The family.
It's where we love, laugh, shout and cry.
Oh! Don't fall off.
It makes us who we are.
But it hasn't always been the cherished institution it is today.
To find out how the modern family came to be,
a group of parents and kids
from across Britain are turning back time,
to face the same ordeals as millions of others over the past 100 years.
In the northern seaside town of Morecambe, the past is coming alive.
A row of terraced houses has been turned into time machines,
to transport our families
through the twist and turns of the 20th century.
From the age of masters and servants.
I felt a bit emotional,
because I knew she was there to take the children away.
Which is quite difficult.
Through the roaring '20s, to the Depression.
Anything else of value will need to be sold.
The fact it was in front of the family, I felt really useless.
From life on the Home Front.
Another era, another separation.
To the swinging '60s.
I'm slightly concerned about the length of their skirts.
We're starting the rebellion right now.
And on to the groovy '70s.
I couldn't give a damn about material things.
For me, family is the most important thing.
And the past is about to get personal.
Rather than just living in a museum, we're living an ancestor's life.
She died of TB, consumption.
Sorry, I'm quite emotional.
We take so much for granted, I think.
We're turning back time,
to find out how history made the family what it is today.
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Albert Road, Morecambe.
An ordinary British street
where three houses are being transformed again
into family homes of the 1960s.
Our families will arrive into an economic boom,
and cracks are appearing in the family unit.
Our two families are heading to Albert Road.
The Meadows, from Royal Berkshire.
For the last three eras, they have toiled in the working class house,
living just above the poverty line.
That's not washed. Yes, it is.
It's got stains on it. Where? I washed it.
Now, they are hoping things may be looking up.
It's all feeling very exciting this time. The girls are looking stunning.
All three of them look so different to anything we've done before.
Just because we have a car and are wearing nicer clothes,
I daren't get my hopes up.
We might be living in an absolute pig sty.
They're joined by the Taylor family from Norfolk.
So far, they've lived in the formal, upper middle class house,
separated from their children.
You wouldn't know your family.
You wouldn't know your kids, because you never see them.
Michael and Adele are looking forward to what the '60s might have to offer.
The '60s was cool fashion, good music.
More family time.
Get to go out together, and go and do something really fun.
I don't know. Some sort of trip out, where we're all out together
and enjoying yourself together.
Journalist and mother, Susannah Reid will be guiding the families through the era.
The '60s was a treacherous time for the traditional family unit,
with teenage rebellion threatening to split the nuclear family apart.
It's an exciting time to be a teenager.
Perhaps not so much for the parents!
Joining her will be social historian Juliet Gardiner,
and antique gadget enthusiast Joe Crowley.
The families are in for a surprise upheaval.
Families, welcome back to Albert Road, and it's all change.
It is now the swinging '60s.
We have taken another look back at your genealogy,
and we have placed you in houses which directly relate
to where your families would have lived at the beginning of the 1960s.
Meadows.
Phil, by 1953, your maternal grandfather, Reg Turney,
was no longer a chauffeur, he was a businessman.
So you're now living in the middle class house.
Yes! Thank you.
Taylors.
Michael, your grandfather was a motor mechanic,
so resolutely working class.
So Taylors, you'll be in the working class house.
Oh gosh, no!
I've go to work?
Teenagers, this was your era.
There was a shift in power relations within the family.
Teenagers were no longer so dependent on their parents.
It was a youth quake.
Once again, the family unit is going to be under pressure.
As you can see, the big house has long gone.
It's been carved into flats, so you may have some new neighbours.
All right, families, it's time to go and look at your new homes.
At number 2 Albert Road, it's a step up for the Meadows.
Lordy. Carpet!
Unlike the past three eras, they are surrounded with comfort,
and the latest technology.
Oh, wow!
We've got a television.
In the 1960s...
This looks like my parents' house.
Consumer goods produced en masse transformed family life.
I wouldn't mind moving in here permanently. Neither would I!
God, these are comfy.
I think it's so wicked.
We have a TV, record player, drinks cabinet.
Hoovers, fridges, washing machines and irons
appeared in homes across the country,
creating a domestic haven for housewives.
I've got a kitchen.
I am just so happy.
Next door at number 3,
the Taylors will have to adjust to a working class lifestyle,
after previously experiencing the high life with staff.
Luckily for them, there were jobs for all
and 130% rise in wages over the decade.
The working classes really have never had it so good.
We have a TV. Yay!
It's not bad. It's all right. It's lovely, isn't it? We've got a fridge.
Let's have a look.
Wow, this is a nice kitchen.
Despite falling down the pecking order,
the Taylors are taking the move well.
It's all right.
In comparison what it was, like in the 1900s, this house,
in the poor house, I think it's actually OK.
It's homely. More relaxed.
But Adele, who will have to work in this era,
has concerns about how being working parents will affect the family.
I think we'll see less of each other again,
and that's what is bothering me.
A new family are arriving on Albert Road,
with high expectations for a new life.
Brother and sister Jonathan and Rachel Hawkes have come
to sample the life of a Caribbean immigrant family.
