1 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:08,800 Today, Britain stands at a fork in its crossroads. 2 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:11,480 And its people are asking questions. 3 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:15,120 Now we've got our country back, what actually is it? 4 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:16,920 Who are we? And why? 5 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:21,080 The best way to find out where Britain's heading 6 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:24,560 is to look behind us into something called history. 7 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,320 A sort of "rear view mirror" for time. 8 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:29,080 So that's where I'm going. 9 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:30,480 Back there. 10 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:32,880 It's a journey that'll take me the length 11 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,560 and width of the country, from the White Cliffs of Dovver 12 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:39,520 to the Scottish high lands of the Scottish Highlands. 13 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:43,440 From old stone circles to modern stone circles. 14 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,960 From the tranquil beauty of Roman Bath to the 15 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:49,840 Golden Wonder of Oxford Services. 16 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:54,440 I'll discover how we went from Ancient Man to Ed Sheer-han, 17 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:56,720 why Elizabeth the First happened, 18 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:00,320 and solving the mystery of just who Winston Churchill was, 19 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,600 and why he wound up helplessly trapped inside this banknote. 20 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,840 Along the way, I'll be shouting at helicopters 21 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,120 and looking at some of the biggest events in British history, 22 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,800 and asking people about them. 23 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:20,680 In War II, why did the British build bombers to attack their own territory? 24 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:22,280 How do you mean? 25 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:24,880 Well, the Lancaster Bombers. 26 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:30,040 And, also, walking somewhere impressive with my mouth shut 27 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:34,040 while my voice speaks anyway like I'm talking aloud in my own head. 28 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:38,320 All of it taking place in this sceptered isle we call home. 29 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:41,640 So join me, Philomena Cunk, as I take you right up 30 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,560 the history of the United Britain of Great Kingdom. 31 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:47,320 This is Cunk On Britain. 32 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:57,680 This programme contains some strong language 33 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,200 In the last episode, we saw how Britain 34 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:03,920 was invaded by the Victorians, 35 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,720 who fought and won the Industrial Revolution, 36 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:09,520 but not without losing their leader, Queen Victoria, 37 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:13,160 who stopped happening just as the 20th century began. 38 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:15,360 Now, as well as a new century, 39 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:17,760 Britain had a new monarch, King Edward, 40 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,280 who, despite his name, wasn't a potato, but a man. 41 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:25,280 Edward's coronation was a grand affair, celebrated with a song that 42 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:30,200 was to become Britain's unofficial theme tune - Land Of 'Ope And Glory. 43 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:35,520 # Land of hope and glory 44 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:40,520 # Mother of the free. # 45 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,920 This melodic musical tune was written by one of the best 46 00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:47,640 British composers this side of Ed Sheeran - El-Gar. 47 00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:50,880 Who was El-gar? He sounds sort of rough. 48 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:52,720 Was he a caveman or something? 49 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:57,880 No, Elgar was a composer in the late 19th century. 50 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:02,240 When someone like Elgar's invented a new tune, how do they sort 51 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:07,080 of convert it into orchestra mode so it's being played by instruments? 52 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,440 He probably, when he composed it and notated it out and had 53 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:14,240 the sound in his head, he would then what's called orchestrate it. 54 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:16,720 So he'd write out all the parts for the different instruments 55 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:20,200 and then he'd hand that over to an orchestra and they would play it. 56 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:22,480 How do the instruments know what to play, though? 57 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,760 Because it was all written out for them. Their little part was written out for them 58 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:27,520 and all the little parts join together. 59 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:30,800 So the instruments have people attached to them? They do. 60 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:34,960 So what's Land Of Hope And Glory all about? What's its core message? 61 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,120 Well, it's a patriotic song. 62 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:40,520 People think it's about bashing the drum for Britain, really. 63 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:44,720 If you sang it in, like, Portuguese, would it still feel British 64 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:46,480 or would that just fucking ruin it? 65 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,240 Well, it wouldn't have any meaning, but you might get that it 66 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:54,280 sounded like it was supposed to stir you up without knowing why... 67 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:56,200 Mm. ..or what it was about. 