Stuff The British Stole

Television ABC
1

Stuff The British Stole TV series

Coming to ABC and CBC

image

Walkley award-winning journalist Marc Fennell ( Mastermind, The School That Tried To End Racism, The Feed) , will take audiences on a global adventure during Stuff The British Stole, a new six-part series based on his acclaimed, award-winning ABC Podcast.

This series of history-mysteries will be a wild, entertaining and visually stunning story of some of the most remarkable treasures acquired through the years of the British Empire and is set to air late this year.

An Australia-Canada co-production, Stuff the British Stole is 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. FremantleMedia will distribute the series world-wide.

Jennifer Collins, ABC Head Factual and Culture, said: “We’re thrilled to partner with the CBC and bring this captivating podcast to television screens across Australia and Canada. Marc Fennell is a phenomenal host, and we can’t wait to see the mysteries of each object unfold.”

Screen Australia’s Head of Documentary, Alex West said, “ Stuff the British Stole promises to give voice to those who have been colonised and its bold exploration of the impact of the British empire is timely and necessary to keep discussions of cultural colonialism ongoing. We are excited to support Marc Fennell and his talented and passionate team in bringing his popular award-winning podcast to the screen in this Australia-Canada co-production.”

Sally Catto, General Manager, Entertainment, Factual and Sports, CBC, said: “We are excited to build on our valuable partnership with ABC and strengthen public broadcasting in both of our countries with this timely, authentic series that will open the eyes and minds of viewers while taking them on an entertaining journey through history.”

“Marc has created a history series that is not only utterly compelling but helps us understand who we are today. For Wooden Horse, WildBear and Cream it is a privilege to partner with two great public broadcasters on other sides of the globe but with so much in common,” said the Executive Producers from Wooden Horse, Wild Bear Entertainment and Cream Productions.

Stuff The British Stole begins filming this month and will air on ABC TV and ABC iview later this year and on CBC and CBC Gem in 2023.

To listen to Stuff The British Stole podcast, series 1 and 2, visit the ABC listen App.

Production Credit: An Australia-Canada co-production, Stuff the British Stole is 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. FremantleMedia will distribute the series world-wide.

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, Host: Marc Fennell. ABC Commissioning Editor and Executive Producer: Kalita Corrigan. ABC Head Factual and Culture: Jennifer Collins. CBC Executive Director of Unscripted Content: Jennifer Dettman. CBC Executive in Charge of Production, Unscripted Content: Nic Meloney.

2 Likes
2

CBC unveiled the show during its 2022-23 upfronts on June 1, confirming it would be a 6 x 30-minute series and premiere in Canada in northern winter 2023.

1 Like
3

Mr Overexposed

4

Stop Thief! Stuff The British Stole premieres on ABC in November

Stuff_The_British_Stole_-_Marc_Fennell.jpg

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. Premiering on ABC TV and on ABC iview from Tuesday 1 November at 8pm.

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 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.

“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. 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,” says Marc Fennell.

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.

In the lead-up to new stories from Stuff The British Stole on TV, discover Stuff The British Stole podcast in ABC listen.

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.

5

Episode 1: Jewel of Denial

image
image1357Ă—784 62.6 KB

Tuesday 1 November at 8pm on ABC TV and ABC iview

It is one of the most famous diamonds in the world and it sits at the heart of the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. But the true history of the Koh I Noor diamond is far from sparkling. At least three countries could stake a claim to it: India, Pakistan and even the Taliban in Afghanistan call it their own and have asked for it back. But beyond the glitz, Marc finds the tragedy of a 10-year-old boy ripped from his mother.

Marc travels to London where Sikh historian and author Peter Bance unveils a treasure trove dedicated to a young maharajah from the Punjab kingdom who has a strange history in Britain’s capital. Marc and historian Alice Proctor float down the Thames and into the dark waters of imperial history. Then the effervescent Rav Singh leads the way on a walking tour that reveals the uncomfortable truth of how much of London’s most famous tourist attractions were funded with loot surrendered by a child.

