Art Historian and broadcaster
The success of the first BBC series of Lost Kingdoms of Africa surprised a lot of people. Quietly, I have to admit, that even after years of saying that there was an audience for African History on television, I was taken aback by the scale, and more particularly by the response of audiences. I had long said that people I meet seem frustrated by the single-note media image of Africa - the cycle of doom and disaster, the endless stories of corruption, wars and famine - and that it was time to offer a subtler, more varied and complex picture. I was determined that Lost Kingdoms of Africa would proffer not just an alternative narrative on the continent's culture, but would also integrate African expertise into the process.
