Season 1

The 1940s were dominated by the War. For the first half of the decade Britain was under siege. Thousands of men joined up to fight in the services, hundreds of thousands of children were evacuated from Britain's cities to the relative safety of the countryside and life changed completely for the nation's women. They did their bit for the war effort, going to work on the land and filling in for men in Britain's factories. Britain's families were subjected to almost constant rationing and austerity throughout the decade. Britain in the 1940s tells the story of this turbulent decade and the remarkable fortitude of the British people during and after the war through the eyes of the newsreel cameras.

Through the eyes of the newsreel cameras and advertising of the time, we present an affectionate look at the way we were in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1950, Britain was working hard to recover from the Second World War. Yet, as the 50s went on economic conditions improved and by the end of the decade booming Britain was in overdrive with five and a half million cars on the road, the opening of the M1 and the arrival of the first Mini. The teenager had also come of age with new dance crazes and flamboyant fashions topped with bizarre hairstyles - anything to make them stand out in the crowd!

The 1960s promised great things for Britain and the world. It was a period of optimism, idealism and limitless possibilities. Newsreels captured the development of a new kind of culture and lifestyle during the decade, as well as remarkable progress in medicine, science, industry, music, fashion and civil liberties. From Beatlemania to the violent anti-war protests in Grosvenor Square, the major news stories of the period are placed in their social context by the use of rarely seen material that shows the way we lived and the way we were.