A Very British History explores key moments in the 20th century for minority communities across Britain - including the stories of Romany Gypsies around the Home Counties, the Jewish community in Leeds, Afro-Caribbeans in Birmingham, and Ugandan Asians in Leicester and beyond.Fronted by presenters from those communities, the series explores the highs and lows that many faced when making their home in modern Britain. We hear their untold stories and follow emotional journeys back in time. Each film is a quest to discover more about the history of communities in multi-cultural Britain.

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S2E2 - The British Chinese

British-born Chinese vlogger Shu Lin explores the history of the Chinese community in the UK from the 1950s through to the present day.

Air Date: 19 Feb 2020 15:00 (CDT)

S2E3 - British Bangladeshis

Aminul Hoque came to Britain in 1980 as a three year-old, from the young nation of Bangladesh.

He explores why thousands of families settled here in the 1970s and 80s, and how they faced hardships and racism while building a new life in Britain.

Drawing on rich film archive from the period, meeting those who settled in London and Luton, and through his own experiences growing up in East London, Aminul tells the stories of Bengalis who worked hard, fought racism and made their homes here over the course of two key decades.

As his children grow up in the UK, Aminul wants them to know about their own Bangladeshi roots. He takes the family back to where he and his dad came from, his home village in Sylhet province. Now it's up to his kids to decide if they want to keep the links with their homeland - but as British Bangladeshis.

Air Date: 26 Feb 2020 15:00 (CDT)

S2E4 - Whatever Happened to the Boat People?

Therapist Rachel Nguyen tells the story of the Vietnamese Boat People who came to Britain in the 70s and 80s. British-born Rachel, whose parents fled post-war Vietnam, discovers how a new community came to exist in Britain when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher eventually agreed to take in 10,000 Vietnamese refugees. Scattered around the country following a controversial ‘dispersal policy', the new community became almost invisible – even to this day many in the UK might not realise Britain has a Vietnamese community. Through meeting people who lived through these events and by accessing rare archive footage and government papers, Rachel learns more about the community she was brought up in and the country into which her parents and the other Boat People arrived. Whilst they faced huge difficulties, there was also kindness from local people. She goes on to explore how life in Britain has changed for Vietnamese people of her generation.

Air Date: 04 Mar 2020 15:00 (CDT)

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