About this season
40 Minutes was a BBC TV documentary strand broadcast on BBC Two between 1981 and 1994. The documentaries could be on any possible subject, the only connection being that they last forty minutes. Some documentaries in the original series were revisited and updated in a 2006 version, Forty Minutes On.
Episodes (25)
1. Roedean
Aired 7 October 1982 • 40 min
The leading girls' public school.
2. Skinheads
Aired 14 October 1982 • 40 min
Four 'skins' in 1982 London; their lifestyle and the skinhead culture.
3. Rabbits Don't Cry
Aired 21 October 1982 • 40 min
Looks at the increasing militancy of activists protesting at experiments on animals.
4. An Emotional Matter
Aired 28 October 1982 • 40 min
The senior education officer in Durham County and his difficult decisions to close certain schools.
5. Lost in a Crowd
Aired 4 November 1982 • 40 min
Problems of loneliness. Five people who are trying to find their own ways to deal with overcome loneliness are in a compartment in a train. They tell their stories to us, but do not communicate with each other, despite their shared problem.
6. The Cruelty Man
Aired 11 November 1982 • 40 min
A typical week for Howard Wolfenden, one of 250 NSPCC inspectors who investigate child cruelty cases.
7. Miners
Aired 25 November 1982 • 40 min
Looks at the lives and beliefs of miners in a small Yorkshire mining community.
8. Mr. Moonlight
Aired 2 December 1982 • 40 min
The life and career of Frankie Vaughan, the entertainer.
9. The Lads' Night Out
Aired 9 December 1982 • 40 min
The charity dinner for the Stable Lads Welfare Trust.
10. How Do I Look?
Aired 16 December 1982 • 40 min
Extreme slimming remedies including wiring jaws together and surgery.
11. Mister Perks
Aired 13 January 1983 • 40 min
Bernard Perks, who has spent 15 of his 20 adult years in prison, is about to be released and his problem in combating alcoholism.
12. Package Tour
Aired 20 January 1983 • 40 min
Holiday makers on a flight from Manchester to Spain, their impression of their holidays in Benidorm and their return to Manchester.
13. Something to Do with Video
Aired 27 January 1983 • 40 min
The domestic and commercial uses of video including surveillance.
14. The Rovers
Aired 3 February 1983 • 40 min
Tranmere Rovers FC, fighting for survival in their centenary season
15. Honour Thy Father and Thy Mother
Aired 10 February 1983 • 40 min
Children who have to look after their elderly parents.
16. Freshers
Aired 17 February 1983 • 40 min
New arrivals at Liverpool University coping with their first time away from home, especially the problems of a blind student, Gillian Wake.
17. English Lesson
Aired 24 February 1983 • 40 min
Nine Polish seamen who sought political asylum in the Falklands where they were caught up in the war and their later stateless existence in London.
18. Female Circumcision
Aired 3 March 1983 • 40 min
Female circumcision in the Sudan and the evidence that it is practiced in the western world.
19. A Minor Incident at the Berlaymont
Aired 10 March 1983 • 40 min
Fishermen from the North-East attempt to lobby the EEC on the issue of fishing rights.
20. A Gentle Way with Cancer: Part 1
Aired 17 March 1983 • 40 min
The first of 6 films on the work of the Bristol Cancer Help Centre.
21. A Gentle Way with Cancer: Part 2
Aired 24 March 1983 • 40 min
22. A Gentle Way with Cancer: Part 3
Aired 31 March 1983 • 40 min
23. A Gentle Way with Cancer: Part 4
Aired 7 April 1983 • 40 min
24. A Gentle Way with Cancer: Part 5
Aired 14 April 1983 • 40 min
25. A Gentle Way with Cancer: Part 6
Aired 21 April 1983 • 40 min