How TV Changed Britain - Season 1
Season 1
Network
DatesJun 1, 2008 - Jul 6, 2008
Episodes
Season 1Episode 160 min
Cops
The impact of television on 20th-century entertainment and British culture, examining how cop dramas such as The Sweeney and Dixon of Dock Green affected the relationship between police and the public.
Jun 1, 2008
Season 1Episode 260 min
Fame
The role of TV documentaries like The Family, and reality shows such as Airport and Big Brother, in eroding the distinction between celebrities and ordinary people. The programme considers whether this is a welcome democratisation of fame or just provides opportunities for irritating self-obsessed amateurs to flood the small screen.
Jun 8, 2008
Season 1Episode 360 min
Women
There's a warm sense of superiority watching this archive show, as we gaze back on the hopelessly patronising image of women projected by postwar television, with wives as homemakers judged (in plummy male voiceovers) on how tasty their pies looked or how clean their whites were. Ah, how we chuckle at the follies of the past. But the feeling doesn't last long, because the images from recent TV of women being kneaded and bullied in shows like What Not to Wear and Ten Years Younger don't reflect too well on us, either. It's not hard to imagine a clip show of the future getting hold of Anthea Turner: Perfect Housewife and wondering what on earth we noughties viewers were thinking. The programme enjoyably charts the progression of women on TV via a series of heroines, including Elsie Tanner, the Liver Birds, Angela Rippon and Prime Suspect's Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren). It grossly maligns The Sweeney and skips over the 1980s altogether, but it's well worth it for the cracking clips.
Jun 15, 2008
Season 1Episode 460 min
Property
The series continues with a look at the explosive popularity of home improvement and property shows such as Changing Rooms and Location, Location, Location. The programme questions whether this increasingly accessible genre has contributed to the current crash in the market, and the nationwide obsession with property.
Jun 22, 2008
Season 1Episode 560 min
Teens
TV and teenagers have grown up together. This film examines TV's attempts to represent teenage reality, and also its willingness to engage with teenage life when others were running scared. Programmes such as Grange Hill and The Word in the early days, and more recently Skins, have consistently created a space for teenagers in the mainstream TV medium.
Jun 29, 2008
Season 1Episode 660 min
IQ
A light-hearted look at the history of quiz and game shows on British tv and their reflection of our ever-changing social and political times.
What was the first quiz show on tv like? Why did "Mastermind" give way to "Who Wants to be a Millionare?" What was the appeal of "Countdown"?
Includes comments from the shows' presenters, writers and producers.
Jul 6, 2008
Recently Updated Shows
Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
Murder in a Small Town
Karl Alberg moves to a quiet coastal town to soothe a psyche that has been battered by big-city police work. But this gentle paradise has more than its share of secrets, and Karl will need to call upon all the skills that made him a world-class detective in solving the murders that, even in this seemingly idyllic setting, continue to wash up on his shore.
Sheriff Country
Sheriff Country focuses on straight-shooting sheriff Mickey Fox, the stepsister of Cal Fire's division chief Sharon Leone, who investigates criminal activity as she patrols the streets of small-town Edgewater while contending with her ex-con father, Wes, who is an off-the-grid marijuana grower, and a mysterious incident involving her wayward daughter.
