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The Best Episodes of Timeshift

Every episode of Timeshift ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Timeshift!

The Best Episodes of Timeshift

Documentary series which ranges widely over Britain's social and cultural history, its narrative-led storytelling offering a richly immersive and varied window onto the past.
  1. Background image for The Kneale Tapes
    8.8/10(7 votes)

    #1 - The Kneale Tapes

    S3:E2

    Time Shift profiles Nigel Kneale, the brains behind such disconcerting chillers as The Stone Tapes and The Ouatermass Experiment.

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    Director:John Das
    Writer:Unknown
  2. Background image for The Golden Age of Liners
    8.4/10(12 votes)

    #2 - The Golden Age of Liners

    S9:E2

    Paul Atterbury travels around Britain finding out how the great ocean liners made such a mark on the popular imagination and why they continue to enchant.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  3. Background image for Klezmer
    8.4/10(9 votes)

    #3 - Klezmer

    S12:E3

    Michael Grade narrates the story of klezmer, from its origins in Jewish folk music performed at weddings and Bar Mitzvahs to a musical sensation enjoyed by millions worldwide.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  4. Background image for Penny Blacks & Twopenny Blues: How Britain Got Stuck on Stamps
    8.4/10(6 votes)

    #4 - Penny Blacks & Twopenny Blues: How Britain Got Stuck on Stamps

    S16:E3

    A look at how the introduction of the penny post changed Britain, and how enthusiasm for the first stamps led to the emergence of stamp-collecting as a popular hobby.

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  5. Background image for Last Days of Steam
    8.3/10(11 votes)

    #5 - Last Days of Steam

    S8:E3

    Documentary that tells the surprising story of how Britain entered a new age of steam railways after the Second World War and why it quickly came to an end.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  6. Background image for Retrial by TV: The Rise and Fall of Rough Justice
    8.2/10(6 votes)

    #6 - Retrial by TV: The Rise and Fall of Rough Justice

    S11:E1

    Documentary about the BBC's Rough Justice series, which began investigating miscarriages of justice in the early 1980s and helped overturn the convictions of 18 people in 13 cases.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  8. Background image for How to Be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective
    8.2/10(46 votes)

    #7 - How to Be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective

    S13:E7

    Film charting the evolution of Sherlock Holmes on screen, from silent movies to the latest film and television versions. Featuring contributions from Sherlocks past and present.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  9. Background image for The Engine That Powers the World
    8.2/10(14 votes)

    #8 - The Engine That Powers the World

    S15:E3

    The story behind the invention of the diesel engine in the 19th century that later became the workhorse of the 20th and 21st century.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  10. Background image for Bouffants, Beehives and Bobs: The Hairstyles That Shaped Britain
    8.1/10(8 votes)

    #9 - Bouffants, Beehives and Bobs: The Hairstyles That Shaped Britain

    S13:E3

    Timeshift takes a loving and sometimes horrified look back at the iconic hairdos and 'must have' haircuts that both men and women in Britain have flirted with in the past 60 years.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  11. Background image for Flights of Fancy: Pigeons and the British
    8.0/10(8 votes)

    #10 - Flights of Fancy: Pigeons and the British

    S16:E5

    Timeshift ventures inside places of sporting achievement, scientific endeavour and male obsession - the lofts of pigeon fanciers - to tell the story of a remarkable bird.

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    Director:Jake Hayes
    Writer:Unknown
  12. Background image for Crime and Punishment - The Story of Capital Punishment
    7.9/10(14 votes)

    #11 - Crime and Punishment - The Story of Capital Punishment

    S10:E9

    Documentary tracing the story of the ultimate sanction, examining such matters as the protocols of the public execution and the 'science' of hanging.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for Booze, Beans & Bhajis: The Story of the Corner Shop
    7.9/10(9 votes)

    #12 - Booze, Beans & Bhajis: The Story of the Corner Shop

    S16:E4

    Babita Sharma traces the history of the corner shop in Britain, from its Victorian suburban origins, its crucial role serving the home front in World War Two, and its fortunes in the hands of successive waves of immigration. She and her parents visit the corner shop which was once run by them as a family, and discuss how it shaped her upbringing.

