All Seasons

Season 1

  • S01E01 1956

    • July 7, 1985

    Krushchev stays at Claridges; Frogman Crabb disappears; Britain retreats from the Suez; Diana Dors' appears as a woman condemned to death in YIELD TO THE NIGHT; Brigitte Bardot appears in AND GOD CREATED WOMAN plus sevral other films; "Ernie", the machine to be used in the draws of the premium savings bond scheme, is introduced.

  • S01E02 1957

    • July 14, 1985

    Chancellor Harold Macmillan becomes Conservative Prime Minister in January; Althea Gibson, an American, becomes the first black woman to win Wimbledon; the Wolfenden Report is published and Russia launches Sputnik 1 into space.

  • S01E03 1958

    • July 21, 1985

    Sir Edmund Hillary and Sir Vivian Fuchs reach the South Pole; Manchester United football team's plane crashes at Munich when returning from Belgrade killing eight players; General De Gaulle comes out of retirement and is elected President of France; Elvis Presley is drafted into the US Army; Lady Docker is thrown out of Monaco.

  • S01E04 1959

    • July 28, 1985

    The news includes Castro's victory over Batista in Cuba, the Dalai Lama fleeing Tibet, the signing of an agreement between the Greeks and Turks in Cyprus, the Americans sending a monkey into space and Operation Noah saving thousands of African animals from drowning.

  • S01E05 1960

    • August 4, 1985

    The news includes trouble in Algeria, the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa, the election of John F Kennedy as President of the United States and the appearance of stiletto-heeled shoes in fashion.

  • S01E06 1961

    • August 11, 1985

    Gordon Lonsdale and four others are tried and convicted for spying; the Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin is the first man in space; South Africa becomes a republic, Anti-Castro troops invade Cuba; Rudolf Nureyev defects to the West; the Berlin Wall is constructed, dividing West and East Berlin.

  • S01E07 1962

    • August 18, 1986

    John Glenn orbits the earth; the satellite TELSTAR beams the first live television pictures from America to Britain including the First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, doing the Twist; Bradford comes down with smallpox; Marilyn Monroe dies; the USA and Russia reach the brink of nuclear war over the Cuban Missile Crisis.

  • S01E08 1963

    • August 25, 1985

    Hugh Gaitskell, leader of the Labour Party dies; Harold Wilson becomes Leader of the Opposition in his place; Krushchev and Kennedy sign a nuclear test ban treaty; Martin Luther King leads the Washington civil rights march in the USA; John Profumo, Secretary of State for War resigns following allegations about his association with Christine Keeler; Henry Cooper knocks Cassius Clay out; John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas; the first episode of DR WHO is screened.

Season 2

  • S02E01 1964

    • June 30, 1986

    Mary Whitehouse launches her "Clean-up TV" campaign; in South Africa, Nelson Mandela goes to prison; the Beatles' first film, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is released; George Brown, the First Secretary of State and Minister for Economic Affairs, and Robin Day, the broadcaster, do a double-act.

  • S02E02 1965

    • July 7, 1986

    Lyndon B Johnson is voted president of the Unitted States of America; Winston Churchill dies; ex-Beatle John Lennon publishes a book; P.J.Proby's trousers split once too often and create havoc; Rhodesia seeks independence form Britain; in Los Angeles the Watts Riots break out.

  • S02E03 1966

    • July 14, 1986

    England win the World Cup against Germany 4-2; John Lennon incurs the wrath of the American Bible Belt by declaring that the Beatles are more popular than Jesus; Ronald Reagan is elected Governor of California; nuclear bombs go astray in Spain.

  • S02E04 1967

    • July 21, 1986

    The year of hippies and flower power; China undergoes the Cultural Revolution; the Six Day War breaks out in the Middle East; pirate radio stations are declared illegal; breathalysers are introduced in an attempt to reduce the amount of drinking and driving; the tanker Torrey Canyon went aground off Land's End resulting in a large oil slick.

  • S02E05 1968

    • July 28, 1986

    The Vietcong launch the Tet Offensive; Russia invades Czechoslovakia; strikes and demonstrations in France leave the country on the brink of civil war; Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy are assassinated in the United States; Oliver Tobias and Paul Nicholas sing together in the musical Hair (see credit list).