By the end of the '60s, nearly 500,000 people from the Caribbean
had emigrated to the UK.
Why do they come to this country?
To find jobs and better opportunities,
and because, as British subjects,
they look on Britain as their second home.
In parts of the Caribbean, there was 40% unemployment,
but in booming Britain, there was a severe labour shortage,
and Commonwealth subjects were encouraged to come over to the mother country to work.
London Transport has a highly successful scheme,
which recruits bus conductors from Barbados.
Usually, the men came first, with the aim of earning enough money
to be able to bring the rest of the family over.
This was known as chain migration.
The Hawkes from Dulwich, South London, are so close
they even have their own family band.
Student Rachel and music teacher Jonathan's grandparents
migrated from Jamaica in the late '50s.
Sadly, both have since died.
It would be great to get a virtual feel of stepping into
my granddad's footsteps, and trying to understand what he was going through.
Really, get a sense of what the atmosphere was like.
Initially, they will be travelling to Albert Road on their own,
without younger sister Hayley and mum Sandra.
I can't tell you how nice this is, Mum. Thank you so much.
The grandparents are not here to relive and to share experiences.
I think that's important.
Knowing who you are,
and that's why important going back into the '60s, wow.
They're going to get who they are.
I wish I was a teenager in the '60s.
Probably wouldn't have been the same for a black girl
as a white girl, but at the same time,
the culture, the creativity, the music, the fashion.
That was the best period, in my opinion.
Their grandparents, Hazel Adams and Ralph Lawne Morgan,
came to Britain when they were in their 20s.
Back on Albert Road,
Jonathan and Rachel need to find a flat to rent,
like their grandfather did.
BLEEP off
No way.
They said... No Irish, no dogs, no coloureds.
Despite the fact they were invited to the UK,
Caribbean families often faced a very hostile reception.
I can't let you in. Beg your pardon?
I can't let you in.
Coloured people, you can get them out of the country.
The soonest you can get them out, the better I'll be pleased,
I'll tell you that.
For many immigrants, this open racism meant it was a real struggle
to find a decent place to live.
If I had a house to let in a terrace,
I should think twice about letting it to a coloured person.
How you would like if it a house next door to you
was taken by a coloured person?
On Albert Road, there is only one option for the Hawkes.
Room to let.
Yay!
Jonathan and Rachel are moving into number one, the big house,
where the Taylors once lived.
In this era, many big properties were split up into flats,
due to high taxation for the wealthy.
I can't believe someone would rent a place out like this,
because I wouldn't.
The amount of dust in this place.
I can't sleep in this.
It's not the way I've been brought up.
As so many landlords refused to rent their properties to immigrants,
those that did often exploited them.
Charging them high rent for little more than dives.
I can't have my mum, my mother coming to stay in a place like this.
It's dirty. I'll have to clean it for her. We'll have to.
I don't know how they did it.
I can imagine them on the ship,
just, you know, leaving their lives behind
and then walking into this country, where there's banners saying,
"Go back to where you came from" and "No coloureds here."
I think some people would have come here
and completely regretting coming over,
because they were led on to maybe believe that they were wanted here
and then the reality was that
actually, this was quite, for some, an unwelcoming place.
Hi, guys.
Next door, Joe Crowley has arrived
with news that will shake up the Meadows family.
It is a time of change, particularly looking at you two.
Young people are asserting themselves. There's more freedom, more independence. Brilliant.
You're now going to be working in a boutique in Morecambe,
so you'll be earning a wage, OK?
And with that new-found freedom
comes this...
your own flat.
No! What, with me as well?
Yeah. Oh!
It's time...
Yes! To spread your wings, exactly. How does that feel?
Oh, no! I've got my own place! You're breaking free.
Sex, drink, rock 'n' roll, drugs... Could you stop it?
I'm not encouraging them, I'm just saying how it was.
For 60 years,
the Meadows have overcome everything history had to throw at them.
Right, dig deep, team, family.
They got through it by working as a close family team.
♪ Oh, my, what a rotten song
♪ What a rotten singer too! ♪
The girls move out tomorrow. They're breaking down that family unit,
which me and Susie may struggle with a bit.
The concept of the teenager had only just been invented.
With full employment pulling everyone into the economic boom,
most teens had jobs,
earning an average of £150 a week in today's money.
70% of their wages was disposable income,
giving them freedom that today's teens can only dream of.
Saskia and Genevieve are heading off to work at the local boutique.
With the school leaving age at 15,
even Genevieve could have worked full-time.
Now teenagers had money to burn,
fashion was created explicitly for them.
But before they can start selling the clothes,
the girls have to look the part.
Genevieve Meadows, featuring the 1960s cocktail dress.
That looks really pretty.
For the past six decades, Saskia and Genevieve
have been wearing the same clothes as their mum.
Now boutique owner Amanda wants to help them get the look.
It's very short. Yeah.
They were, though. They were very short. The shorter the better.
So they would try and, like,
not wear what your mother wanted to wear in those days?
It was a chance for teenagers to get their own identity.
We've just come out to work.
