BBC_Electric Dreams_1of3_The 1970s
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Over the last 40 years, technology has developed with dizzying speed, but how has it transformed
00:11our homes, and what has it done to our families?
00:15To find out, the Sullivan Barnes's from Reading are taking part in a unique experiment.
00:22They'll be stripped of all modern technology, and their own home will be turned into a time
00:26machine.
00:28What on earth have they done with our kitchen?
00:31I would never have chosen it.
00:33I hate it!
00:34Beginning in the digital wilderness of 1970, the family will be fast-forwarded at the rate
00:40of a year per day, through three decades of technological progress.
00:48Each day, new gadgets will be delivered to their door, so they can see first-hand their
00:52impact on family life.
00:54Wait, wait, wait!
00:55Why can't you be more patient?
00:57An expert technical support team have the task of sourcing vintage technology and getting
01:03it to work.
01:04The challenge for us is great, and I'm not really sure that we're going to be able to
01:09do it.
01:10In this episode, the family go on the ultimate nostalgia trip, as they speed through the
01:141970s.
01:15I can't, I can't find the second key.
01:20Without their 21st century technology, how will it change the way they live?
01:25In the 70s, he probably would have got smacked.
01:28Will they spend more time together, or just more time doing housework?
01:32How can people cook with this on a regular basis and not have serious stress problems?
01:38Has technological progress always been for the better, and has it fulfilled our electric
01:43dreams?
01:56It's the Sullivan Barnes' last night in 2009.
02:14Tomorrow they'll be moving out of their house, so it can be turned into a 1970s home.
02:20Adam's an accountant, and George is a senior NHS executive.
02:25Between them, they've got four children.
02:27Hamish, Ellie, Jude, and Adam's daughter, Steph.
02:32Though she mostly lives with her mum, she's here for the whole experience.
02:37A thoroughly modern family, they own three games consoles, three DVD players, five mobile
02:43phones, six televisions, and seven computers.
02:47But Adam can't wait to leave all this behind and travel back in time to his youth.
02:52I think the nostalgia for me of revisiting some of those old gadgets I can remember from
02:59a kid will be a real thrill.
03:03For the children, it's a journey into the unknown.
03:06If I had to list one thing that everyone would miss, I'd say that I'd probably miss my computer.
03:11I'd miss my phone.
03:13What do you think you'd miss?
03:15Probably computer, because I use computer for most of my homework and stuff.
03:21I spend the most time in my bedroom, just away from civilization.
03:26Mum George is not so sure all this technology is such a good thing.
03:30I feel as though they're missing out, that you can't live your life in front of a screen.
03:36It'd be fantastic at the end of it if we were less hooked on all the techno stuff.
03:43I'd love it if having less technology means that we can spend more time together as a family.
03:49It'll be interesting to see how all the children and the rest of us interact with each other
03:55when all this kit's gone.
03:57Next time the family come home, it'll be 1970.
04:05Across Reading, the family's very own technical support team are gathering the vintage technology
04:10which they'll soon have to live with.
04:13Tom Rigglesworth will provide audio and communication devices.
04:17We're going to have to deliver every gadget and gizmo that arrived in British houses in the 1970s to their doorstep.
04:23And even when we've sourced it, we've got to get it working.
04:27Gia Milinovic is a technology journalist and computer expert.
04:31I'm going to be busy in the 80s, certainly in the 90s, but in the 70s, what do I have?
04:38I mean this, maybe? This is it. Wow.
04:42Sociologist Dr Ben Highmore will put it all in context.
04:46A family that's used to interacting with technology most of the day,
04:50when all that's taken away from them, what are they going to do?
04:56It's time for the tech team to put the final touches to the house.
05:01The big style's going through, ch-ch-ch-ch-changing.
05:06But the decor has already been taken back to the 70s.
05:11To make it more like an average home of the era, rooms have been resized and others have disappeared.
05:17The kitchen's now just a third of the size.
05:22Instead of two bathrooms, there's now just one.
05:27The girls will be sharing.
05:30And instead of two receptions, the family are left with a single cosy sitting room.
05:35It's getting there, isn't it, I think? Yeah.
05:38This room's looking really good.
05:40Originally it was a knock-through dining room sitting room,
05:43but we've boarded that back up, made it into just a sitting room on its own.
05:48The 1970 house is a completely different house in terms of how it was used to the houses we have now.
05:54Much darker, much more claustrophobic. I mean, partly this is about heating.
05:58If you have central heating, you can have through rooms, you can have big open spaces.
06:05Now this, I think, is the biggest change in the house,
06:09because of course Hamish had his whole entire life here, it was just computers and games and everything.
06:14All I've left him is this little radio.
06:18He is going to have to reacquaint himself with the rest of the family now downstairs.
06:23Each day in the house is going to be one year, so we've got on this to remind them what year it is.
06:30There we go. 1969. Armstrong was limbering up.
06:38Magic.
06:44The transformation is complete. It's time for the family to move back in.
06:48And they've been transformed too, with 1970s outfits.
06:55They have no idea what now lies behind their own front door.
07:04What on earth have they done with our kitchen?
07:07Oh, I don't like it. I hate it.
07:10Oh, look at the floor.
07:12Oh my goodness.
07:15What do you think of the colour scheme? Are you impressed with the colour scheme?
07:18I would never have chosen it, but it kind of works.
07:21What is this?
07:22No, that's the washing machine.
07:24Where is the fridge?
07:25Oh, here, here, here.
07:27There's the fridge then.
07:29No dishwasher.
07:31We definitely don't have a microwave.
07:33What about a freezer?
07:35Look at this kettle.
07:36Oh yeah.
07:37That's just a fridge.
07:38Right now, I love it, I think it's fab, but by the time I tried to cook it,
07:42Right now, I love it, I think it's fab, but by the time I tried to cook dinner later,
07:46and I've done ten days living and cooking and washing in it,
07:50you might want to ask me again and get a different answer.
07:53Jude.
07:54I love the big curtain.
07:56Oh!
