# Horrible Histories (2015 TV series)

Horrible Histories started on CBBC in 2009. It is a multi-award-winning live-action historical and musical sketch comedy television series, based on the bestselling book series of the same name by Terry Deary. Over 11 series there have been changes in format and cast, but the core aim has remained the same - to entertain and educate. The show is produced for CBBC by Lion Television and was in association with Citrus Television for series 3-5.
Over the years, the show has featured a large talented cast. Original cast members include Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Jim Howick, Martha Howe-Douglas, Dominique Moore, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond. Current cast includes Tom Stourton, Jessica Ransom, Richard David-Caine, James McNicholas, Emily Lloyd-Saini, Timmika Ramsay, Harrie Hayes, Inel Tomlinson, Ethan Lawrence and Paul G Raymond, among many others. Horrible Histories has also attracted an impressive list of celebrity guest stars, including Rowan Atkinson, Gemma Whelan, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Rob Delaney, Meera Syal, Rose Ayling-Ellis, The League of Gentleman, Rosie Jones, David Baddiel, Rob Rinder and Fred Sirieix.
In 2024, Horrible Histories marked 15 years on air, during which there have been 11 series, multiple specials and spin-offs, a feature film, two sold-out BBC Proms, as well as numerous accolades including nine BAFTAs, and a British Comedy Award - the only children's show to win one. It has also been awarded the Best TV Sketch Show at the Comedy.co.uk awards in 2020, 2021 and 2023. Internationally, Horrible Histories has won a total of 38 awards including two Rose d'Or for Best Children's programme, the Prix Jeunesse Special Award for Best Children's Show of the last 50 years, an International Emmy for Best Kids Factual, and in 2024 was awarded a prestigious Banff Rockie Award.
On 24 October 2024 it was announced that Horrible Histories is to be presented with a BAFTA Special Award. The honour will be awarded in recognition of Horrible Histories’ extraordinary cultural and social impact.
Production is now in its 15th year, and a spin off Horrible Science has been announced by CBBC.

## History

In 2014, CBBC executives announced that, owing to the critical and popular success of the original, discussions were underway regarding some form of return. Original series star Mathew Baynton subsequently confirmed that he and the other five members of the starring cast would not be reuniting as a team for the new project.
The resulting series, while sharing the same core concept, genre and sensibilities as its predecessor—including an original parody song in each episode—follows a notably different format. In lieu of the previous short, unconnected sketches from randomly-selected time periods, the new series consists of specials focusing on the specific life and times of one prominent historical figure. It will also involve a largely all-new production team and cast, while still retaining Greg Jenner as lead historical consultant and many of the original series's writers. In addition, original stars Sarah Hadland, Simon Farnaby, Lawry Lewin, Dominique Moore, Katherine Jakeways, Giles Terera and Jim Howick returned in limited roles, with Farnaby in particular reprising his role as Death. Javone Prince and Terry Deary returned in Series 8; Prince also appeared in Series 9. Minor Series 4 actors Jessica Ransom and Jalaal Hartley took on more central roles. Several prominent UK comedy veterans, including Lorna Watson, Ben Miller, Kathryn Drysdale, Kevin Eldon, Tom Rosenthal and Rowan Atkinson, guest-starred as the spotlighted figures.
In February 2015, the new series debuted with an episode drawing on the events leading up to the signing of Magna Carta, timed to coincide with the BBC's larger commemoration of the document's 800-year anniversary before being followed by a run of fourteen episodes. 2016 saw the broadcast of three specials to mark certain events throughout that year: 400 years since Shakespeare died, the BBC's "Love to Read" campaign, and 350 years since the Great Fire of London. There was a slight change in cast where the main stars Jalaal Hartley, Tom Stourton and Jessica Ransom continued with some of the supporting cast, while a number of the sixth series cast, including the two original members Jim Howick and Simon Farnaby were absent.
A full-length seventh series was aired every Monday on CBBC from June 2017, and it continued into 2018. Hartley, Ransom and Stourton continue alongside Gemma Whelan and Richard David-Caine who stayed on from the 2016 specials; Ryan Sampson now makes up the sixth main cast member. This time, Series 7 focuses each episode on a theme, e.g. music, explorers, medicine, presidents etc. The format is very much the same with recurring sketches, a song or two each episode (with the main songs now placed at the end of each episode, except for Ruthless Rulers and Series 8's Mind Your Manners), animated characters in-between sketches and quiz questions asked by various historical figures. One notable difference is that of host Rattus Rattus, who has his own storyline based on the theme of the episode and is appearing in many different costumes. Guest-stars include Sanjeev Bhaskar with various roles, as he did in Series 6, and First Dates host Fred Sirieix who appears for 'Historical First Dates' sketches to host.
An eighth series began filming in September 2018, and began airing on 3 June 2019 on CBBC, with a similar concept to Series 7 (each episode focusing on a theme) whilst also occasionally featuring guest co-hosts. The series had two special episodes: the first one being Football with Alex Scott, a special where guest star footballer Alex Scott appeared and hosted her own episode and recounted skits in the show about football from seasons from the original 2009 Horrible Histories show and the sixth season of the 2015 reboot. The second special episode was aired on CBBC on 15 August 2019 – guest star, actress and comedian Emily Atack hosted her own episode called Back to School with Emily Atack. The episode consisted of her recounting skits from the original 2009 Horrible Histories and the 2015 reboot's seventh season relating to school and education.
On 19 December 2019, It was announced that the remaining episodes of series 8 will air during 2020, however a new ninth series will also be set to air sometime in the year.
In October 2022, a special episode about the history of the BBC was shown to celebrate the corporation's 100th anniversary.