Now we're going back with tart make-up on and short tight dresses.
Dad is not going to be impressed.
Aw, I just stuck that in my eye!
I feel like I've got more freedom
by having my own job, getting my own money.
I don't need to rely on my mum and dad to do that for me.
Back on Albert Road,
the Taylor children are also enjoying a new-found freedom
that their working-class status brings.
The children have been used to severe formality...
schooled by nannies.
Remember that children should be seen and not heard.
You do not disturb Mama and Papa downstairs...
Now, they are making the most of having the run of the house.
Can we not jump on the furniture, please?
This era gives the kids freedom to play. Exterminate! Exterminate!
I almost feel like,
because we're working class, no-one's expecting anything.
Exterminate!
Everybody's allowed to talk to each other and stuff, it's not as strict.
I like getting more freedom.
It's a family that I recognise, the hubbub and the chaos.
Psshow!
Two doors down, the newcomers, Rachel and Jonathan,
haven't spoken to anyone else all day.
And with their family separated,
Rachel has no choice but to take on her mother's role.
Rachel doesn't have the experience
because my mum does do pretty much all of the cooking.
This is a garlic, isn't it? This is garlic.
I know this is garlic.
I like cooking but I've been told that it's not very good,
so, you know, I usually let other people cook.
Hopefully, I'll eat tonight.
Fingers crossed.
OK, I think that'll be enough garlic.
The Meadows girls are back from work,
and are ready to show off their new youthful looks.
Hello! Hello!
Hi!
Oh! My God!
That smells lovely, Mummy.
Oh, my word! You went out looking perfectly sober,
and you've come home looking absolutely amazing.
Aren't you slightly concerned about the length of their skirts?
Well, they are a tad short.
I don't mind it being that short. OK.
OK, well, go and put your long dresses on now
and sort your hair out. We don't have any.
This is what we wear now, Dad. This is our new outfit.
We're starting the rebellion right now.
I'm sorry, but I've got cooking.
Not too loud, Genevieve! Not too loud!
I actually can imagine the parents of teenage children in the '60s
would have been absolutely aghast at what their kids were wearing
and their behaviour. It would have been so alien.
The one and only, The Rolling Schtones!
And here they come right now.
It's their last night together before the girls move out.
It's been really a bit of a head-twister, this one,
because we're comfortable with it and want to encourage them to be away
and it's good that they're being independent
and we're proud of them that they're making that step away,
but on the other hand, we don't really want them to go.
I'm not sure that Genevieve's ready.
That's better. It is the Worzel Gummidge man.
Next door at the Taylors',
it's their first family night in together for 60 years.
By the end of the '60s, nearly everyone had a black-and-white TV
but the fact that most people only had one
meant that all the family watched the same thing.
Look at the faces and their hair!
It's a big thing for us.
Throughout history so far, we've been separated out,
we've all gone off, you know, either to war or been evacuated
or they were upstairs with the nanny, and so it is a big deal for us,
it's been a big deal for us to have tea together,
it's been a big deal for us to sit here.
Whoa...
Were you scared of Mr Fluffy? No, he looked funny.
No, it's still not cooked through. It's still red.
Right. Oh, OK.
Back at the Hawkes', their night in alone is getting worse.
'We either have light or electricity.'
Can you turn on the hob,
and then I'll let you know which ones have blown. OK.
Nothing works properly in their rundown flat
and dinner is starting to look unlikely. Yeah?
Right, that's back on. Turn on another one. That's fine.
Oh! Jon!
The one that was fine has gone off.
At the moment, I'm feeling quite isolated.
Obviously, it's just Jonathan and I
so we haven't really spoken to anyone else in the neighbourhood,
haven't really seen anyone.
All right, so, let's just make a small one. We...
What?
Yeah, that's fine.
Yeah, for now! For now.
I'm feeling really homesick,
so I can't even imagine how homesick my grandparents would have felt,
you know, knowing their family is so far away
in a completely different country.
This is so comfortable!
It's been harsh for the new arrivals
and something's been playing on Jonathan's mind all day.
'Seeing the sign, "No blacks, no coloureds, no dogs," all that stuff,
'I honestly didn't think it would affect me as much as it did'
but it really got to me, made me quite angry.
Thinking about somebody actually having to come over here
and seeing a sign like that,
feeling absolutely disgusted,
yet still having to pick themselves up and carry on.
Next day on Albert Road,
and the girls are about to move into their new flat.
I'm excited, but yeah,
I'm upset that I have to, like, part from you two
because you're my mum and my dad and I love you, so...
I mean, we're so used to living as a family.
Now, all of a sudden, I've got my own place
and I am excited, because it's, like, exciting. New. New.
I love you and I don't want you to go.
Saskia!
Just two things - don't go over the top
with your new freedom and being able to drink and go to parties
and not have to come in and worry with your parents going,
"What time do you call this?" Don't go over the top with this. OK.
The other thing is, you are going to have to look after Genevieve.
I know. She needs looking after. You know what she's like.
All right, baby? But not too hard on the partying.
I won't, I promise. I love you so much. I love you too, Daddy.
I love you. Let's go.
Good luck. Bye! I love you!
- Good luck, guys. - Bye, guys.
Oh, no! No!
The girls aren't going far.
They're moving next door, to a bedsit directly below the Hawkes.
Yes!
You don't mean that. Come on. No, I don't mean that.
I don't mean that.
Wow, a long walk, guys.
Do I just open the door?
It's almost unthinkable
that a 15-year-old would move out of home today,
but it was surprisingly common in the 1960s,
when teenagers moved to the cities to take up jobs and apprenticeships.
Homely!
Why are there holes in the walls? Well, this is lovely.
For middle-class youth of the '60s,
the bohemian nature of bedsits is exactly what appealed.
It was a world away from the stuffy confines of the parental home.
I think I prefer our house.
Don't you, Sask? Just a bit.
This is horrible!
This is dirty and... Urgh!
And the girls will have to share the bathroom with the other tenants.
Oh, you're kidding me.
This is disgusting.
I'm so desperate for a wee, Genna.
I can't go in there. Look at it. Urgh!
This is not good.
That means we have to go to Mum and Dad's every time we need a wee.
We can't do that. Well, I'm not going to the toilet here.
Otherwise our egos go down, because we want to be independent.
I don't care. I don't want to be that independent.
It was a little bit cold, last night.
This is not home.
I'm starting to miss my mum and sister as well.
It's like, "when are they coming"?
Upstairs, Jonathan and Rachel have the added pressure
of having to earn enough money
not only to pay the rent, but also to save up to reunite the family.
West Indians also help to keep the transport services moving.
So Jonathan is following in the footsteps of many immigrants
recruited to work on Britain's transport systems.
Hello, sir. Can I help with your bag? Is that all right? Thank you.
Some immigrants, like school teacher Jonathan, were professionals
but in order to survive, had to accept jobs
for which they were overqualified.
Can I help with your bags? Yes, please. Is that all right? Fine.
It doesn't take long for Jonathan to feel their frustration.
For me, it kind of feels like my head is going to explode
because I know that I could be doing
something which I've worked so hard on.
Thank you for your help. OK, have a lovely trip. Take care.
Very frustrating, the fact that you are more of a skilled worker,
and you have much more to offer this country.
Rachel is working as a cleaner at the local council offices.
Because of the necessity of making money quickly,
many immigrants couldn't afford to study or train
and were often forced to accept low-paid, unskilled jobs.
'Immigrants generally seem to start a lot lower than others,
'because they have to kind of'
go through this test of... of endurance.
For Rachel, the reality of life
as a new immigrant in the '60s is hitting home.
Being in the same circumstance for a long time
would be quite soul-destroying
and really, I think, crippling on self-esteem.
The Meadows girls' only concern is making their bedsit more swinging.
I do like doing things up and, you know, making it my own
and, you know, Mum can't go,
"Oh, Genna, you can't put that there,
or "Genna, that doesn't go there," or something like that
because I can just put it wherever I want, because it's mine.
No, no, no, no. Move...
I think it's quite cool. It's just a bit cramped, a bit small.
Since we've got the posters up
and I've been a bit more proactive, I've had a change of heart.
I'm enjoying it now.
Phil Meadows is following in the footsteps
of his businessman grandfather, Reginald Turney.
It's very powerful, 4.2 litre engine. It goes 150 miles an hour...
In an era when car ownership more than doubled,
he is running a car showroom.
It goes 0-60 in 7.9 seconds, I think it is,
I can show you on the brochure. So it flies.
But racy cars can't distract him
from his worries about his racy teenagers.
Don't drive it off without me. No, no.
I can relate to what was going on in the '60s.
If you had parents from the war that were so marked by that experience,
and the youth wanted to go out and party
and spend their money they had and wear those clothes they can buy,
would just be so frustrated
by the way their parents were pulling them down.
You know, "Did you know it used to be rationing just five years ago?"
Just all that, no wonder the kids wanted to get away from it.
Make sure it's on properly. That's it.
Phil's next-door neighbour Michael Taylor
is also doing his grandfather's job, working as a motor mechanic.
In previous eras, the Taylors lived
the upper middle-class life of their relative,
mill manager William Bennett.
Now, they are following a different line,
that of grandfather John Joseph Taylor.
You should be able to take it out and undo it with your fingers.
'Unfortunately, I didn't know my grandfather well
'but to know that he did a job like this'
and worked and earned to live and keep his family going
and that's what I do.
You have to do... That's what I'm doing at the moment.
'The 1900 mill manager, I couldn't connect with that man at all.'
I couldn't connect with the idea of sitting around
and being waited on and being looked after.
Michael's grandad John Joseph Taylor
was a skilled worker who would have earned a good wage.
In the 1960s, the pay gap between the middle and working classes
was smaller than ever before.
Usually it would be like, one there, one there, one there, one there.
'I see myself as working class'
so in the 1960s, I feel at home here.
Oh, gosh. This rice isn't rice any more. It's pasta.
