Empire (2012– ) User Reviews

Splendid documentary

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 27 April 2012]

This five-part BBC documentary series, written and presented by Jeremy Paxman, explores the British Empire in terms of its legacy and impact on modern life. I found it both compelling and entertaining, a perfect introduction to a topic that nowadays is rarely heard about (sometimes, it seems, for good reason!).

Paxman is a perfect choice for our host: he's enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and he has a way of asking his interviewees cutting questions that get to the heart of the matter. Another reviewer describes his presence as 'celebrity casting' but misses the point: Paxman not only presented but wrote this series, a real labour of love for him.

The documentary features mucho globe-trotting, with plenty of beautifully-shot locations around the world. The topics covered explore all of the main aspects of Empire: warfare, suppression, family life, exploration. Paxman treats his subject in a balanced way; there's no sneering at all, instead he looks at the topic from every viewpoint. I'm as patriotic as the next Brit, and I found EMPIRE a thoroughly splendid show.

Balanced, covering multi-facet of the RAJ

[avneeshbalyan · 8/10 · 29 December 2017]

Balanced, well researched, covering multi-facet of events documentaries are worth watching multiple times.Pro-Raj (British rule over the wide swath of the world/trade routes) can call this "apologetic" and anti-Raj can call this "Glorification"... The sheer amount coverage across the world and connecting the different British rule Lands with contemporary British thinking is astonishing... Though Its covering the small events from a particular region but the ideo of the documentary is not what happened. But why all that was happening? Worth watching.... as mentioned, multiple times....

Not a HISTORY, but a tasty personal SAMPLER on the subject

[robbotnik2000 · 8/10 · 20 July 2019]

Another review of this 5 part show takes great umbrage to Jeremy Paxman's presentation: It is more of an in-depth review than I'm going to write. In part, it says: "The history on display is pretty weak sauce. Subjects are often only partially covered, with one or two events picked out for special attention whilst others are ignored or omitted entirely. The interviews are invariably with 'ordinary people' rather than experts, with the result that many are simply meaningless." This review is first rate and I agree with every word of it. But I'm going to give Mr. Paxman's work a pretty good star rating for some of the reasons enumerated. It is a PERSONAL look at the Empire from multiple perspectives, especially the perspectives of many of the colonized. I found Mr. Paxman personally engaging, the photography was specacular, he owes a great deal to his cinematographer. The subject of the British Empire is a VAST one, and there was no way to give it completeness with five installments and this presenter. And it was not in any chronological order. It was PERSONAL. In the first episode he goes superficially into the history of Gt. Britain in Palestine and the Balfour Declaration and the King David Hotel bombing of 1946. Because he can interview one of the Israeli participants. He gives India much more space, but India is much longer and larger than he can possibly fit in. Perhaps my favorite episode was one that I had least hopes for before watching: "Playing the Game" where he gave a personal Englishman's view of the sportsmanlike ethos with which the upper classes were raised, and how it permeated and inflitrated the self-view and world view of the would-be colonists. So I found this a worthwhile and engaging series and I agree that it is not by any means historical, nor is it meant to be. The colonies that became my nation are barely mentioned, the role of the English Republican government in establishing empirical intentions, many many other factors are simply not there. Consider this a small selection of oeur d'oeuvres. And tasty!

One of the worst documentary series of recent years

[YohjiArmstrong · 29 March 2012]

EMPIRE is a five part documentary series about the British Empire made by the BBC. It is ill-informed, politically correct and snide. It manages to be both historically bad and poorly structured. The main problem is the celebrity casting - Jeremy Paxman is enthusiastic about the subject but he has clearly been picked because he is a big star and not because he knows what he's talking about.

The series is structured around individual episodes, each of which address several themes. Which means that the series never builds a single argument (a thesis). Nor does it have enough time to cover any of its themes in depth because it has to race through them. Furthermore, this fractured structure prevents any coherent narrative from forming. Each episode jumps from continent to continent and century to century with the result that Clive and Curzon end up lumped together in a hideously uninformative mish-mash. Without context, comprehension is impossible.

The history on display is pretty weak sauce. Subjects are often only partially covered, with one or two events picked out for special attention whilst others are ignored or omitted entirely. The interviews are invariably with 'ordinary people' rather than experts, with the result that many are simply meaningless. The history is often very basic with much recent scholarship completely absent. Finally, assumptions runs through the series that imperialism was on the wrong side of history and that European colonialism was somehow unique.

Let me give examples using a single subject: the Indian Mutiny. Political correctness: referring to it as the First Indian War of Independence when it wasn't (no serious pan-Indian consciousness existed and the likes of the Rhani of Jhansi certainly weren't fighting for it). Partial explanation: an emphasis on certain events, like the Siege of Lucknow, whilst many others (Cawnpore) are completely ignored. Old scholarship: not even a mention of Saul David's striking new theories about the origins of the Mutiny, despite them being a number of years old.

What is particularly striking is how parochial this series is. The British Empire is never put in the context of other European Empires or indeed of non-European ones. I don't think the Mughal conquest of India or the role of India in the Seven Years War was ever even mentioned. The series assumes 21st century Western liberal attitudes, rolling out choice passages about Indian servants from a book for British women for the audience to be aghast at without any understanding that (a) these methods worked and (b) the same attitudes were held at home. There is also a striking lack of respect for the achievements of these brave men and women - just compare British rule in Egypt to that of Nasser, Mubarak or the Muslim Brotherhood.

The BBC made a series on the British Empire back in the 1970s that is longer, better written , better researched and far superior to this tripe. It lacks the beautiful location filming of this series but it has brains and heart, which is what matters.

Really fascinating

[sallyallan-09620 · 10/10 · 8 September 2020]

I really enjoyed watching this documentary. I bought it as I am about to study the subject and wanted to wet my appetite before I begin my studies. I found it really interesting and thought Jeremy Paxman presented it really well, asked really good questions and summarised it perfectly at the end.

The Not So Good Old Days

[andymcrowe · 10/10 · 19 February 2021]

Given the emotive flag waving nonsense that persuaded so many Brits that by leaving the EU we could rule the waves once more, this intelligent, entertaining reminder of the brutality of the British Empire. Jeremy Paxman provides a balanced picture of the traders, evangelists, adventurers and generals who built and sustained the empire, but you can't help but come away embarrassed rather than proud of the past. I'd love to see a Paxman opinion piece on royalty and religion, those two other establishment sacred cows.