Fifties Features - The Women behind the Pictures

The Railway: Keeping Britain On Track

July 2025 •English

Documentary series revealing the inner workings of Britain's railways, introducing the track-workers, train guards, drivers, police officers and management teams determined to keep the country moving.

The Fifties

July 2025 •English

Archival footage and interviews with historians mark this fascinating documentary on the 1950s, based on David Halberstam's bestseller. Among the subjects covered: work and the family; the impact of TV; the Cold War; and the beginnings of the civil-rights movement and the sexual revolution.

Gulag, the Story

July 2025 •French

A major political, historical, human and economic fact of the 20th century, the Gulag, the extremely punitive Soviet concentration camp system, remains largely unknown.

Elles

July 2025 •French

This documentary series hosted by Sarahmée follows daring, determined women’s collectives all over the world as they shake things up to carve out brighter futures.

Mirrorball

July 2025 •English

Mirrorball is a documentary series showcasing the work of several music video directors.

Secret Society

July 2025 •English

A politically charged mini-series researched and written by Duncan Campbell which saw dramatic Special Branch raids on BBC Scotland. An entire production office was loaded into transit vans and confiscated by the police. + One: 'The Secret Constitution' about secret Cabinet committees that amount to a secret decision making system at the highest levels of power in the United Kingdom. + Two: 'In Time of Crisis' about secret preparations for war that began in 1982 within every NATO country. This programme revealed what Britain would do. + Three: 'A Gap In Our Defences' about bungling defence manufacturers and incompetent military planners who have botched every new radar system that Britain has installed since World War II. + Four: 'We're All Data Now' about the Data Protection Act. + Five: 'Association of Chief Police Officers' and how Government policy and actions are determined in the fields of law and order. + Six: 'Communications' with particular reference to Zircon spy satellites ...

Britain at the Bookies

July 2025 •English

Documentary examining the winners and losers in Britain's booming gambling revolution.

Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School

July 2025 •English

In a unique experiment, five teachers from China take over the education of fifty teenagers in a Hampshire school to see whether the high-ranking Chinese education system can teach us a lesson.

Secrets of Britain

July 2025 •English

The enormous popularity of recent British dramas such as Downton Abbey, Mr. Selfridge, and Sherlock, has led to vast interest in the real-life stories and history of the icons of Great Britain. Each episode of this series visits a famous British building or institution to explore its past and present, meeting a wide range of experts and historians along the way.

Secret Britain

July 2025 •English

Exploring the hidden corners of the UK in search of the best the countryside has to offer.

Clit revolution

July 2025 •French

Great British Garden Revival

July 2025 •English

Britain’s rich horticultural history is being lost. More and more front and back gardens are paved over - for development, for parking spaces, or because families don’t have the time or inclination to manage these spaces. The trend for easy-to-maintain lawns, patios and paving has also led to a decline in traditional gardens full of flowers, plants and trees to the extent that some of our most iconic flora and fauna have all but disappeared. Step forward the BBC’s most-loved gardening experts, who are determined to turn us back into a green-fingered nation once again.

Corleone: A History of la Cosa Nostra

July 2025 •French

How, from 1974 to 1993, Totò Riina (1930-2017), supreme boss of the Corleone family, ruled by blood and terror over the Sicilian Mafia. An implacable account, based on the testimony of his men and those who fought against them.

Draw for Change!

July 2025 •French

DRAW FOR CHANGE! is a 6 part documentary series about female cartoonists from all around the globe, challenging the red lines and the taboos of their society. Zooming in on their drawings, these cartoonists take us on a journey into their world in search of people who experience their drawings in reality.

A1: Britain's Longest Road

July 2025 •English

Following the men and women who work around the clock on Britain's longest and most iconic road, ensuring the traffic keeps moving and the public is kept safe.

Del Miño al Bidasoa

July 2025 •Spanish

The Royal House of Windsor

July 2025 •English

Drawing on newly available evidence, this epic series explores the Windsor dynasty's gripping family saga, providing fresh insights into how our royal family have survived four generations of crisis.

Important Thing is Love (1971)

July 2025 •English

"It's queer, it's kinky" - the average man on the street might find lesbianism strange, but for the women interviewed in this surprisingly nuanced TV documentary, it's just an ordinary part of their lives. The women - butch, femme and everything in between - articulately discuss their lives, experiences and struggles with everyday discrimination, busting the myths that homosexuality is a disease and that gay women are doomed to loneliness. Among the interviewees are Esme Langley (speaking outside in woolly hat and coat), founder of the Minorities Research Group, Charlotte Wolff, a psychotherapist and sexologist whose 1971 book Love Between Women offered some of the first serious research into lesbianism, and Doreen Cordell, a social worker with the Albany Trust, a charity providing counselling and support to the LGBT community.

Oz & James Drink to Britain

July 2025 •English

Oz Clarke and James May travel through Britain and Ireland to discover the amazing array of drinks that is on offer.

Inside Windsor Castle

July 2025 •English

A look at life in Windsor Castle over the last 80 years, including the tragedies, triumphs, romances and scandals of the Royal Family.