Was the diamond stolen? Surrendered? Or a gift? How much did Queen Victoria know? Would the diamond have survived had it not been brought to the UK? All big questions to be tackled but none bigger than this: even if you were to give the diamond back, who would you give it to?

A search for answers takes Marc all the way to Toronto, Canada into a very unusual family lunch conversation.

7

Just caught up with episode 2 (Stoned) which was about Stone of Destiny, which was initially seized by Edward I’s forces from Scone during the English invasion of Scotland in 1296, and had been used in the coronation of English monarchs, before it was transported to Edinburgh Castle in 1996. However, rumours suggest that the real thing is now at a pub in Glasgow.

It was a fascinating chat between Marc Fennell and Ian Hamilton, one of four University of Glasgow students who took part in the daring theft of the stone from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1950, and Ian’s adult son. It was one of the last media interviews with Ian (the end credits showed that Ian, the last remaining survivor of the plot, died on October 3 this year, aged 97).

8

Episode 4: Shadow Boxer

Tuesday 22 November at 8pm

Binding together China, UK and Australia, Shadow Boxer, is a saga of martial arts, the high seas, a prestigious gallery and a precious object that very few people even know exists.

In the wake of an epic rebellion by Chinese martial artists against foreign military forces, a golden warrior statue is taken by British colonial forces. The theft, at a crucial turning point in global history, binds together multiple nations. But how on earth did this mysterious warrior statue end up in one of the most prestigious buildings in Australia?

An unexpected message from a former art gallery worker plunges Marc into the murky early days of Australia’s maritime history. A handful of sailors are sent into an event that very much appears to be a massacre. But the truth of all of this is far, far stranger.

Marc finds himself in Dublin to discover the curious role martial arts plays in a Chinese uprising that changed the course of history. In Scotland, Marc will connect the dots of looted art and how a superpower is rewriting history.

And this whirlwind global adventure unfurls in a stunning garden in Vancouver, Canada where a record-breaking YouTuber will lay bare how a generation of the Chinese diaspora are fighting to reclaim the past as well as how the past itself is told.

Episode 5: The Crow Flies

Tuesday 29 November at 8pm

When is a gift not really a gift? And when is a fair deal not really all that fair?

Crowfoot, a Chief of Blackfoot nation, negotiated one of the most controversial treaties in Canadian history – Treaty No. 7. Crowfoot was once a chief of the Blackfoot people in what is now Canada. Somehow his personal regalia – indeed the very shirt off his back – ended up in a museum in Exeter in the UK.

Along with his bow and blade, his sacred war shirt changed hands amidst the negotiating of the treaty that would alter the lives of millions. But some transactions aren’t all they seem as the Blackfoot people soon discovered.

Marc takes you to Siksika Nation in Alberta, Canada and sits down with experts and nation leaders to ask the questions: who was Chief Crowfoot, how did his regalia end up thousands of miles from home, and how did his treaty negotiation shape the future for the Blackfoot people?

The people Marc encounters paint a picture of Crowfoot as a proud leader in a turbulent time. A time in which many questionable treaties were being negotiated with the oncoming British settlers. Some suggest Chief Crowfoot gifted his regalia to a local Mounted Policeman. Others say it was purchased. But was it stolen? And will those sacred items ever be returned?

As The Crow Flies, ultimately, is a story about power. The power to take and the power to take something back.

Episode 6: The Return (season finale)

Tuesday 6 December at 8pm

For well over a century the remains of Yagan, an Indigenous Noongar warrior from WA, were missing in the UK. The search for Yagan and the fight to bring him home is one of history’s wildest detective stories.

10

CBC has renewed the show for a second season, which will consist of eight episodes and premiere in Canada in 2024.

Expect an official announcement from the ABC soon.

1 Like
11
1 Like
12

From Screen Australia

Marc Fennell continues his global treasure hunt during Stuff The British Stole Season 2

The ABC, Screen Australia and CBC are thrilled to announce that filming has commenced on the second season of the acclaimed history-mystery series, Stuff The British Stole. Hosted by Walkley award-winning journalist Marc Fennell (Mastermind, The School That Tried To End Racism, The Feed), the eight-part series will take viewers on a globe-trotting, emotional quest for truth amidst bitterly contested histories.

