Al Murray says he cant be ashamed of British Empire as he unveils latest show

Al Murray bathes in The Ganges for new Sky History series

Al Murray has declared he “can’t be ashamed” of the British Empire, despite its disputed and controversial past, in an exclusive chat with Express.co.uk.

When asked whether he regards it as a source of pride or a source of shame, the comedian adamantly declared: “Neither!

“I think it’s a really interesting thing which tells you an awful lot about people, power, money and race. It’s a thing to be interested in.

“[However], I don’t feel pride or shame, because it’s nothing I did. I can’t take pride in anything I didn’t do and I can’t be ashamed for anything I didn’t do.”

He says he’s uncertain whether the series will change the way that Brits from different cultures and backgrounds interact with each other – and that he’s determined not to lose sleep over it.

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“If you make a programme and you’re worried about that, then you’ll end up never making a programme. No, I just hope people are entertained and learn some stuff from it,” he explained.

However, the show revolves around the perspectives of those who were affected by the empire, so he’s picked a comedian or media personality from each country to help him unravel those mysteries.

“Rather than it be British people shouting to each other about the empire, [we decided to] get the people from the countries that we’re interested in,” Al revealed.

He teamed up with Anuvab Pal in India, Chris Daley in Jamaica, Loyiso Gola in South Africa and Kevin Kropinyeri in Australia.

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The first episode, which aired on Sky History on Monday, saw Al take on India, stepping out of his comfort zone as he was forced to dive into a holy river and swim close to a dead dog.

Neither he nor Anuvab, who accompanied him, were ultimately very keen on the task, which set out historical differences between the British and the Indians.

“When the British first encountered India, British people did not wash. It wasn’t the thing that you did,” he chuckled.

“We did it once a week and Indians would be washing in the river every single morning to make sure they were clean.

“If one of the arguments is that there’s a civilising mission, if you’re the British Empire, then why are you all filthy and why are they all clean? That was just the thing we were trying to poke around in as a question.”

He soon came to regret delving into that investigation, when he realised the segment would involve a dip in the River Ganges – and despite begging the production team to let him off – his pleas were to no avail.

“My director [said]: ‘We do have to do this, or we don’t have a segment. We have got a segment about cleanliness and different British and Indian habits and the culture clash that came with the Empire – you’ve got to get in the water!’ And I’m like ‘Ohh, I don’t really want to.’

“What was really funny about that is Anuvab felt the same way and was going ‘I don’t know that I wanna get in the water either!'” he exclaimed.

Al Murray: Why Does Everyone Hate the British Empire? debuted its first episode on 23rd October on Sky History.

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