About this season
Documentary series which ranges widely over Britain's social and cultural history, its narrative-led storytelling offering a richly immersive and varied window onto the past.
Episodes (11)
1. Retrial by TV: The Rise and Fall of Rough Justice
Aired 3 April 2011 • 60 min
Documentary about the BBC's Rough Justice series, which began investigating miscarriages of justice in the early 1980s and helped overturn the convictions of 18 people in 13 cases.
2. Hotel Deluxe
Aired 29 June 2011 • 60 min
Documentary which charts how luxury hotels have met the needs of new forms of wealth - from aristocrats to rock stars and beyond - with comfort, innovation and service.
3. All the Fun of the Fair
Aired 2 August 2011 • 60 min
Documentary which explores the history of the fairground, from the sideshows to the freak shows, and from early hand-powered rides to the arrival of steam and electricity.
4. When the Circus Comes to Town
Aired 9 August 2011 • 60 min
Film which uses the University of Sheffield's National Fairground Archive to explore the history of the circus, from Billy Smart to Gerry Cottle and Archaos to Cirque du Soleil
5. The Picture Postcard World of Nigel Walmsley
Aired 15 September 2011 • 60 min
The story behind the humble picture postcard, told by comic creation Nigel Walmsley. With their own language and bespoke rules, postcards were the texts and emails of their era.
6. Dear Censor - The secret archive of the British Board of Film Classification
Aired 29 September 2011 • 60 min
Documentary examining the work of the BBFC, casting an eye over some of the most infamous cases in its history and analysing how it works with film-makers themselves.
7. Antarctica - Of Ice and Men
8.0Aired 3 November 2011 • 60 min
Documentary which looks at why the most inhospitable place on the planet has exerted such a powerful hold on the imagination of explorers, scientists, writers and photographers.
8. The Golden Age of Trams: A Streetcar Named Desire
Aired 5 December 2011 • 60 min
Documentary exploring how the tram liberated overcrowded cities, mapping its journey from horse-drawn carriage on rails to steam and then electric power.
9. Epic: A Cast of Thousands!
Aired 24 December 2011 • 60 min
Documentary which goes behind the scenes to tell the stories of the biggest film genre of them all - the epic, from Ben-Hur to The Ten Commandments and from El Cid to Cleopatra.
10. The Smoking Years
Aired 4 January 2012 • 60 min
With contributions from Barry Cryer, Stuart Maconie and others, this documentary tells the unnatural history of the now-threatened creature that is 'the smoker'.
11. The Rules of Drinking
Aired 11 January 2012 • 60 min
Documentary which digs into the archive to discover the unwritten rules that have governed the way we drink in Britain, from 1940s pubs and clubs to drinking at home or at work.