Episodes
| Series | Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07 | 01 | Myxomatosis | 20080305 | Chris Ledgard recalls the outbreak of the early 1950s. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 07 | 01 | Myxomatosis | 20080305 | 20090104 (R4) | Chris Ledgard recalls the outbreak of the early 1950s. Series examining contemporary history |
| 07 | 02 | 1990 Poll Tax Riots | 20080312 | Jolyon Jenkins recalls the Poll Tax demonstration of March 1990. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 07 | 03 | 1967 Mossdale Caverns Tragedy | 20080319 | Ray Kershaw recalls the 1967 tragedy at Mossdale Caverns, when six young potholers drowned Series examining contemporary history | |
| 07 | 04 | The 1974 Lions | 20080326 | Chris Ledgard recalls the controversial 1974 British Lions rugby tour to South Africa. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 08 | 01 | The Little Red Schoolbook | 20080618 | Contemporary history series.
Jolyon Jenkins recalls the small paperback published in 1971 which advised children about sex, drugs and how to assert their rights at school. Although banned as an obscene publication, the book continued to be distributed by radical groups, becoming something of a cause celebre in the process.
Jolyon Jenkins recalls the 1971 book which advised children about sex and drugs. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 08 | 01 | The Little Red Schoolbook | 20081221 | Contemporary history series.
Jolyon Jenkins recalls the small paperback published in 1971 which advised children about sex, drugs and how to assert their rights at school. Although banned as an obscene publication, the book continued to be distributed by radical groups, becoming something of a cause celebre in the process.
Jolyon Jenkins recalls the 1971 book which advised children about sex and drugs. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 08 | 02 | GCHQ | 20080625 | On January 25, 1984, Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe announced plans to ban trade union membership at the government communications centre in Cheltenham. Senior civil servants and former CGHQ employees recall their roles in the resulting industrial dispute, which lasted for years and thrust this covert surveillance centre firmly into the public limelight. Contributors include Roy Hattersley and Howe himself. Chris Ledgard presents.
The long industrial dispute over union membership at the government communications centre. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 08 | 03 | Shoreham | 20080702 | Contemporary history series. Jolyon Jenkins tells the story of how the seaside town of Shoreham became convulsed for several months in 1995 when animal welfare hit the headlines and stopped being a minority issue as seasoned protesters were joined by ordinary people to protest against the export of live sheep and veal calves to the Continent.
The long industrial dispute over union membership at the government communications centre. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 08 | 03 | Shoreham | 20080702 | 20090111 (R4) | Contemporary history series. Jolyon Jenkins tells the story of how the seaside town of Shoreham became convulsed for several months in 1995 when animal welfare hit the headlines and stopped being a minority issue as seasoned protesters were joined by ordinary people to protest against the export of live sheep and veal calves to the Continent.
The long industrial dispute over union membership at the government communications centre. Series examining contemporary history |
| 08 | 04 | Legionnaire's Disease | 20080709 | Chris Ledgard meets survivors of the mystery illness that struck in July 1976. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 08 | 04 | Legionnaire's Disease | 20080709 | 20090118 (R4) | Chris Ledgard meets survivors of the mystery illness that struck in July 1976. Series examining contemporary history |
| 09 | 01 | 20081126 | Jolyon Jenkins investigates how, in the mid-1960s, Dutch Elm Disease started to sweep through England, leaving barely a single elm tree alive in the UK. Previously unpublished archives reveal that members of public were aware of the problem and were demanding action long before the government or Forestry Commission accepted that that they had a crisis on their hands.
Jolyon Jenkins investigates how Dutch Elm Disease swept through England in the mid-1960s. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 09 | 02 | The New Volunteers | 20081203 | Contemporary history series.
Chris Ledgard tells the story of the Voluntary Service Overseas organisation and its controversial founder Alec Dickson. The scheme was born out of the ending of National Service in 1957, in order to give young men something else to do with the two years they had allocated to it.
Chris speaks to some of the first volunteers, who made trips to West Africa and Borneo, and to colleagues and friends of Dickson.
Chris Ledgard tells the story of the Voluntary Service Overseas organisation. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 09 | 03 | 20081210 | Chris Ledgard examines the controversy surrounding Carl Andre's sculpture Equivalent VIII, or the Tate Bricks as it came to be known, which was displayed at the Tate Gallery in 1976. He talks to Andre, journalist Colin Simpson whose report sparked the debate and former Tate employees about the press reaction to the work and its use of public money.
The controversy surrounding the 1976 sculpture which came to be known as the Tate Bricks. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 09 | 04 | 20081217 | Examines the short-lived and much maligned Sinclair C5 three-wheeler. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 10 | 01 | The Contraceptive Train | 20090715 | Contemporary history series.
Early one Saturday in May 1971, a group of women boarded a train to Belfast from Connolly Station in Dublin. Although it was illegal to import or sell contrceptives in the Irish Republic, they came back with thousands of them and challenged customs officers in Dublin. The episode became a landmark in the history of the Irish women's movement. Chris Ledgard hears the story from those who were on the train and others who were not prepared to make the trip.