68 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:58,400 So, it's sort of like Three Lions, isn't it, 69 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:00,880 by The Lightning Seeds with Frank Skinner and David Baddiel? 70 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:03,480 It is. But less catchy. 71 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:07,520 Sadly, no amount of patriotic music could save the new monarch 72 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:12,080 from an early death, and in 1910 King Edward died, and was buried 73 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:16,160 beneath the soil, to rule over his fellow potatoes for all eternity. 74 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,920 Little did he know it at the time, but he'd narrowly avoided tragedy 75 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:24,000 by dying, because just a few years later in 1914, 76 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,200 Britain suffered the first of many 20th century shocks. 77 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:34,320 Nowadays, "first world" is something you put in front of the word problem 78 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,800 to show that it isn't really that bad, like running out of couscous 79 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,760 or not being able to check Twitter in a tunnel. 80 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:44,200 But back then, "first world" was what they called the war. 81 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,440 The First World War had loads of nicknames - 82 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:52,480 the war to end all wars, the Great War, and, of course, World War I. 83 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:55,080 Why did they call World War I "World War I"? 84 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:58,160 It's quite pessimistic numbering, isn't it? 85 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:02,120 Or did they just know it was the start of a franchise? 86 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:04,360 At the time they weren't numbering the wars, 87 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:06,840 although I think that in the First World War the idea of it 88 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:12,560 being a Great War denoting the sheer scale of the conflict the, urm, 89 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:16,680 the casualty rate was already becoming used quite a lot. 90 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:20,920 So it was called the Great War, but not because it was great. 91 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:24,440 The First World War was started by the killing of one man. 92 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:26,960 Franz Ferdinand. 93 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:28,400 You've probably never heard of him. 94 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:30,560 Or the band named after him. 95 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:32,240 But he was dead important. 96 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,200 By which I mean he was only important when he was dead. 97 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,920 His assassination triggered a series of other killings. 98 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:42,080 Soon it caught on, and everyone wanted to be killed. 99 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:44,600 It was a bigger craze than fidget spinners. 100 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:48,120 Eventually, Britain got sucked into the fighting and men queued up 101 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,600 to have their flat caps converted into fighting men's helmets. 102 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,280 Soon, hundreds of thousands of Tommies were heading for battle. 103 00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:59,560 Why were all the British soldiers in World War I called Tommy? 104 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:01,520 Was that just a coincidence? 105 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:05,000 No, it wasn't a coincidence, it's just a general name that became 106 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:08,080 applied to British soldiers in the same way 107 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,800 we talk of Fritz as being a generic name for German soldiers. 108 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:14,680 What happened in Norman's Land? 109 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:17,960 Were only people that were called Norman allowed in there? 110 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,600 Well, it's not Norman's Land, this is No Man's Land, 111 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,240 and the idea being that this is particularly dangerous territory 112 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:29,800 between the lines of the Germans on one side and the British on the other. 113 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,320 This is essentially just a killing zone, 114 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:35,680 a very dangerous zone in between trench systems. 115 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,360 Why did they fire shells at each other? 116 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:41,200 Cos shells wouldn't really hurt, would they? 117 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:44,080 Unless they were those razor clam shells. 118 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:46,080 Cos they're quite sharp, aren't they? 119 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:50,760 Well, these weren't seashells, these were heavy pieces of ordinance. 120 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:54,160 We're actually talking about bits of metal in brass casing 121 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:56,480 so that's where the name shells comes from. 122 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:58,040 Oh, right. 123 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,720 Looking at footage from the time, it's hard to get a grip on just 124 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,080 how brutal it must've been for Tommy and Norman, because it's in black 125 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:09,280 and white and everyone's moving too fast, probably to avoid the shells. 126 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:11,840 Even though it looks a bit like Charlie Chaplin, 127 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:15,160 it's actually not funny at all, so you can't laugh. 128 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:17,600 Just like with Charlie Chaplin. 