David Olusoga reflects on the enduring popularity of BBC Two’s A House Through Time as its sixth series begins, nearly a decade after it was first commissioned. He says he initially feared its narrow focus on a single property would appeal only to historians, but audiences have embraced the programme’s use of individual homes to illuminate the wider histories of cities and communities.

The series has produced 24 hour-long episodes examining houses in Liverpool, Newcastle, Bristol, Leeds, London, Berlin and, in the new instalment, Edinburgh. Its first house, 62 Falkner Street in Liverpool, traced the city’s imperial prosperity, wartime damage, postwar decline and later gentrification, illustrating how one building can reflect major social change.