BBC Two has acquired Enslaved: The Lost History of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and created a new four-part docuseries featuring Hollywood icon and human rights activist Samuel L. Jackson.
Enslaved sheds new light on 400 years of human trafficking, as millions of enslaved Africans were shipped to the Americas by Western European slave traders.
Over 12 million people were kidnapped and sold into slavery. At least two million perished en-route at sea. Using new diving technology - such as advanced 3D mapping and ground-penetrating radar - to locate and examine sunken slave ships on three continents, the series reveals an entirely new perspective on the history of the transatlantic slave trade.
Each episode follows separate story lines: the location and investigation of sunken slave ships, and a historical analysis of the transatlantic slave trade led by Jackson, author Afua Hirsch and investigative journalist Simcha Jacobovici.
Enslaved provides a fresh and authentic history of the transatlantic slave trade - one that demonstrates to today’s audiences that this is a truly global story. It celebrates the cultures that millions of enslaved people left behind, and the impact those who survived had on world culture today.
Patrick Holland, Controller, BBC Two, says: “I had the privilege to meet with Samuel L Jackson, Afua Hirsch and Simcha Jacobovici at the start of their production last year and I was determined to bring their essential, hugely ambitious and important series to the BBC. These are stories that demand to be told and which sit at the very centre of our shared history.”
Premiering in the US as a six-part series, Enslaved: The Lost History of the Transatlantic Slave Trade has been re-versioned to a 4x60' series for BBC Two in collaboration and with approval from the producers.