Season 8

TimeshiftSeason 8

2008
8 Episodes

Episodes

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S08E01

How to Be a Good President

Helped by contributors including Shirley Williams, Douglas Hurd and Simon Hoggart, journalist Jonathan Freedland attempts to define the qualities which make a great US president.

14 Sept 200860m
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S08E02

Between the Lines - Railways in Fiction and Film

Novelist Andrew Martin presents a documentary examining how the train came to shape the work of writers and film-makers, from Wordsworth and Dickens to The Railway Children.

09 Oct 200860m
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S08E03

Last Days of Steam

Documentary that tells the surprising story of how Britain entered a new age of steam railways after the Second World War and why it quickly came to an end.

16 Oct 200860m
How to Write a Mills and Boon
S08E04

How to Write a Mills and Boon

To mark 100 years of romance publishers Mills and Boon, literary novelist Stella Duffy takes on the challenge of writing for them, a task that ends up being harder than it looks.

02 Nov 200860m
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S08E05

How to Solve a Cryptic Crossword

Don Manley reveals the tricks that compilers use to bamboozle and entertain cryptic crossword solvers, while fans including Prunella Scales explain why they enjoy them.

10 Nov 200860m
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S08E06

The Comic Songbook

Documentary which celebrates Britain's tradition of comic songs, from Noel Coward's Mad Dogs and Englishmen to Benny Hill's Ernie, and reveals the skill involved in creating them.

22 Dec 200860m
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S08E07

Fashion versus the BBC

A team of fashion writers and commentators including Peter York, Colin McDowell, Ted Polhemus and Hilary Alexander looks at the relationship between British fashion and the BBC.

22 Jan 200960m
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S08E08

The North-South Divide

Journalist John Harris travels around England to find out why the north-south divide is still an economic reality following the decline of industry, and if it can be closed.

02 Apr 200960m