07:58This is so cool.
07:59This wallpaper's so cool, isn't it?
08:02Whoa.
08:03Look at that TV.
08:06Is it old?
08:09Black and white!
08:11Oh, fabulous.
08:12Is that ITV?
08:13That must be ITV.
08:15Look, it's Doctor Who.
08:18The family will only be able to watch TV at the hours it was available in the 1970s,
08:23which means often no daytime TV at all and shut down before midnight.
08:29I reckon I'm going to be watching telly more now just because it's so different.
08:33Do you like black and white, then?
08:35No.
08:37Oh, my God!
08:40I love it!
08:41I love it!
08:42It's amazing.
08:43It's amazing.
08:44We're sharing a room.
08:45We're sharing a room.
08:46I love it, I love it, I love it.
08:47I want it to stay like that.
08:48Yeah.
08:49Wow, the wallpaper's groovy.
08:51Oh, look.
08:53Oh, my God.
08:54Look, we can have a little bit of moody music here.
08:57We've got a record player up here.
08:58How cool.
09:00Whoa.
09:02Oh, wow.
09:04Oh, my gosh.
09:06That is brilliant.
09:07It's so cool.
09:10It's a bit of Simon and Garfunkel on.
09:11Adam?
09:12Yeah?
09:13Have you noticed what we haven't got anymore?
09:14What?
09:15In our bedroom.
09:16Not all the bathroom.
09:17Not sweets.
09:18Oh, no, that means we've got to share a bathroom with the kids.
09:21How disgusting.
09:23I definitely do not think I'm going to be spending so much time in my room.
09:27I'm going to be downstairs on the guitar
09:29and watching Drop Tipu on the black and white TV.
09:33That's it.
09:41Oh, look.
09:43Oh, lovely bedroom.
09:44Oh, it's just fabulous.
09:45So romantic.
09:46I'm so pleased.
09:48So pleased.
09:51It just evokes so many memories of childhood
09:53and you kind of regress to a different mental state, I think.
10:00Very little here.
10:01There's a radio, there's a couple of TV channels
10:03and there's some music through LPs
10:06and that's pretty much it from what I could see.
10:10George is getting to grips with her kitchen, circa 1970,
10:14which means no freezer, microwave, automatic washing machine
10:18or tumble dryer.
10:20I'm worrying like mad.
10:22I'm trying to think about things like washing
10:24and there's a twin tub washing machine over there
10:26which I'm dreading getting to grips with.
10:30By the time I've worked out how to manage the functions
10:34of being a mum with a house of four children,
10:39it'll be more than past my bedtime.
10:44There's part of me that's hoping the kids will actually get on fine
10:47and enjoy not sitting in front of a telly all the time
10:49and there's a cruel streak in me that actually makes me think,
10:52ha-ha, let's see what they'll do without all that stuff now.
11:06The children don't want to go up to their 1970s bedrooms
11:09which are cold and empty of anything entertaining.
11:12So, unlike 2009, television viewing is a shared family experience.
11:21The news shows a Britain the kids have never known,
11:24a country that proudly manufactured its own cars, clothes and electrical goods.
11:31But it was also a nation in crisis.
11:34This was the start of a decade of industrial unrest.
11:38While the strike lasts, there'll be no new telephones installed
11:41and there'll be delays over repairs.
11:43This is the era of collective bargaining and strike action.
11:47Post office strikes were even threatening the telephone network.
11:54But at least, unions permitting, the Sullivan-Barnseys have a phone,
11:58albeit a single fixed handset, tethered in their draughty hallway.
12:03They're lucky. In 1970, half of British homes didn't yet have a phone line.
12:09Hello?
12:10Hello Hamish, it's Tom from the tech team.
12:12Oh, hi.
12:13How are you doing?
12:14I'm fine, thanks.
12:15Could you tell your family that only 25% of the population had central heating in 1970,
12:20so as a result we've switched your central heating off.
12:23However, on the front doorstep there is your first gadget
12:27that will make the morning chill a little bit easier.
12:34Let's hope they like tea.
12:37Uh, guys?
12:39We have a parcel.
12:42It's from Tom and the rest of the tech team.
12:45Is that what the phone call was?
12:47Yep.
12:48Only 25% of people in the 1970s had central heating.
12:52They've turned ours off as a result, so we don't have central heating anymore.
12:56But this is to help make your mornings a bit warmer.
13:01Yes! Yes!
13:02What is it?
13:03Coffee.
13:04Is it teas made?
13:05I believe so.
13:06It's for Adam and I to have in our bedrooms.
13:12So make your morning warmer.
13:14Yes.
13:16Thanks.
13:18Why did they give us that?
13:19Because it's only benefiting you two.
13:22The technical support team's first delivery comes complete with original 70s instructions
13:27and authentic 70s chauvinism.
13:29So, you now have a Goblin Teas Made, the second best tea maker in the world.
13:34Naturally, would never dream of competing with a woman.
13:38How dare they!
13:45Steph wasn't very impressed with the teas made.
13:48I think she was hoping it would be something for us or for her.
13:55What about our present from the tech team tonight, the teas made?
13:58Hey, we've got that charged up and ready to go, haven't we?
14:02Waking up with a cup of tea and nobody having to be the brave person
14:06that ventures out in the cold with no central heating.
14:09Yeah, what is that whole central heating thing?
14:11They obviously have a sadistic streak somewhere
14:14where somebody out there wants us to be cold and not very happy.
14:24A new day means a new year.
14:32Tea, dear.
14:34Oh, yes, please, darling.
14:36The teas made was an expensive luxury, costing around a week's salary.
14:41Like most electrical goods of the 1970s, it was made in Britain.
14:45In this case, by Goblin of Leatherhead.
14:48Morning.
14:51The teas made's popularity would fade during the 1970s
14:55as ever more homes got central heating.
14:59By the year 2000, the Goblin teas made was no more.
15:05What a total waste of time.
15:07What on earth were they thinking?