129 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:20,880 One man who vividly captured the sheer horror of War One 130 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:22,240 was the poet Wilfred Owen. 131 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:26,760 If in some smothering dreams you too could pace 132 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,640 Behind the wagon that we flung him in 133 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:32,480 And watch the white eyes writhing in his face 134 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:36,320 His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; 135 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:38,920 If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood 136 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:41,720 Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, 137 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:44,760 Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud 138 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,400 Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues... 139 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:48,600 You get the gist. 140 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:49,640 ..My friend... 141 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:51,360 As if the killing wasn't bad enough, 142 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:55,480 the accommodation was scarcely worth two stars on TripAdvisor. 143 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,080 Soldiers had to live in trenches - snaking, 144 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:02,360 cramped corridors of filth and squalor, without so much as a patio. 145 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:09,560 The World War I trenches weren't the right place for conventional warfare, were they? 146 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,320 But why did neither side think about mud wrestling? 147 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,240 Because they're the perfect conditions, aren't they? 148 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,200 Well, I mean, trench warfare wasn't new. 149 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,240 I think that whilst you will get the occasional game of 150 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:26,440 Christmas football, I don't think that anyone actually ever thought 151 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,880 that letting the guns fall silent and having mud wrestling competitions 152 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:32,480 was ever going to sort anything out. 153 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:34,960 I think they missed a trick, don't you? 154 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:39,160 Eventually, the war ended at 11 o'clock on the 11th hour 155 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:41,560 of the 11th day of the 11th month in the year 156 00:08:41,560 --> 00:08:43,400 11 19 11 18. 157 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,400 Hence the term, "stopping for elevenses". 158 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,560 The soldiers came home to a Britain they could hardly recognise, 159 00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:51,400 because it was wearing a skirt. 160 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:54,120 While the Tommies had been away at the front, 161 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:56,040 women had stepped into their old jobs. 162 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:57,400 There were women milkmen. 163 00:08:57,400 --> 00:08:58,640 Women postmen. 164 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:00,200 Women bus driver men. 165 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,160 Even women male prostitutes. 166 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:04,800 What's more, the economy was in a pickle. 167 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:08,440 After the war, many industries found it almost impossible 168 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:11,920 to sell their goods abroad, because abroad was mainly rubble. 169 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:15,600 There were strikes and marches and a great depression. 170 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:17,440 Things were shithouse bad. 171 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:19,440 People needed escapism. 172 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:22,880 But luckily for them, the age of mass entertainment was just beginning. 173 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:25,000 It was the Roaring Twenties. 174 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,480 City streets were full of jazz clubs, packed with 175 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:31,800 Jeeveses and Woosters, and women with Lego haircuts dancing like 176 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:35,840 they were surprised while shitting their pants at a fancy dress party. 177 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:38,640 And people who couldn't afford to enjoy a roaring twenties 178 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:44,720 for themselves could still watch films of other people doing it, at the newly-invented cinema. 179 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:48,160 The cinema was a cross between YouTube and theatre. 180 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:52,280 Despite this, it was popular, and people queued to get in. 181 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:54,320 They showed Charlie Chaplin films, 182 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:56,440 but even that couldn't keep them away. 183 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,440 The whole country went films bonkers. 184 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,880 Going to the cinema in those days was more like going to a book. 185 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:05,200 Because there was no sound, the story was 186 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:09,400 explained by words on the screen - a bit like spoilers, but happening 187 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:12,880 at the same time as you were watching it, so not as annoying. 188 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:16,200 And if you couldn't make it to a cinema or cocktail bar, 189 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:19,840 you could still enjoy the jazz age, because scientists had worked out 190 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:24,640 a way to force jazz into your house, using a magic called radio. 191 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:28,880 Radio was an exciting new invention that made it possible to hear 192 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:31,200 other people's voices in your living room, 193 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,600 without the use of thin walls or a devastating mental condition. 