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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!

Binge this in 7d 15h•Peaking at 8.4/10

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.

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BBC Four
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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Timeshift Season 8 Episode 3 - Last Days of Steam
    8.4/10(13 votes)

    #1 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Timeshift Season 9 Episode 2 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Timeshift Season 12 Episode 3 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Timeshift Season 16 Episode 3 - 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.

    Director:Matthew Thomas
    Writer:Matthew Thomas

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  5. Timeshift Season 15 Episode 3 - The Engine That Powers the World
    8.3/10(15 votes)

    #5 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Timeshift Season 11 Episode 1 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Timeshift Season 13 Episode 7 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Timeshift Season 13 Episode 3 - Bouffants, Beehives and Bobs: The Hairstyles That Shaped Britain
    8.1/10(8 votes)

    #8 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Timeshift Season 7 Episode 5 - Emmylou Harris's Ten Commandments of Country
    8.0/10(7 votes)

    #9 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Timeshift Season 16 Episode 5 - Flights of Fancy: Pigeons and the British
    8.0/10(9 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.

    Director:Jake Hayes
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Timeshift Season 10 Episode 9 - Crime and Punishment - The Story of Capital Punishment
    7.9/10(15 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Timeshift Season 16 Episode 4 - 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.

    Director:Linda Sands
    Writer:Babita Sharma

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  13. Timeshift Season 5 Episode 15 - A Study in Sherlock
    7.8/10(8 votes)

    #13 - A Study in Sherlock

    S5:E15

    Documentary explores the continuing appeal of Sherlock Holmes through his various screen incarnations, from early silent films through the classic portrayals by Basil Rathbone and Peter Cushing to the BBC's most recent Rupert Everett version. Contributors include Minette Walters, Kim Newman and Edward Hardwicke.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Timeshift Season 12 Episode 7 - The Joy of (Train) Sets
    7.8/10(7 votes)

    #14 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Timeshift Season 13 Episode 5 - The Ladybird Books Story: The Bugs that Got Britain Reading
    7.8/10(9 votes)

    #15 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Timeshift Season 13 Episode 1 - 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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Timeshift Season 16 Episode 2 - 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.

    Director:Eve White
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Timeshift Season 3 Episode 2 - The Kneale Tapes
    7.6/10(9 votes)

    #18 - The Kneale Tapes

    S3:E2

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

    Director:John Das
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Timeshift Season 9 Episode 5 - How to Win at Chess
    7.6/10(19 votes)

    #19 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Timeshift Season 11 Episode 6 - Dear Censor - The secret archive of the British Board of Film Classification
    7.6/10(34 votes)

    #20 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Timeshift Season 13 Episode 2 - When Coal Was King
    7.6/10(13 votes)

    #21 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Timeshift Season 15 Episode 6 - How Britain Won the Space Race: The Story of Bernard Lovell and Jodrell Bank
    7.6/10(12 votes)

    #22 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Timeshift Season 4 Episode 6 - Live on the Night: The Story of Live TV Drama
    7.5/10(7 votes)

    #23 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Timeshift Season 9 Episode 8 - Bread: A Loaf Affair
    7.5/10(8 votes)

    #24 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Timeshift Season 15 Episode 2 - A Very British Map: The Ordnance Survey Story
    7.5/10(7 votes)

    #25 - 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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Last Days of Steam" is the best rated episode of "Timeshift". It scored 8.4/10 based on 13 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 10/16/2008. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Golden Age of Liners".