The story of the women who defied Irish law by bringing contraceptives into the country. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 10 | 01 | The Contraceptive Train | 20090715 | 20100601 (R4) | Contemporary history series.
Early one Saturday in May 1971, a group of women boarded a train to Belfast from Connolly Station in Dublin. Although it was illegal to import or sell contrceptives in the Irish Republic, they came back with thousands of them and challenged customs officers in Dublin. The episode became a landmark in the history of the Irish women's movement. Chris Ledgard hears the story from those who were on the train and others who were not prepared to make the trip.
The story of the women who defied Irish law by bringing contraceptives into the country. Series examining contemporary history |
| 10 | 02 | T Dan Smith | 20090722 | 20100608 (R4) | Contemporary history series. T Dan Smith was a political star of the 1960s. As Labour leader of Newcastle city council he had plans to turn the city into the 'Brasilia of the north' through slum clearance, inner city motorways and exciting new industries. In 1974, he was jailed for corruption along with architect John Poulson. But if he was such a crook, why do so many people in the north east still cherish his memory? The story of T Dan Smith, Labour leader of Newcastle city council who was jailed in 1974. Series examining contemporary history |
| 10 | 03 | Oil in Dorset | 20090729 | BP has hit the headlines recently because of the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. This episode goes back some 30 years to a time when Margaret Thatcher launched her privatisation strategy and sold the government's entire holding in BP. This coincided with a major discovery of oil in one of the most beautiful parts of Dorset. It also coincided with recessionary times and the need to generate revenue for the country. When geologists discovered what was the biggest onshore oilfield in Western Europe a dilemma arose. How could they open up a major oilfield around the Isle of Purbeck and Poole Harbour, one of the most important and protected stretches of landscape in the British Isles?
Some thought it impossible, but the oil men from BP were determined. However rather than a stand up fight with the locals they opted for a collaborative approach which has made their handling of this development a textbook example of how to develop oil drilling and production in an environmentally sensitive way. And, after a long battle and charm offensive to persuade the people of Dorset that they could drill for oil responsibly and without destroying the environment, their plans were passed. Chris Ledgard tells this fascinating story which is given more resonance by recent events in the Gulf of Mexico.
How did newly privatised BP extract oil from Dorset in the 1980s without a fight? Series examining contemporary history | |
| 10 | 03 | Oil in Dorset | 20090729 | 20100615 (R4) | BP has hit the headlines recently because of the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. This episode goes back some 30 years to a time when Margaret Thatcher launched her privatisation strategy and sold the government's entire holding in BP. This coincided with a major discovery of oil in one of the most beautiful parts of Dorset. It also coincided with recessionary times and the need to generate revenue for the country. When geologists discovered what was the biggest onshore oilfield in Western Europe a dilemma arose. How could they open up a major oilfield around the Isle of Purbeck and Poole Harbour, one of the most important and protected stretches of landscape in the British Isles?
Some thought it impossible, but the oil men from BP were determined. However rather than a stand up fight with the locals they opted for a collaborative approach which has made their handling of this development a textbook example of how to develop oil drilling and production in an environmentally sensitive way. And, after a long battle and charm offensive to persuade the people of Dorset that they could drill for oil responsibly and without destroying the environment, their plans were passed. Chris Ledgard tells this fascinating story which is given more resonance by recent events in the Gulf of Mexico.
How did newly privatised BP extract oil from Dorset in the 1980s without a fight? Series examining contemporary history |
| 10 | 04 | Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin | 20090805 | Contemporary history series.
'Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin' was a children's picture book that showed two gay men bringing up a small girl. When a copy was found in a teachers' resource centre in 1986, it casued uproar and was denounced by the education secretary as 'blatant homosexual propaganda'.
Jolyon Jenkins traces how the book, and the policies of a small number of local authorities, led to the now infamous Section 28.
Jolyon Jenkins recalls the controversy in 1986 that surrounded a children's picture book. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 11 | 01 | The 1975 Moorgate tube disaster | 20091202 | In February 1975 a London Underground driver drove his train at full speed into a brick wall at Moorgate station in central London. 43 people died, in what remains the worst ever accident on the Underground. There was nothing wrong with the train, so why did he do it? Could it have been suicide? Or did he just get confused about where he was?
Jolyon Jenkins investigates the Moorgate tube crash of February 1975. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 11 | 01 | The 1975 Moorgate tube disaster | 20091202 | 20100622 (R4) | In February 1975 a London Underground driver drove his train at full speed into a brick wall at Moorgate station in central London. 43 people died, in what remains the worst ever accident on the Underground. There was nothing wrong with the train, so why did he do it? Could it have been suicide? Or did he just get confused about where he was?
Jolyon Jenkins investigates the Moorgate tube crash of February 1975. Series examining contemporary history |
| 11 | 02 | The Mapplethorpe Affair | 20091209 | When a Birmingham art student borrowed a book of photographs from her university library, she sparked a controversy that left the vice-chancellor facing a possible prison sentence. Chris Ledgard examines the work of iconic photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, and opens the book West Midlands Police wanted to burn.
