UK movie and TV recommendations wanted
October 24, 2022 6:10 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for British TV and film set from roughly the 1950s to the 1980s. Especially those that are concerned with the lives of ordinary middle- and working-class people, outside of the big cities – and especially those that are particularly evocative of their time and place.
I'm an American. Since my understanding of life in the UK has been absorbed entirely from pop culture, I'm sure that I have a distorted and romanticized view. I'm not sure whether I'm asking for media that indulges that romance, or for media that presents a more nuanced and realistic view. (Probably both.)
This photograph of the White Horse Inn (in Beverley) is what got me thinking about this. I'm sure it looks quite ordinary to British eyes, but that's what I want: stories set amidst ordinary, suburban British life of this era. Unpretentious pubs where old-fashioned pub games are played, bacon sarnies with brown sauce, tea with the vicar, etc. (Please accept my apologies for the blatant stereotypes.)
All genres are fair game – and it can be a period piece, or actually made in the time period. It's helpful if the show is good – but I'm also fine with things that are mediocre, as long as they satisfy the criteria. Remember, I've never seen any of this stuff – even corny old soap operas will probably be interesting to me. Think of this as an informal sociological survey, not an effort to find enjoyable viewing.
Thanks!
I'm an American. Since my understanding of life in the UK has been absorbed entirely from pop culture, I'm sure that I have a distorted and romanticized view. I'm not sure whether I'm asking for media that indulges that romance, or for media that presents a more nuanced and realistic view. (Probably both.)
This photograph of the White Horse Inn (in Beverley) is what got me thinking about this. I'm sure it looks quite ordinary to British eyes, but that's what I want: stories set amidst ordinary, suburban British life of this era. Unpretentious pubs where old-fashioned pub games are played, bacon sarnies with brown sauce, tea with the vicar, etc. (Please accept my apologies for the blatant stereotypes.)
All genres are fair game – and it can be a period piece, or actually made in the time period. It's helpful if the show is good – but I'm also fine with things that are mediocre, as long as they satisfy the criteria. Remember, I've never seen any of this stuff – even corny old soap operas will probably be interesting to me. Think of this as an informal sociological survey, not an effort to find enjoyable viewing.
Thanks!
The Family (1974; typical reality show caveats apply; ten years on)
posted by Wobbuffet at 6:45 PM on October 24, 2022
posted by Wobbuffet at 6:45 PM on October 24, 2022
Keeping Up Appearances
Boys from the Blackstuff
Take the High Road
Coronation Street
posted by Ideefixe at 7:14 PM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
Boys from the Blackstuff
Take the High Road
Coronation Street
posted by Ideefixe at 7:14 PM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is England, both the film and the subsequent miniseries (This is England 86, 88, and 90). The film follows a group of young working-class skinheads as the skinhead scene becomes a recruiting ground for the National Front. The miniseries follows the same characters over the course of the next decade or so. Shane Meadows, the director, famously relies on a lot of improvisation from his actors, so the film, and the miniseries even more so, feels very realistic. Definitely tons of trigger warnings for all sorts of violence, although there's a lot of sweetness and touching moments as well. I'm not sure where you can stream the movie right now (and you should definitely watch that first) but all the miniseries episodes are on YouTube.
posted by dysh at 7:34 PM on October 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by dysh at 7:34 PM on October 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
Life On Mars, the UK version. I had the feeling that I had been listening to British rock songs of that era all my life, but this was the first time I'd seen what they were singing about.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 7:37 PM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 7:37 PM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
Kitchen sink dramas from this time period like This Sporting Life, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Billy Liar, A Taste of Honey, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner…not cozy
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:37 PM on October 24, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:37 PM on October 24, 2022 [10 favorites]
On a happier note: A Hard Days Night. Working class lads make good.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:43 PM on October 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:43 PM on October 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
Mike Leigh's films and plays. Abigail's Party in particular is iconic.
Anything by or about Joe Orton.
I would call it a bacon butty, by the way. Hard to describe but sarnie sounds fancy to me, like it has multiple fillings. A single filling, like just bacon or just crisps or just chips or just an egg is always a butty.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 7:50 PM on October 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
Anything by or about Joe Orton.