15:10What is so great about having a thing that's really noisy
15:13sitting next to your bed to make you a cup of tea
15:16when you could just go downstairs and make one?
15:18I don't understand.
15:20I don't understand what you don't like about it.
15:22Why wouldn't that be brilliant?
15:24None of us have had to get out of bed.
15:29Monday morning.
15:32It's school for the children and work for Adam.
15:36First, time to check out another 70s gadget.
15:40I can smell it a bit. It smells like...
15:42It reminds me of my old train sets.
15:45It's not actually cutting anything, is it?
15:59Why's everybody got to dinner?
16:01Maybe they're queuing up for the bathroom.
16:05George is taking the day off work
16:07to get the housework done without the aid of modern technology.
16:11I've got my uniform on, ready to get on with a bit more washing up.
16:17We do seem to be taking up station by the kitchen sink
16:20and waiting for the next bit of washing up to arrive.
16:23And so far, no oncoming train has arrived.
16:27No offers of help from the family.
16:33The change to decimal currency has been a big operation.
16:36Tools to be changed, salesgirls trained and all those...
16:39Adam's off to work in his Ford Cortina,
16:42Britain's best-selling car of the 1970s.
16:47It seems to be working OK.
16:50Club click every trip.
16:52Thank you, Jimmy Savile.
16:55I'm sure it will drive as well as it looks.
16:58But it doesn't take long for his warm bubble of nostalgia to burst.
17:02Got no wing mirrors, so I've got no idea...
17:06what's going on behind me.
17:09Absolutely none.
17:11Though just about roadworthy,
17:13modern safety regulations wouldn't allow a car like this to be built today.
17:17There are no airbags, no rear seatbelts, no head restraints
17:22and, of course, no power brakes or steering.
17:25This is a big test because the brakes...
17:28Oh, I've got no brakes!
17:30I've got no brakes.
17:36Oh, God. Here we go.
17:38OK, and just going round the corners takes a real effort
17:43just because the... I can't find that second gear.
17:46I can't... I can't find the second gear.
17:53I've got to tell you, my modern car is streets ahead of this.
17:57I mean, it's a lovely car to look at,
18:00but, boy, oh, boy, this is a death trap, I think.
18:05Georgie's trying to throw herself into life as a 70s housewife.
18:10Oh, it's quite heavy.
18:12I do the cooking, I've just made the children's beds.
18:16Brilliant. That's great.
18:19That's great. That's just what I want for myself
18:22and for my daughters to see happening. Perfect.
18:25Generally, I'm a really busy working mum.
18:28There's a house of four kids and Adam to look after.
18:31He's as much work as the children a lot of the time.
18:36It's fun for now, but if I was coming home at the end of a working day
18:40and sitting down trying to work out what we're going to cook tomorrow
18:44and how we'll buy the ingredients,
18:46we've no storage, we've a tiny fridge, no freezer,
18:49so I couldn't do a weekly shop for fresh goods
18:52and I've no idea when I'd buy them.
18:56Washing with a twin tub is a two-hour ritual,
18:58taking over the entire kitchen.
19:02In the 21st century, the kitchen is often the social hub of the home.
19:08But in the 1970s, it was a no-frills centre for domestic labour.
19:17Smells not right now.
19:20It smells like there's an electrical smell,
19:24as though the motor's about to object to life and I've turned it off.
19:28I'm not very happy to be using it with that smell.
19:36George is finding the kitchen full of trials.
19:39Even cooking tonight's dessert is perilous.
19:43Domestic microwave ovens weren't launched until 1974,
19:47so to cook a pudding in half the time
19:50meant boiling it under pressure at over 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
19:55It's the first time I've ever used a pressure cooker
19:58and I swear, you really wish you'd got a microwave.
20:01By the time the children returned from school,
20:03George has spent the whole day in the kitchen.
20:07Homework without computers is their idea of a chore.
20:13Adam's also home.
20:15Hello, darling. Hi, darling.
20:17Slippers are upstairs.
20:19And he's seeing danger all over the house.
20:21It's just that whole kind of kitchen set-up just gives me horrors,
20:25especially with the little one around.
20:30The kettle's dangerous.
20:32This is dangerous because of its edges.
20:35The fire's dangerous.
20:37Anything around the cooker is dangerous.
20:40Pressure cooker or microwave, no competition.
20:43It's really so scary.
20:45How can people cook with this on a regular basis
20:48and not have serious stress problems?
20:51I think it might be like a bomb.
20:53I think if we open it now, it might just go...
20:57I really liked everybody being busy when we came home
21:01rather than just being kind of lounging round
21:03or watching telly or, you know, that kind of thing.
21:06I like the fact that we've...
21:08All the meals where everybody's been in the house,
21:11we've sat down and eaten as a family.
21:13And I like kind of the business around the cooking in the kitchen
21:17and that everyone's been sort of around and chilled.
21:22Now, time for the pressure cooker pudding.
21:26Oh, it looks disgusting.
21:29Who would have thought that anything could survive
21:31what was going on inside that pressure cooker
21:33and come out looking even a tiny bit edible?
21:36What's it taste like?
21:37Mmm, it's really nice.
21:39Oh, God, does that mean we might have to make it again?
21:46After dinner, there's another delivery on the doorstep.
21:49There's no muffin in here.
21:51Who's going to do that?
21:53Oh, look, we've got an apartment!
21:56We've got an apartment!
21:58We've got another apartment!
22:02With 35mm cameras,
22:04the technical support team have sent the family a note.
22:07In the 1970s, families would turn their pictures into slides.
22:11We suggest that you host a slideshow evening at the end of the decade.
22:17The tech team want the family to use the cameras
22:19to document their time in the 1970s
22:22and then put on a slideshow for their friends and neighbours.
22:26Kind of a joke in the 70s
22:28was people boring other people with their slideshows.
22:32For music, the family now depend on a true relic of the analogue age,
22:37the radiogram, in mahogany and in mono.
22:41I use my MP3 player a lot.
22:43I use it in the car on the way to work, on the way home from work.
