Turn Back Time: The High Street 5-6

The 60s

A group of modern shopkeepers and their families are trading their way through one hundred years of history. They've set up shop in a 21st century town in a bid to make its residents fall in love with its high street once more. They are overseen by a Chamber of Commerce, led by Masterchef judge and greengrocer Gregg Wallace.

In this episode the shopkeepers move into the swinging sixties, and big changes hit the high street. Every shop has transformed completely - 1960s mass production of meat, bread and clothing means the bakers find themselves running a milk bar, the butcher sells hardware and the dressmaker is now running a hair salon. The grocers has become self-service, bringing a more modern shopping experience to customers. The bakers have to produce milkshakes and burgers, while the dressmaker turns her hand to bouffants and beehives. The butcher finds himself in direct competition with the grocer.

As the shopkeepers struggle with the changes in their trades, the town sees first-hand why Britain turned its back on traditional shops and embraced the supermarket. At the end of the week, history dictates that, for some, it is time to leave, and customers realise just what they're losing.

The 70s

In this episode, it's the end of the journey for the shopkeepers and their customers as they move into the 1970s. There are two new arrivals, the Sandher family take over the general store and David Lashmar has the challenge of selling vinyl to 21st century shoppers from his 1970s record shop. A '70s boutique keeps customers abreast of fashion fads and townsfolk are soon decked out in glam rock, lounge wear and punk. Amidst the explosion of popular culture the supermarket reminds everyone of the part the 1970s played in our quest for cheap food and convenient shopping. At the cornershop the Sandher kids find out just how hard their dad worked when his family left India to set up shop in Britain and they are shocked to hear his memories of the 1970s. The record shop treats the town to a Eurovision winning band performance and all the traders prepare for a Silver Jubilee street party. The town has experienced one hundred years of high street history, but will power cuts, the 1970s shopping experience and the Great British weather dampen the community spirit that has built up over the years?

BBC1 - 30th November/7th December 2010 - 2 x 60 minutes

Turn Back Time: The High Street 3-4

The 1930s

A group of modern shopkeepers and their families are on the journey of a lifetime - they're taking over empty shops in a neglected market square in Shepton Mallet to see if they can turn back time for the British High Street. They'll live and trade through six key eras of history and in this episode they move into to the 1930s.

Life should be sweeter this week, as government regulations reduce working hours and cheap sugar means lots of sweets, confectionary and cake. Nostalgia boosts sales for the grocers, who have masses of 1930s recognisable brands, the dressmaker has to sell thirties glamour to the town, and the butcher has good old British beef.

The Edwardian bazaar is now a toy shop, reflecting the shopkeepers' target customers - children. But it is far from plain sailing; the Bakers find themselves running a cake shop, but cakes aren't their forte. Rivalry builds between the grocers and the butchers, underminding the community spirit of the high street.

The shopkeepers spend a week selling the 1930s to the town, but they have to pull out all the stops for Empire day - can they persuade a whole new generation of the joys of the traditional high street?

WW2

In this episode the shopkeepers and their customers are plunged into World War Two.

For the first time profit isn't everything, as the shopkeepers find themselves dealing with rationing, promoting make do and mend, and trying to persuade an entire town to pull together as it would have done sixty years ago.

The grocer family struggle with wartime rules and regulations, and customers have to decide whether to stick to rations or to buy from the black market. The bakers feed the town from their British restaurant, while the butcher promotes mutton to modern shoppers. The dressmaker and the blacksmith convince the town of the benefits of 1940s style recycling.

But shortages, an air raid and hungry customers all take their toll; will they keep the town onside in the run up to the VE day celebrations at the end of the week?

BBC1 - 16/23 November 2010 - 2x60 minutes

Turn Back Time: The High Street 1-2

Victorian

A group of modern shopkeepers and their families are on the journey of a lifetime - they're taking over empty shops in a neglected market square in Shepton Mallet to see if they can turn back time for the British High Street. They'll live and trade through six key eras of history and in this episode they begin their journey in the 1870s, when the high street was born.

The shopkeepers make up the key trades; there's the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker and the grocer. Overseeing it all is an expert Chamber of Commerce, headed up by greengrocer and MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace.

The shopkeepers soon learn that Victorian trading means truly going back to basics. The bakers struggle with back-breaking work and baking through the night. The butcher must sell every bit of a giant pig, and the Ironmonger realises that there isn't much call for mangles and mole traps in 2010. Over at the grocer's, 21st-century customers must wait for coffee to be roasted, tea to be mixed and butter to be patted. While the town finds Victorian produce hard to stomach, all the shopkeepers struggle to keep their customers onside in the run-up to market day.

Edwardian

The butcher, the baker, the grocer and the ironmonger are joined by a dressmaker, and together they must provide a modern town with the exceptional service and luxuriant shop displays worthy of the Edwardians.

The baker's family find themselves running an Edwardian tea shop, while the butchers must sell game in all its gory glory to modern customers. The grocer has trained staff, but the challenge of creating an early 20th century wedding breakfast piles on the pressure.

All the shopkeepers struggle with maintaining standards, and it becomes clear that underneath its glossy veneer the Edwardian high street was a tough place for women and children. The arrival of call-up papers reminds the traders and the town of the terrible impact that World War One had on Britain's communities.

BBC1 - 2-9 November 2010 - 2 x 60 minutes

Coppers 5

The final programme in the series takes viewers to the heart of a riot.

With exclusive access to Greater Manchester Police's Tactical Aid Unit, cameras accompany officers as they police violent clashes between thousands of opposing demonstrators.

English Defence League supporters are marching on Bolton town centre, with counter-demonstrators from Unite Against Fascism waiting for them. Tactical Aid Unit officers, who are trained to tackle heavy duty jobs, from knocking down doors to controlling football crowds, are expected to hold the line between the two opposing groups. It's their job to keep the peace, whatever it takes.