Chris Ledgard examines the work of iconic photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 11 | 03 | The Afghan Crisis | 20091216 | Jolyon Jenkins talks to those involved in the UK's longest plane hijack, in February 2000. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 11 | 04 | Sunday Trading | 20091223 | Chris Ledgard explores the restoration of Sunday trading in August 1994. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 12 | 01 | Pope John Paul Ii In Britain | 20100803 | 20110411 (R4) | The visit by Pope John Paul II to England, Scotland and Wales in 1982 was a momentous occasion for British Catholics. This was the first time a Pope had set foot in Britain. The six day tour was a pastoral trip not a state visit, and on occasion after occasion the Pope showed his popular touch. In Westminster and Wembley, Coventry and Cardiff, the crowds turned out for noisy, colourful celebrations. But the visit - which cost millions to organise - was very nearly cancelled at the last minute. As the Pope's arrival day in May 1982 drew closer, the crisis in the Falklands deepened. Many commentators suggested it would be impossible for the Pope to visit a nation at war with Argentina, a Catholic country. Argentine and British bishops flocked to Rome to press their case. Back in Liverpool, Bishop Vincent Malone was in the final planning meetings for the northern leg of the tour. As he waited for a call from his Archbishop in Rome with, he firmly expected, bad news, he discussed first aid and whether creams should be in tubes or bottles. It all seemed a little pointless. But then the phone went. It was the late Archbishop Derek Worlock - Pope John Paul II had defied the doubters and the trip was on. In this programme, Chris Ledgard speaks to Bishop Malone, other officials and people who were part of the huge crowds and congregations. The main organiser, Monsignor Ralph Brown, explains how he dealt with companies wanting to cash in on the souvenir trade by bringing in the world's biggest sports management company, IMG. More used to dealing with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, IMG led the church through the commercial side of the tour, negotiating deals on popemobiles, taking care of spoons and candlesticks, and seeing off the firm that wanted to produce a screwdriver with a flashing papal head! The historic first visit by a Pope to England, Scotland and Wales. Series examining contemporary history The visit by Pope John Paul II to England, Scotland and Wales in 1982 was a momentous occasion for British Catholics. This was the first time a Pope had set foot in Britain. The six day tour was a pastoral trip not a state visit, and on occasion after occasion the Pope showed his popular touch. In Westminster and Wembley, Coventry and Cardiff, the crowds turned out for noisy, colourful celebrations. But the visit - which cost millions to organise - was very nearly cancelled at the last minute. As the Pope's arrival day in May 1982 drew closer, the crisis in the Falklands deepened. Many commentators suggested it would be impossible for the Pope to visit a nation at war with Argentina, a Catholic country. Argentine and British bishops flocked to Rome to press their case. Back in Liverpool, Bishop Vincent Malone was in the final planning meetings for the northern leg of the tour. As he waited for a call from his Archbishop in Rome with, he firmly expected, bad news, he discussed first aid and whether creams should be in tubes or bottles. It all seemed a little pointless. But then the phone went. It was the late Archbishop Derek Worlock - Pope John Paul II had defied the doubters and the trip was on. In this programme, Chris Ledgard speaks to Bishop Malone, other officials and people who were part of the huge crowds and congregations. The main organiser, Monsignor Ralph Brown, explains how he dealt with companies wanting to cash in on the souvenir trade by bringing in the world's biggest sports management company, IMG. More used to dealing with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, IMG led the church through the commercial side of the tour, negotiating deals on popemobiles, taking care of spoons and candlesticks, and seeing off the firm that wanted to produce a screwdriver with a flashing papal head! The historic first visit by a Pope to England, Scotland and Wales. Series examining contemporary history |
| 12 | 02 | 20100810 | In the early 1970s Britain's universities were swept by a wave of student protest and sit-ins. They wanted cheaper meals in their refectories, the right to have visitors of the opposite sex in their rooms after 10pm, and world revolution. Jolyon Jenkins looks at three of the protests that occurred in 1970. At Keele, students tried to levitate the vice-chancellor's residence. At Warwick, they occupied the registry and discovered what appeared to be files monitoring their political activities. And at Liverpool they took over the Senate House, calling for the sacking of the Chancellor, Lord Salisbury, because of his alleged pro-apartheid sympathies. Forty years on, Jolyon Jenkins talks to the veterans of the protests, on both sides, and finds that the resentments still run deep. Among those involved in the Liverpool protest was broadcaster Jon Snow, who says "we were united in our determination to grind the nose of the university into the dust".
Jolyon Jenkins recalls the university sit-ins of 1970, when revolution was in the air. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 12 | 02 | 20100810 | 20110418 (R4) | In the early 1970s Britain's universities were swept by a wave of student protest and sit-ins. They wanted cheaper meals in their refectories, the right to have visitors of the opposite sex in their rooms after 10pm, and world revolution. Jolyon Jenkins looks at three of the protests that occurred in 1970. At Keele, students tried to levitate the vice-chancellor's residence. At Warwick, they occupied the registry and discovered what appeared to be files monitoring their political activities. And at Liverpool they took over the Senate House, calling for the sacking of the Chancellor, Lord Salisbury, because of his alleged pro-apartheid sympathies. Forty years on, Jolyon Jenkins talks to the veterans of the protests, on both sides, and finds that the resentments still run deep. Among those involved in the Liverpool protest was broadcaster Jon Snow, who says "we were united in our determination to grind the nose of the university into the dust".