194 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,560 To help keep the early airwaves in check, the Government created 195 00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:43,520 something called the British Broadcasting Corporation - the BBC. 196 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,280 How come the BBC started with radio, 197 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:50,320 because radio's loads less popular than television, isn't it? 198 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:53,280 There are people in radio who would get very angry about that. 199 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:57,280 It's... I mean, radio still performs tremendously well... 200 00:10:57,280 --> 00:10:58,640 There's still radio? 201 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:00,000 There is still radio. 202 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,520 At the time the BBC was set up, there wasn't a choice 203 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:04,200 because there was no TV. 204 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:08,000 Luckily, a man called John Logie Baird was about to give birth 205 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,880 to television - not literally out of his vagina, 206 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:13,160 but metaphorically, out of his shed. 207 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:18,960 After doing some weird experiments like something out of Wallace and Gromit, Baird's TV was finalised, 208 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:22,160 although idiotically, he'd gone to the trouble of inventing it 209 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:25,120 without checking whether there were any programmes on yet. 210 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:27,240 It took a while before there was anything worth 211 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:28,840 putting your iPhone down for. 212 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,960 The earliest transmissions looked like Abraham Lincoln 213 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:35,360 looming through a glass door, and weren't very exciting. 214 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:39,360 Luckily, it was a short step from there to the BBC's first 215 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:44,400 Saturday night extravaganzia, TV's opening night ceremony. 216 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:46,120 Vision and sound are on. 217 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,200 The station goes on the air. 218 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:59,680 SHE SINGS 219 00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:02,960 The show got a record audience of 400 - 220 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,720 the sort of viewing figures BBC Four still dreams of. 221 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,600 Despite its popularity, the BBC was causing controversy 222 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:13,960 from the start, and the powers that be were suspicious of it. 223 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:17,720 Why did the Government start the BBC in the first place? 224 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:20,640 It seems like these days they're always trying to close it down. 225 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:25,360 Was it one of those stupid mistakes they made, like Brexit? 226 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:28,320 The Government didn't strictly start the BBC. 227 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:33,000 The BBC was originally a private company in 1922. 228 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:39,320 It employed a rather fierce Scottish guy called John Reith. 229 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:43,840 People still talk about Reithian values and Reithian broadcasting. 230 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:48,040 Reithian values were to inform, educate and entertain. 231 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:49,320 What, all at the same time? 232 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:50,400 Yeah. 233 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:52,600 Since those early days of black and white tat, 234 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,080 the BBC has grown throughout the years to become 235 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:57,480 one of biggest programme-shitting machines in the world, 236 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:01,320 making ground-breaking, iconic programmes which still try to 237 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:03,880 inform, educate or entertain. 238 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:08,640 So the BBC's supposed to inform, educate or entertain. 239 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:10,240 AND entertain. 240 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,720 I'm going to list some BBC things and I want you to say 241 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:18,360 whether they inform, educate or entertain. 242 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:20,960 OK. News At Ten? 243 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:22,760 Inform. 244 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:24,480 Open University? 245 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:25,600 Educate. 246 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:26,720 Doctor Who? 247 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:27,880 Entertain. 248 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:29,680 Strictly Come Dancing? 249 00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:30,920 Entertain. 250 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:32,240 Homes Under the Hammer? 251 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:33,320 Entertain. 252 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:35,000 Inspector Phillips? 253 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:37,480 What is Inspector Phillips? 254 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:38,760 Ah, I made that one up. 255 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:40,240 That was just a trick question. 256 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:42,160 OK, well, I've... It didn't work. 257 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:44,960 Sounds real, though, doesn't it - Inspector Phillips? 258 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:47,240 No, I instantly knew that it wasn't a real one. Oh! 259 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:48,800 Eat Well For Less? 260 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:50,360 It's where Gregg Wallace 261 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:54,280 and another man see how much a family spend on a week's shopping 262 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:57,760 and then criticise them and make them eat porridge from Lidl. 263 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:00,960 Inform. 