22:47I use it when I get home to put some music on.
22:49So there's always noise going on in our house.
22:52There we go.
23:00Groovy as that.
23:03Another piece of technology
23:05that doesn't quite live up to Adam's nostalgic expectations.
23:08I don't think I would crave one of these in my sitting room right now.
23:13But he won't have to wait long for progress.
23:17If you've got a space so big by so big,
23:20you've got room for a music centre with a full-size...
23:23In the early 70s, the Stereo Music Centre arrived in Britain.
23:28Its futuristic Japanese design
23:30broke free of the radiogram's fuddy-duddy British image.
23:34No longer did it attempt to hide its knobs and dials
23:37behind mock mahogany doors.
23:40Technology was coming out of the closet.
23:43Tom from the technical support team
23:45is on a mission to find one for the family.
23:48As we know, the dad is a big music nut,
23:50so I'm going to get a music centre with a compact cassette.
23:55The key innovation of the music centre was the cassette deck,
23:58the magical component that changed how we listened to music.
24:02For the first time, the average consumer
24:05could actually record as well as play records.
24:09But Tom's struggling to find one in working order.
24:12Considered trashy by hi-fi buffs,
24:14few 70s music centres survive.
24:17On eBay, I've just typed in 1970.
24:20I'll try and narrow my search
24:22because it was coming up with a load of modern tosh.
24:25Oh, this one wasn't on before.
24:28Hey, this is perfect, this is perfect.
24:31This is it.
24:34This music centre was class-leading in its day.
24:36As far as I'm aware, everything works,
24:38comes with original Sony speakers.
24:40I've used a turntable and radio recently,
24:42so I know they are OK,
24:44but cannot guarantee the function of the cassette player.
24:47Cannot guarantee the function of the cassette player.
24:49Everything worked a minute ago.
24:51This is perfect, there's a photo of it there,
24:53and this is exactly what we need.
24:55Once Tom's got the music centre back to his workshop,
24:58he still has to coax the aged cassette recorder
25:01back to life.
25:03Hey, the counter's fixed.
25:05Reset. Lovely.
25:07It is anyone's guess whether this is going to work.
25:10The cassette format was originally designed for dictation,
25:14so quality wasn't important.
25:16But its compact size meant it was also ideal for music.
25:19Hey, it's working.
25:21Now you could slip an entire album into your pocket.
25:24We're off.
25:26We can give the family a fully working system.
25:30Look, it's got a tape deck and everything.
25:33Wow. What a change. How brilliant.
25:36The tech team have asked Adam to use the new music centre
25:39to create a mixtape for their end-of-decade slideshow.
25:43I mean, this is a leap in technology from this thing,
25:47but, you know, even now you just think...
25:50To help with the mixtape,
25:52Adam and his team have put together
25:55You know, even now you just think...
25:57To help with the mixtape,
25:59the tech team have sent music writer
26:01and former NME journalist David Quantic.
26:04Hello, I'm David.
26:06Amish, nice to meet you. How are you doing?
26:09Nice to meet you, David.
26:11At their peak, over 83 million blank cassette tapes
26:15were sold each year in the UK.
26:18Now, with music downloads, they're virtually extinct,
26:21and so is the art of creating a mixtape.
26:24It became a way of talking to people
26:26if you wanted to impress girls particularly.
26:28Or impressing your friends.
26:30Roxy Music is a great one to impress your friends.
26:32The Roxy Music album track says,
26:34I'm sophisticated, I smoke, I drink Campari, I'm stylish.
26:38Of course, the signal it also sends out is,
26:40you have no life.
26:42So it's a fine balance.
26:46We're in the heat of the moment here.
26:48We're creating art.
26:50You can see all the gaps between the songs
26:52because you can see them.
26:54You have to be a bit of a marksman really to do this.
26:57You need to find the exact point.
26:59Now you've got to take the risk,
27:01you've got to jump in, just lower it.
27:03Another way to do it is just trial and error,
27:05because it is only a piece of plastic in the end.
27:07That's great.
27:09Once it's in the groove, you might as well just go for it.
27:11Now? Now.
27:13Right.
27:15No, it's fine, you did well.
27:17No, you didn't do too badly.
27:19It's a little bit like a Japanese tea ceremony.
27:21It's all ritual and knowing when to go in and when to come out.
27:24You put an iPod in a dock and play it through computer speakers,
27:27it's just not the same as putting a needle on a piece of plastic.
27:30Crunch. It's dirty, you know, it's nasty.
27:34How long have you got till your slideshow?
27:36We're going to have to delay it.
27:38HE CHUCKLES
27:40HE SINGS
27:4413-year-old Hamish, who had never played a record until today, is impressed.
27:50When you go and buy a record,
27:53you go and buy it and it's actually like a thing that you can hold
27:57and you can see and you can feel,
27:59whereas if you download something, it's like you can't touch it,
28:02it's like there, but you can't touch it.
28:04And I think I prefer being able to hold the thing and say,
28:07look, here it is.
28:09It's 1973.
28:12HE SINGS
28:17Outside the home, Britain was far from harmonious
28:20as industrial unrest escalated.
28:24Ted Heath was trying to cap pay rises,
28:27so the miners were working to rule.
28:30All this at a time when ever more domestic technology
28:33meant an increasing demand for electricity.
28:36As coal supplies ran low, Britain struggled to cope.
28:42We do reckon that we can match...
28:45To give the family an authentic evening in 1973,
28:48the tech team have a surprise for them.
28:51Multiply that by 12...
28:53SCREAMS
28:55Where are the torches?
28:57Stay where you are, I'll find some.
28:59Sit down, please, sit down.
29:01Don't, because they could knock anything over, it could be dangerous.
29:05Wait for Adam to get the torch.
29:08Give one to Mum.
29:10Darling, there's some candles in the cupboard.
29:17How long do you think it's going to last?
29:21Georgie calls the tech team.
29:24Have you got any power cut advice for us?
29:31Though whole towns were plunged into darkness by power cuts,
29:35life went on, by gaslight.
