Union With David Olusoga; Endurance: Race to the Pole

“Union with David Olusuga, the story of how four nations were yoked together into the United Kingdom, is both important and superbly done. It sits in the Kenneth Clark and Simon Schama school of TV history in that it is a serious undertaking that doesn’t treat its viewers like dimwits. Union proves that you don’t need naff re-enactments or a dressing-up box to bring history to life.”
Benji Wilson, The Telegraph

“The centuries-old merger of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be a good deal more comprehensible after his excellent and timely four-part programme. In fact, from a purely British perspective, it could be the most instructive, and therefore important, TV history series in a generation.”
Gerard Gilbert, The i

“Union is a cut above most of what passes for historical documentary, especially on the BBC. The scripts 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 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.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“Olusoga walked us through these various events with his usual gentle-voiced diligence, using the testimonies of citizens from the four nations to show how differently people feel about their national identity. The episodes may be too heavy on detail to binge all four in one sitting, but when many people still don’t know the difference between the UK and Great Britain it feels like an education that’s long overdue.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“Though Olusoga will insist on imposing 21st-century sensibilities on history, for example sneering at the inequalities of marriage in Shakespeare’s day, his hushed and urgent narrative style does make for fine storytelling. This promises to be an engrossing series.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“While the preparations for the expedition were fascinating and the incipient rivalry between Scott and Shackleton was a tease, the actual sled-dragging slog part of the expedition, which was basically all of it, was not.”
Benji Wilson, The Telegraph

“Scott slogged for 93 days and barely came within 500 miles of the Pole before being forced to turn back. Ben Fogle and explorer Dwayne Fields had only a week, and can hardly be blamed for failing to complete the trek. But they did manage to convey a sense of the brutal physical challenges.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail