Every season of Timeshift ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best seasons of Timeshift!

Documentary recalling the industrial dispute at the Grunwick film processing business in North London in 1976. Featuring film archive from the time and interviews with key players.

The Grunwick Strike

An in-depth examination of how the debate surrounding cannabis has evolved over the past 50 years.

The Cannabis Years

Examining the changing image of the novelist over the last 50 years.

The Writer's Trade

In the mid 1960s Britain went boating mad. This documentary tells the story of how an extraordinary maritime revolution that was kick-started by waterproof glues developed for bomber aircraft led to a whole generation of DIY dinghy builders, and ended in tragedy with the suicide of amateur yachtsman Donald Crowhurst.

The Sailing Sixties

Charting the time of our favorite presenter at the head of the then struggling and controversial BBC2. Packed chock full of interviews, clips and reminiscences both old and new, including the very tasty Joan Bakewell of the 60s... Sir David Attenborough's reign as controller of BBC TWO, from 1965 to 1973, is still thought of as the golden age of television.

Attenborough: The Controller Years

Timeshift celebrates the comedy double act's unsung half, with archive footage of Morecambe and Wise, Benny Hill and the Monty Python team. Contributors include Syd Little and Barry Cryer. Narrated by Mark Lamarr.

he Rise and Fall of the Comedy Straight Man

In 1945, two and a half million ethnic Germans were driven from their homes in Czechoslovakia. Thousands died. Now, as the Czech Republic heads for EU membership, Charles Wheeler reports on how the Czechs made the Sudeten German minority pay for Nazi occupation, and why it became a hot political issue. This is a story about Germans as victims of World War II.

A Shadow Over Europe

This programme in the Time Shift strand explores the history of the current conflict over class

Whatever Happened to the Working Class?

Examining the west London riots of August 1958, which were the catalyst for black actMsm in Britain and inspired the annual carnival.

Notting Hill Riots

From VW Beetles to Blue Nun and Kraftwerk, a look at Germany's conrtibution to British life

What Have the Germans Done for Us?

The story of the women who occupied the Greenham Common Peace Camp from 1981 to 2000 - what brought them to Greenham, their protests, conflicts with authority and the life they led at the camp. Contributors include Fiona Bruce, Fay Weldon and Joan Ruddock, all of whom visited the site to show their support.

Greenham Common Changed My Life

The story of the British love of the motor car from the earliest days of mass production in the 1920s to today's MPVs and post-modern Minis told through a succession of classic models from the Austin 7 and Morris Minor to the Ford Cortina.

Car Crazy

Created by a French animator, the show was reinterpreted for Britain, with classic characters like Dougal. It transformed the careers of actor Eric Thompson and animator Ivor Wood and has spawned a movie.

The Magic Roundabout Story

The controversial broadcaster is profiled by Time Shift. How did the son of a Croydon clerk become one of TV's geniune originals? Interviewees include Cormac Murphy O'Connor.

Malcolm Muggeridge: Swimming Against the Stream

Time Shift examines how the philosophy of the Indian guru has travelled into mainstream British society.

Gurus

A short film about "The Interludes" - a series of short films made by the BBC in the 1940s and 1950s to fill in during technical breakdowns and gaps in the schedules. The most famous ones showed a potter's wheel, a cat playing with a ball of wool and a horse-drawn plough.

A Brief Interlude

Timeshift presents a bank holiday celebration of the British seaside holiday experience from its Victorian origins and heyday in the 1950s to its slow decline and attempts at reinvention since. Interviewees including Jonathan Meades, Martin Parr and Bill Pertwee explain the way that the seaside has always been the place we all visit to lose our inhibitions and reveal a different side to ourselves.

The​ Great​ British​ Seaside​ Holiday​

Time Shift explores the significance of children's programmes in developing young people's worldview. With Jon Snow and John Craven.

Children's News

Undercover reporter Donal Macintyre is among the interviewees as Time Shift looks at hidden-camera TV. Nigel Kneale discusses how his satire The Year of the Sex Olympics feels prescient in the Big Brother world.

Watching You

Terry Wogan, Lenny Henry, Michael Buerk and Esther Rantzen guest on Time Shift's look at how charity and TV are interwoven - from the early days of Christmas collections for needy children to the successful annual telethons of today.

TV and Charity

Time Shift celebrates Tyneside's cultural contribution and its development through the eyes of writers, actors and others.

Tyneside

From banned 1950s drama Party Manners to House of Cards and State of Play, the secrets of TV thrillers are uncovered in an edition of the Time Shift strand.

Political Thrillers: Plays of State

Time Shift looks back at how a group of idealistic architects changed the face of council housing in Britain, inspired by the modernist philosophy of Le Corbusier and new materials, only to be thwarted by financial restraints, poor craftsmanship and Margaret Thatcher 's private ownership creed.

High Rise Dreams

Timeshift looks at the changing role of the Church of England parish priest over the last 40 years.

Vicars: Dearly Beloved?

In the last 40 years, money and fame have transformed footballers from working class heroes to multimedia icons. Time Shift explores how this change has come about and asks if today's lower league players aren't worse off than they were before.

Footballers’ Lives

John Boorman-directed documentary from 1963, recounting a week in the life of the players and manager of Swindon Town football club, a fascinating snapshot of a profession a world away from Premiership and sponsorship.

Six Days to Saturday

Paul Morley and Michael Rosen are among those discussing the changing experiences of children who grew up in the shadow of the Cold War.

Cold War Kids

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

The Kneale Tapes

Timeshift profiles the journalist, a conflict-battered idealist who feared for the worst and campaigned for the best.

James Cameron: A Pain in the Neck

Time Shift examins mankind's obsession with the end of the world, looking at how science and religion fuel the belief that armageddon is just around the corner.

Apocalypse Now… and Then

The conventional view of the country-side is of a rural idyll perpetuated by our cultural tradition - but does this idyll really exist? Timeshift investigates.

The Lie of the Land

Timeshift looks at how precocious children challenge thinking about education - and whether labelling a child as "gifted" does more harm than good.

Child Prodigies

The story of the generation of doctors who came from the Indian subcontinent to become the hidden heroes who have provided the backbone of the NHS for the last 40 years. Despite enduring years of discrimination, they fulfilled Britain's health needs and carved successful careers that took them to the heart of the British medical establishment. Now, as they collectively reach retirement age, Britain faces a crisis in healthcare.

Raj to Rhondda: How Indian Doctors saved the NHS

Rich, distant and opulent, the jet set fascinated the public as they waved to us from airplane doorways before winging their way across the skies heading for yachts and exotic locations that the rest of us could only dream of. They were the aristocrats, the high fliers and high earners whose lives and loves fascinated us long before celebrity became a dirty word.

The Jet Set

The story of Britain's lost generation of TV entertainment, from the golden age of light entertainment in the 1950s, via the "sacrilegious" tape erasing of the 1960s and 1970s, to recent lucky finds.

Missing Believed Wiped

A look back to the years when progressive rock ruled the universe, with bands such as Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and King Crimson filling stadia with their grandiose stage shows. Contributors include Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, Yes drummer Bill Bruford, Old Grey Whistle Test presenter Bob Harris, DJ John Peel and rock critic Charles Shaar-Murray.

Prog Rock

The PC has shrunk in size, but grown in power - Time Shift charts its evolution. Contributors include Sir Clive Sinclair.

Hard Drive Heaven: The History of the Home Computer

Until the 1980s Whitehall was able to use the Official Secrets Act to suppress information it didn't want disclosed. Time Shift recalls those who spoke out on stories the Government did not want to be told.

Whistleblowers

A look at the decisive moments of the latter 20th century through the eyes of the late Charles Wheeler. One of journalism's most dedicated yet modest professionals, Wheeler was at the forefront of world news reporting for over 50 years. Contributors include Jeremy Paxman, John Simpson and son-in-law Boris Johnson.

Charles Wheeler: Edge of Frame

A look at the history of Britain's art schools, the most exciting educational establishments in Britain for two decades. The engines of the 1960s counter culture, they produced a generation of young go-getters who would take on the establishment and create the new industries of fashion, graphic design and pop music. Contributors include Brian Eno, Mary Quant, Kim Howells and Brian Rice.

