Catch up TV
Timeshift
Timeshift Episodes
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
Timeshift lifts the veil on the taboo that is corporal punishment. What it reveals is a fascinating history spanning religion, the justice system, sex and education. Today it is ...
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 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 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 12 - The Joy Of (train) Sets
The Model Railway Story: How the British have been in love with model railways for more than a century, with unique archive and contributions from modellers such as Pete Waterman.
14-12-2023
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 16: 1. Bridging The Gap: How The Severn Bridge Was Built
2016 sees the fiftieth anniversary of the Severn Bridge, which completed the motorway link between England and Wales. Timeshift tells the inside story of the design and construc ...
05-03-2023
BBC 4
Series 3: 18. Jet Set
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 l ...
26-02-2023
BBC 4
Series 7: Stuffed: The Great British Christmas Dinner
It's the season of peace and goodwill to all, when we think of those less fortunate than ourselves. It's also the time of year when we stuff our faces and gorge and drink oursel ...
22-12-2022
BBC 4
Series 6: Switch Off Something: Britain And The Three-day Week
Philip Glenister narrates a documentary about Britain and the Three-Day Week. In the winter of 1973-74, a confrontation between the big unions and the government took the countr ...
29-11-2022
BBC 4
Series 10: 5. Italian Noir: The Story Of Italian Crime Fiction
Timeshift profiles a new wave of Italian crime fiction that has emerged to challenge the conventions of the detective novel. There are no happy endings in these noir tales, only ...
16-07-2022
BBC 4
Series 7: Gagging For It - Tv's Hunger For Radio Comedy
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 ...
14-12-2021
BBC 4
Series 11 - Hotel Deluxe
Documentary which charts how luxury hotels have met the needs of new forms of wealth - from aristocrats to rock stars and beyond - with comfort, innovation and service.
13-12-2021
BBC 4
Series 10 - The Golden Age Of Coach Travel
Documentary which journeys back to the 1950s when the coach was king. Those who had not travelled beyond their own villages and towns were given a taste of exploration and freedom.
04-12-2021
BBC 4
Series 6: The Da Vinci Code - The Greatest Story Ever Sold
After Dan Brown's publishing phenomenon The Da Vinci Code was cleared of plagiarism charges, this documentary explores the climate which has permitted a fictional story to make ...
15-11-2021
BBC 4
Series 14 - Mods, Rockers And Bank Holiday Mayhem
A look back at the bank holiday 'battles of the beaches', when hundreds of mods and rockers flocked to seaside resorts on scooters and motorbikes in search of thrills and spills.
05-04-2021
BBC 4
Series 7: 11. Watching The Russians
Beginning with the rise of Russophobia in Victorian Britain, former MI5 director general Stella Rimington explores our love-hate relationship with Russia over the past 150 years ...
07-12-2020
BBC 4
Series 12: 8. Eyes Down! The Story Of Bingo
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 ...
11-06-2020
BBC 4
Series 11 - Of Ice And Men
Documentary which looks at why the most inhospitable place on the planet has exerted such a powerful hold on the imagination of explorers, scientists, writers and photographers.
03-06-2019
BBC 4
Series 13 - Full Throttle: The Glory Days Of British Motorbikes
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.
04-03-2018
BBC 4
Series 12 - Magnificent Machines: The Golden Age Of The British Sports Car
Timeshift looks back to a time when iconic British marques like Jaguar, Austin-Healey, MG and Triumph sparked a manufacturing frenzy that helped to democratise speed and glamour.
23-09-2014
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 12 - When Wrestling Was Golden: Grapples, Grunts And Grannies
Timeshift looks back to a time when British professional wrestling attracted huge TV audiences and made household names of the likes of Mick McManus, Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy.
22-06-2014
BBC 4