- Radio Times
- Review by:
- Alison Graham
For the final programme in the series experimental engineer Brendan Walker steps outside the 1950s house for some old-fashioned fun. He hits the road on a glorious British motorcycle, smells the flowers in a lovely garden and takes a look at family holidays.
The joys of motoring unlocked leisure time for British families during the 1950s, and the arrival of the de Havilland Comet, the world’s first passenger jet (and a British invention) opened up foreign shores for tourists. As a final hurrah and a thank you to all his neighbours in Coronation Close, Walker throws a party and introduces us to one of the greatest British inventions of all – the tea bag.
About this programme
4/4. Brendan Walker ventures outside to explore how inventions and innovations improved people's leisure time in the 1950s. He uncovers the simple but brilliant secret that made a British motorcycle the world's first superbike, learns about the rise in holidays thanks to family cars and passenger jets, and reveals how pesticides developed during wartime transformed gardens from muddy patches into visions of floral perfection. Back at the house, he holds a party to celebrate Britain's first truly modern decade, serving up two final innovations - instant coffee, and tea made from stringless teabags.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Presenter
- Brendan Walker
- Contributor
- Tony Robinson
- Contributor
- Tim Rice
- Contributor
- Maureen Lipman
- Contributor
- Janet Street-Porter
- Contributor
- Derek Jameson
Crew
- Director
- Adam Warner
- Executive Producer
- Jonathan Hewes
- Series Producer
- Michael Douglas
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