Back at 1 Albert Road,
historian Juliet has arrived with Charlie Phillips,
a family friend of the Hawkes,
to share his experiences as a first-generation immigrant.
Charlie! Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh!
How are you doing? Not too bad. Good to see you, man. Yeah.
This brings flashbacks.
When I first came here, this is what we used to live on,
a family of four used to live in a room like this, you know?
And, erm, never imagine,
that, erm, really brings flashbacks. Yeah.
Why don't...? This is part of my history, you know? Part of my life.
Charlie arrived from Jamaica at the age of ten, in the late '50s.
He grew up in Notting Hill, London,
and became a photographer, documenting immigrant life.
Your parents must have had such a struggle coming over here as immigrants?
It was a big cultural shock.
All the other kids on my street were very curious of me.
They'd come up and touch your hair and say, "Oh, you got hair like steel wool!"
Some of the kids thought we were from the jungle.
We used to get called, like, "Sambo," or, "Golliwog,"
and sometimes I had to get in fights
and we had to fight my way out of certain situations as well, yeah?
Unfortunately, some of us became demoralised, like myself.
Which is dreadful. I mean, Britain has a lot to be ashamed of.
How did you react to that? We had to overcome it.
The only thing that could unite the family was listening to,
you know, music.
Most of the radio stations you couldn't get music that we liked.
We were into Fats Domino, The Platters, Little Richard...
and we used to play them that these house parties as well.
We never had access to clubs or entertainment.
That was the only thing that brought us socially together as well, you know?
Music is the soul of life.
Oh, I see, take care, take care.
Take care, see you soon. Yeah, sorry I've got to go, yeah?
'I'm in awe of the fact that, despite this experience,
'you know, they just...'
They kept going... They went on. ..kept going.
You know, it shaped who they were as people.
It shaped Granddad to be so strong.
Inspired by Charlie and in the hope of lifting their spirits,
the Hawkes are on the hunt for the music.
Hello. Hello! Do you have any record players here?
Yeah, we have one just down there...
by the window. This one here?
Yeah, yeah. Oh, wow!
We'll take the record player and records!
Thank you. Bye. Bye.
Oh, that's really nice!
This would have made life bearable.
It doesn't matter if the house looks crap now because... Couldn't give a shit.
Not right now. No, I don't notice the wall so much.
That's fine, yeah, that'll be fine.
Beautiful. Oh, this is beautiful.
I'm so happy right now! Same!
There is always one sock, ain't there, goes wandering? Always, yeah.
Thank you very much. No problem.
Adele is working at the local launderette.
It's the first time she's had a job since she came to Albert Road.
This time I've got a purpose.
I'm working and bringing money into the house.
My biggest issue has always been being still.
I hate sitting around thinking about things.
I'd rather be busy and occupied.
The first launderette opened in 1949
and by the '60s they were hugely popular.
With the cost of a washing machine beyond many working class families,
launderettes became important social centres.
So, Adele has brought the kids with her.
Yeah, just whack it on.
Brilliant, put the lid down. The scoop's got to go back.
Adele may be happy that this is more akin to her modern day life
but this wasn't what 1960s women aspired to.
I don't have to employ anybody to look after them.
Not a stuffy place where they would just have to sit.
I mean, they're charging around like mad fools today!
So, yeah, it feels really nice having them at work.
Being a domestic goddess, or whatever term you want to use,
it's not rewarding enough.
In the '60s, if I'd been a woman around then,
I would not have been happy.
Susie may not be enjoying it
but being the perfect housewife was seen as immensely desirable.
'Considering how much time every housewife spends there,
'the kitchen is the most important room in the house.'
Keeping yourself and your house beautiful were what most
middle-class housewives were expected to dream of.
I've struggled with 1960s woman. I am not that person.
I, actually, was happier, bizarrely, as a woman in the 1940s
because I had a job. You know, I had a purpose.
Get all your stuff! Come on, guys! Get all your stuff together!
Susie has the added pressure of hosting a dinner party tonight
for her neighbours, the Taylors.
Pint of milk.
Susie, do you think you'll manage to get your hair done?
No, Phil, do you know what,
hair done is the least of my aggravations at the moment.
I'm struggling with the souffle, sweetie... cos I've done it wrong.
Despite her desire to impress,
the preparations are running behind schedule. Might be OK.
So, you don't think the hair is going to happen? Probably not.
Unless you want to come down and do my hair right now, as we're speaking?
Do you know what? I'm starting again.
I think that tells him, doesn't it?
While Mum is stressed over the dinner party,
Saskia is making her own plans for the evening.
Hello! Hi.
Hello, I'm Saskia, Genevieve's my sister.
Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
Jonathan. Rachel. Awesome.
Erm, we're going to a club this evening,
we wondered if you'd like to join us?
Yeah! Yeah, why not, we'll come! OK, cool. Yeah?
We'll see you in a bit. See you later! All right.
See you in a bit, bye. See you, bye. Bye.
The teenagers are planning their first visit to a nightclub...
free from parental influence.
They're are rebelling from what they're being allowed to do
and they would have not just rebelled a little bit,
they would have wanted to go over the top,
to shove it in everyone else's faces.