## Cast

Further information see: List of Horrible Histories cast members
These are the cast who have appeared in all or most of the episodes:
| Starring Actor | Roles (recurring only) |
| Richard Atwill (2016 Specials) | Gabriel Spenser (2016 Specials), Robert Hooke (2016 Specials), John Shakespeare (2016 Specials) |
| Richard David-Caine (2016 Specials – present) | James I of England (Series 9 - Present), Abraham Lincoln, St. Valentine, Horatio Nelson, Gioachino Rossini, Peter Freuchen, Guy Fawkes, Salvador Dalí, Raphael, Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jauhari, Walter Raleigh, James Cook, Eric XIV of Sweden, Rasputin, Vishnu Sharma, Karl Marx, Thomas Farriner, Robert Boyle, Leon Trotsky, Walter Ulbricht, Charles-François Félix, John Harvey Kellogg, Louis Pasteur, Thorkell the Tall, William Nightingale, Tsar Peter III |
| Simon Farnaby (Series 6) | Death, George III (Series 6), Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (Series 6), Benjamin Disraeli (Series 6) |
| Jalaal Hartley (Series 6 – Series 8) | Charles II of England, James I of England (2016 Specials - Series 7), Daniel Steibelt, William Gladstone (Series 7), Douglas Bader, Matthew Hopkins, Winston Churchill (Series 7 – Series 8), Thomas Cromwell, Charles Dickens, Thomas Jefferson, Philip II of Spain, Ernest Shackleton, Ptolemy XII Auletes, Caligula, Asser, Æthelberht, King of Wessex, Francis Walsingham, Ivan the Terrible, Vladimir Lenin, Christopher Columbus, Jackson Pollock, René Magritte, Orville Wright, Joseph Stalin (Series 6), John Cage, C. Auguste Dupin, Christopher Marlowe, Donatello, John Logie Baird, Alexander Fleming, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Pierre Curie, Claudius, Henry II (Series 7) |
| Harrie Hayes (Series 8-present) | Elizabeth I of England, Marie Antoinette, Charlotte Brontë, Catherine Dickens (Series 8 – present) |
| Jim Howick (Series 6) | George IV of the United Kingdom (Series 6), Napoleon Bonaparte (Series 6), Winston Churchill (Series 6), Mr. H, host of "History's Craziest Fools" |
| Samson Kayo (Series 7) | Jimi Hendrix, Chris Ofili, Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama, George Crum, Shaka Zulu |
| Naz Osmanoglu (Series 6) | Henry II of England (Series 6), Thomas Wolsey (Series 6), Nero (Series 6), Octavian (Series 6), Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator (Series 6), Æthelstan of Kent (Series 6), Charles the Fat (Series 6), Saladin (Series 6), Suleiman the Magnificent (Series 6), Prince Albert (Series 6), Francis II of France (Series 6), Chris Staycalmer |
| Jessica Ransom (Series 6 – present) | Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen Victoria (Series 8 – present), Cleopatra (Series 7 – present), Hedy Lamarr, Bridget Holmes, Florence Nightingale, Empress Renxiaowen (Series 9 – Present), Eleanor Roosevelt, Grace Bedell, Catherine of Aragon, Catherine Parr, Frida Kahlo, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Clementine Churchill, NoMerit Vynall, Elizabeth Cromwell, Anne Hathaway (wife of Shakespeare), Beatrix Potter, Mary Shelley, Margaret Nicholson, George Eliot, Barbara Hepworth, Anne Brontë, Joan of Arc, Eve Curie, Catherine the Great, Pauline Bonaparte, Maria Amalia, Madame de Pompadour |