Jolyon Jenkins recalls the university sit-ins of 1970, when revolution was in the air. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 12 | 03 | 20100817 | In the mid 1990s investment companies sprung up offering huge returns on ostrich farming. The promise was that you could get 70 per cent or more and never get your feet muddy, or even have to see your ostriches. The birds would lay and endless supply of valuable eggs and the companies offered to buy them back.
Ostrich fever took hold, and birds changed hands at 10 times their true market value. It seemed too good to be true - and it was. The Department of Trade moved in and closed down the companies on the grounds that that they were running pyramid schemes. In the case of the biggest company, the Ostrich Farming Corporation, an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office revealed that the directors had also been siphoning off millions of pounds into offshore accounts, and three directors went to prison.
In this programme, Jolyon Jenkins tries to discover why so many apparently intelligent people fell for the ostrich scams. He also discovers what happened to the ostriches when the Ostrich Farming Corporation collapsed, and follows the fortunes of the two companies, each run by retired military officers, which were set up to try to carry on ostrich farming.
The rise of the ostrich investment mania of the 1990s - and why it all went so badly wrong Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 12 | 03 | 20100817 | 20110425 (R4) | In the mid 1990s investment companies sprung up offering huge returns on ostrich farming. The promise was that you could get 70 per cent or more and never get your feet muddy, or even have to see your ostriches. The birds would lay and endless supply of valuable eggs and the companies offered to buy them back.
Ostrich fever took hold, and birds changed hands at 10 times their true market value. It seemed too good to be true - and it was. The Department of Trade moved in and closed down the companies on the grounds that that they were running pyramid schemes. In the case of the biggest company, the Ostrich Farming Corporation, an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office revealed that the directors had also been siphoning off millions of pounds into offshore accounts, and three directors went to prison.
In this programme, Jolyon Jenkins tries to discover why so many apparently intelligent people fell for the ostrich scams. He also discovers what happened to the ostriches when the Ostrich Farming Corporation collapsed, and follows the fortunes of the two companies, each run by retired military officers, which were set up to try to carry on ostrich farming.
The rise of the ostrich investment mania of the 1990s - and why it all went so badly wrong Series examining contemporary history | |
| 12 | 04 | The Humber Bridge | 20100824 | Why was the Humber Bridge built? The first major proposal for a crossing was made in 1872, but a hundred and nine years were to pass before the Queen opened the bridge across the River Humber in July 1981. The aim was to link two remote areas of England, unite the new political entity - Humberside, and attract investment on both banks of the river.
The bridge has been widely acclaimed as an architectural achievement. But it cost far more to build than originally envisaged, and traffic forecasts were optimistic. Just over a decade after the opening, its debts had reached £431 million pounds. And as Parliament debated how the money could be paid back, MPs focused on a promise made by the then Minister of Transport, Barbara Castle, on a January night in 1966. Was this really, as one Conservative member claimed, "a serious scandal...a bribe by the Labour party for the Hull North by-election"?
Harold Wilson came to office in 1964 with a majority of just five. A by-election took that down to three. Then the Labour member for Hull North died in late 1965. His majority had been slight, and the by-election arranged for January 25th 1966 was seen as the key to the future of the Wilson government. The leading figures from both major parties headed from London to Hull to speak to packed hustings. The Labour candidate, Kevin McNamara, was favourite. But opinion polls right up to the last minute suggested Toby Jessel for the Conservatives was still in the race. A week before the election, Barbara Castle made her famous speech and ended nearly a century of debate by promising the people of Hull their bridge.
In this edition of In Living Memory, we hear from the key figures in that election. Kevin McNamara and Toby Jessel discuss why the promise was made and whether it really had any political effect. A Labour party official at the centre of the discussions with Mrs Castle gives an insider's version of events. The fringe but feared candidate, the Guardian journalist Richard Gott, gives his perspective. And Sir Christopher Foster, who in January 1966 had just joined the Ministry of Transport as special advisor and chief economist, describes the ridicule he faced for allowing his minister to make a promise which, he says, made no economic sense. "It was with the greatest of embarassment" he remembers "that we learned the Humber Bridge was to be built...it was perfectly obvious that the Humber Bridge was not needed and would cost a great deal of money". The promise, he says, was made to win a by-election.
Chris Ledgard explores the political background to the building of the Humber Bridge. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 12 | 04 | The Humber Bridge | 20100824 | 20110502 (R4) | Why was the Humber Bridge built? The first major proposal for a crossing was made in 1872, but a hundred and nine years were to pass before the Queen opened the bridge across the River Humber in July 1981. The aim was to link two remote areas of England, unite the new political entity - Humberside, and attract investment on both banks of the river.
The bridge has been widely acclaimed as an architectural achievement. But it cost far more to build than originally envisaged, and traffic forecasts were optimistic. Just over a decade after the opening, its debts had reached £431 million pounds. And as Parliament debated how the money could be paid back, MPs focused on a promise made by the then Minister of Transport, Barbara Castle, on a January night in 1966. Was this really, as one Conservative member claimed, "a serious scandal...a bribe by the Labour party for the Hull North by-election"?