Saskia has asked 15-year-old Megan Taylor
to join them on their night out on the town.
Hiya!
Straight up the stairs. Thank you very much.
Very nice. Thank you. Straight up the stairs.
The '60s saw the opening of the first nightclubs,
where DJs replaced live bands,
creating a totally different vibe to traditional dance halls.
'Perhaps some of us are just getting old and crusty,
'and forgetting what it meant to be young and active...
'in every sort of way!'
♪ Come on let's twist again ♪
♪ Like we did last summer ♪
♪ Yeah, let's twist again... ♪
In the 21st-century, their parents can get in touch whenever they want
but in a time without mobiles no-one can keep tabs on them.
'It feels nice to be out here without our parents'
having a good time dancing,
having a taste of real life and freedom,
and, you know, independence.
It's given me in excitement of being an adult for the future.
Yeah, shake it, shake it, baby!
That's very kind of you. Thank you, darling.
Don't look under there!
Go through to the right. Thank you. Thank you.
Hello! Hello! Ooh!
Quite right. Look at this! It looks very grand!
This is the wine of the moment. Right?
Apparently it's going to be the rage.
Well, thank you.
I'm impressed. It does look very, very good. Yeah, it looks good.
Right thing to say! And your orange matches your orange. Yeah, do you like that? Yeah!
Coordination of the old colours there!
Did you get a man in for that or did you do it yourself?
We did a lot of jobs ourselves actually.
We like to be in keeping with modern times so we, we're going around getting everything updated.
Dinner's served, chaps, dinner's served!
This is French onion soup.
Mmm, lovely. Yeah, honestly.
Susie's dinner party is going swimmingly
but thoughts soon turn to their teenagers out on the town.
I must admit, I do feel that Saskia
is actually leading our daughter astray.
Do you? Do you?
Actually, my daughter's skirt was near her knees.
Genevieve's, however, is now... Is now a belt?
There's no bum cheek showing, quite, but we are, kind of, mid-thigh level.
Oh, no! Phil, get that chastity belt out!
You do know where they've gone tonight, don't you?
I think they've gone out dancing. Right.
Erm, that's all I know because I have been away from them today.
I have no idea what they are doing. I don't know who else they're with.
At the nightclub, the 15-year-olds are getting acquainted with the locals.
Hello, how are you? Not so bad, you? Good, thank you.
She's hanging out at the bar.
I've never really seen my sister in a club! It's a bit weird.
Yeah, and you can come to Dotty's Vintage any time.
She's such a minx!
'You're, kind of, going to bed you think, "What are the girls doing now?" '
You know, "Where are they?" Erm, "Who are they with?"
And you can't, you can't know.
I can't ring them on their mobiles because we don't have mobiles.
So, there is some,
some real twisted emotions going on in my head at the moment,
as to what my true emotions are.
I just can't work it out. I cannot work it out in my own head.
Next morning, Phil and Susie have put their concerns about the teens aside
and are planning to spend the day out together.
I think they're coping.
They're not asking us for food or moaning about their conditions.
So, you know, they're going for it
and the fact they've got their own pad, I mean, it's just,
as I would be when I was their age, very excited about it.
However, after two nights in their bedsit,
the Meadows girls are losing the spirit of teenage rebellion.
I'd quite like to go home really. I don't want to be a rebel.
Do you want to be a rebel, Saskia? I think it's a great idea
and you get all excited about it until you actually move out.
And then it all becomes very realistic
when I'm having to sleep in here.
I don't want to be completely free
cos then who's going to look after us?
I am the world's worst rebellious teenager!
It is quite funny.
Teenagers back then probably didn't have much of a relationship with their parents.
They might not have been so, like, laid-back.
Believing the girls are now happily independent,
Phil and Susie are off to do their own thing.
It's a really nice day for a picnic. I'm glad we decided to come.
I mean, this is a real treat for us
because, actually, we've got a bit of time to ourselves.
I mean, this type of thing, we just didn't do. I know.
In any of the previous eras. No, we've just had too much work to do.
We've been too busy... Surviving... ..but this is quite nice to...
and a war. Hmm.
The Taylors also have leisure time to fill.
After a night at the Meadows' they're keeping up with the neighbours
by indulging in the latest 1960s fad - DIY.
Ooh, don't fall, I'll break my neck! You take pride in your home, don't you?
You want it to be the best it can be for your family.
With a boom in home ownership and a rise in disposable income,
everyone wanted to stamp their own identity on their homes.
We find we can be a little more individual if we do it ourselves.
You've hung it upside down! Roses grow like that...
and ours are growing that way.
Never mind about the flowers - it's just the round bits!
This is why divorce started to happen from the 1960s onwards!
Next door, Phil and Susie have returned from their picnic
to a surprise.
Phil, the children are home.
I'm very pleased to see you in there.
Are you? Yes, as long as you don't make a mess of my kitchen.
You know you're welcome any time.
How much are you paying for that then? No, we're staying home now.
No, no, you can't stay home! Yeah, we are, yeah. We didn't like it!