I would call it a bacon butty, by the way. Hard to describe but sarnie sounds fancy to me, like it has multiple fillings. A single filling, like just bacon or just crisps or just chips or just an egg is always a butty.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 7:50 PM on October 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
Shirley Valentine. An amazing movie.
Educating Rita is interesting too, especially if you're interested in 1980s Britain. But Shirley Valentine is just fabulous.
posted by EllaEm at 8:04 PM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
Educating Rita is interesting too, especially if you're interested in 1980s Britain. But Shirley Valentine is just fabulous.
posted by EllaEm at 8:04 PM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
Though it is set in a city (Newcastle), Our Friends in the North ticks quite a few boxes.
From the IMDB description:
Drama examining the politics and change across Britain from the Sixties to the Nineties seen through the varying fortunes of four friends.
posted by HonoriaGlossop at 8:16 PM on October 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
From the IMDB description:
Drama examining the politics and change across Britain from the Sixties to the Nineties seen through the varying fortunes of four friends.
posted by HonoriaGlossop at 8:16 PM on October 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
These are famous movies, made in the early 1960s, about working class people at that time. They are set in cities - that's where most working class people lived.
These movies don't present a cozy, sentimental view of English life. For the working class, it was pretty tough in those years. One thing you will see is how much poorer the English were than the Americans at that time. In Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, the protagonist's fiance tells him, "I want a new house -- with a bathroom and everything!"
A Taste of Honey (1961) - This is a great movie, in story, cast, and even in the soundtrack -- which does not include the popular song with the same title, but instead is composed entirely of the children singing the songs that accompany their games in the streets.
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) - with Albert Finney as the working class Angry Young Man.
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) - Tom Courtenay as a borstal (reform school) athletic star.
Those three are pretty grim. This one is a comedy, sort of:
Billy Liar (1963) Tom Courtenay again, as a sort of English Walter Mitty, with Julie Christie.
An interesting companion to these is the first Beatles movie A Hard Day's Night (1964) which is not a realistic film about typical people, but still has a lot of similarities. The Beatles came from the same time, place, and class as is shown in the other four movies.
posted by JonJacky at 8:27 PM on October 24, 2022 [7 favorites]
These movies don't present a cozy, sentimental view of English life. For the working class, it was pretty tough in those years. One thing you will see is how much poorer the English were than the Americans at that time. In Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, the protagonist's fiance tells him, "I want a new house -- with a bathroom and everything!"
A Taste of Honey (1961) - This is a great movie, in story, cast, and even in the soundtrack -- which does not include the popular song with the same title, but instead is composed entirely of the children singing the songs that accompany their games in the streets.
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) - with Albert Finney as the working class Angry Young Man.
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) - Tom Courtenay as a borstal (reform school) athletic star.
Those three are pretty grim. This one is a comedy, sort of:
Billy Liar (1963) Tom Courtenay again, as a sort of English Walter Mitty, with Julie Christie.
An interesting companion to these is the first Beatles movie A Hard Day's Night (1964) which is not a realistic film about typical people, but still has a lot of similarities. The Beatles came from the same time, place, and class as is shown in the other four movies.
posted by JonJacky at 8:27 PM on October 24, 2022 [7 favorites]
Jinx! I took a long time writing my answer, TWinbrook8 anticipated every one of my recommendations! Well, I heartily second them all.
posted by JonJacky at 8:29 PM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by JonJacky at 8:29 PM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
Grantchester (period piece) will cure you of the romanticism but good. It's like Mad Men, but for vicars.
Note that food remained rationed in England until 1954.
posted by praemunire at 8:46 PM on October 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
Note that food remained rationed in England until 1954.
posted by praemunire at 8:46 PM on October 24, 2022 [3 favorites]
Withnail and I, hits a very specific tone and time with regards to the bohemian ne'er-do-wells of that era, and plus it's got Paul McGann and Richard E. Grant. And it's a comedy, which is usually my go-to genre to get a temperature check on what's the shared references of a culture, even if I don't/won't get it. It does start in a shabby part of London, but it soon gets into the countryside.
Seconding Educating Rita.
uh, maybe avoid any adaptation of a Harold Pinter story, lol.