264 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:02,560 Well done. 265 00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:05,360 Sorry, I wasn't totting up the scores. Thank you. 266 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,240 But this golden future of television would have to wait. 267 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:13,400 Because back in 1939 times, the TV signals were suddenly switched off, 268 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,360 because someone decided to start another war to end all wars. 269 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:21,040 When he became leader of Germany, Adolf Hitler was 270 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:24,960 a funny-looking character with silly hair, a bit like Boris Johnson. 271 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,280 But he turned out to be a hateful maniac who would let nothing 272 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:31,560 get in the way of his ambition, a bit like Boris Johnson. 273 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:36,880 Hitler believed the Germans were an elite race, like the Grand Prix. 274 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:38,760 He also thought he owned Poland, 275 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:42,560 and when he went round there to get it back, Britain cried war. 276 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:46,120 This country is at war with Germany. 277 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:48,640 Luckily, Britain had a hero on its side, 278 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:50,840 a man whose name will never be forgotten. 279 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:52,680 Win-ton Churchill. 280 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,360 Churchill's speeches were stirring and powerfully erotic. 281 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:58,240 We know it will be hard. 282 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:00,120 We expect it will be long... 283 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:03,280 He was one of the greatest orators of all time, and some of 284 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:07,720 the phrases he used still resonate today - such as "finest hour", 285 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:12,360 "never surrender", and, of course, "we shall fight them bitches." 286 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:15,040 And we needed Churchill's stirring mumbling, 287 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:17,720 because, at first, the war didn't go well. 288 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:20,440 Within six months, France was occupied by the Nazis, 289 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:24,160 who they didn't see coming, because they'd been expecting the Germans. 290 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,200 Hitler wanted to make Britain German, to match its royal family. 291 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:30,360 But the RAF held Hitler's forces back, 292 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:34,200 in amazing dogfights in the sky - that were done by aeroplanes, 293 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:35,680 not actual flying dogs, 294 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,120 which, sadly, science still hasn't invented yet. 295 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:40,800 This was the Battle of Britain. 296 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:46,000 It seems amazing that these young men could fly and fight so well. 297 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,080 Although when you look, you'll see the planes had tiny targets 298 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:51,920 and crosses drawn on the side, which made them easier to hit. 299 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:54,640 But planes weren't only used in dogfights. 300 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:56,680 The Germans changed tactics. 301 00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:59,280 Instead of attacking planes, which could move out the way, 302 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:04,240 they attacked the ground, which couldn't, in something called the Blitz. 303 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:09,200 Preceded by a shower of flares, German bombers rained fire 304 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,600 and high explosive bombs in their most savage attack on London... 305 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:16,720 Hitler's pilots started dropping bombs - sort of aeroplane poos - 306 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:19,080 and people had to hide from them. 307 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,600 They built big tin shelters in their gardens or ran down the nearest 308 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:25,880 tube station without a ticket or a valid Oyster card. 309 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:28,760 Countless houses were reduced to big piles of bricks and wood, 310 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:31,960 which is sort of what houses are, anyway, but in a different order. 311 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:35,080 Despite this, thanks to the plucky British spirit, 312 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:39,160 people weren't totally down in the dumps, even if they lived in one. 313 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:43,640 People sang songs during World War II to keep their spirits up, 314 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:47,880 didn't they? How loud did they have to sing to be heard over the bombs? 315 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:50,960 Well, especially as they would have sometimes been in underground 316 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:53,520 stations sheltering from the bombs, it would have been loud in the 317 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:56,240 underground station - the singing - if everybody was singing together, 318 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:58,480 but it's true you wouldn't have been...heard much. 319 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:02,680 I wonder if, when they sang, they used to time their singing with the explosions? 320 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:04,880 That would be a fun thing to do. 321 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:06,240 Difficult. 322 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:07,760 Very difficult to time it. 323 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:09,560 Quite random, the falling of bombs. 324 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,400 In the war, there were loads of songs taking the piss 325 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:13,960 out of Hitler, weren't there? 326 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,680 How come they don't sing those sorts of songs any more? 327 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:20,600 Well, he's not around any more, so it's not so amusing. 