''A House Through Time'' is a documentary television series made by

Twenty Twenty Television Twenty Twenty Television is a British television production company that joined the Shed Media Group (now Warner Bros. Television Productions UK) in September 2007. The company produces documentaries, current affairs, drama, living history, an ...

for

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

. The first series aired in 2018, a second in 2019, a third in 2020, and a fourth in 2021, with each examining the history of a single residential building in an English city. A fifth series, in 2024, features apartment blocks in London and Berlin. The programme is presented by

David Olusoga David Adetayo Olusoga (born January 1970) is a British-Nigerian historian, writer, broadcaster and BAFTA winning film-maker. He is Professor of Public History at the University of Manchester. Olusoga has presented historical documentaries on th ...

, who is Professor of Public History at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. The series consultant is design historian Professor Deborah Sugg Ryan, of the

University of Portsmouth The University of Portsmouth (UoP) is a public university in Portsmouth, England. Comprising five Faculty (division), faculties, the university offers a wide range of academic disciplines. in 2022, with around 28,280 students enrolled in Unde ...

, who also appears in each episode.

Episodes

Series 1 (2018)

The first series features the house at 62

Falkner Street Falkner Street is a street mostly in Canning, Liverpool, Canning, with a short section in Edge Hill, Liverpool, Edge Hill, Liverpool, England. The street, built during the early-mid 19th century, is named after Edward Falkner, who had previously ...

in the

Canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although under ...

area of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Series 2 (2019)

Series two featured 5 Ravensworth Terrace, a Georgian-era

terraced house A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

in the Summerhill area of

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

and began broadcast on BBC Two on 8 April 2019. As a result of research conducted for the programme, a

plaque Plaque may refer to: Commemorations or awards * Commemorative plaque, a plate, usually fixed to a wall or other vertical surface, meant to mark an event, person, etc. * Memorial Plaque (medallion), issued to next-of-kin of dead British military p ...

was unveiled there, commemorating a former resident (1841–1857), the naturalist

Joshua Alder Joshua Alder (7 April 1792 – 21 January 1867) was a British cheese, cheesemonger and amateur zoologist and malacologist. As such, he specialized in the Tunicata, and in gastropods. He was a member of the Hancock Museum, Natural History Societ ...

, on 26 September 2018 by Olusoga and the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, David Down. The house has been

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

since June 1976.

Series 3 (2020)

The third series takes place in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, investigating the history of 10 Guinea Street, whose inhabitants included the satirist

John Shebbeare John Shebbeare (1709 – 1 August 1788) was a British Tory political satirist. Life Born 1709, he was the eldest son of an attorney and corn-factor of Bideford, Devonshire. A hundred and a village in Devon, where the family had owned land, ...

and the future

mayor of Bristol The Mayor of Bristol was the political leader of Bristol City Council. The mayor was a directly elected politician who, along with the 70 members of Bristol City Council, was responsible for the strategic government of the city of Bristol, En ...

Sir John Kerle Haberfield. The house has been

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

since December 1994.

Series 4 (2021)

The fourth series takes place at 5 Grosvenor Mount, in the

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

area of

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. With the other two houses in its terrace, it has been

since August 1976. File:1,3 & 5 Grosvenor Mount.jpg, 1,3 & 5 Grosvenor Mount (number 5 on the right) File:Our Public Servants by Willson - William Bruce (8a).jpg, The house's first occupant, William Bruce painted by Michael Anthony Hilliard Willson ("Bob") in 1890 or 1891

Series 5 (2024)

Series 5, subtitled ''Two Cities at War'', takes a different approach, comparing and contrasting the lives of the inhabitants of two apartment blocks—Block 2 of Montagu Mansions, an Edwardian building in the

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

district of London and 72, in , Berlin—in the years leading up to and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Residents in London included the cinema impresario Cecil Bernstein and the poet and

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

Timothy Corsellis Timothy Corsellis (27 January 1921 – 10 October 1941) was an English poet of World War II. Early life Timothy John Manley Corsellis was born on 27 January 1921 in Eltham, London, the third of the four children of Helen (née Bendall) and Do ...

, and in Berlin the chef and language teacher, Bonifatius Folli, from

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

, the historian and Nazi, Paul Dittel, and Freda Fromm, whose brother

Friedrich Fromm Friedrich Wilhelm Waldemar Fromm (8 October 1888 – 12 March 1945) was a German Army officer. In World War II, Fromm was Commander in Chief of the Replacement Army (''Ersatzheer''), in charge of training and personnel replacement for combat div ...

was a regular visitor. File:Montagu Mansions, Marylebone - geograph.org.uk - 1879553.jpg, Montagu Mansions, Marylebone File:Pfalzburger Str 72 (Wilmd) Max Hiller.jpg, Pfalzburger Straße 72 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf

Coordinates

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:House Through Time, A BBC television documentaries Television shows about British architecture 2018 British television series debuts 2010s British documentary television series 2020s British documentary television series British English-language television shows Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios