Catch up TV

Series 1: 1. Who Are We Now?

Historian Simon Schama explores how art and culture has captured the transformations of British society since 1945. Although the postwar years saw a shared optimism, expressed in the 1951 Festival of Britain, Simon discovers how a common British identity slowly fragmented as different and sometimes clashing voices emerged. Writers like Alan Sillitoe depicted working-class life with new authority, while artists like Pauline Boty reflected a new mood of sexual frankness. The evangelical Christian Festival of Light fought back against what its leaders viewed as a rising tide of filth, but nothing could stop competing voices from being heard – first on TV, in what were known as ‘open access’ programmes, and today on social media.

Source: BBC 2