Art School

TV fantasies played out on our TV screens in the mid sixties, Timeshift take a look back at the wild ideas, that took centre stage.

Fantasy Sixties

Time Shift profiles the late Jack Rosenthal from humble beginnings to his success as writer of such dramas as The Evacuees and Cold Enough for Snow.

Jack Rosenthal: The Voice of Television Drama

Notting Hill Carnival is Britain's biggest street party and a celebration of London's cultural melting pot. But, as Time Shift reports, its success has been dogged by controversy. With Trevor Nelson

The Carnival Years

Time Shift examines the very special place occupied by the pub in British society. Arthur Smith narrates, with contributions from Jeremy Hardy , Rowan Pelling and Pete Brown.

The History of Pubs

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.

Live on the Night: The Story of Live TV Drama

Soap-dodging scroungers or free-thinking champions of an alternative lifestyle? Time Shift examines the origins of those regarded by many as social pariahs, revealing how at one time their ideas had a surprising degree of government support.

New Age Travellers

Time Shift tells the stories of athletes ruined by drugs - or allegations of them.

Drugs in Sport

Pete Tong and Ranking Miss P contribute to Time Shift's look at the evolution of the DJ from pirate radio outlaw to modern superstar.

Hey Mr. DJ: The Rise and Rise of the Disc Jockey

Britain was, briefly, the unlikely player in the field of rocket research. Time Shift tells the story of unsung pioneers of space exploration: the rocket engineers, the scientists and, ultimately, the dreamers who never gave up on a vision of bringing the future into the present. Interviewees include Professor Colin Pillinger, lead scientist of Beagle 2.

British Space Race

Timeshift charts the spectacular growth of the supermarket over the past 50 years, examining how it has influenced British society.

Pile It High, Sell It Cheap

Time Shift traces the rise and fall of British Leyland shop steward Derek Robinson. In the mid 70s, he wielded immense power over management at the Longbridge plant in Birmingham. But by the end of 1979 he had been fired, a victim of the Conservative government's bid to break union power.

Red Robbo

The National Lottery's launch in 1994 confirmed Britain as a nation of gamblers - yet just over 40 years ago, betting shops and casinos were illegal. Time Shift traces governmental efforts to control gambling through legislation.

Gambling Britain

Timeshift explores how television's early days exploited the spectacle of the circus. Including the first live outside broadcast from Calais where a French circus artist's act was witnessed by Richard Dimbleby.

The Story of Circus

Timeshift celebrates the dynamos behind great British bands from the 1950s to today.

Pop Svengalis

Timeshift looks at conscientious objectors from the first World War to today; those who refused to serve for religious, moral or political reasons.

Conchies: Questions of Conscience

The rise and fall of the theatre critic - who brought swearing to the BBC and nudity to the West End - is traced by Time Shift. Presented by New Yorker critic John Lahr, it features rare contributions from Tynan's daughters.

Kenneth Tynan

Jewish entertainers have dominated parts of the industry in the UK and US for decades, Time Shift investigates why American Jews celebrate their ethnicity while their British counterparts have often masked or even denied their roots.

Jewish Entertainers

Writers Alan Bleasdale and Lee Billy Elliot Hall discuss the work of the writer for Time Shift. With critics Chris Dunkley and Dave Gelly, and director John Glenister.

Alan Plater: Hearing the Music

When Margaret Thatcher 's government starved Sinn Fein of the "oxygen of publicity", it was the most direct level of censorship since 1945. Time Shift recalls an era in which the voice of Gerry Adams was replaced by that of an actor.

Speak No Evil: The Story of the Broadcast Ban

Doctor Who and Casanova have both benefited from the writing of Russell T Davies. Time Shift examines his work from children's TV to Queer as Folk and beyond, with contributions from Mark Lawson, Christopher Eccleston and Andi Peters.

Russel T. Davis: Unscripted

Time Shift looks at how satirists have portrayed politicians in such television creations as Yes Minister Spitting Image and The New Statesman.

