About this season
Documentaries showing faces and places that make up the way we live today.
Episodes (10)
1. Years Apart
Aired 12 August 1996
Three couples decided to fly in the face of social convention by choosing to be together despite age gaps greater than 25 years. What particular strains do such differences place upon long-term relationships? Can love bridge the age gap? All three couples talk frankly about personal and familial reactions.
2. The Museum
Aired 23 October 1996
A tempestuous year in the life of London's Victoria & Albert Museum.
3. Broken Homes
Aired 30 October 1996
Documentary film-maker Lynn Alleway explores the problems fathers have in keeping touch with their children after separation or divorce. Tonight, three separated families reveal the difficulties of staying in touch - and staying friends.
4. The Selling Game
Aired 6 November 1996
The secrets of the antiques trade are revealed in this programme about three traders who sell antiques to the very rich. David Dickinson knows what his clients like, and has to buy 20 or 30 new pieces each month. Keith Skeele deals at a remarkable rate: at a Paris fair he can easily spend £200,000 in a day. Lady Pamela Pidgeon has an impressive client list-will one of them pay £500,000 for a writing desk?
5. Dog Trouble
Aired 13 November 1996
They can set neighbour against neighbour, damage houses and gardens and make others' lives a misery with their noise and mess. This film portrays dogs as agents of social mayhem.
6. A Pleasant Land
Aired 20 November 1996
The story of 61-year-old beef farmer Robin White , who wants to quit after BSE left him with cattle that nobody can eat and no one will buy.
7. To the Manor Bought
Aired 27 November 1996
Robert Smith sells grand feudal titles to wealthy commoners, such as Melody Urquhart, now known as the Baroness of Leyny. This film follows the newly titled through a summer of auctions and functions, culminating in a ball for those celebrating their elevated status.
8. Going for Broke
Aired 4 December 1996
The story of Keith Sinclair, whose horse-trailer business flourished in the eighties but went under with the new decade. He blames the bank for his downfall and his subsequent inability to start afresh.
9. The Power and the Glory
Aired 11 December 1996
A behind-the-scenes look of the annual power boat race at Cowes.
10. The Flickering Flame
Aired 18 December 1996
In his first full-length documentary for BBC TV, director Ken Loach returns to the Liverpool docks, the subject 27 years ago of his drama The Big Flame. Today the docks are the scene of a bitter dispute.