  • S02E06 1969

    • August 4, 1986

    Neil Armstrong is the first man on the moon; the Rolling Stones play in Hyde Park; music festivals are held at Woodstock, USA and the Isle of Wight, England; Edward Kennedy leaves Mary Jo Kopechne to drown in the back of his car at Chappaquiddick; Sharon Tate is murdered by Charles Manson and other members of "The Family" at her home in Cielo Drive, Los Angeles; the Rolling Stones play at Altamont festival in the USA and a member of the audience is killed.

  • S02E07 1970

    • August 11, 1986

    The age of majority is lowered to 18; George Best makes football as attractive as rock 'n' roll; four students at Kent State University are fatally shot by police during demonstrations against Nixon's involvement in the war with Cambodia; young Dutch Catholics want an end to priestly celibacy; skinheads make reggae music their own.

  • S02E08 1971

    • August 18, 1986

    Cambridge dons join their students in demonstrating against the deportation of Rudi Dutschke; Daniel Ellsberg risks jail by leaking Pentagon secrets; a million British workers strike against Conservative industrial policy, John Lennon cheers them on with 'Power to the People'; footage of an epic performance of 'While my guitar gently weeps' by Eric Clapton and George Harrison.

Season 3

  • S03E01 1972

    • June 29, 1987

    British coal miners stage their first national strike since 1926; unemployment figures breach the one million mark; Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath signs the European Common Market Treaty; thirteen civilians are shot dead in Londonderry, Northern Ireland on Bloody Sunday; the IRA bomb the army barracks at Aldershot in retaliation; Arab terrorists attack the Munich Olympics; Sir Francis Chichester and the Duke of Windsor die.

  • S03E02 1973

    • July 6, 1987

    The Vietnam War ends; the IRA continues its bombing campaign; Watergate begins; the Cod War between Iceland and Britain ends; Lord Lambton resigns after a scandal; the Arab/Israeli war results in oil shortages and huge price increases in the West; the Oil Crisis combined with a work to rule by miners and power workers, results in the 'three day week'.

  • S03E03 1974

    • July 20, 1987

    Great Britain votes in two general elections; President Richard Nixon attempts a brave face over the Watergate tapes; streaking makes the charts as well as the headlines; "Glam Rules OK".

  • S03E04 1975

    • July 27, 1987

    Britain's referendum asks whether Britain should stay in the Common Market; the USA finally pulls out of Vietnam; Margaret Thatcher, the new Conservative leader sports her Eurojumper; Triumph car manufacturers are saved; the car industry reels; Britain banks on North Sea oil; the Bay City Rollers and Rollermania come to town; JAWS movie fever strikes.

  • S03E05 1976

    • August 3, 1987

    Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe resigns; Britain swelters under a heatwave; peanut farming becomes a thing of the past for America's president-elect, Jimmy Cartter; British mercenaries fight in Angola; there are riots in Soweto in South Africa; the Notting Hill Carnival erupts into violence; the heatwave results in water-rationing; John Curry wins a gold medal for skating at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.

  • S03E06 1977

    • August 10, 1987

    Jubilee mania hits the country; the young embrace Punk; the Lib/Lab pact; Steve Biko dies; Elvis Presley dies. Music by The Stranglers, The Eagles, Elvis Costello, The Jam, Status Quo, Queen, and The Bee Gees.

  • S03E07 1978

    • August 17, 1987

    1978. The year Roman Polanski skips bail and flees to France, after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl. Rhodesia's prime minister Ian Smith and 3 black leaders agree on the transfer to black majority rule and The Who's Keith Moon dies. Music from Kate Bush, Ian Dury, Blondie and The Police.

  • S03E08 1979

    • August 24, 1987

    1979. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile and creates the Council of the Islamic Revolution. The Queen makes a historic visit to the Gulf states. Pope John Paul II arrives in Eire. Mother Theresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. Music from Elvis Costello & the Attractions, Earth Wind & Fire and The Emotions, The Tourists, Tubeway Army, The Police, and The Specials.