MPs on the Box

Sixty years ago, postwar Europe was seen as a dirty, chaotic place where you couldn't drink the water. Now Brits dream of restoring crumbling chateaux in rural France - so what happened to change our minds?

Je T'Aime... How We Learned to Love Europe

Time Shift examines the history of English football fans travelling to Europe, and the attendant sub-culture of drinking and violence.

England Away

A member of OJ Simpson's "dream team", plus the lawyer who defended nanny Louise Woodward , are among contributors to Time Shift's history of the camera in the courtroom.

Court on Camera

Since King Kong broke box office records, apes have been big business. Time Shift takes a wry look at a neglected genre, from Tarzan and Planet of the Apes to B-movies and cult films, like Bedtime with Bonzo.

Apes in Hollywood

Adam Hart-Davis explores the world of Britain's 40,000 amateur astronomers. While the last century saw amateurs eclipsed by high technology, increasingly sophisticated home equipment has seen the amateur community enter a new collaborative relationship with the professionals. Contributors include bestselling novelist Terry Pratchett, Colin Pillinger of the Beagle 2 project and the godfather of popular astronomy Patrick Moore.

Star Men

Time Shift takes a look at the now notorious show, whose blacked-up singing and dancing routines ruled the weekend schedules for 21 years.

Black and White Minstrels Revisited

Time Shift charts the devastating effect on children - some as young as five - who care for infirm parents

Too Much, Too Young

Documentary recalling the social revolution which swept across Britain from 1946. A new dance craze, the Jitterbug, captured the mood of the country as years of war and austerity were cast off. The film uses archive footage and a soundtrack of classic hits, including music by Louis Jordan, Alma Cogan, Billie Holiday and Ray Charles.

The Jitterbug Years

Remembering the golden age of the TV panel game as What's My Line?, The Name's the Same and Ask Your Dad make their debuts during the years 1945-55. Narrated by Hugh Dennis

Play It Again

The changing sporting fortunes of England and Australia as recounted in this Time Shift documentary.

The Battle for the Ashes

Time Shift investigates how Life magazine's opposition to Attlee's radical Labour government inspired them to suppress photographs of the 1950 general election.

The Lost Pictures of Eugene Smith

Francine Stock narrates the story of the Third Programme, a high-culture radio show launched in 1946, focusing on how the series influenced the British arts scene.

The Third Progamme: High Culture for All in Postwar Britain

In 1955 young producer of Travellers' Tales David Attenborough was persuaded by six Oxbridge undergraduates to give some money & filmstock so they could film their unique overland journey by Land Rover from London to Singapore.

Lost Road: Overland To Singapore

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.

A Study in Sherlock

Time Shift presents clips of the strangest Sherlocks, with pastiche and parody from Roland Rat to John Cleese.

Baker Street Babylon: The Bizarre Afterlife of Sherlock Holmes

Robert Lindsay and Miranda Richardson guest in Time Shift's profile of the TV dramatist.

Stephen Poliakoff: A Brief History of Now

Daniela Nardini narrates a documentary exploring why the British funeral has acquired a new spirit of informality. Today's departed are just as likely to be sent on their way to the strains of Robbie Williams as they are to a classic hymn. A bewildering array of coffin styles is available, with even an environmentally-friendly wicker casket for the organically-minded. Are we improvising new rituals to fill a more profound vacuum in our secular society?

The British Way of Death

Jimmy McGovern and Ken Loach are among those reflecting on left-wing drama of the 1960s and 70s, looking at works as diverse as Take Me Home and Our Friends in the North.

Left of Frame: The Rise and Fall of Radical TV Drama

From Pygmalion to Paxman, Time Shift traces the cult of plain-speaking. Narrated by Tamsin Greig.

Rude Britannia

A quirky Time Shift compilation of TV appearances by these two heavenly bodies, including Patrick Moore 's meeting with a vicar who refuses to believe the Sun is hot.

The Sun and the Moon

Marking 60 years of the Central Office of Information, Time Shift celebrates PIFs, from HIV awareness to "Charley Says".

Pay Attention Britain! Public Information Films

Welcome to 1973 - the year that saw the three-day week and the arrival of a fictional character from 2006 in the BBC1 drama Life on Mars. The success of the latter has acted as a springboard for a week-long BBC4 season. This excellent Time Shift concentrates on the winter of strikes and power cuts.