| Adam Riches (Series 6) | Geoff Reason, Julius Caesar (Series 6), Host of "Historical Grand Designs" (Series 6), Richard I of England (Series 6), Æthelwulf, King of Wessex (Series 6), Henry VII of England (Series 6), Charles I of England (Series 6), Pope Stephen VI (Series 6), Edward the Confessor (Series 6), Edward Jenner(Series 6), Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (Series 6) |
| Ryan Sampson (Series 7) | Joseph Stalin (Series 7), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Series 7), Nero (Series 7), Simon Cowell (Series 7), Francis Drake (Series 7), Frederick, Prince of Wales (Series 7), Louis XVI (Series 7), William Clark (Series 7), Phidias (Series 7), Pablo Picasso (Series 7), Andy Warhol (Series 7), Rameses the Great (Series 7), Al Capone (Series 7), Steve Biceps (parody of Steve Backshall), Buzz Aldrin (Series 7), Thomas A. Watson (Series 7), Charles Babbage (Series 7), Benjamin Franklin (Series 7), Napoleon Bonaparte (Series 7), Theodore Roosevelt (Series 7), John F. Kennedy (Series 7), Ronald Reagan (Series 7), Vlad the Impaler (Series 7), Charles I of England (Series 7), Francis, Duke of Anjou (Series 7), Louis XIV (Series 7), Xerxes the Great (Series 7), Michelangelo (Series 7), Vincent van Gogh (Series 7), Nikita Khrushchev (Series 7), Edward Jenner (Series 7), King John of England (Series 7), Henry Richardson Labouisse Jr. (Season 7), Gonzalo Pizarro (Series 7) |
| Tom Stourton (Series 6 – present) | Raynald of Châtillon, Edward Coke, Æthelred I, King of Wessex, Harold Godwinson, John Harrington, Tycho Brahe, Mark Antony, George Washington, Catus Decianus, Adrian Carton de Wiart, Sir Thomas Fairfax, William Shakespeare, D. H. Lawrence, Roald Dahl, Sherlock Holmes, Samuel Pepys, Ludwig van Beethoven, Elvis Presley, Meriwether Lewis, Leif Erikson, (Series 7 – Present) Yongle Emperor, Zhang Fu, Oboi (Series 9 — present), John Davis, Henry VIII (Series 7 – present), Nicholas II of Russia, Giacomo Casanova, Leonardo da Vinci, Swill Gumbitz, Joshua Reynolds, Rembrandt, Neil Armstrong, Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, Roderick Maclean, Johannes Gutenberg, Wilbur Wright, Alexander Graham Bell, George Washington, George III of Great Britain (Series 7 – present), Jefferson Davis, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Robert Dudley, Attila the Hun, Canute the Great, Lord Cardigan, Maxim Gorky, St. Jerome, Richard the Lionheart, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, George V of the United Kingdom, Captain Robert Falcon Scott |
| Thom Tuck (2016 Specials) | Ben Jonson (2016 Specials), Lewis Carroll (2016 Specials), Alfred Lord Tennyson (2016 Specials), Branwell Brontë (2016 Specials) |
| Mike Wozniak (Series 8) | Wilhelm II of Germany |
| Gemma Whelan (2016 Specials – present) | Enid Blyton, Emily Brontë, Gertrude Bell, Lucy Walker, Amy Johnson, Anne Boleyn, Josephine Bonaparte (Series 7), Anne of Cleves, Vigée Le Brun, Mona Lisa, Lisa del Giocondo, Nefertari, Hatshepsut, Agrippina the Younger, Mary I of England, Ada Lovelace, Parthenope Nightingale, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Season 7), Marie Curie, Maria Theresa, Margaret of Anjou |
| Michael Abubakar (Series 8 – present) | Aurelian Moor Roman General, Neolithic Man, Georgian Man, Tudor Courtier, World War soldier, Windrush Migrant, Ottobah Cugoano |
