He is currently appearing on the smash hit BBC series
David Olusoga in The Celebrity Traitors (BBC/PA)(Image: BBC/PA)
A Bristol historian currently starring in BBC smash hit Celebrity Traitors is preparing to take a new live show on the road. Professor David Olusoga will be hitting theatres for his A Gun Through Time show from November this year, and has just added further tour dates in April and May next year.
A Gun Through Time will see Prof Olusoga discuss the story of four firearms that changed the world and ask how one weapon can change the course of history. The tour kicks off at the Bristol Beacon on November 2 before heading to venues throughout Great Britain over two legs, the first in November 2025 and the second in April and May 2026.
Although filming wrapped up on Celebrity Traitors in April, it began airing on October 8 to record-breaking ratings. Prof Olusoga previously said he would make a “terrible” Traitor.
Away from the Traitors spotlight, Prof Olusoga is perhaps best known for presenting the history documentaries Black and British: A Forgotten History and A House Through Time. He has often spoken about wanting to shine a light on the lives of ordinary people who were traditionally overlooked in history books or programmes.
Prof Olusoga won a Bafta Special Award for services to television in 2023. He was awarded an OBE in 2019.
His new tour will continue in that vein as he uses the weapons as a vector through which to examine the role conflict played in the lives of everyday citizens. Prof Olusoga and stressed it wouldn’t be military history as traditionally taught at school.
“My first passions as a boy – when I first got into history – were the First and Second World Wars,” he said. “But I was always much more interested in the experiences of ordinary people caught up in those great events than I was in the speeches and strategies of politicians and generals.”
“So this is not a show about guns and how they work technically, nor is it about the tactics of battle. It’s about the cultures that emerged from the millions of people for whom these weapons became part of their lives.”
Prof Olusoga said the timing of his new tour was sadly appropriate given the increased amount of conflict happening around the world. “Today, most of us have never even seen a gun, thanks to strict gun laws and a smaller military,” he said.
“This show explores how guns were once integral to life, shaping our history and culture. Yet, as conflicts re-emerge, the peace we’ve known feels fragile, with echoes of the past returning to modern battlefields and a renewed call for defence readiness in Britain”.