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    Director:Linda Sands
  14. Background image for The Joy of (Train) Sets
    7.8/10(7 votes)

    #13 - The Joy of (Train) Sets

    S12:E7

    The Model Railway Story: Documentary which explores how the British have been in love with model railways for over a century, with unique archive and contributions from modellers.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  15. Background image for The Ladybird Books Story: The Bugs that Got Britain Reading
    7.8/10(9 votes)

    #14 - The Ladybird Books Story: The Bugs that Got Britain Reading

    S13:E5

    Timeshift documentary about Ladybird books, which once informed people on such diverse subjects as how magnets work and what to look for in winter, but also helped to teach many to read.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  16. Background image for How to Win at Chess
    7.7/10(18 votes)

    #15 - How to Win at Chess

    S9:E5

    In a programme showing how to play better chess, British grandmasters Dan King and Ray Keene go through a demonstration game from opening gambit to checkmate.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  17. Background image for Full Throttle: The Glory Days of British Motorbikes
    7.7/10(12 votes)

    #16 - Full Throttle: The Glory Days of British Motorbikes

    S13:E1

    Documentary which explores the British love of fast, daring and sometimes reckless motorbike riding during a period when home-grown machines were the envy of the world

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  18. Background image for Sailors, Ships and Stevedores: The Story of British Docks
    7.7/10(7 votes)

    #17 - Sailors, Ships and Stevedores: The Story of British Docks

    S16:E2

    How Britain's docks in cities like Liverpool, London and Cardiff were commercial portals and gateways for the arrival of sounds, styles and cultures.

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    Director:Eve White
    Writer:Unknown
  19. Background image for How Britain Won the Space Race: The Story of Bernard Lovell and Jodrell Bank
    7.6/10(12 votes)

    #18 - How Britain Won the Space Race: The Story of Bernard Lovell and Jodrell Bank

    S15:E6

    How Bernard Lovell's telescope was used by both the Americans and the Russians to track their competing spacecraft and put Britain at the forefront of radio astronomy.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  20. Background image for Live on the Night: The Story of Live TV Drama
    7.5/10(7 votes)

    #19 - Live on the Night: The Story of Live TV Drama

    S4:E6

    In the days before editing ensured slick production values and blemish-free performances, TV drama was a live medium. Bill Nighy narrates a Time Shift retrospective on a time when things didn't always go to plan on screen.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for Emmylou Harris's Ten Commandments of Country
    7.5/10(7 votes)

    #20 - Emmylou Harris's Ten Commandments of Country

    S7:E5

    Live performance in which Emmylou Harris presents her ten rules of what makes a great country song, personally chosen from her own extensive repertoire. Filmed in Los Angeles in an intimate venue, the show features songs with Emmylou accompanied by her blue grass band. Each track illustrates one of her 10 Commandments, with a short introduction to explain why it was chosen and what element of country music it best represents.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  22. Background image for Bread: A Loaf Affair
    7.5/10(8 votes)

    #21 - Bread: A Loaf Affair

    S9:E8

    Documentary about the rise of the popular loaf in Britain. After the holy grail of affordable white bread was achieved, dietary experts began to trumpet the virtues of brown.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  23. Background image for When Coal Was King
    7.5/10(13 votes)

    #22 - When Coal Was King

    S13:E2

    Documentary which explores the lost world of coal mining and the rich social and cultural lives of those who worked in what was once Britain's most important industry.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  24. Background image for A Very British Map: The Ordnance Survey Story
    7.5/10(7 votes)

    #23 - A Very British Map: The Ordnance Survey Story

    S15:E2

    For over 200 years, Ordnance Survey has mapped every square mile of the British Isles, capturing not just the contours and geography of our nation, but of our lives. Originally intended for military use, OS maps were used during wartime to help locate enemy positions. In peacetime, they helped people discover and explore the countryside. Today, the large fold-out paper maps, used by generations of ramblers, scouts and weekend adventurers, represent just a small part of the OS output. As Ordnance Survey adjusts to the digital age, Timeshift looks back to tell the story of a quintessentially British institution.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  25. Background image for Dial B for Britain: The Story of the Landline
    7.5/10(12 votes)

    #24 - Dial B for Britain: The Story of the Landline

    S17:E3

    From early call boxes to the Post Office Tower, Timeshift tells the story of how Britain's phone network was built over the course of 100 years, and its impact on the public.

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    Director:Andy Hall
    Writer:Unknown
  26. Background image for Dear Censor - The secret archive of the British Board of Film Classification
    7.4/10(34 votes)

    #25 - Dear Censor - The secret archive of the British Board of Film Classification

    S11:E6

    Documentary examining the work of the BBFC, casting an eye over some of the most infamous cases in its history and analysing how it works with film-makers themselves.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

Best Episodes Summary

"The Kneale Tapes" is the best rated episode of "Timeshift". It scored 8.8/10 based on 7 votes. Directed by John Das and written by Unknown, it aired on 10/15/2003. This episode scored 0.4 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Golden Age of Liners".