| Ethan Lawrence (Series 9 – present) | Napoleon Bonaparte (Series 10 - present), Robert Curthose, Aneurin Bevan, Arthur Tudor, Gustavus Adolphus |
| Lolly Adefope (Series 7) | Head Teacher Hannah Lawrence, Harriet Tubman, Mary Bowser, Mary Seacole, Irène Joliot-Curie |
| Sanjeev Bhaskar (Series 6 - Series 7) | Dean Mahomet (Series 6 – Series 7), Mahatma Gandhi (Series 6 – Series 7), Greek Man (Series 6 – Series 7), Shah Jahan (Series 6 – Series 7), Indian Man (Series 6 — Series 7) |
| Louise Ford (Series 6 – Series 7) | Eleanor of Aquitaine (Series 6), Elizabeth I (Series 6 – Series 7), Antoinette de Bourbon (Series 6 – Series 7), Catherine Howard (Series 6 – Series 7), Jane Seymour (Series 6 – Series 7), Pocahontas (Series 6 – Series 7), Edith Roosevelt (Series 6 – Series 7), Mary II of England and Scotland (Series 6 – Series 7), Frances Nightingale, mother of Florence Nightingale (Series 6 – Series 7), Maria Anna Mozart (Series 6 – Series 7) |
| Katherine Jakeways (Series 6) | Catherine de' Medici (Series 6), Anne of Cleves (Series 6) |
| Lawry Lewin (Series 6) | Brian, host of "Amazing Scientists" (Series 6), Oliver Cromwell (Series 6) |
| Jason Lewis (Series 6) | Jamie Castle |
| Bhavna Limbachia (Series 6) | Egyptian in Horrible Histories Health Direct (Series 6) |
| Dan Li (Series 6) | Genghis Khan (Series 6 – Series 7), Emperor Zhengde (Series 6 – Series 7), Qin Shi Huang (Series 6 – Series 7), Confucius (Series 6 – Series 7) |
| James McNicholas (Series 7 – present) | Charles Darwin (Series 7 – Series 8), Louis VII of France (Series 7 – Series 8), Edward VI (Series 7 – present), Henry VI (Series 7 – Series 8), William III of England (Series 7 – Series 8), Augustus (Series 7), Julius Caesar (Series 8), William I of England (Series 10 - Present), George VI, Oliver Cromwell |
* Richard Atwill (2016 Specials)
* Richard David-Caine (2016 Specials – present)
* Simon Farnaby (Series 6)
* Jalaal Hartley (Series 6 – present)
* Harrie Hayes (Series 8 - present)
* Jim Howick (Series 6)
* Samson Kayo (Series 7)
* Naz Osmanoglu (Series 6)
* Jessica Ransom (Series 6 – present)
* Adam Riches (Series 6)
* Ryan Sampson (Series 7)
* Tom Stourton (Series 6 – present)
* Thom Tuck (2016 Specials)
* Mike Wozniak (Series 8)
* Gemma Whelan (2016 Specials – Series 9)
* Ethan Lawrence (Series 9 - present)
Supporting cast:
* Michael Abubakar (Series 8)
* Lolly Adefope (Series 7)
* Sanjeev Bhaskar (Series 6 – Series 7)
* Louise Ford (Series 6 – Series 7)
* Katherine Jakeways (Series 6)
* Lawry Lewin (Series 6)
* Jason Lewis (Series 6)
* Bhavna Limbachia (Series 6)
* Dan Li (Series 6 – Series 7)
* Emily Lloyd-Saini (Series 8)
* James McNicholas (Series 7 – present)
* Dominique Moore (Series 6 – 2016 Specials;Series 9)
* Tom Palmer (Series 7)
* Daniel Lawrence Taylor (2016 Specials)
* Giles Terera (Series 6)
* Danielle Vitalis (Series 8)
* Natalie Walter (Series 6 – 2016 Specials)
* Ellie White (Series 7 – Series 8)
* Sophie Wu (Series 6 – Series 7)
Guest starring:
* Rowan Atkinson
* Terry Deary
* Kathryn Drysdale
* Kevin Eldon
* Mel Giedroyc
* Miles Jupp
* Ben Miller
* Tom Rosenthal
* Fred Sirieix (Series 7–8)
* Lorna Watson
* Robert Webb
* Bradley Simpson
* Dara Ó Briain
* Alex Scott
* Holly H
* Dani Dyer
* Javone Prince
* Rose Ayling-Ellis
* Jo Brand

