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 (22)
1. MPs on the Box
Aired 19 May 2005 • 60 min
Time Shift looks at how satirists have portrayed politicians in such television creations as Yes Minister Spitting Image and The New Statesman.
2. Je T'Aime... How We Learned to Love Europe
Aired 31 May 2005 • 60 min
Sixty years ago, postwar Europe was seen as a dirty, chaotic place where you couldn't drink the water. Now Brits dream of restoring crumbling chateaux in rural France - so what happened to change our minds?
3. England Away
Aired 31 May 2005 • 60 min
Time Shift examines the history of English football fans travelling to Europe, and the attendant sub-culture of drinking and violence.
4. Court on Camera
Aired 16 July 2005 • 60 min
A member of OJ Simpson's "dream team", plus the lawyer who defended nanny Louise Woodward , are among contributors to Time Shift's history of the camera in the courtroom.
5. Apes in Hollywood
Aired 17 July 2005 • 60 min
Since King Kong broke box office records, apes have been big business. Time Shift takes a wry look at a neglected genre, from Tarzan and Planet of the Apes to B-movies and cult films, like Bedtime with Bonzo.
6. Star Men
Aired 6 August 2005 • 60 min
Adam Hart-Davis explores the world of Britain's 40,000 amateur astronomers. While the last century saw amateurs eclipsed by high technology, increasingly sophisticated home equipment has seen the amateur community enter a new collaborative relationship with the professionals. Contributors include bestselling novelist Terry Pratchett, Colin Pillinger of the Beagle 2 project and the godfather of popular astronomy Patrick Moore.
7. Black and White Minstrels Revisited
Aired 8 August 2005 • 60 min
Time Shift takes a look at the now notorious show, whose blacked-up singing and dancing routines ruled the weekend schedules for 21 years.
8. Too Much, Too Young
Aired 9 September 2005 • 60 min
Time Shift charts the devastating effect on children - some as young as five - who care for infirm parents
9. The Jitterbug Years
Aired 1 October 2005 • 60 min
Documentary recalling the social revolution which swept across Britain from 1946. A new dance craze, the Jitterbug, captured the mood of the country as years of war and austerity were cast off. The film uses archive footage and a soundtrack of classic hits, including music by Louis Jordan, Alma Cogan, Billie Holiday and Ray Charles.
10. Play It Again
Aired 4 October 2005 • 60 min
Remembering the golden age of the TV panel game as What's My Line?, The Name's the Same and Ask Your Dad make their debuts during the years 1945-55. Narrated by Hugh Dennis
11. The Battle for the Ashes
Aired 20 October 2005 • 60 min
The changing sporting fortunes of England and Australia as recounted in this Time Shift documentary.
12. The Lost Pictures of Eugene Smith
Aired 25 October 2005 • 60 min
Time Shift investigates how Life magazine's opposition to Attlee's radical Labour government inspired them to suppress photographs of the 1950 general election.
13. The Third Progamme: High Culture for All in Postwar Britain
Aired 25 October 2005 • 60 min
Francine Stock narrates the story of the Third Programme, a high-culture radio show launched in 1946, focusing on how the series influenced the British arts scene.
14. Lost Road: Overland To Singapore
Aired 30 October 2005 • 60 min
In 1955 young producer of Travellers' Tales David Attenborough was persuaded by six Oxbridge undergraduates to give some money & filmstock so they could film their unique overland journey by Land Rover from London to Singapore.
15. A Study in Sherlock
Aired 24 December 2005 • 60 min
Documentary explores the continuing appeal of Sherlock Holmes through his various screen incarnations, from early silent films through the classic portrayals by Basil Rathbone and Peter Cushing to the BBC's most recent Rupert Everett version. Contributors include Minette Walters, Kim Newman and Edward Hardwicke.
16. Baker Street Babylon: The Bizarre Afterlife of Sherlock Holmes
Aired 26 December 2005 • 60 min
Time Shift presents clips of the strangest Sherlocks, with pastiche and parody from Roland Rat to John Cleese.
17. Stephen Poliakoff: A Brief History of Now
Aired 15 January 2006 • 60 min
Robert Lindsay and Miranda Richardson guest in Time Shift's profile of the TV dramatist.
18. The British Way of Death
Aired 6 February 2006 • 60 min
Daniela Nardini narrates a documentary exploring why the British funeral has acquired a new spirit of informality. Today's departed are just as likely to be sent on their way to the strains of Robbie Williams as they are to a classic hymn. A bewildering array of coffin styles is available, with even an environmentally-friendly wicker casket for the organically-minded. Are we improvising new rituals to fill a more profound vacuum in our secular society?
19. Left of Frame: The Rise and Fall of Radical TV Drama
Aired 8 February 2006 • 60 min
Jimmy McGovern and Ken Loach are among those reflecting on left-wing drama of the 1960s and 70s, looking at works as diverse as Take Me Home and Our Friends in the North.
20. Rude Britannia
Aired 13 February 2006 • 60 min
From Pygmalion to Paxman, Time Shift traces the cult of plain-speaking. Narrated by Tamsin Greig.
21. The Sun and the Moon
Aired 6 March 2006 • 60 min
A quirky Time Shift compilation of TV appearances by these two heavenly bodies, including Patrick Moore 's meeting with a vicar who refuses to believe the Sun is hot.
22. Pay Attention Britain! Public Information Films
Aired 30 March 2006 • 60 min
Marking 60 years of the Central Office of Information, Time Shift celebrates PIFs, from HIV awareness to "Charley Says".