  • S03E09 1980

    • August 31, 1987

    1980. Who shot J.R.? Six Iranian-born terrorists take over the Iranian embassy in London. The SAS retakes the Embassy on day six of the siege. One terrorist survives. John Lennon is shot dead in New York. Music from The Jam, The Undertones, The Pretenders, Madness, David Bowie.

Season 4

  • S04E01 1981

    • March 2, 1994

    Highlights from the music and news headlines of 1981, when Ronald Reagan became the USA's 40th president; Charles and Diana got married; and there were riots in inner cities across Britain. Includes music from Dire Straits, Duran Duran, Kim Carnes and the Specials.

  • S04E02 1982

    • March 9, 1994

    The year in which Mark Thatcher (son of the prime minister) was lost and found in the Sahara; Erica Roe streaked at Twickenham; Freddie Laker and John de Lorean lost their businesses; The Falklands War; Prince William was born; the Tudor warship the Mary Rose was raised from the sea bed; and Channel Four began transmissions. Music from The Stranglers, Toni Basil, ABC, The England World Cup Squad, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Culture Club, Kid Creole and the Coconuts and Madness.

  • S04E03 1983

    • March 16, 1994

    Margaret Thatcher was elected for a second term, Cecil Parkinson resigned from the Cabinet, Niel Kinnock became leader of the Labour Party, Ronald Reagan introduced `Star Wars', Cruise missiles arrived at Greenham Common, CDs and the £1 coin were launched, Racehorse Shergar disappeared and bodypopping and breakdancing were the rage. Music includes U2 (`New Year's Day'), Michael Jackson (`Billie Jean'), David Bowie (`Let's Dance'), Eurythmics (`Sweet Dreams'), The Police (`Every Breath You Take'), Elton John (I'm Still Standing'), The Smiths `(This Charming Man') and Prince and the Revolution (`1999').

  • S04E04 1984

    • March 23, 1994

    Highlights of the music and news from 1984. A year which included the miners strike, the Brighton Bomb, Mrs Gandhi's assassination, the Libyan Embassy siege and Los Angeles Olympics. Music comes from Madonna, Queen, Wham!, Tina Turner, Band Aid, Talking Heads etc.

  • S04E05 1985

    • March 30, 1994

    The news and music of 1985. Includes, Gorbachev becoming the new soviet leader, Live Aid, Heysel Stadium disaster, rioting in Handsworth, Brixton and Tottenham. The music comes from King, The Cure, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Wham! and Simply Red.

  • S04E06 1986

    • April 6, 1994

    Includes: Michael Heseltine resigns from the Cabinet; Jeffrey Archer is involved in a call-girl scandal; the bombing of Libya by the USA; the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

  • S04E07 1987

    • April 13, 1994

    The year that Terry Waite was kidnapped in Beirut, Prince Edward left the Marines and the Duchess of York obtained her wings as a helicopter pilot. The `Herald of Free Enterprise' sank and Michael Ryan killed 16 people in Hungerford. Margaret Thatcher won her third term in office and `Black Monday' made it an extraordinary October on the stock exchange. Music: The Mission `Wasteland', The Beastie Boys 'You Gotta Fight', Pet Shop Boys `It's a Sin', Bananarama `Love in the First Degree', New Order 'True Faith', U2 `I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' and The Proclaimers `Letter From America'.

  • S04E08 1988

    • April 20, 1994

    Music and news from 1988. Red nose day was launched, Reagan made his first visit to USSR and George Bush is elected to the White House. The year ends with the Lockerbie bomb, the Clapham rail disaster and the Armenian earthquake. Includes music from George Michael ("Faith"), Kylie Minogue ("I should be so lucky"), Aztec Camera ("Somewhere in my heart"), Michael Jackson ("Another part of me"), INXS ("Need you tonight") and Roy Orbison ("You got it").

  • S04E09 1989

    • April 27, 1994

    Music and news from 1989. The Fatwa was ordered on Salman Rushdie, the Guildford Four were released, the students were massacred in Tiananmen Square, the Exxon Valdes ran aground, and the Berlin Wall came down. Music was from, Fine Young Cannibals, Guns n Roses, Sam Brown, Cliff Richard, Madonna, Neneh Cherry and Lisa Stansfield.