328 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:21,760 Where is he? 329 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:22,880 Well, he's dead. 330 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:24,320 He's dead? Yes. 331 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:27,160 Oh, right, so it would be disrespectful to speak ill... 332 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,000 Well, not so much disrespectful as pointless, really. 333 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:31,120 Pointless. 334 00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:32,680 Bit pointless. Yeah. 335 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:36,000 A lot of singing was needed because even when the Blitz ended, 336 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,120 the war was far from over. 337 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:42,440 There were many huge battles to come, most of which will never be forgotten, 338 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,840 because they've since been converted into blockbuster movies. 339 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:49,840 How was it we beat the Germans at Dunkirk in War II 340 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:51,560 but still didn't win the whole war? 341 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,680 Well, first of all, I think we've got to stop calling it War II, 342 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:56,240 I mean, it's the Second World War. 343 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,120 If you're American, and you have to have it this way, it's World War II. 344 00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:01,440 But you know, that's the language we tend to use. 345 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:04,000 But in terms of Dunkirk, I think that's the wrong way round. 346 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,880 We actually lose at Dunkirk. 347 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:08,440 We lost at Dunkirk? 348 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:09,840 We lost at Dunkirk, I mean... 349 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:11,040 I don't think so. 350 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,160 It turns out Dunkirk was a huge disaster. 351 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:18,320 Like most sequels, War II was proving less fun than War I. 352 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:20,720 What made the war harder 353 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,560 was that we didn't know what the Germans were planning, 354 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:27,680 because they said it in a sort of code language known as German. 355 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:31,040 It took a team of British boffins using a magic typewriter 356 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,440 called the Enigma machine literally loads of time to crack it. 357 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:36,160 But crack it they did. 358 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,600 And with Germany's secrets twatted wide open, Britain and its allies 359 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:45,680 were able to organise D-Day and invade France, but in a nice way. 360 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:49,480 In gruelling and exciting scenes like these, expertly depicted 361 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:53,800 in the pulse-quickening video game Call of Duty 2, soldiers scrambled 362 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,000 out of their boats, looking for power-ups and health kits, 363 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,960 terrified every second that a Nazi bullet might kill them, forcing them 364 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:04,800 to respawn several feet away, and be delayed by a number of seconds. 365 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,800 Eventually, the British won - and immediately there was 366 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:12,560 widespread jubilation and people dancing about in black and white 367 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:16,120 and getting off with people who are almost certainly dead now. 368 00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:21,600 A new, hopeful era had dawned, an era which 41 years later 369 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:27,520 included the BBC painting and decorating sitcom Brush Strokes. 370 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,560 # Because of you 371 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,560 # These things I do 372 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,840 # Because of you 373 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:56,480 # Because of you, ooohhh. # 374 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:01,480 After the war, returning soldiers rewarded national hero 375 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,960 Winton Churchill by voting him out of office. 376 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:07,760 And the Britain that Britain came home to was a smaller Britain 377 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:09,400 than the Britain Britain had left. 378 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,200 The Empire was crumbling. 379 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,960 Places like India decided they weren't British after all. 380 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,960 Which was sad because those countries had lots in common with us. 381 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:21,200 They had the same person on the stamps. 382 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:22,880 They spoke the same language. 383 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:24,920 They were the same colour on maps. 384 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:28,200 But despite all that, they chose to act as if they weren't 385 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:32,040 part of Britain, just because that was geographically true. 386 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:35,160 What's more, around the world, superpowers like Russia 387 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:36,920 and China were on the rise. 388 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:40,360 The future looked more uncertain than ever, and in 1948, 389 00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:46,160 one man wrote a book full of chilling predictions about just how terrible that future might be. 390 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:49,400 This is the book - George Orwell's chilling classic 391 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:51,400 One Nine Eight Four. 392 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:53,840 In the book, using nothing but words, 393 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:56,800 Orwell depicts a world in which people are manipulated 394 00:20:56,800 --> 00:21:01,320 by screens manipulated by the media manipulated by the government - 395 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:05,040 something which thankfully didn't, and couldn't, happen. 