Not a joke: the British Pathé youtube channel. straight up ethnographic studies, comparatively.
posted by cendawanita at 9:29 PM on October 24, 2022 [6 favorites]
Seconding Educating Rita.
uh, maybe avoid any adaptation of a Harold Pinter story, lol.
Not a joke: the British Pathé youtube channel. straight up ethnographic studies, comparatively.
posted by cendawanita at 9:29 PM on October 24, 2022 [6 favorites]
Call the Midwife sounds like the obvious thing. Note: scenes of medical procedures.
posted by ovvl at 9:45 PM on October 24, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by ovvl at 9:45 PM on October 24, 2022 [5 favorites]
Back in Time for Dinner is a documentary series that looks at the history of food in Britain. An ordinary family lives as people would have lived through the 1950s, 60s , 70s and 80s.
Really interesting quotidian details about post war rationing and the rise of the ready meal but also general social commentary is unavoidable
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 11:12 PM on October 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
Really interesting quotidian details about post war rationing and the rise of the ready meal but also general social commentary is unavoidable
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 11:12 PM on October 24, 2022 [4 favorites]
How We Used to Live, educational drama for schools. Various episodes on You Tube, eg 1939.
Then these are non-fiction, but may still be of interest. The Secret History of Our Streets includes a lot of working class history. Wikipedia. A couple of Guardian reviews here and here. Similarly A House Through Time. Review. This often starts with the house being posh and then sinks through the social scale and then gentrifies towards the end, so if you just want the working class history you want the middle episodes.
posted by paduasoy at 11:31 PM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
Then these are non-fiction, but may still be of interest. The Secret History of Our Streets includes a lot of working class history. Wikipedia. A couple of Guardian reviews here and here. Similarly A House Through Time. Review. This often starts with the house being posh and then sinks through the social scale and then gentrifies towards the end, so if you just want the working class history you want the middle episodes.
posted by paduasoy at 11:31 PM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]
Sorry, just seen you don't want large cities, so disregard the non-fiction programmes. How We Used to Live is in a fictional Yorkshire town that may not be too dissimilar to Beverley. I will say that the pubs / tea with the vicar / suburbs may be different environments (that photograph doesn't read suburban to me), but I understand those differences may be part of what you want to explore.
posted by paduasoy at 11:39 PM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by paduasoy at 11:39 PM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
Popped in to recommend Our Friends in the North if nobody else did, stayed to second the motion. Daniel Craig broke my damn heart, and Christopher Eccleston is tops as always.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:59 PM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:59 PM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
Think of this as an informal sociological survey, not an effort to find enjoyable viewing.
Maybe you want the BBC Archive, then.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 12:32 AM on October 25, 2022
Maybe you want the BBC Archive, then.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 12:32 AM on October 25, 2022
Pride is a thoroughly enjoyable film.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 12:36 AM on October 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 12:36 AM on October 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
From Scotland with Love comprises archive footage of everyday life in Scotland from about the 30s till maybe the 80s - to a great soundtrack by King Creosote. You get the feeling of everyday work, dating, holidays, nights out, etc from that era.
As source material from the 70s and 80s - I would recommend Twitter user ScarredForLife's recommendations (in a couple of books). He makes quite a big emphasis on the traumatic public information films and shit scary "children's TV" that were popular then. Children's TV in particular, often started out with "ordinary kids in ordinary places" plot lines.
Even parodies can throw a lot of light here - for example Look Around You absolutely nails a lot of the everyday 1980s school experience.
posted by rongorongo at 12:38 AM on October 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
As source material from the 70s and 80s - I would recommend Twitter user ScarredForLife's recommendations (in a couple of books). He makes quite a big emphasis on the traumatic public information films and shit scary "children's TV" that were popular then. Children's TV in particular, often started out with "ordinary kids in ordinary places" plot lines.
Even parodies can throw a lot of light here - for example Look Around You absolutely nails a lot of the everyday 1980s school experience.
posted by rongorongo at 12:38 AM on October 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
Along the same lines as Look Around You, there’s also Scarfolk Council.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 1:51 AM on October 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 1:51 AM on October 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
Shoestring, 1979 twenty one episodes, , set in an unnamed west country city (mostly filmed in Bristol). I have a feeling some was shot around Southamton too.
posted by unearthed at 2:06 AM on October 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by unearthed at 2:06 AM on October 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
Three Salons at the Seaside (recently parodied by Documentary Now)
posted by Chenko at 2:26 AM on October 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Chenko at 2:26 AM on October 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
Ooooh, The Firm. Even though it's not exactly cozy!
posted by kingdead at 6:40 AM on October 25, 2022
posted by kingdead at 6:40 AM on October 25, 2022
It’s set in London so it doesn’t exactly fit your brief but I think it might scratch the right itch: See if you can find the first few series of Grange Hill.
