Based on the chart-topping podcast, presenter, author and Walkley award-winning journalist Marc Fennell hosts the riveting six-part series Stuff The British Stole.
The British Empire stole a lot of stuff. Today, these relics are housed in museums that come with polite plaques. The truth usually isn’t so polite.
Join Marc Fennell as he unravels the mysterious true histories behind those objects, and meets those who want them back.
The series takes audiences on a globe-trotting, emotional quest for truth, amidst bitterly contested histories. The episodes are as diverse as the Empire itself – each with a remarkable object at its heart.
The first episode, Jewel of Denial, tells the true history of one of the most famous diamonds in the world, the Koh I Noor diamond. But beyond the glitz, Marc reveals the tragedy of a 10-year-old Sikh boy ripped from his mother and kingdom.
“This tv series has been the greatest adventure and the biggest challenge of my working life. It’s taken me from deserts in the Middle East to ornate European palaces. I’ve traipsed into hidden vaults and the wild landscapes of Canada.
says Marc Fennell.
“Each of these mysteries is an emotional rollercoaster with humour and heartbreak. And that’s because our history is messy. But if we can unravel the truth, we can actually start to see ourselves and our world just that little bit clearer,”
Over the series, Marc examines the stories behind some of the world’s most iconic and priceless relics including a scandalous diamond at the heart of the crown jewels that millions of Indians and Pakistani’s claim was stolen.
He reveals the wild heist of a Scottish relic that has been crucial to the crowning of almost every British Monarch right up until Charles the 3rd and he pieces together the mystery of arguably the most controversial artwork in Australia – a mosaic looted in the middle of a war that saw Britain and Australia clash.
Production Credit: An Australia-Canada co-production. Co-produced by Wooden Horse, WildBear Entertainment and Cream Productions (Canada) for the ABC and the CBC. Principal production funding from Screen Australia. Financed with support from the Canada Media Fund, Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, Ontario Creates, and Content Mint. Executive producers: Richard Finlayson and Jude Troy (Wooden Horse); Alan Erson and Michael Tear (WildBear Entertainment); and David Brady and Kate Harrison (Cream Productions). Co-producer, Writer, Marc Fennell. ABC Commissioning Editor and Executive Producer: Kalita Corrigan. CBC Executive Director of Unscripted Content: Jennifer Dettman. CBC Executive in Charge of Production, Unscripted Content: Nic Meloney. Acting Head of Factual and Culture: Richard Huddleston. FremantleMedia will distribute the series world-wide.
Stuff The British Stole premieres on ABC TV and on ABC iview from Tuesday 1 November at 8pm.
In the lead-up to new stories from Stuff The British Stole on TV, discover Stuff The British Stole podcast in ABC listen.
Brilliant series! It should be part of the Republic v Monarchy debate as I, as a Scottish Australian, found it deeply uncomfortable, and think we all should be confronted with the truth of our colonial past before there is a referendum. I can’t look at the Royal family wearing jewels without a squirm of distaste!