396 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:08,640 Although One Nine Eight Four is set in the year 1984, 397 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:12,080 it's not a 1984 anyone who lived through it would recognise. 398 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:14,840 Orwell didn't predict Band Aid or Ghostbusters. 399 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:19,360 Or Radio One's Mike Read banning Frankie Goes to Hollywood for singing about spunk. 400 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:22,520 In fact, almost the only thing he got right was that there'd be 401 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:24,720 a thing on the screens called Big Brother. 402 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:29,200 And even then, he didn't predict it would eventually be on Channel 5. 403 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:32,760 Orwell's scary vision spooked Britain so much, 404 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:35,800 it tried to avoid a nightmare future by reinventing itself, 405 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,360 and the Government was going to help. 406 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:41,880 The post-war Labour Government was one of the most radical ever - 407 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,520 kind of a cross between Jeremy Corbyn and the Taliban. 408 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:46,800 A landslide swept Labour to power 409 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:50,080 with a majority unexpected even by its own leaders. 410 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:52,560 They were seen as the biggest archy-tects of something 411 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:54,800 called the welfare state. 412 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:56,800 Where is the welfare state? 413 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:57,840 Where is it? 414 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:00,240 Yeah. Well, it's sort of all around us. 415 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:03,240 Er... Yeah, but where specifically in Britain? 416 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:07,400 The welfare state is a phrase 417 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,560 that refers to, broadly, the help 418 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:15,840 that government gives to all of us. 419 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:20,560 Er, the Welfare State helps people from the cradle to the grave. 420 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:21,600 Hm. 421 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:23,960 So is it just for people lying down? 422 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:28,600 It certainly helps people lying down, er... 423 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:32,240 They help to, you know, they give out bits and bobs, don't they? 424 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:35,880 Yes, they-they, for poorer people they, you know, 425 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:37,400 they provide a lot of help. 426 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,280 Schools and housing and... 427 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:41,760 And benefit payments... 428 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:43,000 Benefit payments. 429 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:44,480 ..top-ups to your wages. 430 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:47,120 And how do they decide what not to give for free? 431 00:22:47,120 --> 00:22:50,120 Like was there ever a plan to give out free crisps? 432 00:22:50,120 --> 00:22:56,200 I don't think they've ever given out or thought about giving out free crisps. 433 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,400 Although I quite like crisps... 434 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:00,920 I love crisps. 435 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:08,320 ..I don't think many people would argue that you can't have a decent life without free crisps. 436 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:10,960 I think I'd kill myself if I couldn't have crisps. 437 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,000 As part of its reforms, the Government introduced 438 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,440 the National Health Service, or NHS for less long. 439 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:24,720 On July 5th, the new National Health Service starts, providing 440 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:29,280 hospital and specialist services, medicines, drugs and appliances. 441 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:32,680 Once the NHS arrived, if you were poor and you got sick, 442 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:34,400 you weren't on your own any more. 443 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,040 You were in a crowded waiting room full of other sick people. 444 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:39,960 Suddenly, you could see a doctor free of charge, 445 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,680 like you can every Saturday evening on BBC One. 446 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:45,920 But staffing all those hospitals wasn't going to be easy, 447 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,320 so Britain looked abroad for help. 448 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:51,800 In 1948, the Government granted British citizenship 449 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:54,560 to everyone living in Commonwealth countries. 450 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:57,560 A sort of reverse Brexit, or Tixerb. 451 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:00,840 And a few months later, 492 migrants 452 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,600 made the journey from the Caribbean to Britain, 453 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:09,080 on board the Empire Windrush, which was a sort of sea-car, or boat. 454 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:14,120 The newcomers soon discovered life in Britain was very different to Jamaica - 455 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:19,640 it was colder, wetter, we had potatoes instead of posh fruits. 456 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,440 But they soon settled into a British way of life - not smiling 457 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:25,080 and being permanently tired. 458 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:29,400 Britain was becoming multicultural, although not everyone was happy. 459 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:33,560 Not even racists, who at long last had someone new to hate apart from 460 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:37,240 Jews, Italians, Spaniards, women, the Irish, the French and the poor. 461 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:40,560 Because far-right Facebook groups hadn't been invented yet, 462 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:44,200 the only way racists could express their fury was to take part 463 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:48,440 in race riots, which are sort of artisan pop-up festivals of hatred. 