Do you know the actor Tony Robinson who played Baldrick in Black Adder in the 1980s? Well he has apparently appeared on British TV in several history specials over the years, and I just discovered Tony Robinson's History of Britain show on free streaming. They only had season 2 available, but after searching, I found the season 1 episodes as well. Instead of kings or wars, Tony's show presents ordinary people from lower classes such as Roman slaves, Tudor-age cooks, and coal miners. These aren't merely composite characters made up from general research. They are based on historical records or artifacts that refer to these particular people. For example, they found an elegant metal bowl used for Bacchanalia rituals in Roman Britain, and there was an inscription with the name of the metal worker who made it, so Tony speaks to experts about what that metal worker's life would have been like. They also found an artifact with the name of an actress and a gladiator, so the show discusses Roman theatre and gladiator battles in Britannia.
I kind of like this version of history, even though we do have to speculate on what happened to these people after there's no more historical record of them. Tony does want to imagine happy endings for them, and he tries to find humor too when he can. It's good that he shows diversity, and how Roman soldiers did often come from Africa, so there have been Black people living in Britain for many centuries. Whitewashed history is not real; it's stupid for people to claim that diversity is anachronistic in a period-set show. Much later, there is a story of two Black brothers, Edward and Walter Tull, who were orphaned in Victorian times. Edward was adopted by the Warnocks in Scotland, while Walter remained in the orphanage, though they were able to visit sometimes. Edward eventually became a dentist like his adoptive father, but he faced racism when he tried to get hired. He became successful in the end, though, while Walter became a football star and also enlisted in the army for WWI, where he became an officer despite his race. Sadly, Walter was killed in the war, but his history and his brother's were significant firsts in Britain.
Anyway, I highly recommend Tony's history show and will have to look into what other videos I can find with him.