The captivating new season will offer an in-depth exploration of eight new remarkable treasures acquired through the years of the British Empire. Expect a spectacular range of colonial bounty, priceless jewels, breathtaking antiquities and swashbuckling tales.

An Australia-Canada co-production, Stuff the British Stole is co-produced by Wooden Horse, WildBear Entertainment and Cream Productions (Canada) for the ABC and CBC. Major production investment from Screen Australia. Financed with support from the Canada Media Fund, Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, Ontario Creates. Produced in association with VicScreen. FremantleMedia will distribute the series world-wide.

Screen Australia’s Head of Documentary, Alex West said, “Stuff The British Stole embarks on another enthralling global odyssey, uncovering the hidden stories of precious objects, and how colonialised societies were plundered under imperial rule. I am thrilled that we can once again support the exceptional Australian team led by the acclaimed journalist Marc Fennell. This engaging and timely exploration delves deeper into the cultural and historical journeys of eight new artefacts, challenging perceptions and illuminating the complex and contested tapestry of the past in Australia and across the world. Prepare to embark on an emotional and intellectually riveting journey into these untold stories.”

Kalita Corrigan, Commissioning Editor, ABC Factual and Culture said, “The first season was wholeheartedly embraced by audiences and critics, so we’re thrilled that Marc and the team are back to shed light on the cultural, historical and societal significance of eight new mysterious artefacts amassed by the British Empire.”

Jennifer Dettman, Executive Director, Unscripted Content, CBC said, “Audiences were captivated by this series which found a new and engaging way to tell the complex and multifaceted history of the British Empire and its impact across the globe. We are excited to partner with ABC on a second season.”

“Audiences came to season one in huge numbers, and we are proud to be working once again with two great broadcasters in the ABC and CBC in Canada. Marc’s deft handling of these remarkable stories is not only grippingly entertaining but shows us that history is complicated,” said the Executive Producers from Wooden Horse, Wild Bear Entertainment and Cream Productions.

Stuff The British Stole season 2, will air on ABC TV, ABC iview, CBC and CBC Gem in 2024. Until then, log onto ABC iview or CBC Gem to stream the first season of Stuff The British Stole.

Production Credit: An Australia-Canada co-production, Stuff the British Stole is co-produced by Wooden Horse, WildBear Entertainment and Cream Productions (Canada) for the ABC and CBC. Major production investment from Screen Australia. Financed with support from the Canada Media Fund, Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, Ontario Creates. Produced in association with VicScreen. FremantleMedia will distribute the series world-wide.

Executive producers: Richard Finlayson and Jude Troy (Wooden Horse); Alan Erson and Michael Tear (WildBear Entertainment); and David Brady and Kate Harrison (Cream Productions). Executive Producer, Creator, Writer and Host: Marc Fennell. ABC Commissioning Editor and Executive Producer: Kalita Corrigan. ABC Head of Factual: Susie Jones. ABC Head of Screen Content: Jennifer Collins. CBC General Manager, Entertainment, Factual, & Sports: Sally Catto. CBC Executive Director of Unscripted Content: Jennifer Dettman. CBC Senior Director, Documentary: Sandra Kleinfeld. CBC Executive in Charge of Production, Unscripted Content: Nic Meloney.

STBS-S2-Marc-Fennell-1-1024x689
STBS-S2-Marc-Fennell-1-1024x6891024Ă—689 119 KB

1 Like
13

Season 2

image
image1342Ă—1855 93.3 KB

Hosted by Walkley award-winning journalist Marc Fennell (Mastermind, The School That Tried To End Racism, The Feed), Stuff The British Stole returns with a new eight-part season, taking viewers on a globe-trotting, emotional quest for truth amidst bitterly contested histories. The captivating new season will offer an in- depth exploration of new remarkable treasures acquired through the years of the British Empire. Expect a spectacular range of colonial bounty, priceless jewels, breathtaking antiquities and swashbuckling tales.

