Timeshift

Season 8

2008 · 8 episodes · 8h 0m in all · 7.0/10

Episodes

1. 1

   1. How to Be a Good President

   14 Sept 2008 · 60 min

   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.

2. 2

   2. Between the Lines - Railways in Fiction and Film

   9 Oct 2008 · 60 min

   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.

3. 3

   3. Last Days of Steam

   16 Oct 2008 · 60 min

   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.

4. 

   4. How to Write a Mills and Boon

   2 Nov 2008 · 60 min

   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.

5. 5

   5. How to Solve a Cryptic Crossword

   10 Nov 2008 · 60 min · 7.0/10

   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.

6. 6

   6. The Comic Songbook

   22 Dec 2008 · 60 min

   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.

7. 7

   7. Fashion versus the BBC

   22 Jan 2009 · 60 min

   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.

8. 8

   8. The North-South Divide

   2 Apr 2009 · 60 min

   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.