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Today, Britain stands at a fork
in its crossroads.
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And its people are asking questions.
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Now we've got our country back,
what actually is it?
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Who are we? And why?
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The best way to find out
where Britain's heading
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is to look behind us
into something called history.
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A sort of "rear view mirror"
for time.
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So that's where I'm going.
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Back there.
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It's a journey that'll take me
the length
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and width of the country,
from the White Cliffs of Dovver
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to the Scottish high lands
of the Scottish Highlands.
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From old stone circles
to modern stone circles.
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From the tranquil beauty
of Roman Bath to the
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Golden Wonder of Oxford Services.
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I'll discover how we went
from Ancient Man to Ed Sheer-han,
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why Elizabeth the First happened,
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and solving the mystery of just who
Winston Churchill was,
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and why he wound up helplessly
trapped inside this banknote.
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Along the way, I'll be
shouting at helicopters
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and looking at some of the biggest
events in British history,
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and asking people about them.
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In War II, why did the British
build bombers to attack
their own territory?
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How do you mean?
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Well, the Lancaster Bombers.
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And, also, walking somewhere
impressive with my mouth shut
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while my voice speaks anyway like
I'm talking aloud in my own head.
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All of it taking place in this
sceptered isle we call home.
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So join me, Philomena Cunk,
as I take you right up
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the history of the United Britain
of Great Kingdom.
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This is Cunk On Britain.
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This programme contains
some strong language
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In the last episode,
we saw how Britain
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was invaded by the Victorians,
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who fought and won
the Industrial Revolution,
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but not without losing their leader,
Queen Victoria,
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who stopped happening
just as the 20th century began.
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Now, as well as a new century,
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Britain had a new monarch,
King Edward,
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who, despite his name,
wasn't a potato, but a man.
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Edward's coronation was a grand
affair, celebrated with a song that
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was to become Britain's unofficial
theme tune - Land Of 'Ope And Glory.
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# Land of hope and glory
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# Mother of the free. #
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This melodic musical tune
was written by one of the best
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British composers
this side of Ed Sheeran - El-Gar.
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Who was El-gar?
He sounds sort of rough.
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Was he a caveman or something?
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No, Elgar was a composer
in the late 19th century.
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When someone like Elgar's invented
a new tune, how do they sort
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of convert it into orchestra mode
so it's being played by instruments?
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He probably, when he composed it
and notated it out and had
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the sound in his head, he would
then what's called orchestrate it.
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So he'd write out all the parts
for the different instruments
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and then he'd hand that over to
an orchestra and they would play it.
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How do the instruments know
what to play, though?
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Because it was all written out
for them. Their little part
was written out for them
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and all the little parts
join together.
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So the instruments have
people attached to them? They do.
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So what's Land Of Hope And Glory
all about? What's its core message?
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Well, it's a patriotic song.
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People think it's about bashing
the drum for Britain, really.
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If you sang it in, like, Portuguese,
would it still feel British
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or would that just fucking ruin it?
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Well, it wouldn't have any meaning,
but you might get that it
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sounded like it was supposed to stir
you up without knowing why...
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Mm. ..or what it was about.
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So, it's sort of like Three Lions,
isn't it,
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by The Lightning Seeds with
Frank Skinner and David Baddiel?
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It is. But less catchy.
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Sadly, no amount of patriotic music
could save the new monarch
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from an early death, and in 1910
King Edward died, and was buried
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beneath the soil, to rule over his
fellow potatoes for all eternity.
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Little did he know it at the time,
but he'd narrowly avoided tragedy
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by dying, because
just a few years later in 1914,
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Britain suffered the first
of many 20th century shocks.
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Nowadays, "first world" is something
you put in front of the word problem
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to show that it isn't really that
bad, like running out of couscous
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or not being able to check Twitter
in a tunnel.
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But back then, "first world"
was what they called the war.
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The First World War
had loads of nicknames -
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the war to end all wars, the Great
War, and, of course, World War I.
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Why did they call World War I
"World War I"?
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It's quite pessimistic numbering,
isn't it?
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Or did they just know it was
the start of a franchise?
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At the time they weren't
numbering the wars,
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although I think that in the
First World War the idea of it
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being a Great War denoting the sheer
scale of the conflict the, urm,
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the casualty rate was already
becoming used quite a lot.
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So it was called the Great War,
but not because it was great.
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The First World War was
started by the killing of one man.
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Franz Ferdinand.
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You've probably never heard of him.
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Or the band named after him.
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But he was dead important.
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By which I mean he was only
important when he was dead.
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His assassination triggered
a series of other killings.
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Soon it caught on,
and everyone wanted to be killed.
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It was a bigger craze than
fidget spinners.
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Eventually, Britain got sucked
into the fighting and men queued up
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to have their flat caps converted
into fighting men's helmets.
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Soon, hundreds of thousands
of Tommies were heading for battle.
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Why were all the British soldiers
in World War I called Tommy?
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Was that just a coincidence?
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No, it wasn't a coincidence, it's
just a general name that became
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applied to British soldiers
in the same way
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we talk of Fritz as being
a generic name for German soldiers.
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What happened in Norman's Land?
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Were only people that were called
Norman allowed in there?
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Well, it's not Norman's Land,
this is No Man's Land,
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and the idea being that this is
particularly dangerous territory
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between the lines of the Germans
on one side and the British
on the other.
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This is essentially
just a killing zone,
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a very dangerous zone
in between trench systems.
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Why did they fire shells
at each other?
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Cos shells wouldn't really hurt,
would they?
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Unless they were those
razor clam shells.
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Cos they're quite sharp,
aren't they?