Harold Wilson came to office in 1964 with a majority of just five. A by-election took that down to three. Then the Labour member for Hull North died in late 1965. His majority had been slight, and the by-election arranged for January 25th 1966 was seen as the key to the future of the Wilson government. The leading figures from both major parties headed from London to Hull to speak to packed hustings. The Labour candidate, Kevin McNamara, was favourite. But opinion polls right up to the last minute suggested Toby Jessel for the Conservatives was still in the race. A week before the election, Barbara Castle made her famous speech and ended nearly a century of debate by promising the people of Hull their bridge.
In this edition of In Living Memory, we hear from the key figures in that election. Kevin McNamara and Toby Jessel discuss why the promise was made and whether it really had any political effect. A Labour party official at the centre of the discussions with Mrs Castle gives an insider's version of events. The fringe but feared candidate, the Guardian journalist Richard Gott, gives his perspective. And Sir Christopher Foster, who in January 1966 had just joined the Ministry of Transport as special advisor and chief economist, describes the ridicule he faced for allowing his minister to make a promise which, he says, made no economic sense. "It was with the greatest of embarassment" he remembers "that we learned the Humber Bridge was to be built...it was perfectly obvious that the Humber Bridge was not needed and would cost a great deal of money". The promise, he says, was made to win a by-election.
Chris Ledgard explores the political background to the building of the Humber Bridge. Series examining contemporary history |
| 13 | 01 | 20110216 | In 1980, Brighton was the first major resort in Britain to set aside a section of seafront for naturists. At the time a local debate raged over what might happen if people were allowed to take all their clothes off in such a public place. 'A flagrant exhibition of mammary glands' was how one councillor described the future, and others expressed concerns that the beach would attract exhibitionists and perverts. Over thirty years on, the beach has lost much of its intrigue and controversy. But what does this 200-yard stretch of shingle say about Brighton's self-image, and the future of naturism in a traditionally buttoned-up Britain? Local councillors, naturists, reporters and residents all have their say as Chris Ledgard tells the story of Brighton's naturist beach. Chris Ledgard tells the story of Brighton's naturist beach, which opened in 1980. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 13 | 02 | 20110223 | Zero Tolerance. Chris Ledgard visits New York to explore the origins of zero tolerance policing, arguably responsible for cutting New York's murder rate by half in the 1990's. But can such spectacular results in the fight against violent crime really be traced back to tackling litter, broken windows and graffiti? Zero tolerance policing has its origins in the criminological theory know as 'broken windows.' According to this theory, serious crime can be tackled at grass roots level by improving the quality of life of a community. George Kelling, academic and architect of 'broken windows' talks to Chris Ledgard about the origins of the idea, and the way it was used in the fight against crime in the 1980's and 1990's. Chris also meets William Bratton, onetime head of the NYPD and hailed as America's top cop when his zero tolerance policing appeared to cut New York's murder rate by half. But did clamping down on street traders and squeegie men really tackle serious crime, or was something else happening to the Big Apple? Chris Ledgard visits New York to explore the origins of zero tolerance policing. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 13 | 03 | 20110302 | In 1980, ITV broadcast a television programme called 'Death of a Princess', about the execution of a young Saudi Princess for adultery. The broadcast deeply offended the Saudi Royal Family, who believed that the British government should have stopped the transmission. They told the British ambassador to leave, and Saudi-British relations were thrown into crisis. Three decades on, the Foreign Office papers have been made public. They show how the British government was caught unawares by the storm, and struggled to find a way to restore relations with the Saudis. They couldn't apologise for the film, since it wasn't their responsibility, but the Saudis could not be fobbed off by 'expressions of regret'. The Saudis were telling the British to 'control your monkeys' [i.e. the British press], and held the government responsible for even the mildest public criticism of the Saudi regime. The British government desperately tried to square the demands of an important but authoritarian trading partner with the traditions of free speech. Meanwhile British businessmen became increasingly anxious, with one big company even writing to the Foreign Office to demand that it bribe the Saudi Royal Family with an English country estate . Even today, the subject remains sensitive. In this programme, Jolyon Jenkins talks to the key players involved in the story including the film maker, the expelled Ambassador, and the then Foreign minister Douglas Hurd. The programme also contains an interview with the only westerner to have known the executed Princess, a German nanny who had worked for her aunt. Jolyon Jenkins reports on the Death of a Princess film which angered the Saudis in 1980. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 13 | 04 | 20110309 | In May 1979, 10 people died when a fire broke out in the furniture department of the Woolworth's store in the centre of Manchester. Within minutes of the first flames being seen, the building was engulfed in toxic, black smoke. Most of those that died were in the restaurant on the second floor but the smoke was so thick, they couldn't find their way to the exits. It was later shown that it was the type of foam used to fill the budget furniture on sale that was to blame. Fire Officer Bob Graham, who led the investigation into the fire, remembers how, for a decade before the fire, he and his colleagues had watched the numbers of deaths in domestic fires in the Manchester area rocket. They knew the new styles of cheap furniture were to blame. Armed with evidence from the Woolworth fire, it would take Bob Graham and other campaigners a further ten years to persuade the government to change the law and oblige furniture makers to use flame-resistant foam. The Manchester Coroner, Leonard Gorodkin, led the inquest into the deaths. He explains why he was not convinced by a forensic expert's elaborate theory that faulty wiring behind a stack of furniture was responsible for the fire. The fire officers believed a naked flame was to blame but at the inquest no cause was given. Veteran BBC cameraman Ken Ward remembers capturing the iconic pictures of the disaster - women trapped behind bars in offices on the second floor of the shop. The programme mixes the first hand accounts of the people caught up in the events with archive of BBC news reports from the scene to re-create a terrible day in Manchester's history - one that would eventually lead to a change in the law that would save thousands of lives in the future. First-hand accounts of the Woolworths fire in Manchester in May '79 that killed ten people Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 14 | 01 | 20110803 | In 1961, the 264 inhabitants of the world's most remote inhabited island, Tristan da Cunha, were evacuated when a volcano erupted. They were brought to Britain where they became the objects of intense media and medical scrutiny. Having lived for six generations cut off in the middle of the south Atlantic, their speech, customs and manners seemed other-worldly in sixties Britain. In this programme, Jolyon Jenkins opens the Colonial Office files to discover that the British government had no intention of letting them go back home, and deliberately fobbed them off when they insisted on returning in 1963. But he also discovers, talking to surviving Tristans and those who knew them, that some did not want to go home and were pressured by island elders into presenting a united front. New history documentary on the 1961 evacuation of the loneliest island, Tristan da Cunha. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 14 | 02 | 20110810 | Late one afternoon in November 1979, Arthur Brooks and his wife Greta were on their way back from a day's metal detecting in Norfolk. They stopped at Gallows Hill near Thetford, so Arthur could have one last search. Trespassing on a building site owned by the district council, he found one of the most significant hoards of Roman treasure ever discovered in Britain - gold jewellery and silver tableware. The Brooks took the jewellery home and washed it - the gold in cold water, and the silver in warm water and baby shampoo. Mr Brooks should then have notified the authorities as this was likely to be Treasure Trove, belonging to the Crown. But the hoard was hidden away, and what happened next is a mystery. In this episode of In Living Memory, Chris Ledgard explores the murky story of the Thetford Treasure. On the building site where it was discovered, a warehouse soon went up. This, archaeologists say, means we almost certainly missed vital clues about why the hoard was left there late in the 4th century AD. So what was Arthur Brooks doing? We hear from his widow, and from the London dealer who was driven North in the dead of night to be shown the hoard. Eventually, it ended up in the British Museum. But even then it posed a problem: how much reward should go to the finder's widow? She would normally have been paid the full value, more than £260,000. But the academic and antiquarian worlds wanted to send a message to metal detectorists, against whom they were waging a bitter battle. The mystery of the Thetford Treasure, one of the most important finds from Roman Britain. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 14 | 03 | 20110817 | In October 1980, a new play,The Romans in Britain, opened at the National Theatre. Eighteen months later, the director, Michael Bogdanov, found himself in the dock at the Old Bailey facing charges of indecency. The play tackles the theme of imperial domination and repression by drawing parallels between the Roman invasion of Britain and the presence of British troops in Northern Ireland. The writer, Howard Brenton, had included a scene in which a Roman soldier attempts to rape a native Celt, Marban. As a metaphor for the rape of a culture, Brenton insisted that the scene was central to the play. But Mary Whitehouse was not impressed, and pursued a private prosecution against the director of The Romans in Britain for 'the commission of an act of gross indecency with another male, in a public place.'. Over thirty years later, Chris Ledgard explores how a play ended up in the dock, and discovers what the scandal did to the lives and careers of those involved. Chris Ledgard revisits the scandal surrounding the notorious play The Romans in Britain. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 14 | 04 | 20110824 | 20120619 (R4) | In 1974 an provincial orchestra sold out the Albert Hall. But this was no ordinary band - it was the Portsmouth Sinfonia, billed as the 'world's worst orchestra'. In its ranks were some distinguished musicians, including Brian Eno, Michael Nyman and the composer Gavin Bryars. But under the rules of the orchestra they had to play an instrument they were unfamiliar with. Alongside them were amateurs with no musical ability whatsoever. The conductor knew nothing of conducting but had studied pictures of Herbert von Karajan. The Portsmouth Sinfonia played light classics and rock arrangements, and the familiar tunes were just discernable through the miasma of wrong notes and unforced errors. It enraged some in the musical establishment who felt they were murdering good music, but got huge national attention, appearing regularly on TV programmes and in the newspapers, thanks in part to the fact that the orchestra signed a deal with a record company with a flair for publicity. Brian Eno was the producer of its first records. The orchestra had been founded by Gavin Bryars while he was a lecturer at the Portsmouth College of Art, and most of the original members were art students. So was it all an art school prank? By no means, say former members. It was an important contribution to the experimental music scene. Michael Nyman says it was hugely influential on his own work. Some people have claimed that the orchestra was a precursor of the punk movement. Others say that's nonsense. The orchestra never formally disbanded but stopped live performances in 1979. Portsmouth Sinfonia's recordings have never been re-released on CD and the vinyl recordings are collectors' items. In this programme Jolyon Jenkins talks to key former members of the orchestra, gives listeners the chance to savour those classic recordings, and tries to work out whether the Portsmouth Sinfonia had any artistic merit whatsoever. History documentary on the Portsmouth Sinfonia, 'the world's worst orchestra'. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 15 | 01 | Operation Julie | 20120201 | In 1977, police forces from across England and Wales closed down a multi-million pound LSD manufacturing ring, in Operation Julie. The police thought they were greedy criminals - and the courts agreed, handing down stiff jail sentences. Since the programme was broadcast the production team has found out that they were misinformed about one of the key protagonists Mr Richard Lee - known, at the time, as Detective Inspector Dick Lee of Thames Valley Police. They were led to believe that Mr Lee had passed away. This is not the case. Radio 4 has issued an on-air apology. The programme has also been removed from the iPlayer. We would like to apologise for the error and any embarrassment or distress caused by our programme to Richard Lee, his family and friends. History documentary about Britain's biggest LSD drugs bust - Operation Julie in 1977. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 15 | 02 | Ramstein | 20120208 | 20120626 (R4) | Chris Ledgard tells the story of the air show disaster at Ramstein, Germany in 1988. Three Italian aircraft collided, one crashing into the crowd, killing sixty-seven spectators. In this edition of In Living Memory, Chris Ledgard visits Ramstein USAF base to meet survivors of the accident, explore what went wrong, and examine the safety legacy of Ramstein. Chris Ledgard tells the story of the air show disaster at Ramstein, Germany, in 1988. Series examining contemporary history Chris Ledgard tells the story of the air show disaster at Ramstein, Germany in 1988. Three Italian aircraft collided, one crashing into the crowd, killing sixty-seven spectators. In this edition of In Living Memory, Chris Ledgard visits Ramstein USAF base to meet survivors of the accident, explore what went wrong, and examine the safety legacy of Ramstein. Chris Ledgard tells the story of the air show disaster at Ramstein, Germany, in 1988. Series examining contemporary history |
| 15 | 03 | Gentlemen And Players | 20120215 | 20120703 (R4) | Chris Ledgard revisits the final Gentlemen and Players cricket match in September 1962. Series examining contemporary history Chris Ledgard revisits the final Gentlemen and Players cricket match in September 1962. Series examining contemporary history |
| 15 | 04 | Kung Fu | 20120222 | 20120710 (R4) | In 1973, the martial arts classic movie Enter the Dragon premiered in New York and around the world. In the UK, the films release marked the beginning of an explosion in demand for martial arts classes. Jolyon Jenkins meets those caught up in the kung fu craze of the mid-1970's and discovers that not everyone was looking for Shaolin self-control and spiritual enlightenment. Jolyon Jenkins charts the rise of the 1970s kung fu craze in the wake of Enter the Dragon. Series examining contemporary history In 1973, the martial arts classic movie Enter the Dragon premiered in New York and around the world. In the UK, the films release marked the beginning of an explosion in demand for martial arts classes. Jolyon Jenkins meets those caught up in the kung fu craze of the mid-1970's and discovers that not everyone was looking for Shaolin self-control and spiritual enlightenment. Jolyon Jenkins charts the rise of the 1970s kung fu craze in the wake of Enter the Dragon. Series examining contemporary history |
| 16 | 01 | 20120801 | In 1966, a former pirate radio broadcaster, Major Paddy Roy Bates, occupied a disused military platform in the North Sea, and moved his family aboard. The next year he declared it to be the sovereign Principality of Sealand, appointing himself Prince Roy, and his wife, a former fashion model, as Princess Joan. Five decades on, the Bates family still occupy the platform, having survived the repeated attempts by the British government to evict them by legal means, and having fought off attempts by rival groups to seize the platform by force. It's a story of coups, counter-coups, guns, petrol bombs, and rival groups of foreign businessmen. Jolyon Jenkins interviews surviving witnesses to tell the story of this real life Passport to Pimlico. Jolyon Jenkins looks at Sealand, the real-life 'Passport to Pimlico'. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 16 | 02 | 20120808 | In 2003, a waste disposal firm in Hartlepool got a contract to dismantle 13 elderly American naval ships that had been rusting away in a river in Virginia. The ships had asbestos on them, as well as PCBs. When local environmental groups heard of the plan there was uproar. The vessels were dubbed the ghost ships and described as toxic timebombs. It turned out that the Hartlepool firm did not have the required planning permission to dismantle them, and the Environment Agency told the American government not to send the ships. But four of them set off across the Atlantic anyway. They arrived in Hartlepool where they were eventually dismantled. A decade on, feelings still run high in the area. Should the ships have been sent back? Should American toxic waste end up in a Hartlepool landfill site? Or was it better for the ships to be broken up here than in a developing country with little environmental regulation? Jolyon Jenkins reports. History documentary on the American 'ghost ships' sent to be scrapped in Britain in 2003. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 16 | 03 | Co-education | 20120815 | Chris Ledgard visits schools in North Tyneside and Somerset to re-trace their journeys from single sex to mixed education. The stories take us back to September 1969 and the height of the co-education movement. In the South West of England, Wells Cathedral School has a charismatic head teacher with three daughters to educate and a convent closing down the road. Against the advice of some veteran school masters, he decides to admit girls in order to safeguard his school's future. Meanwhile, in the North East, the local education authority issues a blanket edict as part of the switch to comprehensive education. So the wall between the boys and girls at Marden High School has to come down. Chris Ledgard with 1960s school stories of the switch from single sex to co-education. Series examining contemporary history | |