29:38Seventies families learnt to prepare themselves,
29:41so the tech team have provided candles, torches and a camping stove.
29:46Good night.
29:48What was the result of the miners' industrial action
29:51and the power cut won't last until the morning?
29:55Blimey, that's a bit fierce.
29:58Put it down, perhaps.
30:00That noise and that smell really remind me of camping holidays.
30:05Is that secure?
30:07No, darling, it isn't secure.
30:09It's a little tiny trivet with a pan on it.
30:12The miners may have downed tools, but a true homemaker never does.
30:17I need to make the jelly now because I've got to go to work in the morning,
30:21even if there is a power cut, and there won't be any pudding for tomorrow night
30:25if I haven't got on with it now.
30:27Shall we bring the...
30:29OK, Mum, we'll find buckaroo or cluedo.
30:31Oh, buckaroo, definitely.
30:34For just a little bit of one-night fun,
30:37it brings back huge memories, doesn't it, of family togetherness,
30:41which is why I said, let's play games!
30:44Let's play games and make jelly!
30:46And make jelly!
30:49It's not that funny.
30:51Oh, dear.
30:53I think the fact that we haven't got that much to do
30:56makes it extra special as well.
30:58It's not like we're missing anything.
31:00Actually, I was quite enjoying Doctor Who.
31:02If you haven't got much to do, just let me know, because I don't seem to stop.
31:05I'm constantly washing up or cooking or cleaning,
31:08so chip in if you're feeling a bit bored.
31:14I don't think life is that great.
31:16You have to do a lot more for yourself.
31:18Yeah, you have to do a lot more for yourself.
31:20There's lots of power cuts, lots of strikes.
31:24No essential heating.
31:26No phones.
31:28No high-tech.
31:30No!
31:38The powers return to the house, and so has the heating.
31:42By the mid-'70s, half of British homes were centrally heated,
31:46which is just as well for Hamish and Georgie, who are up at 5am.
31:52Hamish is about to start his first proper job, a paper round.
31:57If Hamish does get into trouble,
31:59then he's not going to be able to telephone me on his mobile or anything like that.
32:03But, no, I think he'll enjoy doing the paper round.
32:06Quick, quick! It's going to be late. Hurry up!
32:10Paper rounds were a big part of a 70s childhood.
32:13But today, news agents struggle to recruit paper boys and girls,
32:19mainly because modern parents fear for their kids' safety walking the streets alone.
32:27Woof, woof, woof, woof!
32:32Even so, Georgie's keen for the children to spend more time playing outside like she did,
32:37so the tech team have a surprise for them back at the house.
32:41Oh, my God! What's this?
32:43I did my cycling proficiency on that thing.
32:48I'm loving these bikes.
32:50That is my bike!
32:52There was one thing that if I could keep, I would. It was the bike.
32:57But cycling 1970s style creates some dilemmas for Georgie and Adam.
33:02If they were going out on bikes in the 70s,
33:04they wouldn't have had them like they have now.
33:06Mobile phones. I never used to wear a helmet. I don't know about you.
33:09Well, they would have to wear a helmet.
33:11Mobile phones?
33:12The mobile phones...
33:13So often when I try to ring one of the kids,
33:15it's either turned off or they've got it in their bag
33:18and they can't hear it ringing anyway.
33:20Or they've forgotten it.
33:21The mobile phone probably lulls you into a false sense of security
33:25and at least, you know, we had our instructions in those days
33:28that you had to be back at whatever time for tea.
33:32So, no, I think they'll be OK.
33:36Modern children spend less than a fifth of the time playing outside
33:40than their 70s counterparts.
33:42Bicycle! Bicycle! Bicycle!
33:45And with less to entertain them in the house,
33:47the great outdoors is proving a draw for the Sullivan Barnes kids too.
33:54But Hamish may have taken his 70s freedoms too far.
33:58He's decided to cycle into town without a mobile phone or asking Georgie.
34:08It's 7 o'clock and Hamish still isn't back.
34:12This is the note that he's left.
34:15To Mum, I'm probably in town as we speak.
34:17I cycled in and borrowed your helmet since I couldn't find mine.
34:20I have a bike lot with me and will be with George,
34:22so call him if there's a problem or I'm needed immediately.
34:25I've gone into town and promised not to do anything outside my time,
34:28i.e. the 70s.
34:29Can't believe that.
34:31On the chopper that he got yesterday
34:33that'll probably get stolen in the dark in winter.
34:36No lies.
34:38And he could have rung me at work.
34:40I'm furious. Absolute furious.
34:43Well, when he gets home he's going to go to bed without any supper tonight
34:47because in the 70s he probably would have got smacked,
34:50but I can't do that.
34:52No, don't do that.
34:53He doesn't have a mobile on him and he's suggested
34:55that I might call his friend on his mobile,
34:57but of course I haven't got his friend's mobile number
34:59because it's on my confiscated mobile.
35:03This could be him.
35:05At half seven, Hamish finally returns.
35:10Don't hide me.
35:11Go and put the helmet in the porch.
35:13What?
35:14And come back in here.
35:17I'm really angry with you.
35:18You know that that wouldn't have been all right with me,
35:20going into town on the chopper,
35:22and you could have rung me at work and I'm really cross.
35:24So you're not having supper, you're going upstairs now.
35:27You can have a bath and wash your hair and then you can go to bed.
35:34In the 2000s I wouldn't have sent him to his room as a punishment
35:37because everything that he loves is up there,
35:39his computer, his PlayStation.
35:41But in 1970 it's colder upstairs and there's not really very much to do.
35:46Maybe I should ban the typewriter.
35:51People in the 70s didn't communicate when they went out.
35:56They just planned ahead.
36:01I'm sure if I'd planned ahead I wouldn't have even been allowed to go out.
36:07Back in the 2000s,
36:09Hamish would have probably sent me a text message at work
36:12to tell me what he was doing.
36:14And he would certainly know that to go into town without doing that
36:18would have definitely not been OK.