But as protester numbers swell and the crowds become harder to control, violence and scores of arrests ensue. As events unfold, five camera crews are at the very heart of the action with the TAU officers, giving a candid picture of both sides of the divide, protesters and police.

This episode features in-vision signing for the deaf

Channel 4 - 3 December 2010 - 60 minutes

Coppers 3-4

Emergency

Emergency calls to the police have risen by 50 per cent over the last 15 years, although recorded crime has dropped by a third over the same period.

The series follows the police responding to emergency calls and reveals the incredible things people choose to call 999 about: from mobile phones running out of credit to arguments about whose turn it is to have a go on the Nintendo Wii.

Kent constabulary receive a quarter of a million 999 calls every year, with 80% classed as non-emergencies and many seen as 'nuisance calls'.

'We're seeing a generation divide,' says Chief Inspector Nicola Faulconbridge of Kent's Force Communications Centre. 'Whereas the older generation won¿t call us for almost anything, even in an emergency, the younger generation are much more willing and ready to call us about almost any issue.'

Police officers are spending much of their time acting as counselors, settling petty squabbles and relationship problems. 

'Sometimes you just want to bang people's heads together and go 'Come on, look at you - you're 40 and you're acting like you're 12!'' says PC Neil Cronin.

Another issue prompting an increasing number of calls to 999 calls is Facebook. When virtual threats get out of hand, the police have no choice but to treat it as a real emergency, sending cars racing to the scene.

Saturday Night

The series joins police officers on the Saturday night beat, where drunks, abuse and violence - as well as marriage proposals and requests to urinate in your helmet - are all part of the job.

Typical of towns and cities up and down the country, every weekend the streets of Wakefield and Leeds in West Yorkshire are filled with people getting as drunk as they can as fast as they can. Trying to keep them in order, and stop them hurting themselves or others, are a handful of officers, alongside city council night marshals.

'We get nothing but grief and abuse and we can't say anything back, can we?' says PC Phillippa Child in Wakefield.

'If we locked up everybody who swore or spat or urinated or got involved in a pushing and shoving match, within about an hour of being out on town, just about everybody on that city centre would be waiting in the cells to be booked in,' says PC Chris Merrick.

When they're not arresting people, the female PCs are fending off protestations of love: ''Can I have your number? You're lovely. You're really nice. Why are you a copper? You're too beautiful to be a copper.' And I'm thinking get lost!' says PC Child.

(This episode features in-vision signing for the deaf)

Channel 4 15-26 November 2010 2 x 60 minutes

Coppers 1-2

Custody

The Medway custody suite in Gillingham, Kent is one of the busiest in the country. The first programme in the series joins its staff, who process 40 suspected criminals every day.

From burglary to shop-lifting and assault to drugs possession, Custody Officer Sergeant Sean O'Conner and his team have seen generations progress through their criminal careers and witness a never-ending cycle of deprivation, drugs, crime, violence, and - for some of the women they meet - prostitution.

With frustration, resignation and sometimes anger - as well as flashes of frequently dark humour - ordinary police officers offer a raw insight into the harsh realities of policing modern Britain.

Traffic

The series takes to the fast lane with Cambridgeshire's traffic cops: the petrolheads who are happiest racing to the rescue, or nicking drink drivers, and like nothing better than 'giving out love' (issuing speed tickets) with their 'love scope' (speed gun).

'I love nicking people,' says PC Leigh Fenton. 'I'd lock everybody up all day if I could.' The film reveals the close bonds that develop between the officers, and the banter they use as a shield against the part of the job they all dread: informing the next of kin when someone dies as a result of a traffic accident.

PCs Terry Sharpe and Stuart Appleton have spent three years sharing driving duties in their Volvo V70: 'People have said we're like an old married couple. We bicker and we argue. We have a laugh,' says PC Sharp.

But, despite the training and camaraderie, informing the next of kin after accidents never gets any easier: 'Saying the words that 'I've just been to an accident and it's my duty to tell you that your wife has died.' And there's no beating around the bush. You've got to tell them in no uncertain terms, that 'your wife has died.' And the reaction you get after that... that's the thing you think about,' says PC Appleton.

Channel 4 1-8 November 2010 2x60 minutes

The Genius of British Art, episodes 5 & 6

Modern Times

Modern Art has made us who we are and it has certainly made Janet Street Porter who she is.

Beginning in the stifling 1950s, Janet revisits her teenage years to show how modern art has been at the forefront of social and cultural changes, which define Britain today, from Patrick Heron through Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Peter Blake, Joe Tilson, Richard Hamilton, Gilbert and George, and the Sex Pistols, to Damien Hirst and the 'Sensation' generation of British artists.

Janet speaks to Hirst, Tracey Emin and Grayson Perry about how art has seeped into the very heart of British culture.

The Art of War

Former war reporter Jon Snow presents a timely reminder of how British artists have expressed and defined our response to the horror of war and, in the process, have triggered a debate about the role of art in British life. As the grandson of a First World War general, it's a story with a personal resonance for Jon.

A hundred years ago, artists were the first to challenge the view that war was all about victory and glory. Jon, a keen amateur artist himself, traces this legacy from the artists of the First World War - Richard Nevinson, Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer - right up to the work of contemporary artists such as John Keane, Jeremy Deller and Steve McQueen.

Britain's war artists have pushed the boundaries in their drive to bring home to us the true cost of war. We once celebrated war's valour and glory, but they have encouraged us to feel its pain and tragedy. They have given us an artistic legacy that will continue to provoke and to move generations to come.

Channel 4. 31 Oct-7 Nov 2010. 2 x 60 minutes