It is one of Britain's most popular leisure pursuits, but high street bingo came about almost by accident as the result of a loophole in an obscure piece of gambling legislation. Almost overnight, in January 1961 what had been a quiet parlour game or occasional seaside flutter was turned into a brash multimillion-pound business. \n\nAs Timeshift affectionately recalls in this documentary, soon nearly a quarter of the population were playing and becoming fluent in the rhyming slang of 'bingo lingo' - from 'Legs Eleven' to 'Clickety Click, Sixty Six'. This explosion of interest quickly led to a moral panic about the dangers of easy prize money, but bingo was defiantly here to stay - and not just as the preserve of older women, as today's mega-halls full of hen night parties show.
Source: BBC 4
Series 13 - Hurricanes And Heatwaves: The Highs And Lows Of British Weather
A national obsession is explored in this archive-rich look at the evolution of the weather forecast from print via radio to TV and beyond - and at the changing weather itself.
14-11-2024
BBC 4
Series 8: How To Be A Good President
In a whistlestop tour through the history of the US presidency, journalist and author Jonathan Freedland asks what qualities make a great president and what we can learn from th ...
27-08-2024
BBC 4
Series 10: 8. Crime And Punishment - The Story Of Corporal Punishment
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26-08-2024
BBC 4
Series 14 - Killer Storms And Cruel Winters - The History Of Extreme Weather
Lucie Green looks back through Britain's most dramatic weather history and sees how our reactions helped forge a weather science that today allows us to predict the worst extremes.
11-07-2024
BBC 4
The History Of Pubs
The pub has been the mainstay of British society since medieval times, a cornerstone of any community playing a unique role in national life. But in the past 50 years the pub ha ...
02-04-2024
BBC 4
Series 13 - Hurricanes And Heatwaves: The Highs And Lows Of British Weather
A national obsession is explored in this archive-rich look at the evolution of the weather forecast from print via radio to TV and beyond - and at the changing weather itself.
14-11-2024
BBC 4
Series 7: 7. Emmylou Harris's Ten Commandments Of Country
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 ...
08-03-2024
BBC 4
Series 2: The Great British Seaside Holiday
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 re ...
16-07-2023
BBC 4
Series 15: 6. How Britain Won The Space Race: The Story Of Bernard Lovell And Jodrell Bank
21-03-2024
BBC 4
Series 11 - The Golden Age Of Trams: A Streetcar Named Desire
Documentary exploring how the tram liberated overcrowded cities, mapping its journey from horse-drawn carriage on rails to steam and then electric power.
02-09-2014
BBC 4
Series 9: 6. Oliver Postgate: A Life In Small Films
Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a man whose name was Oliver Postgate. He had a shed where he made things. \n\nWith his friend Peter Firmin, Oliver created entire wo ...
11-02-2024
BBC 4
Series 13: 7. How To Be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces Of A Master Detective
16-01-2018
BBC 4