It was a kids’ drama, but a very good one, about working class kids in a London senior school (aged 11-16ish). It was kind of revolutionary in its time, for showing kids who were troublemakers, and for being realistic rather than sugar-coated, about the lives of kids in comprehensive schools. It was very common when I was a kid in the late 70s and early 80s, for kids not to be allowed to watch it by their parents because it was considered a bad influence, which is usually a good recommendation!
While I’m breaking your rules and recommending stuff from London, the 60s documentary, The London Nobody Knows is good.
posted by penguin pie at 7:51 AM on October 25, 2022
It was a kids’ drama, but a very good one, about working class kids in a London senior school (aged 11-16ish). It was kind of revolutionary in its time, for showing kids who were troublemakers, and for being realistic rather than sugar-coated, about the lives of kids in comprehensive schools. It was very common when I was a kid in the late 70s and early 80s, for kids not to be allowed to watch it by their parents because it was considered a bad influence, which is usually a good recommendation!
While I’m breaking your rules and recommending stuff from London, the 60s documentary, The London Nobody Knows is good.
posted by penguin pie at 7:51 AM on October 25, 2022
Being a 60s kid my first exposures to Britain came via the sounds of the British Invasion, among which, The Who. They released a concept album in 1974 called "Quadrophenia" which was made into a film several years later. Because of this story, when I finally got to the UK I had to visit Brighton. That movie may have some of what you're after, but the real stuff is in the 1948 movie of the Graham Greene novel, Brighton Rock. See Richard Attenborough in his debut, playing a creepy punk, along with several scenes in unpretentious pubs where old-fashioned pub games are being played. (The link's to the whole film at the Internet Archive.)
posted by Rash at 9:28 AM on October 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Rash at 9:28 AM on October 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
And for more 60s England, don't miss If....
posted by Rash at 9:31 AM on October 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Rash at 9:31 AM on October 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
You might like Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, a mid-1980s comedy about working class builders (construction workers).
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 11:34 AM on October 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 11:34 AM on October 25, 2022 [2 favorites]
Made in Dagenham (2010) is a fictionalized retelling of the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968. It has one detail that other period media I've seen doesn't cover: the plight of men who came back from WW2 with PTSD (cw: suicide). Even in the early 1970s, I remember the "men who came back from the war not quite right".
posted by scruss at 3:07 PM on October 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by scruss at 3:07 PM on October 25, 2022 [1 favorite]
Coronation Street. I mean it's a soap opera and it's set in Manchester, but it's exactly the right timeframe and depicts northern working class life.
posted by plonkee at 2:39 AM on October 26, 2022
posted by plonkee at 2:39 AM on October 26, 2022
The Likely Lads and Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads. A sitcom depiction of 1960s and 1970s northern England and (for one of the two main characters) the emerging aspiring middle classes. Excellent stuff.
posted by fabius at 5:22 AM on October 26, 2022
posted by fabius at 5:22 AM on October 26, 2022
Rising Damp is quite of the time, and also excellent, but given most of it is set in a single house there might be diminishing returns in what you'll learn about the country/time after an episode or two.
But Leonard Rossiter also starred in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (original version, not 2009 remake) which is a bit more wide-ranging and middle class (and, yes, excellent).
Oh, and The Good Life was/is a massively popular sitcom that is also very of its 1970s time.
posted by fabius at 5:30 AM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
But Leonard Rossiter also starred in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (original version, not 2009 remake) which is a bit more wide-ranging and middle class (and, yes, excellent).
Oh, and The Good Life was/is a massively popular sitcom that is also very of its 1970s time.
posted by fabius at 5:30 AM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
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Anything by Ken Loach.
The George Gently series
The Endeavour series
posted by Thella at 6:25 PM on October 24, 2022 [5 favorites]