36:21But not having the opportunity to text me,
36:23he obviously decided that he would just chance it.
36:26That was quite cool actually.
36:28I was quite impressed with it.
36:31Just with the way it was all planned and executed.
36:35And the type letter.
36:36The type letter, which must have taken ages.
36:39And the fact he thinks the chopper's really cool.
36:42Because I think the chopper's really cool too.
36:44Hamish is in a bit of a mood
36:46because Mum told him off
36:49because he went into town with the chopper.
36:52So Mum was angry.
36:54Told him to go to his room
36:57and he can have dinner.
37:01Now he's already asleep.
37:05It's power cut jelly.
37:07That looks quite good.
37:10The family are halfway through their time in the 1970s.
37:14It's nice, I like it.
37:15And the demanding schedule of domestic chores is taking its toll on Georgie.
37:19Normally I'd be doing other stuff in the evening.
37:21I'd do a bit of work or...
37:24I'd make some phone calls or do some housework or something
37:28that I don't seem to be able to quite fit in at the moment.
37:31It'd be fantastic to have a freezer.
37:33Even if I didn't have the convenience foods,
37:36to have the freezer and be able to cook an extra meal
37:39and put it in the freezer and take it out
37:41and almost use it like convenience food
37:43would definitely be a big plus.
37:46Georgie won't have to wait long for her dreams to come true.
37:54Freezers were initially sold as a place to store home-grown fruit and veg
37:59or even a whole pig.
38:01In the mid-70s, Britain took the deep freeze to its heart
38:05but used it for entirely different purposes.
38:09Dr Ben Highmore has managed to find what he hopes is a 70s model.
38:14This is massive.
38:16Yeah, it's your proper original chest freezer.
38:20During the 70s, women were moving away from traditional roles as housewives
38:24to joining the workforce.
38:26One of the things that allowed them to do that was the freezer.
38:29It freed them up from doing the daily shop.
38:32Now they could just do a weekly shop and have the corner shop in the home.
38:35But I'm slightly worried whether it is a 1970s freezer at all
38:39or whether it's a 1980s, early 80s freezer.
38:43Oh! It smells like it's from the...
38:45You're going to have to clean that.
38:48Chest freezers would basically be fairly standardised in technology.
38:52So I'm thinking that we just clean it up
38:55and maybe give it a bit of a makeover to make it look a bit more 70s.
39:00It's going to look ridiculous.
39:01It's going to look great.
39:03Customising appliances with sticky-backed plastic was common practice in the 70s.
39:08This way, any appliance could blend in with the brown all around.
39:12How's that looking? It's quite cool, isn't it?
39:15But it looks 70s. It looks more 70s now than it did before.
39:18It does look very 70s.
39:19OK, I'm going to take you round to the family then.
39:23By 1975, half of British homes had a deep freeze,
39:27despite the fact that they cost almost £1,000 in today's money
39:32and took up an awful lot of space.
39:35Oh, good morning. Georgie, hello.
39:37Got a delivery for you.
39:39All my dreams have come true.
39:41I feel really disloyal to womankind being excited about a piece of...
39:44Say you should, say you should.
39:45Electric kitchen apparatus.
39:47Where do you want us to put it?
39:49Gosh, I don't know. It's so big. It's bigger than the fridge.
39:51It is huge, isn't it?
39:52Maybe the garage?
39:53You'll almost need a garage to fit one of these in.
39:58These look like pallbearers.
40:00Do you want to show us where you'd like us to put it?
40:03Probably quite near the garage door so I don't have to throw it in.
40:07Maybe here?
40:08Right.
40:09I think one of the first things you're going to need to do, Georgie, is stock this up.
40:13Get in the Cortina, drive to a supermarket and get those frozen goods in there.
40:21The chest freezer found its purpose in an era that saw an increase in car ownership
40:25and the rise of supermarkets.
40:28For the first time ever, the weekly rather than daily shop became a reality.
40:34Georgie's shopping for the slideshow party,
40:37but she's only allowed to buy products that would have been available in the 70s.
40:41Wow, a lobster. That's really 70s.
40:47Cooked from frozen.
40:48Yeah, so perfect. I can go to the garage, grab it, stick it on a tray,
40:52put it straight on the table ready for everybody to eat.
40:57Which is so completely different to making dinner last night.
40:59Just all these frozen lumps of stuff.
41:03Mmm, this looks good.
41:05Does it look good?
41:06Yeah, that looks good.
41:07Because all of that was in the freezer half an hour ago.
41:121976.
41:16The year the number of colour television licences overtook those of black and white for the first time.
41:23Hello.
41:24Good evening and welcome to Pop Black's Gala Night.
41:27I hate snooker as it is. You have to watch it in black and white as well.
41:30Snooker was brought to television by BBC 2 controller David Attenborough
41:34to make the most of the new colour service.
41:36It's kind of an interesting game.
41:38It's not.
41:39When you're watching it in black and white.
41:41It's not.
41:42It's not.
41:43It's not.
41:44It's not.
41:45It's not.
41:46It's not.
41:47It's not.
41:48It's not.
41:49It's not.
41:50It's not.
41:51It's not.
41:52When you're watching it in black and white it becomes even more challenging I think.
41:56But the family won't have to struggle with snooker in black and white for much longer.
42:01Out with the old.
42:02Tom from the tech teams delivering them a new colour TV.
42:06Wire up then.
42:07There we are.
42:08Can I try it?
42:09Yeah, are you ready to see what would happen if a rainbow leaked into your old TV?
42:15Hey!
42:16Woo!
42:17Woo!
42:20Hey, it's colour!
42:22Woo!
42:26Fantastic.
42:27Well that's worth leaving the washing up for.
42:30Television viewing was Britain's biggest pastime in the 1970s,
42:34even though there wasn't much to watch.
42:37Which probably explains how the generation game regularly ended up with almost half the country tuning in.
42:44UV light.
42:45UV.
42:46UV light.
42:47Blender.
42:48Fan heater.
42:49Electric light.
