Is BBC drama The English based on a true story?

As with almost any historical series, the show trades in a combination of real-world inspirations and fictionalised elements. But is The English based on a specific true story?

Read on for everything you need to know about the historical basis for The English.

Is The English based on a true story?

The English isn't based on a specific story from throughout history, and there is no sense that there was a real Cornelia Locke or a real Eli Whipp. All of the specific events from throughout the series are fictional. However, the series has been inspired by real life Pawnee cavalry scouts.

In the series, Chaske Spencer's character Eli Whipp is an ex-cavalry scout. In real life, members of the Pawnee tribe were employed as scouts until 1877, approximately 13 years before The English is set, and they were used as help in the conflict between settlers and Native Americans.

Spencer has said he was surprised to learn about the real-life history behind Pawnee scouts, saying: "That’s a subject that I wasn’t too aware of, and never read about in the history of Native Americans. I was exploring that aspect of the character and trying to find a correlation where I can relate to that.

"They had a long history of being very proud of their country and I wanted to make sure that I honoured that in the character and for the Pawnee tribe."

The series' creator Hugo Blick has also spoken about a personal incident which inspired the story, explaining: "I was sent to Montana at 18 as a stabilising influence. I lived with a family friend, a retired USAF captain, Olympic gold medalist and avid outdoorsman. He taught me how to hunt, shoot, spin a horse - a sort of Will Geer to my Jeremiah Johnson!

"We also cut wood commercially. Our contracts came from the government to supply those most in need. Sometimes this involved Native people’s communities. We made a hunting buddy I called Chief. He wasn’t a chief. He called me English. We were easy with this casual racism, but pretty soon I got to see it was a one-way street - with all the heavy traffic heading his way.

"Back then the reservation seemed hard and isolated, particularly in winter. I had never seen such difficulties. Then one day he took off, leaving a couple of bags with us for when he came back. He didn’t. Nothing to come back for. I never knew his real name, nor he mine. I regretted that. This was a kernel for The English."

Blick also said he did "a lot" of research when developing the scripts and that once he had completed them, he sent them to Crystal Echo-Hawk, CEO of IllumiNative, a Native led racial and social justice organisation.

He explained: "She then introduced me to representatives of the Pawnee and Cheyenne Nations each of whom are specialists in the cultural and military history of their respective Nations. The journey taken with IllumiNative and the Pawnee and Cheyenne advisors, has been long, detailed and hugely rewarding."

Production designer on the drama Chris Roope also spoke about the research he did on the series, admitting that the look of the show is not only based on real history, but also on previous Western genre fiction.

He said: "Research for a Western is rather fun because it involves watching some films, looking at photographs, documents, reading some books, and looking at an awful lot of material online. Then there’s a very good book that Hugo recommended called The Cattle Kingdom, which outlines the backbone of the wider setting of the story."

The Cattle Kingdom is a history book by Christopher Knowlton, which purports to tell the "hidden history of the cowboy West".

The English continues on BBC Two at 9pm on Thursday 17th November, while all episodes are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide or Streaming Guide to see what’s on tonight.

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