PRODUCTION CREDITS

An Australia-Canada co-production, co-produced by Wooden Horse, WildBear Entertainment and Cream Productions (Canada) for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and CBC. Major production investment from Screen Australia.

Financed with support from the Canada Media Fund, Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, Ontario Creates. Produced in association with VicScreen. International sales: Fremantle Media International.

Executive producers Richard Finlayson and Jude Troy (Wooden Horse), Alan Erson and Michael Tear (WildBear Entertainment) and David Brady and Kate Harrison (Cream Productions). Executive Producer, Creator, Writer and Host Marc Fennell. ABC Commissioning Editor Kalita Corrigan. ABC Head of Factual Susie Jones. CBC General Manager, Entertainment, Factual and Sports Sally Catto. CBC Executive Director of Unscripted Content Jennifer Dettman. CBC Senior Director,

Documentary Sandra Kleinfeld. CBC Executive in Charge of Production, Unscripted Content Nic Meloney.

image
image901Ă—667 55.4 KB

1 Like
14

About an hour ago I wrapped the last shot of this. Over the 4 months we’ve filmed in 11 nations to bring you new mysteries with a *lot* of surprises. Stuff The British Stole is returning to ABC in 2024 #StuffTheBritishStole pic.twitter.com/9ECnef8Fbl

— Marc Fennell (@MarcFennell) November 9, 2023

image
image900Ă—900 45.5 KB

1 Like
15

Season 2

From Monday June 17 8:00pm

Museums and galleries across the UK and the world are filled with artworks, jewels, and priceless relics seized during the reign of the Empire. They usually come with polite plaques, but the truth is often far from polite.

Following the success of Season 1, Walkley award-winning journalist Marc Fennell (Mastermind, The School that Tried to End Racism, The Kingdom) returns with a blockbuster new series. Filmed across 11 different nations from Kenya to Canada, unravel eight captivating history mysteries.

Marc ventures from Egyptian deserts to deep in the Amazon River and takes viewers from a shipwreck in the depths of the Aegean Sea to a robot laboratory high in a Tuscan mountain range. Legendary actor and writer Stephen Fry joins Marc in episode one for an investigation into arguably the most controversial museum display in Britain, the Parthenon Marbles.

Along the way, Marc uncovers hidden tales of heists, wars, intrigue, and skullduggery. Were these treasures really stolen? By whom? And what should be done with them now? The answers to these questions are never as straightforward as they seem.

There has never been a global power quite like the British Empire. At its peak, it spanned the globe and ruled millions. Its legacy lives in everything from our laws to our language.

This is the story of that empire, told through its loot. Each of these objects are a doorway into understanding who we are and how we ended up with the world today.

And even if you think you know the story, this series proves that history is anything but clear cut.

image
image552Ă—676 73.9 KB

Also see Marc co- host a discussion at the NGA 13 June

Join ABC’s Stuff The British Stole host Marc Fennell, National Gallery Director Dr Nick Mitzevich and Adjunct Professor Margo Ngawa Neale (Emeritus Curatorial Fellow, First Nations, National Museum of Australia) for a discussion on repatriation and truth-telling.

2 Likes
16

Series 2, Episode 1 THE PARTHENON MARBLES

image

Monday 17 June 8.00pm

The Parthenon marble sculptures are — arguably — the most controversial museum exhibit in the UK. Stephen Fry joins Marc Fennell on a gripping adventure from the pinnacle of the Acropolis to a secluded robotics lab high in the Tuscan mountains to a shipwreck under the Aegean Sea. Marc meets passionate Greeks from Sydney who share their rage over the loss of their national icon. Ultimately, the real question is this: why are these Marbles so fiercely fought over?

2 Likes
17

Series 2, Episode 2

image

Monday 24 June 8.00pm

Marc Fennell travels to the Pyramids of Giza, down the Nile, & to the very heart of the British Empire to uncover the truth of how the ancient Egyptian mummified remains of a child ended up in Australia’s oldest university.

Before Australia became Australia, there was the colony of New South Wales, which, from a certain British point of view, had sheep, some nice ocean views, and not much else. An enterprising Englishman named Charles Nicholson decided that it really needed some culture, so he set out to acquire some. Literally.