I thought you wanted to move out and be independent?
Mum, stop throwing us away!
I can't believe this conversation is going on!
I was so excited to come home. Oh, no, we would be.
The thing is, Saskia, we don't want you to miss an opportunity
of having some fun and being independent.
Let's go through and see, re-look at it later on today.
We have two wash up in a toilet!
SHARED toilet. A shared toilet with the rest of the flat!
You guys have really offended us. You do know that, don't you?
Whilst parents and teens clash at the Meadows',
Rachel and Jonathan are bringing a little bit of Jamaica to Morecambe
by hosting a house party.
Always good to have a party!
We thought we'd invite them round and introduce them to our world,
erm, and a bit of our culture.
We've got the Guinness punch.
New arrivals from the Caribbean were often excluded from clubs and pubs
so they made their own entertainment at home.
The Taylors continue to have it good.
They're going on their first family holiday.
Oh, this'll be lovely!
During this era of prosperity, holiday entitlement doubled,
so many families could enjoy the luxury of three weeks off a year.
Get it, Dad, get it! That view is gorgeous. It is incredible.
I love it.
Life is good.
'Caravan camping is the do-it-yourself holiday made easy.'
Caravanning was one of the unheralded success stories of the '60s.
By the end of the decade,
more than half the population had been on a caravanning holiday.
Oh, he's taken it!
You're working hard but you're working hard to get, actually,
something quite nice at the end of it.
So that, at the weekend, you can go and have a good time with your family
and you save up hard so you can go away
and have a holiday with your family,
and time out from your normal mundane, sort of, existence.
So, I think, for a family like ours,
a caravan would have been the ideal answer.
The idea is about everybody being happy, having some free time,
spending it together and actually enjoying yourself.
It is beautiful. It really is beautiful here.
Cheers, welcome to the neighbourhood. Cheers.
I don't need to wear a belt! Where's the rest of your skirt?!
Back at the Hawkes', the party is in full swing.
So, how are you finding it over here? Do you all live here?
Well, you never know what to expect nowadays.
However, there is a surprise in store.
Mum Sandra and sister Hayley have arrived in Morecambe.
We're really close as a family and we've been away from them for a while
so I just want to make sure that they're OK.
Once immigrants were established in the UK,
they could send for the rest of the family.
By the end of the 1960s women and children made up 75%
of new immigrants.
Mum Sandra has high hopes of where she is heading to.
I expect the place to be in a way that I wouldn't be ashamed
if anybody came around to visit us.
So, I'd like... They know I like my place to be nice and clean.
I hope, you know, they've made it homely
because they know what I'm like.
So, yeah, it better be good!
♪ Won't get you into his arms ♪
♪ So if you're looking for love that you can say ♪
♪ All you've got to do is hold him and kiss him and squeeze him ♪
♪ And love him ♪
♪ Yeah, just do it and after you do you will be his. ♪
Is this it?
OK.
Oh, my God, the place is so dirty!
Oh, wow.
Is this where they're living?
No carpet on the floor.
Oh, God, they could sweep the place!
♪ You will be his. ♪
♪..Crazy ♪
♪ Can I talk to you? ♪
♪ I know you can speak babe ♪
♪ I really don't know... ♪
Hi, Guys! Oh, my God!
Oh, look at you! Oh, my gosh!
Oh, my gosh! Mum, you look so beautiful! Are you OK?
Oh, my God. Are you all right? Is this where you've been living?
Oh, Jesus.
Don't start crying! I know, it's a shit hole, isn't it?
This is our mum by the way, yeah! This is our mum.
These are some friends we've made.
Hi. Hello. Yeah.
You're sleeping in here?
You've been living and sleeping in here? Mm. The two of you?!
It's been really hard.
Am I going to be staying here? I know, yeah. Am I?! Yeah.
All you going to...? What?!
Not in this room?
I'm going to be staying in this room? Is there no bedrooms or...?
This is it plus the kitchen.
It was all right for us camping out but now you've come here it's like,
"Oh, my gosh, you realise how crap this is."
Sorry, it's not good enough for you at all.
Oh, my gosh.
Was it this bad for black people in the '60s?
For a lot of people it was this bad.
Really?! Yeah.
Wow, I'm shocked. Hard.
'You want to be with your family, you want to be together
'but I think it would have been a big shock.'
You have this big massive expectation about,
"Oh, you're coming to England, the motherland,"
and then when you actually get to the home where you're staying,
and then you think, "Oh, my God.
"Oh, my goodness, is this how bad it is? Wow, why did I come?"
The Meadows' have retreated downstairs to the bedsit.
Wow, that was a bit of a buzz kill. Yeah. It was just getting going.
I found that quite shocking.
I wanted to, kind of, go up to her and say, "It's going to be OK,"
as soon as she walked in the door cos that was so, real raw emotion.
Would have never changed places with the daughter.
I felt so sorry for her cos her mum's come over, she would want
her mum, as I would, to walk in and be proud of where she is.
I feel so embarrassed now, like, I'm so sorry!
You could've done it up a bit.
