule, things are much better. The scripts (written by him) are meticulous but have flair, the visuals are complementary rather than distracting and the experts are – get this – encouraged to share their expertise. It is striking how fluent, confident and engaging they are, which makes you realise anew what truncated, stilted, second-rate stuff we put up with. I could do without the reminder of the second rate entrants offered by the gimmick of having ordinary people offer their opinions on British identity and how people still feel about the Plantation of Ulster and so on, but at least their intrusions are kept to a minimum.
As it takes us methodically through the highs and lows of the centuries of effort to bring England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland together, Union draws out the parallels and resonances with our own time without labouring the points or insisting that they are exactly the same. Still, it is clear how the value of a shared common enemy (usually France, but another Catholic country would do in a pinch) in joining together two, three or four disparate entities endures, how easily we can divide along religious lines, how joyfully quickly principles can be laid aside if it looks like fortunes can be made from doing so and how often it is that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It is careful to destabilise as it goes along the received narratives (the Glorious or Bloodless Revolution, for example, are very much English descriptors of the 1688-89 events that welcomed William and Mary to the throne) and gathered myths written or fostered by the victors. It is a fascinating, first-class primer that does what such documentaries should always do: show how we got from there to here, without insisting that it is the definitive take.
Union With David Olusoga aired on BBC One and is on iPlayer now.