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Well, these weren't seashells, these
were heavy pieces of ordinance.
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We're actually talking about bits
of metal in brass casing
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so that's where the name
shells comes from.
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Oh, right.
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Looking at footage from the time,
it's hard to get a grip on just
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how brutal it must've been for Tommy
and Norman, because it's in black
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and white and everyone's moving too
fast, probably to avoid the shells.
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Even though it looks
a bit like Charlie Chaplin,
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it's actually not funny at all,
so you can't laugh.
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Just like with Charlie Chaplin.
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One man who vividly captured
the sheer horror of War One
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was the poet Wilfred Owen.
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If in some smothering dreams
you too could pace
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Behind the wagon
that we flung him in
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And watch the white eyes writhing
in his face
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His hanging face,
like a devil's sick of sin;
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If you could hear,
at every jolt, the blood
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Come gargling from the
froth-corrupted lungs,
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Obscene as cancer,
bitter as the cud
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Of vile, incurable sores
on innocent tongues...
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You get the gist.
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..My friend...
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As if the killing wasn't bad enough,
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the accommodation was scarcely worth
two stars on TripAdvisor.
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Soldiers had to live in trenches -
snaking,
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cramped corridors of filth and
squalor, without so much as a patio.
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The World War I trenches
weren't the right place for
conventional warfare, were they?
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But why did neither side
think about mud wrestling?
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Because they're the perfect
conditions, aren't they?
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Well, I mean, trench warfare
wasn't new.
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I think that whilst you will get
the occasional game of
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Christmas football, I don't think
that anyone actually ever thought
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that letting the guns fall silent
and having mud wrestling
competitions
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was ever going to sort anything out.
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I think they missed a trick,
don't you?
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Eventually, the war ended at
11 o'clock on the 11th hour
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of the 11th day of the 11th month
in the year
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11 19 11 18.
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Hence the term,
"stopping for elevenses".
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The soldiers came home to a Britain
they could hardly recognise,
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because it was wearing a skirt.
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While the Tommies had been
away at the front,
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women had stepped
into their old jobs.
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There were women milkmen.
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Women postmen.
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Women bus driver men.
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Even women male prostitutes.
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What's more, the economy
was in a pickle.
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After the war, many industries
found it almost impossible
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to sell their goods abroad,
because abroad was mainly rubble.
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There were strikes and marches
and a great depression.
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Things were shithouse bad.
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People needed escapism.
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But luckily for them,
the age of mass entertainment
was just beginning.
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It was the Roaring Twenties.
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City streets were full of jazz
clubs, packed with
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Jeeveses and Woosters, and women
with Lego haircuts dancing like
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they were surprised while shitting
their pants at a fancy dress party.
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And people who couldn't afford
to enjoy a roaring twenties
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for themselves could still watch
films of other people doing it,
at the newly-invented cinema.
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The cinema was a cross
between YouTube and theatre.
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Despite this, it was popular,
and people queued to get in.
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They showed Charlie Chaplin films,
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but even that couldn't keep them
away.
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The whole country went films
bonkers.
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Going to the cinema in those days
was more like going to a book.
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Because there was no sound,
the story was
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explained by words on the screen -
a bit like spoilers, but happening
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at the same time as you were
watching it, so not as annoying.
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And if you couldn't make it
to a cinema or cocktail bar,
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you could still enjoy the jazz age,
because scientists had worked out
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a way to force jazz into your house,
using a magic called radio.
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Radio was an exciting new invention
that made it possible to hear
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other people's voices
in your living room,
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without the use of thin walls
or a devastating mental condition.
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To help keep the early airwaves
in check, the Government created
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something called the British
Broadcasting Corporation - the BBC.
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How come the BBC started with radio,
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because radio's loads less popular
than television, isn't it?
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There are people in radio who would
get very angry about that.
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It's... I mean, radio still
performs tremendously well...
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There's still radio?
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There is still radio.
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At the time the BBC was set up,
there wasn't a choice
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because there was no TV.
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Luckily, a man called John Logie
Baird was about to give birth
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00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,880
to television -
not literally out of his vagina,
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00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:13,160
but metaphorically, out of his shed.
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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,
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00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:22,160
although idiotically, he'd
gone to the trouble of inventing it
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without checking whether there were
any programmes on yet.
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It took a while before there was
anything worth
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00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:28,840
putting your iPhone down for.
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00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,960
The earliest transmissions
looked like Abraham Lincoln
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00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:35,360
looming through a glass door,
and weren't very exciting.
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00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:39,360
Luckily, it was a short step from
there to the BBC's first
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00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:44,400
Saturday night extravaganzia,
TV's opening night ceremony.
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00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:46,120
Vision and sound are on.
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The station goes on the air.
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SHE SINGS
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00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:02,960
The show got a record audience
of 400 -
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00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,720
the sort of viewing
figures BBC Four still dreams of.
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00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,600
Despite its popularity, the BBC
was causing controversy
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00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:13,960
from the start, and the powers
that be were suspicious of it.
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Why did the Government
start the BBC in the first place?
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It seems like these days they're
always trying to close it down.
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Was it one of those stupid mistakes
they made, like Brexit?
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00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:28,320
The Government
didn't strictly start the BBC.
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00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:33,000
The BBC was originally
a private company in 1922.
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00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:39,320
It employed a rather fierce
Scottish guy called John Reith.
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00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:43,840
People still talk about Reithian
values and Reithian broadcasting.
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Reithian values were to inform,
educate and entertain.
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What, all at the same time?
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Yeah.
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00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:52,600
Since those early days of black
and white tat,
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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