A HOUSE THROUGH TIME RETURNS TO BBC TWO WITH DAVID OLUSOGA

Two nations. Two cities. Two blocks of flats. Twelve households. All living through one of the most tumultuous periods in modern history: the Second World War.

David Olusoga returns with his popular history series, but this time with a difference. It’s the tale of two apartment blocks, one in London, the other in Berlin, over three decades, from the Roaring Twenties to the aftermath of World War Two.

Using painstaking detective work, David hunts down records for the diverse residents of two buildings in two great cities. The cast of characters includes a soldier, an artist, a Nazi teacher, an African academic, a Jewish refugee, an Italian waiter, a poet, a prisoner of war, a woman spy, and an SS officer.

Europe is at a crossroads and these ordinary people face extraordinary choices: to stay or to go, to speak out or stay quiet, to go to war or fight for peace. Told through their personal experiences, this is the story of the winners and the losers, the persecutors and the persecuted, those who survive and those who don’t.

Simon Young, BBC's head of history, says: "History is undergoing a real renaissance on TV, helping us not only to better understand the past, but also the age we live in today. The BBC, and the amazing producers we work with, are leading the charge with some genre-defining programmes and the titles we are announcing today show the sheer breadth, quality and variety of our output.”

A House Through Time: A Tale of Two Cities, a 4x60’ for BBC Two and iPlayer, is made by Twenty Twenty. It was commissioned by Simon Young, BBC Head of History and the Executive Producer is Mary Crisp.