42:50Fruit.
42:53Did we do well?
42:54Hey!
42:55Hey!
42:58I can feel the family getting sucked into the technology and I'm still making jello in the kitchen.
43:09But the colour TV doesn't seem to offer much excitement to Hamish.
43:14I still don't think I'm going to be watching it as much.
43:17The TV I'm used to, it has satellite so there's lots more channels to go through
43:25and it hasn't got a remote so you have to get up and press the button all the time.
43:32The three TV channels are about to face their first rival.
43:36Tom's back with the very latest in electronics,
43:39containing the first computer chip to enter the 1970s home.
43:44When we first saw you, you were all playing video games.
43:47Everybody in the house seemed to be hooked up to some sort of television excitement.
43:52So this is the first rung on that ladder back to your normality of video gaming.
43:57It's absolutely brilliant.
43:59Brilliant! I remember this.
44:02Hamish!
44:03The sad news is it's in monochrome so you'll enjoy that.
44:07Here's a brand new idea from the United States
44:09which can turn your television set into a game that two can play.
44:14Unplug the aerial, plug in the electronic game simulator,
44:19switch on the set again and now who's for tennis?
44:22Right, Wimbledon, here we come.
44:24You ready, Jen? Play.
44:27Oh, yeah, there we go.
44:29Is that sharp or not?
44:33What? When?
44:35Created by Atari in 1972, Pong is recognised as the first home video game.
44:41Soon manufacturers worldwide, like Binetone,
44:44made their own versions and over 500 different systems flooded the market.
44:50Though the controls were kept to a bare minimum, just a single rotary knob,
44:54this is the beginning of the television as an entertainment emporium.
45:00It's quite clever, all of those, but...
45:04Obviously Adam has more experience in these kinds of games.
45:11It's 1977.
45:16Go on, turn the crane!
45:19While the Queen's Silver Jubilee flew the flag for tradition,
45:23revolution was breaking out.
45:26The computer revolution.
45:28Computers were starting to make inroads into the workplace,
45:32but the era of the home computer was at least five years away.
45:37Gia's in search of any sort of computing power she can offer the family.
45:42Clearly I can't give them a computer in the 70s,
45:46so I think it's got to be a calculator and there's only one man to go to.
45:51There's only one man to go to.
45:53He's the guy who brought calculators to the masses.
45:57My hero, Sir Clive Sinclair.
46:02When I've told people that I'm coming to meet you today,
46:04everyone just said, you have to tell him how important he is to me.
46:08He's changed my life, which is lovely, so thank you very much.
46:12Did you feel that it was important that the average person
46:14have some kind of contact with computers and calculators?
46:18Well, they were magical, of course,
46:20because prior to that, calculations were elaborate
46:23and you either used a slide rule or log tables,
46:26and then suddenly pocket calculators came along and changed it all.
46:30These were something that was sort of space-agey
46:33and they caused a lot of excitement
46:35and that was a lot of fun to be involved with.
46:42Well, I've got the calculator for the family, Sinclair Cambridge.
46:47Now, when these things came out in the early 70s,
46:49they were incredibly expensive, but by now they were affordable.
46:52They were about £8.95.
46:54So anyone could afford these things
46:57and they were still a bit of a status symbol,
46:59still very exciting to own.
47:01So I'm going to give it to them now.
47:04Oh, look at that. It's a calculator.
47:08Your maths homework will be so quick and easy now
47:11because you can do it all on the calculator.
47:13Do you remember doing read words on them?
47:15What, like boobs?
47:17Do you remember what the number was?
47:19Yeah, I think it's 58008 and then you look at it upside down.
47:27It's so infantile. I can't believe you know that.
47:31Hamish has found a proper use for the calculator, his maths homework.
47:36Teachers at the time were anxious about their potential impact
47:40on children's arithmetical ability.
47:43Even so, the pocket calculator was unstoppable.
47:46In 1977, Britain bought nearly 5 million of them.
47:51But the meagre computing achievements of the 70s,
47:54Pong and the calculator, have brought home to Hamish
47:57how much he's missing 21st century technology.
48:01I'm quite bored.
48:03There's nothing really to do
48:05because I've only got my computer and games and stuff.
48:13He's even resorted to helping Georgie with the housework.
48:241978, and industrial relations had reached a new low.
48:30Britain has stricken with its worst industrial problems for years.
48:34While Dennis Healey was attempting to freeze wages,
48:37Britain was shivering through the winter of discontent.
48:4430-odd years later, snow covers Britain again,
48:47and Adam has a dilemma, whether or not to go into the office.
48:52Normally, I probably wouldn't go to work, actually.
48:55I'd probably work at home because I've got broadband connections
48:59and a direct link into the office and mobiles
49:02and all the technology that allows me to be mobile and work anywhere, really.
49:08Probably 30 years ago, I probably would have struggled in, I guess.
49:15Going to work in this Cortina is crazy. It's just not up to the job.
49:19It's not engineered for this kind of thing.
49:22But having said that, people in the 70s did, so, you know, why shouldn't I?
49:27That's the question.
49:31I'm not taking the Cortina out in this. It's crazy.
49:35I've got a 4x4. I'm taking that.
49:42But before Adam arrives at his office, Gia is making a few modifications.
49:47Out goes the internet workstation and in comes a Commodore PET computer.
49:55Work is certainly the first place people would have encountered a computer.
50:00And this one was, you know, massively high-tech.
50:06Software is loaded using a tape deck, which is both unreliable and slow.
50:12But the PET, with a basic word processor and spreadsheet,
50:15was a popular business machine into the 80s.
50:18Hello. Morning.
50:24Look at that. 1978 today. I didn't think it was 1978, though.
50:29These came out in 1977, Commodore PET.
50:32Really? I just assumed it was a lot later than that.
50:37So I know that you work in accountancy. I've got you a finance programme.
50:42Hopefully you'll be able to do something.
50:45This should be interesting.
50:48This came with 4 to 8k of RAM.
50:52My mobile phone, for example, has 64 meg.