| 16 | 04 | 20120822 | Chris Ledgard explores how the introduction of the breathalyser to the UK in 1967 changed our drinking and driving habits, and saved thousands of lives every year. In Britain the Breathalyser Law was given Royal Assent on 10th May 1967 and put into operation on 9th October. Practical and highly portable, it was invented in 1953 by Professor Robert F Borkenstein, and replaced a more cumbersome contraption invented in 1938 and known as the drunkometer. There was huge opposition to the new breathalyser. Barbara Castle, Transport Minister at the time, faced hostility from the drinks industry, motoring organisations, and even from within her own ranks. She received abusive mail, even a death threat, but her courage paid off. In the first year of the new act, there were 1,152 fewer fatalities, 11,177 fewer serious injuries and 28,130 fewer slight injuries. The publication of the first figures of the lives we saved were fantastic. It gave a fantastic boost and people saw the hollowness of the claim that 'I have my civil rights and Government hasn't any right to take them off me'. Chris Ledgard meets police officers, publicans and politicians as he revisits the have a drink, have a drive culture of late sixties Britain. Chris Ledgard examines how the introduction of the breathalyser changed our behaviour. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 17 | 01 | 20130123 | In 1982, agriculture minister Peter Walker launched Lymeswold cheese - the first new British cheese for 200 years, and, for a while, the must-have dairy product for gourmets. Partly intended to deal with milk over-production, it was also meant to show the French we could beat them at their own game.
The public went mad for Lymeswold but, within 10 years, sales had dwindled, and the makers, Dairy Crest, pulled the plug. It had been a case of wild over-optimism: flushed with the original success, Dairy Crest had expanded production far beyond what the market could take, and moved from a craft-based process to a mass-produced machine-made product. It became a byword for inauthentic marketing hype, and a butt of Private Eye jokes.
Jolyon Jenkins speaks to dairy veterans about what went wrong, and finds a small cheesemaker in the Highlands who is making Lymeswold still.
Producer/presenter: Jolyon Jenkins.
The rise and fall of Lymeswold cheese - the first new British cheese in 200 years. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 17 | 02 | 20130130 | In 1982 South African undercover police bombed the London offices of the African National Congress. The attack was just one in a string of operations mounted by the apartheid regime against its enemies on the streets of the capital. Jolyon Jenkins speaks to both sides - the bombers and the bombed - about a time when London was teeming with spies, assassins and activists. Some of those involved are speaking for the first time.
For the South African government, the London office of the ANC was a target because they believed that Britain was allowing communist terrorists to operate from here. They thought that white European communists were infiltrating South Africa to carry out attacks on government installations. They were not entirely wrong: the previous year, five white people, three of them British, were part of an operation to fire a rocket at a military base near Pretoria. In this programme we talk to two of those involved in the attack, in their first recorded interviews.
We also learn how the policemen involved in the London bomb considered killing the ANC boss Joe Slovo with a Bic pen when when they came across him in Frankfurt airport. And we hear how the ANC set up a fake overland tourism operation and recruited a young British activist to drive weapons and ammunition into South Africa using trucks full of unsuspecting backpackers.
Producer: Jolyon Jenkins.
How South African secret police bombed the London HQ of the African National Congress. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 17 | 03 | 20130206 | In 1982, behind the grand, pillared facade of London's Royal Exchange, a new financial market transformed the image of the City. The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange or LIFFE (pronounced as in 'life', not the Irish river) was modelled on markets in Chicago. Business was done by 'open outcry' - traders (nearly all men) shouted deals to each other in trading pits. They wore coloured jackets and, for a while, LIFFE became a much photographed emblem of Thatcher's London.
Chris Ledgard meets the men who set up LIFFE, the futures market which shook up the City. Series examining contemporary history | ||
| 17 | 04 | Jaws | 20130213 | Chris Ledgard explores how the Spielberg classic Jaws inspired a new generation of marine biologists and conservationists, and invented the concept of the summer blockbuster.
Author Peter Benchley came to regret demonising the shark, and spent much of his life spreading the conservation message. But the film also encouraged a respect and admiration for the animal, and modern-day conservationists explain to Chris what the film means to them. He also talks to film critic Andrew Collins about the cinematic legacy of the film, and the marketing techniques used to spread the fear in the summer of 1975.
Producer John Byrne.
Chris Ledgard explores the cinematic and zoological legacy of the Spielberg classic, Jaws. Series examining contemporary history |