About this season
Celebrities young and old look back on the television of past decades, a time before political correctness took hold and casual racism, sexism and homophobia was the order of the day.
Episodes (6)
1. 1970s - Education
Aired 5 September 2015
Matt Lucas narrates another look back at TV shows from past decades, with clips and reactions to programmes from people not around to watch them at the time. This first edition focuses on 70s-style education, with a look at the lessons conveyed about society and sex, as well as lazy national stereotypes and the casual attitude of TV towards the health and safety of members of the public.
2. 1980s - An 80s Revolution
Aired 12 September 2015
Narrated by Matt Lucas, this episode looks at the world, as seen on TV in the 1980s. With jaw-dropping clips and a range of bemused, amused and just plain horrified reactions, this series revisits the television of the past. The 80s was a time of revolution on the small screen: from breakfast TV to breaking boundaries, a brand new channel shaking it up, to the anxieties of being a girl or a boy in a scary world of big changes, bid ideas and even bigger hair. The 80s was the decade in which men could co-habit with sea lions without raising eyebrows; when children's TV became a parade of lingerie displays; aggressive poets bombarded us with right-on performance art; and gay men and women came out on TV to shock their friends. It was also a time when monkeys really did play tennis.
3. 1960s - A Brave New World
Aired 19 September 2015
Matt Lucas narrates another look back at TV shows from past decades, with clips and reactions to programmes from people not around to watch them at the time. This edition revisits the changing social attitudes reflected on the small screen in the 1960s, including humorous shows which took liberties in the name of satire, disability being mocked and bulletproof vests being put to the test on live TV.
4. 1990s - Cool Britannia
Aired 17 October 2015
Matt Lucas narrates another set of eye-popping, brain-spinning clips in the series that asks whether the television we watched tells us about who we were. The 1990s was the decade of Cool Britannia. Brand Britain was selling British artists, designers, fashion and music around the globe. While the rest of the world was watching the UK, we were glued to some of the boldest, brashest television ever to hit our screens. It was a decade when on The Word people were asked to submerge themselves in a bath of horse manure, lick dandruff and eat toenails; TFI Friday was stripping things bare; and The Girlie Show had a Wanker of the Week.
5. 1980s - Fear
Aired 24 October 2015
Matt Lucas narrates another look back at TV shows from past decades, revisiting the time of revolution on the small screen in the 1980s. This edition focuses on the concept of fear, dealing with the threats of heroin, glue-sniffing and AIDS, Keith Chegwin assessing the impact of video nasties and a young Jeremy Paxman discussing how to survive a nuclear war.
6. 1970s - Danger
Aired 31 October 2015
Matt Lucas narrates another look back at TV shows from past decades, based on the theme of living dangerously in the 1970s. Clips feature Tony Blackburn climbing into a cage to sing to four fully-grown lions, mainstream comedians who were perfectly comfortable making jokes about domestic violence, and Spike Milligan's comedy multi-racial sitcom Melting Pot, which was considered too controversial and pulled from the air.