BBC confirms A House Through Time will come to Leeds for 2021 series

Presenter and historian David Olusoga is currently working with producers and researchers to identify a house in Leeds suitable as a focal point.

The third series, which featured an 18th-century townhouse in Bristol, finished this week and had added significance, as the property was built by a slave trader and had strong links with the plantation economy. The Black Lives Matter demonstrations and the toppling of the statue of slaver Edward Colston, which is just a short walk from the house on Guinea Street, occurred during the series' run, although it was filmed last summer. It attracted three million viewers.

The first series of A House Through Time was set in Liverpool, where Olusoga attended university, and the second in Newcastle, the city where he grew up.

All three series have used 18th- or 19th-century townhouses originally built for the middle classes and which were closely tied to the economic fortunes of each city. Their stories are followed right through to the present day, and have tackled more recent issues such as the 1990s AIDS epidemic in Liverpool.

After Olusoga - who has spoken out extensively about his own experiences of racism in recent weeks following the Black Lives Matter protests - Tweeted that the programme would move to Leeds for a series to be broadcast in 2021, he was inundated with suggestions for neighbourhoods to research.

Many fans put forward properties in Chapeltown - a district originally developed for wealthy mill owners and merchants which later became home to Jewish and Caribbean communities, and has experienced considerable social unrest - and Headingley, which grew during the Edwardian and Victorian periods as a middle-class suburb with close links to the university.

Olusoga also revealed that he has personal connections to Leeds and still has family in the city. After studying history at the University of Liverpool, he decided to pursue a television career and did a broadcast journalism course at Leeds Trinity University.

The property chosen is likely to have played a key role in Leeds' development as a centre of the wool trade in the 1800s.

Olusoga said: "Leeds is a fascinating city that I am fortunate to have close personal ties with, so I am particularly looking forward to learning more about its history. My parents lived in the city during the 1960s and I have family in Leeds today. I am excited at the prospect of coming back to a city that I studied in and called home during the 1990s, a city I've been fond of ever since."

BBC Two controller Patrick Holland said: “A House Through Time is a time machine, taking the audience deep into the lost lives of everyday Britons, exploring the forces and incidents that made their worlds. David Olusoga is a unique voice, bringing brilliant historical analysis together with unequalled empathy and storytelling skill. With consolidated audiences of over three million for this current series, I am delighted that the audience is as appreciative of this wonderful programme as I am.”

Producers have even called for Leeds residents to get in touch and suggest ideal properties and locations.

If you feel you may know a historic house in Leeds that could be the location for a multitude of fascinating revelations, contact [email protected]