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How Schoolgirls’ Own Stories Showed the Way to a Wider World for Women

On the face of it, the books published by the Schoolgirls’ Own Library should have come with a warning sticker: ‘This book can seriously damage your enjoyment of reading’.

Looking Back at Look Back In Anger

The subject matter of John Osborne’s Look Back In Anger was like a slap in the face to audiences used to a safe kind of British drama, epitomised by drawing rooms, French windows and ‘Anyone for tennis?’ The first slap came with the ironing board, which has pride of place in the opening scene.

What’s it Really All About, Alfie?

The 1966 British film Alfie is often described as a comedy, or even a romantic comedy-drama, but its depiction of the eponymous working class boy with the cheek of the devil sits uneasily in these categories.

Hello Dolly — How Widows TV series took women away from being gangsters’ molls and made them the gangsters

Widows was a ground-breaking 1983 British TV series, written by Lynda La Plante, featuring women as the main protagonists. But these women are not the stereotypical female staples of crime drama — gangsters’ molls, loyal wives, clingy girlfriends. These women become the gangsters.

Female Literary Detectives — The Penny Wanawake Series by Susan Moody

Penny Wanawake, the smart and sassy black offspring of an English aristocrat and an African diplomat, carves her confident path through seven novels by Susan Moody, all written in the 1980s. Penny is a wise-cracking amateur sleuth in the tradition of Philip Marlowe,

Is Arthur Seaton All Right? Saturday Night And Sunday Morning (Retro Films)

The 1960 film of Saturday Night And Sunday Morning, based on Alan Sillitoe’s fine novel, is an acclaimed example of British New Wave cinema which perfectly captures the working-class milieu of 1950s’ Nottingham in the East Midlands.

What Became of the People We Used to Be? The Timeless Tale of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads

The humour and the pathos of Whatever Happened to The Likely Lads? pivot on the contrast between the unreconstructed lad Terry and the aspirational Bob, and we find that the underlying themes explored through their relationship still resonate today.

A Brown Study — The Television Series of A Kind of Loving

The TV series of A Kind of Loving is an unpretentious depiction of three novels by Stan Barstow and, in the portrayal of the relationship between draughtsman Vic and typist Ingrid, explores contemporary attitudes to love, sex and marriage, and the claims of morality, responsibility and individual choice.

In the Theatre of Life with The Young Vic — A Kind Of Loving by Stan Barstow

The tone of the narration of Stan Barstow’s A Kind of Loving draws you in straight away. The mixture of the historic present tense and vernacular expressions make the the story leap off the page.

How Picture Postcards Present a Snapshot in Time

Postcards give a snapshot of an era and a certain kind of character, not just in the images of seaside resorts and towns and villages, but also in the content and tone of the messages.

Hats Off to the Clive James and Pete Atkin Songbook

The stellar combination of Clive James’ witty, erudite, masterfully crafted poignant lyrics and Pete Atkin’s agile, subtle, eclectic music and understated vocal delivery produced a body of work which belongs in the finest songbook tradition.

Songs About Real Places: Glen Campbell’s Town Trilogy — Galveston, Wichita Lineman and By The Time I Get To Phoenix

Glen Campbell’s powerful interpretations of Jimmy Webb’s lyrics have enthralled audiences the 1960s. The three songs here are mini-dramas which position emotional anguish in lightly-evoked, unforgettable locations which transcend their geographical identity.

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