Charles Nicholson sailed up the Nile in Egypt and acquired the largest collection of ancient antiquities ever to end up in the southern hemisphere. Among them is the mummified remains of a 7-year-old Egyptian child shrouded in mystery. The child has now spent over a century residing in Australia’s oldest university, Sydney University. But was taking a mummified human from Egypt legal?

This wild ride will take you from the sandstone streets of Sydney’s colonial Rocks district to the powerful words and beats of young Egyptian rapper Kid Pharaoh, to mummy-unwrapping parties in London, and then right to the foot of the breathtaking pyramids of Egypt.

1 Like
18

Series 2, Episode 3

image

Monday 1 July 8.00pm

Marc Fennell delves into South Africa’s first diamond mine and the opulent realms of London to uncover the intriguing tale of how the largest gem-quality diamond ultimately reached the hands of the British Royal family.

It was April 1905 when a manager at the Premier Mine in South Africa was said to be completing a routine inspection over five metres underground and noticed a reflected light in the rough wall above him. He assumed it was a large piece of glass hammered in by colleagues as a joke. He pulled out his pocket knife just the same to poke at it… only for the knife to promptly snap. He had just found the largest gem-quality diamond ever discovered, five times the size of the Koh-I-Noor and equivalent in size to a human heart.

Indeed, for a century, it has played a vital role at the heart of the British Empire. Millions watched it on display at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and was seen again at King Charles’s coronation. It has been used as a political plaything of colonial powers, and its pathway to London illuminates South Africa’s multi-layered colonial history.

This episode will take Marc deep underground in the first South African diamond mine; into the workshop of the new generation young African diamond cutters and on a tour of London where Darrel Blake points out just how profitable the extraction of wealth was for Britain.

He will piece together the brutal history of the Boer War, which saw Australians and Canadians sent to fight for the British Empire. A war that Churchill covered as a reporter and in which Gandhi served as an ambulance officer for the British. A war, which in the end, lay the groundwork for decades of Apartheid in South Africa.

Marc meets determined South Africans who feel that the diamond represents the stunning amount of wealth literally extracted from South Africa for the ultimate glory of colonisers. Its tale reveals a nation still coming to terms with the intergenerational theft of resources.

2 Likes
19
1 Like
20
1 Like
21

Series 2, Episode 4

image

Monday 8 July 8.00pm

Marc Fennell takes you from London to the mountain of kunanyi and the opulent halls of Government House to unravel a story of heartbreak and injustice that will leave you reeling.

In 2022, a tattered and bruised black doll was sent from Britain to the First Nations people of lutruwita/Tasmania, carrying with it a devastating story of a stolen child. Marc Fennell takes you from London to the mountain of kunanyi and the opulent halls of Government House to unravel a story of heartbreak and injustice that will leave you reeling.

From the early 1820s to about the mid-1830s, wars raged between the settlers and the Indigenous people of what we now call Tasmania. In the aftermath of this conflict, Sir John Franklin was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania’s former colonial name) in 1837 for a four-year term. During his time in office, he and his wife, Lady Jane, requested an Aboriginal orphan child for their daughter.

Mathinna, an Indigenous child and daughter of a chieftain, was not an orphan, but she was still stolen and sent to live with the Franklins for four years. However, just four months before his term as Governor was due to end, the Franklins abandoned Mathinna and left her at the orphan asylum in Hobart, taking her doll with them to England.

The story of Mathinna and her doll goes to the heart of one of the major injustices of colonisation—the forced removal of children and subsequent displacement. It portrays the tenderness of the girl’s connection to her doll and memories of her family, and the visceral sense of loss when it is taken. The loss of the doll symbolises the loss of innocence, displacement, and theft.

At the same time, Marc ventures to the UK to understand the Franklin family: Why did they want this girl in the first place? Was there ever a chance of taking the girl with them? Why did they abandon her? To understand the girl, we need to understand the family that took her in and ultimately abandoned her.

22
1 Like