464 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:53,400 Today, racist bigotry has no place in contemporary Britain, except Kent. 465 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:55,600 Britain was welcoming a new era. 466 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,520 And it was about to get something mega-new. 467 00:24:58,520 --> 00:24:59,560 A new monarch. 468 00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:02,880 The Royal Family had experienced a rough few decades. 469 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:05,560 Before the war, King Edward had abdicated, 470 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:07,760 so he could spend more time in his mistress. 471 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:11,560 His brother George also vacated the throne unexpectedly early, 472 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,000 to spend more time in his coffin. 473 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,960 This meant his eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was to be the new, 474 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:19,840 female king at the age of just 25. 475 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:26,800 Now the Princess Elizabeth we knew and loved returns amongst us as our queen. 476 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:30,640 For centuries, the coronation of a monarch was a sacred event 477 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:34,360 that took place behind closed doors - just like a visit to the toilet, 478 00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:36,720 but more dignified than that makes it sound. 479 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:38,960 But, now, thanks to progress, 480 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,000 everyone was allowed to peep behind those closed doors. 481 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,280 In 1953, millions of Britons watched the Queen 482 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:48,040 being coronationed on their new televisions. 483 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:51,200 It must've been like watching The Crown on Netflix, but live, 484 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,480 and actually happening, like Britain's Got Talent, 485 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:57,000 but more serious, like Game Of Thrones, but set in the real world, 486 00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:59,840 and starring Queen Elizabeth, like The Crown again. 487 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:03,000 Afterwards, incredibly, people didn't take the TVs back 488 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,640 when they found there weren't any more coronations on. 489 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,280 They kept them in their front rooms and never went out again. 490 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:12,200 As well as a new queen, the nation had got itself a new prime minister. 491 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,000 Britain was changing so fast that the only way to tell 492 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,320 what country it was was to keep getting everyone to wave flags. 493 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,160 The national mood was shifting. 494 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:24,280 It's the 1950s, a time of great change. 495 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:27,760 The war's over, the NHS has been founded, 496 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:33,120 the Coronation's on TV, Mario 64's redefined the platform game 497 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:37,240 for a new generation and Anthony Eden's Prime Minister. 498 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:39,840 How did Britain feel about these things? 499 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:45,360 Well, I don't think computer games had been invented by the 1950s. 500 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:46,800 Um, the other things, 501 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:50,080 I mean, the population was pretty positive about the Coronation. 502 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:51,920 That was a cause for excitement. 503 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:55,400 Anthony Eden, perhaps less successful, with the Suez Crisis. 504 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:56,960 What was up with the sewers? 505 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:00,120 Did someone try to flush something that was awful? 506 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:02,080 No, the Suez Canal. 507 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:05,240 What, the canals used to be sewers? That's disgusting. 508 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:07,160 No, no, Suez. It's a place. 509 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:08,880 Oh, right. 510 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:13,000 During this "Suez Crisis", events in Suez reached crisis point. 511 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:14,960 More research needed - 512 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:17,480 make sure script amended before voiceover record. 513 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:20,400 And it wasn't just grown men who were causing trouble. 514 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:24,200 A new form of human being, called the teenager, was evolving. 515 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,800 Teenagers were creatures that looked like adults, 516 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,480 yet had the minds of children, like professional footballers do today. 517 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:34,000 And the young generation as a whole was about to deliver Britain 518 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,880 a series of shocks that would shock it right up the shockbox. 519 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:42,040 On the next and final episode of Cunk On Britain, 520 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:46,200 I'll see how the groovy young people of the 1960s encouraged Britain 521 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:49,280 to tune over, turn off and drop up. 522 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:53,160 And Britain experienced a golden age that sadly couldn't last. 523 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,960 In the 1960s, if you switch your television on, you'd get 524 00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:02,240 Morecambe and Wise, Cilla Black, Bob Monkhouse, David Frost. 525 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:05,800 But nowadays, they're all dead - why is that? 526 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,680 Subtitles by Red Bee Media