These videos contain broadcast standards, language and attitudes of their time. Viewers may find some of the content offensive.


1950s


The Brighton Story

 

A ghost takes us on a journey looking at Brighton in 1955.

Features Martin Clunes father Alec Clunes.

 

Produced in 1955

 

Health for the People

 

Episode from the BBC TV Special Enquiry Series. We visit the grimy and polluted streets of Salford to remind us just how much of a profound effect on the nation's health the NHS had.

 

Originally broadcast on Wednesday 28th December 1955

 

I Was A Stranger

 

Part of the BBC Television Eye To Eye series

 

Originally broadcast on Friday 6th September 1957

 

The More We Are Together

 

Part of the BBC Television Eye To Eye series.

 

Originally broadcast on Friday 7th March 1958

 

On Call to a Nation

 

This documentary features real doctors, but uses scripted scenarios and interviews to see the NHS through their eyes. The documentary also shows there is still division among doctors and if they think the NHS was a good idea in the first place.

 

Originally broadcast on Wednesday 22nd October 1958

 

Morning On The Streets

 

Denis Mitchell's 1959 documentary is full of evocative images of a Liverpool still recovering from the post-war gloom.

 

Originally broadcast on Wednesday 25th March 1959

 

1960s


Of Green Men And Blue Trains

 

Short documentary showing the end of street trams in Glasgow after ninety years.

 

Produced in 1962

 

9 Dalmuir West

 

Short documentary focusing on the last days of Glasgow’s tram system.

 

Produced in 1962

 

The Big Freeze

 

Cliff Michelmore, Derek Hart, Kenneth Allsop recall one of the worst cold spells of this century. Part of the BBC Tonight programme.

 

Originally broadcast on Sunday 10th February 1963

 

East Anglia Beer

 

The Anglia television programme Here & Now visits Southwold and local brewer Adnams. We also hear from some of the locals.

 

Originally broadcast in 1963

 

Matter of Degrees

 

This documentary looks at student life at the university of Newcastle in the 1960s.

 

Produced by Tyne Tees Television in 1963

 

The Changing Face of Camberwell

 

Documentary looking at the demolition of Victorian blocks in favour of new high-rise flats.

 

Produced in 1963

 

Last Summer By The Seaside

 

A writer takes his family on a seaside trip.

 

Originally broadcast on Tuesday 29th December 1964.

 

Please Note: Following copyright rules two brief sections that feature songs have been muted.

 

Three Swings On A Pendulum

 

This documentary investigates what many call 'swinging London' through the eyes of three overseas visitors.

 

Originally broadcast on Thursday 8th June 1968

 

Road to Blaydon

 

This Documentary looks at Newcastle’s slums transformation to ‘a city of the future’. Also includes footage from an early programme called ‘To Make People Happy’. Produced by Tyne Tees Television.

 

Originally broadcast on Monday 21st October 1968

 

Report: St. Ann's

 

Thames television documentary on Nottingham's slums.

 

Originally broadcast on Tuesday 4th March 1969

 

A Tale Out Of School

 

Fly on the wall film of pupils and staff of Skipton Girls High School on an end-of-term holiday to Switzerland.  A British Transport Film.

 

Produced in 1969

 

A True Madness

 

This documentary focuses on people with mental illness. Part BBC TV Horizon Series.

 

Originally broadcast on Monday 22nd September 1969

 

Warning: Viewers may find parts of this video disturbing.

Please Note: Due to the age of the film the quality does vary.

 

1970s


Decent Place with Hot and Cold

 

Hard-hitting documentary film looking at the Birmingham slums.

 

Produced in 1970

 

Warning: Viewers may find parts of this video disturbing.

 

The Squatters

 

Hard-hitting documentary featuring Squatters challenging the Greater London Council for their failure to invest in housing.

 

Produced in 1970

 

Warning: Viewers may find parts of this video disturbing.

 

Community Tension 

 

Thames Television documentary looking at the poorer areas of London in 1970.

 

Originally broadcast on Thursday 22nd October 1970

 

Warning: Viewers may find parts of this video disturbing.

 

Report: Where The Houses Used To Be

 

Thames Television documentary looking at the rise of flats in the UK.

 

Originally broadcast in 1971

 

I Want to Be Happy

 

A day in the life of a famous busker and wanderer known as Spider.

 

Produced in 1972

 

Please Note: Contains Strong Language

 

The Block

 

In the London Borough of Southwark the tenants of Chaucer House, a decrepit half-way house for homeless families, reach breaking point.

 

Originally broadcast on Tuesday 19th September 1972

 

Warning: Viewers may find parts of this video disturbing.

 

Wasted Lives

 

Thames Television documentary featuring mental health hospital patients left and now unable to live a normal life.

 

Originally broadcast in 1972

 

Warning: Viewers may find parts of this video disturbing.

Please Note: Due to the age of the film the quality does vary.

 

Class of '74

 

Documentary looking at three school students leaving school and starting their working lives.

 

Produced in 1974 

In The Making - Fireworks

 

Documentary looking at firework making in the 1970s. 

 

Originally broadcast Wednesday 1st June 1977

 

A Woman's Place?

 

This was episode five entitled 'A Man's World' This documentary seeks to challenge the previously accepted traditional roles of women in the workplace.

 

Originally broadcast on Tuesday 30th May 1978

 

The Road Back

 

Documentary looking at the state of alcohol dependency in the UK during the 1970s.

 

Produced in 1978

 

Warning: Viewers may find parts of this video disturbing.

 

The New Sound Of Music

 

This Documentary charts the development of recorded music from the first barrel organs, pianolas, the phonograph, the magnetic tape recorder and onto the concepts of musique concrete and electronic music development with voltage-controlled oscillators making up the analogue synthesizers of the day.

 

Originally broadcast in 1979

 

1980s


Ashwood Day Centre

 

This short documentary looks at the isolation that people with mental health problems face, and the great help and comfort they can receive from centres like Ashwood.

 

Produced in 1982

 

Warning: Viewers may find parts of this video disturbing.

 

Waterloo Station - Just Another Day

Day in the life of Waterloo Station.

 

Originally broadcast on Tuesday 5th April 1983

 

A Day in the Life of Dingles Department Store

 

Fly on the wall documentary of Dingles Department Store in Plymouth during the January sales rush of 1984.

 

Originally broadcast in 1984

 

Manor People

 

Yorkshire Television documentary looking at the Manor area of Sheffield.

 

Originally broadcast in August 1987

 

1990s


The Ford Transit Story

 

Discover the history of the Ford Transit Van. Part of the BBC Perpetual Motion Series.

 

Produced in 1994

 

2010s


The Great Estate - The Rise And Fall Of The Council House

 

BBC documentary telling the story of council housing in Britain. 

 

Originally broadcast in August 2011