Anyway, what can we do?
Better you're here now. Family hug.
It does feel as though you haven't really given it a proper shot.
Just gone, "Oh, no, we don't like this, we'll go home
"because it's warmer at home, it's cleaner at home."
The Meadows have called a family meeting
to discuss if the girls should move back.
It's not the reason that it's disgusting
and it's only one toilet to share.
It's not that at all.
It's just the fact that we want to be here with you guys.
That's the only reason we're back.
I think, in the '60s,
Dad and I would have been... far less easy company.
With my mum and dad I felt like I was so different.
You know when you feel like you must have been adopted?
That's how I felt about my parents when I was their age.
They're not in that situation.
The idea of me moving out right now,
as an 18-year-old in the 21st-century,
would not be an option.
If you're not ready to move out... Yeah.
Which it seems you're not, you don't have to move out.
I can still be rebellious at home. No, you can't! Yes, I can. No, no, no!
I'm so happy to be home! Oh, yeah. We're happy to have you, guys!
Go and get your things then.
Home time!
I am quite disappointed in myself
but now I feel like I'm not really ready to leave home,
move out and, kind of, live my own individual life.
I think it's just the idea of having to move out and fend for yourself
that frightens you.
'I'm not ready for them to move out.
'I'm just quite happy that they're coming home'
and we can have a little bit of control for a little bit longer.
I think that the '60s would have been a very difficult time
if your kids were rebelling and wanting to be independent,
and you had to say goodbye to them.
It must have been very difficult for those parents.
We're home!
Hello, girls!
Hello. Hello, babies.
Yeah, this is the job! No, no, no!
I've got the children fighting in the bathroom as we speak,
which is fabulous!
Erm...
Oh, my God. One moment.
GUYS!
SHUT UP!
'It's like living like students!'
The place has got to be cleaned before you cook.
Next-door, Rachel and Jonathan are relieved
that their family are also reunited.
Not having our mum and sister there, it was like,
"How are we going to do this?", you know? And then to see them,
it was like this massive load had, kind of, been shoved off from my shoulders.
Can we sweep up this? Sorry.
Family brings, erm, a sense of security.
Family's everything
and it's a heritage that I really want to honour in the 21st century.
Next day, and it's a momentous one for Albert Road.
To celebrate their girls' homecoming,
the middle-class Meadows are inviting all the neighbours over
to watch the most important match of English football ever...
Hey, that's great, Mum!
The 1966 World Cup final.
I'm really excited, actually.
I've made a bet with the local betting club
that England are going to win.
Put a million pounds on it, Mum!
Just hold it down and I'll hold it up.
The families are coming together...
Hello!
Just like many did on the afternoon of the final.
Would you like a drink? Guinness, please!
Ah, welcome! Hi!
Shall we take them through? OK. Thanks very much.
Hi, there, darling, nice to see you again. Are you all right? Yeah!
Oh, I love the set-up! This is beautiful.
Come on England!
32-and-a-half million people, a British record,
watched the events unfold.
It's starting! Oh, my God, woo!
'Bobby Moore is fouled by Overath.'
Oh! What was that?!
Ooh!
'Geoff Hurst puts England level!' Yeah! Yeah! Woo!
As the era draws to a close, how has it been for our families?
Has your family survived the '60s?
It has!
It's been about family time.
We've had lots and lots of time to spend as a family.
It's been quite good for the Taylor family,
considering we've moved down in the world.
It meant that we were all together and enjoying life together,
which is what family is about.
Everything about it, it just seems ideal.
This is what I would aspire to, as a modern mum, to live like this.
'With that superb shot England are in the lead!'
'Whilst we know that at some point the kids will be moving out'
because, obviously, they're getting older, they'll want to fly the nest
and I can't imagine them just saying, "OK, then, bye,"
and us not seeing them for months, and months, and months.
When they do go I'm probably going to be bereft, actually,
because I will...
I'll have so much less to do.
'With the final whistle only seconds away England get the ball upfield
'and Hurst goes through on his own.'
Yes! That went in! No, it didn't.
They thought it was all over.
It is now!
'I thought we were going to experience the swinging '60s
'and it wasn't swinging at all.'
It's definitely hit home the realism of struggle, erm...
and I think I'll definitely go back to the 21st century
appreciating that heritage.
It must have been a really painful time to have to revisit, in a sense,
what the immigrant experience could have been like in the '60s.
As soon as I walked in and, erm, absorbed the atmosphere
I really could appreciate the fact that Afro-Caribbeans
would have felt a tremendous weight on their shoulders
and a tremendous amount of responsibility.
I just have complete respect for people
who make the most out of their circumstances
and as a result, and over time,
show that they have progressed.
Whether it is as a people or as a family.
Next time, it's the groovy 1970s...
but there are shocks in store for new arrivals on Albert Road.
I mean, look at that, you don't want that outside your house, it's disgusting!
The men have to learn to cope with women's lib...
What do you reckon, Megan?
Thank you.
Whilst power cuts and strikes cause mayhem for everyone.
It's like being back in the 1900s with better clothes.
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