Timeshift Season 5

Time Shift looks at how satirists have portrayed politicians in such television creations as Yes Minister Spitting Image and The New Statesman.

Sixty years ago, postwar Europe was seen as a dirty, chaotic place where you couldn't drink the water. Now Brits dream of restoring crumbling chateaux in rural France - so what happened to change our minds?

Time Shift examines the history of English football fans travelling to Europe, and the attendant sub-culture of drinking and violence.

A member of OJ Simpson's "dream team", plus the lawyer who defended nanny Louise Woodward , are among contributors to Time Shift's history of the camera in the courtroom.

Since King Kong broke box office records, apes have been big business. Time Shift takes a wry look at a neglected genre, from Tarzan and Planet of the Apes to B-movies and cult films, like Bedtime with Bonzo.

Adam Hart-Davis explores the world of Britain's 40,000 amateur astronomers. While the last century saw amateurs eclipsed by high technology, increasingly sophisticated home equipment has seen the amateur community enter a new collaborative relationship with the professionals. Contributors include bestselling novelist Terry Pratchett, Colin Pillinger of the Beagle 2 project and the godfather of popular astronomy Patrick Moore.

Time Shift takes a look at the now notorious show, whose blacked-up singing and dancing routines ruled the weekend schedules for 21 years.

Time Shift charts the devastating effect on children - some as young as five - who care for infirm parents

Documentary recalling the social revolution which swept across Britain from 1946. A new dance craze, the Jitterbug, captured the mood of the country as years of war and austerity were cast off. The film uses archive footage and a soundtrack of classic hits, including music by Louis Jordan, Alma Cogan, Billie Holiday and Ray Charles.

Remembering the golden age of the TV panel game as What's My Line?, The Name's the Same and Ask Your Dad make their debuts during the years 1945-55. Narrated by Hugh Dennis

The changing sporting fortunes of England and Australia as recounted in this Time Shift documentary.

Time Shift investigates how Life magazine's opposition to Attlee's radical Labour government inspired them to suppress photographs of the 1950 general election.

Francine Stock narrates the story of the Third Programme, a high-culture radio show launched in 1946, focusing on how the series influenced the British arts scene.

In 1955 young producer of Travellers' Tales David Attenborough was persuaded by six Oxbridge undergraduates to give some money & filmstock so they could film their unique overland journey by Land Rover from London to Singapore.

Documentary explores the continuing appeal of Sherlock Holmes through his various screen incarnations, from early silent films through the classic portrayals by Basil Rathbone and Peter Cushing to the BBC's most recent Rupert Everett version. Contributors include Minette Walters, Kim Newman and Edward Hardwicke.

Time Shift presents clips of the strangest Sherlocks, with pastiche and parody from Roland Rat to John Cleese.

Robert Lindsay and Miranda Richardson guest in Time Shift's profile of the TV dramatist.

Daniela Nardini narrates a documentary exploring why the British funeral has acquired a new spirit of informality. Today's departed are just as likely to be sent on their way to the strains of Robbie Williams as they are to a classic hymn. A bewildering array of coffin styles is available, with even an environmentally-friendly wicker casket for the organically-minded. Are we improvising new rituals to fill a more profound vacuum in our secular society?

Jimmy McGovern and Ken Loach are among those reflecting on left-wing drama of the 1960s and 70s, looking at works as diverse as Take Me Home and Our Friends in the North.

From Pygmalion to Paxman, Time Shift traces the cult of plain-speaking. Narrated by Tamsin Greig.

A quirky Time Shift compilation of TV appearances by these two heavenly bodies, including Patrick Moore 's meeting with a vicar who refuses to believe the Sun is hot.

Marking 60 years of the Central Office of Information, Time Shift celebrates PIFs, from HIV awareness to "Charley Says".