## Awards

| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
| 2018 | Horrible Histories Series 7 | BAFTA Children's Award for Best Writing | Nominated |
| 2018 | Tom Stourton as Henry VIII | BAFTA Children's Award for Best Performer | Nominated |
| 2018 | Horrible Histories Series 7 | BAFTA Children's Award for Best Comedy | Nominated |
| 2018 | Horrible Histories Series 7 | Broadcast Award for Best Children's Programme | Won |
| 2017 | Horrible Histories Special: Crooked King John and Magna Carta | International Emmy Award for Best Kids Factual | Won |
| 2017 | Horrible Histories Special: Sensational Shakespeare | Broadcast Award for Best Children's Programme | Nominated |
| 2016 | Horrible Histories Special: Sensational Shakespeare | BAFTA Children's Award for Best Comedy | Won |
| 2016 | Tom Stourton as William Shakespeare | BAFTA Children's Award for Best Performer | Nominated |
| 2016 | Horrible Histories Special: Sensational Shakespeare | BAFTA Children's Award for Best Writing | Nominated |
| 2015 | Horrible Histories Series 6 | British Comedy Guide Award for Best Sketch Show | Won |
| 2016 | Horrible Histories Special: Crooked King John and Magna Carta | Kidscreen Award for Best Non-Animated or Mixed Series | Won |
| 2016 | Horrible Histories Special: Awesome Alfred the Great | Broadcast Award for Best Children's Programme | Nominated |
| 2015 | Horrible Histories Special: Crooked King John and Magna Carta | BAFTA Children's Award for Best Comedy | Nominated |
| 2015 | Jessica Ransom as Mary, Queen of Scots | BAFTA Children's Award for Best Performer | Won |
| 2015 | Horrible Histories Special: Crooked King John and Magna Carta | BAFTA Children's Award for Best Writing | Nominated |

## DVD and online releases

The series, treated as the sixth of the original 2009–2013 run, was released on Region 2 DVD on 31 August 2015. Episodes are also available online through UK iTunes as "Series 6: Rotten Rulers". The 2016 specials were released on DVD under "The Specials II" on 12 September 2016. The seventh series, including its then-unaired episodes, was released on DVD on 6 November 2017 for regions 2 and 4.

## Controversies

Australian Chinese viewers claimed that the "I'm a Tang Celebrity" segment on the second episode of series 6 was "spreading institutionalised racism".