50:55So my mobile phone is 16,000 times more RAM than this.
50:59So it's going to be a bit slow.
51:01Does it actually do anything?
51:03It does. I've loaded up a programme here for you.
51:08But Adam struggles to do his 21st century job with a 70s computer.
51:13The lack of any connection to the outside world is its biggest shortcoming.
51:18Do you think it would be possible to do your normal daily work on a computer like this?
51:24Absolutely not.
51:27Lack of technology back home has caused another problem for Adam.
51:31It turns out that an email was sent out very early this morning
51:36to all staff saying, because of the weather conditions outside,
51:41don't come in, work at home.
51:44And clearly I can't work at home and I can't get emails.
51:48So I didn't know about it.
51:50So I've come in and battled my way in, only to be met with an empty office.
51:57Adam returns home early
51:59and all the family head outside for some good old-fashioned fun.
52:05It didn't come about quite in the way that I thought it might do,
52:09but I've got what I wanted.
52:11I've got more time together as a family,
52:13doing the same activity and enjoying each other's company.
52:16Despite Georgie's nostalgia for the past,
52:1970s parents would actually spend as little as 25 minutes a day with their children.
52:24Today, the average is over an hour and a half, nearly four times as much.
52:37This is the 70s recreated in your back garden.
52:42Tomorrow's the last day of the 70s and I'm gutted I really like the 70s.
52:46I like not having technology and each year we tick on and we get more gadgets.
52:51It's kind of disappointing really, I think.
52:53I'd just like to freeze frame here and stay here a bit longer.
52:57That'd be great.
53:00But back inside, they discover there's a problem with their favourite piece of 70s technology.
53:06Could you have a look at the TV? It's broken.
53:10Where do you think I could fix it?
53:12It was working a second ago as well.
53:17Anything happening?
53:18It's getting more broken.
53:20It's not making its little desperate humming noise and it's now completely dead.
53:27Our TV is broken.
53:29Hamish phones the tech support team for help.
53:36In the 1970s, the TV repairman was a common visitor.
53:41Colour sets cost around £3,000 in today's money.
53:45What seems to be the problem?
53:46It won't switch on.
53:47But they were also consistently unreliable.
53:50So it's little wonder 70% of families rented.
53:5490% of TVs in the 70s broke down at least once a year.
53:59A few sets, about 20% of sets actually broke down five times or more.
54:04But then mainly Japanese imported sets were made to a higher standard
54:09and they just didn't break down anywhere near as much.
54:13Occasionally they were even dangerous, getting so hot they'd set fire to the room
54:17earning them the nickname curtain burners among TV repairmen.
54:21It's always a thing on these bad sets, the last screw never goes in.
54:24It was John Logie's idea of a joke.
54:37First of all, welcome to the cook.
54:39Nice beard.
54:42Look at that jacket, it's absolutely ridiculous.
54:47I'll leave you to Bob Coates and his mathematical equations, Adam.
54:54Give me a call if any of the problems arise.
54:59The decade's nearly over.
55:01Where there is doubt, may we bring faith.
55:04And where there is despair, may we bring hope.
55:08Tonight the Sullivan-Barnes family are putting on a slideshow
55:11for friends to see their time-travelling adventures.
55:16George has been busy in the kitchen all day preparing food for the party.
55:21Freezer food's made the job easier, but she's still not getting much help from the boys.
55:25I need some cheese and gratin, can you please help and stop playing with watches?
55:30Go on, help.
55:32George has done a lovely spread of 70s staples.
55:35Voluvonts and fondue.
55:38That looks fine.
55:42Adam's in charge of the era's favourite drinks.
55:46That's alright, isn't it? Is it okay? Yeah.
55:48The snowballs are here.
55:50Although no-one's impressed with the soda stream.
55:55The fondue's good, you should try the fondue.
55:59Hamish provides the music with his mixtape.
56:10I've always been fond of my chopper.
56:13I told you George was rather keen on the Cortina.
56:16For the family, it's a chance to reflect on their 70s experience.
56:20I think most of it is nostalgia and just having so many happy memories
56:26from childhood that keep being rekindled that you just don't want to leave them behind, really.
56:34Georgie got what she thought she wanted, a home free of high-tech distractions.
56:39But it's come at a price.
56:41I've liked being fairly low on the technology front.
56:44But it's meant the inconveniences, cooking a meal, doing some cleaning,
56:48everything was very hands-on and took a long time to do.
56:54Technology's made domestic life easier.
56:57But the children have realised that some modern tech, like mobile phones for example, has its downside.
57:03I do think in the 70s children had more freedom.
57:06Because I think nowadays parents are more cautious.
57:10As children in the 70s we felt a lot freer and a lot more able to go off and just do things.
57:18And I look today and I sometimes see our kids at home glued to the computer and it quite saddens me.
57:26I do think the kids saw the value of the family time together and they certainly saw how much I enjoyed it.
57:33I think we will make an effort to do stuff as a family,
57:36even if poor old Hamish would rather be playing on his games console.
57:41I don't think I'll miss the 70s, really.
57:45Because there wasn't much to do in the 70s.
57:48I'm really sad actually that it's over for the 70s. Really sad.
57:52I'm really quite sad to leave the 70s.
58:01Next time, the family enter the 1980s and are faced with an explosion of domestic technology.
58:07A complete leap of technology. This is more like it.
58:11But will the 80s bring them labour-saving must-haves or time-wasting boys toys?
58:19And can modern kids get to grips with the temperamental primitive electronics of the day?
58:24Wait, wait, wait. Why can't you be more patient?
58:28Nothing ever works.
58:31And you can continue your journey through the decades online with the BBC and The Open University
58:38by visiting bbc.co.uk slash electricdreams.
58:49And Electric Dreams continues here on BBC4 next Tuesday at 9.
58:53Coming up tonight on BBC4, princesses, easter eggs and end of level bad guys.
58:59Charlie Brooker leads us through the levels and ladders of the gaming world.
59:02Gameswipe is next.