Radio Times

Review by:

David Brown

This exploration of the starry and seamy sides of London’s West End will not only make you hanker for more innocent times, but also for the poetic news delivery of yesteryear. Of the queues outside an Oxford Street department store at the start of the sales, a reporter says: “Some pass the time in useful knitting, while others just get tired of sitting.” Although there is also the more questionable commentary of wartime ruin, which notes that “indiscriminate bombing is the hallmark of the Hun”.

As for the archive footage, watch out for Doctor Who’s Tom Baker in the Coach and Horses pub and the reverence with which a new system of traffic signals is greeted.

About this programme

Documentary series using a mix of archive footage to create colourful and surprising portraits of the city. This edition focuses on the West End, featuring showbusiness, shops and riots.

Cast and crew

Crew

Executive Producer

Caroline Wright

Producer

Lucy Kenwright

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