Empire: Live
Empire podcast co-hosts William Dalrymple and Anita Anand explore the good, the bad and the ugly of imperial history.
Last few tickets
From anti-colonial uprisings in India to erotic poetry festivals in ancient Gaza, drug-dealing English merchants in China, and the Mongolian tribe who dared to kidnap the wife of Genghis Khan, Empire spotlights dramatic stories from world history that were left out of your schoolbooks.
Anand and Dalrymple’s cocktail of deep historical knowledge and lighthearted banter has grown a global audience of dedicated fans, and now you can see them live on stage as part of Goalhanger: The Rest Is Fest.
Need to know
There is a purchase limit of four tickets per person for this event.
Times & tickets
Dates, times and prices
Dates & times
05 Sep 2026, 1pm
Run time
1 hour (approx)
All timings are approximate and subject to change
Standard entry
from £37 + £4 booking fee
Ticket prices may be adjusted without notice to reflect demand.
Concessions
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Refunds and exchanges
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Become a Member
Members get free entry to the Hayward Gallery and the first chance to book our entire programme of events, including go-down-in-history gigs, concerts with world-class orchestras, and talks from cultural icons and political giants.
Join today from £60
Access
Accessible events
You can join our free Access Scheme through your online Southbank Centre account or via email.
Find out more about our Access Scheme
All our access information
For your visit
This event is held at the Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.
Plan your visit
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is home to both our second-largest auditorium and the Purcell Room.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.