Reel History of Britain — Season 1, Episode 4: Britain's Black Diamonds
Documentary • 30 min • 1 season, 20 episodes • ★ 6.0/10
Episode synopsis
At the Big Pit Mining Museum in South Wales, Melvyn looks back to the 1930s and salutes Britain's Black Diamonds, brave miners who risked their lives digging for the coal that powered an Empire. Vicky Stradling tells the shocking truth about one of the worst disasters in coal mining history. Melvyn goes underground to learn about the limited safety equipment used by coalminers in the 1930s. And David Bogg reveals the occupational hazards of working with pit ponies.
About Reel History of Britain
Reel History of Britain is a 20 part series being shown on BBC Two, presented by Melvyn Bragg and about the history of modern Britain; through the eyes of people who were there. It was shown from 5–30 September 2011. The programme is a social history documentary, charting the course of the twentieth century through archive film, plus interviews and recollections of key events that have taken place in the last one-hundred years, since the advent of moving film. In each episode, Bragg goes to a different place in the UK and shows people film in a 1950s Ministry of Technology mobile cinema, then gauges their reactions and captures them on film.