Switch off Something - Britain and the Three Day Week

The creators of Life on Mars (2006) discuss the series and how it was made.

Creating 'Life on Mars'

After The Da Vinci Code was cleared of plagiarism, this documentary explores the climate which has permitted it to make such an effective challenge to conventional history.

The Da Vinci Code - The Greatest Story Ever Sold

Nigel Planer narrates a documentary taking a fond look at the growing pains of the university through the eyes of the writers who immortalised it in the campus novel.

Carry On Campus

Documentary looking at the history of robots, androids and cyborgs in both fact and fiction. Contributors include sci-fi visionary Brian Aldiss and writer Kim Newman.

Machine Men

Documentary on the relationship between Australia and the UK since the Second World War, beginning with the Queen's 1954 visit to Australia and ending with the 2005 Ashes.

Oz and Them

Bill Nighy narrates a documentary telling the story of the long and often extraordinary relationship between fact and fiction in the mysterious world of British espionage.

Spy Stories: British Espionage in Fact and Fiction

The story of table tennis and how it became the most popular sport in Asia. The programme revisits the glory days of the 30s and 40s, when thousands would cram into Wembley to watch top players do battle.

Planet Ping Pong

Playful viewer's guide to entering another dimension, narrated by Richard Ayoade, featuring some of TV and cinema's best-known alternate universes, from the likes of Star Trek, Sliders, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Futurama and Doctor Who.

Parallel Worlds: A User's Guide

A comic exploration of the cult of Dracula. From Bela Lugosi to bloodsucking bikes, with a Mexican tag-wrestling version thrown in for good measure, this ghoulish compilation is an entertaining homage to the vampire tradition gifted us by Bram Stoker's famous Count.

Transylvania Babylon

Where has a decade and more of rising prosperity across the social spectrum left Britain's middle class? Much bigger certainly. But does that mean we're all middle class now? Novelist Tim Lott takes a quirky and humorous journey through the new social landscape of Britain in search of some answers.

The New Middle Classes

Documentary which traces the rise and fall of a great British brand, exploring how Rover cars went from defining their eras to becoming victims of their times.

Rover: The Long Goodbye

Documentary which looks at how the rituals that mark our milestones in life - baptism, the first day at school, the first drink - are changing in today's society.

First Rites: From the Cradle to the Prom

Documentary looking at how and why weddings are on the increase and divorce rates in decline in the UK, and if it's the end for traditions and rituals which go back centuries.

Wedding Rites: In Sickness and in Health

Documentary which celebrates the high and lows of children's TV and asks if the future of mainstream television be one where children are neither seen nor heard, as ITV cuts back on its commitment and the BBC now only makes programmes for under-11s.

Goodbye Children Everywhere

Documentary about the first mass-produced food brands focusing on Perrier water, Cadbury's Dairy Milk, Typhoo tea and Marmite. The tea-tasters of Typhoo explain how their predecessors turned a waste product into a bestseller. Chef Matthew Kay tries out some Edwardian recipes designed for vegetarian marmite fans.

The Edwardian Larder

Political commentator Andrew Marr assesses what it takes to be a successful British premier based on the performance of the twenty prime ministers of the 20th century. Advocates such as Martin Bell, Helena Kennedy, Simon Schama and the late Bill Deedes champion their favourite PM in short films, while Andrew and a panel of historians and journalists debate what qualities they brought to the role and how successfully they did it, before coming to a decision on who was the greatest.

How To Be a Good Prime Minister

Since its earliest days, television has looked to radio comedy for the 'next big thing'. Radio hits from Hancock's Half-Hour to Little Britain have become TV classics. But other long-running radio favourites have died a death on the screen. So what makes for a sure-fire transfer?

The Best Seasons of Timeshift

The Best Seasons of Timeshift

Season 12

Season 16

Season 3

Season 9

Season 8

Season 13

Season 17

Season 15

Season 10

Season 11

Season 6

Season 4

Season 14

Season 7

Season 1

Season 2

Season 5