To avoid spoilers and repeats, skip to 1:45
This week; the 1960s.
Unlike some eras apparently this decade is deemed more interesting so it gets its own episode.
Our presenter calls the 1960s a swinging decade, which of course the 1920s and 1940s also were, but somehow those were announced quite differently.
It is interesting how the general idea of youth culture and things becoming hip, fun and wild being something that didn’t exist till after WW2 is still so alive today, especially in a history show that just recreated the eras that in their way were just as hip, fun and wild as the 1960s and in many cases even more so.
As an elderly lady once said; in the 1960s they burned their bras, in the 1920s we burned entire corsets.
Personally for me the 1960s were the era in which style died.
Fashion, hair, design, architecture, it all really went downhill after the war.
This is nicely illustrated by the move from the old wonderful building to some horrific modern pile of concrete.
How depressing.
The school has also changed from a grammar school (academically-oriented) to a Secondary modern (workplace oriented).
It is sad that this system existed and that countless children were send to these schools after failing their 11+ exams, but on the other hand many children, including me, are just not meant for academics and having schools that actually prepared you for a job in the real world are a good thing.
But perhaps children should just have more chances to switch because surely 11 is a tat young to find out what someone’s talents are.
Uniforms, morning assembly, singing hymns, all of this is completely foreign to me.
I never had any of these things and I really wish I had even though I’m not at all religious.
I also wish I had brick laying lessons as it might actually be something useful for later when doing DIY around the house.
It also just looks like its a lot of fun.
Why are they wearing safety glasses though?
I’ve never seen builders wear them.
Either way, health & safety rules may often appear silly but there’s almost no way TV-shows can get way with ignoring them.
I’m not sure they had safety glasses like that back in the 1960s.
The girls get typing lessons, although of course learning to use a typewriter has sadly become obsolete, learning to actually type proper letters is still quite a useful thing.
And of course it is amusing to see modern people struggle with such an alien and ancient artefact.
The presenter says that this young generation is used to swiping left or right.
What does she mean?!
In which situation do they actually do that?
Surely you can’t write e-mails by swiping.
Bravo production on finding enough nice vintage typewriters for the whole class.
My mother had typing lessons, she’s still quite proud of how fast she was.
Either way another lesson I wish I had in school.
For me this is such a novel idea; learning something actually useful in school…
But of course I agree with the smart boy who thinks it is all a bit stereotypical, both boys and girls should be getting both brick laying and type writing lessons.
It is also nice that the girls see this as progress, although they are of course being prepared for typical ‘women’s jobs’ they realise that at least they’re no longer just in school to learn how to be a housewife and mother.
I think this might be one of the first mixed classes.
From other shows I’ve learned that keeping boys and girls separate during lessons can actually have a positive effect on them.
But this is more about the new gadget; the overhead project.
I remember having fun with those.
Another great lesson involves is looking after ducks.
Again not sure why the presenter is here, she’s not an 1960s teacher, she’s not 1960s dressed, she has no specific knowledge, in short; she doesn’t add much but her interaction does keep ruining the immersive time travel experience.
1962, the Cuba crisis.
I hope they use this moment to teach the children and the viewers how close we actually came to nuclear Armageddon.
I remember being absolutely terrified during the cold war, how do you let modern day children understand how that felt?
They’ve chosen the easy and cheap way out; teacher starts a discussion about how the pupils think children might have felt in the 1960s….
But sir, they are supposed to be 1960s children!
Why not just take a little bit more time and let them actually feel those feelings themselves!
You have an 1960s setting, children pretending it is the 1960s, why not just go the extra mile and make the whole thing properly immersive?
This is a lost opportunity.
The children don’t seem to understand what it was like living with the threat of a nuclear holocaust, they’re a little scared of the siren and bombs falling, clearly not realising these bombs would actually end civilisation and how close they came to never having been born.
The domestic science flat looks spiffy, well done art department.
Again very handy lessons that you could actually use in your life.
I wish I had lessons like these, I can’t cook at all and it looks like most of these girls haven’t got much culinary experience either.
And of course, boys should be giving the same lessons.
It would have been nice if both the teacher and the girls had been made to understood 1960s motivation for the idea of women being responsible for cooking.
The teacher feels uncomfortable, the girls think it is unfair and neither can defend the situation while I’m sure they could have in the 1960s.
After all the husband had gone to work all day, he made the money, the woman had stayed at home, doing a much less important job that was less stressful… or so people thought back then.
You can experience the past all you want but to truly understand it you also need to get the motives and backgrounds of our ancestors.
Also of course sir should have had a pipe.
Basic driving lessons are also quite a good thing for school, I never had any and somehow managed never to get time to get a license even after school.
Career’s day!
I never really had career advice in school, I remember one vague chat but that was about it.
Playtime!
Again the kids are being kids, still a joy to see but these don’t look like 1960s roller skates…
Technical drawing, another quiet interesting subject and an interesting new opportunity for women.
I really really don’t like the lack of immersion in this show.
Teacher begins a lesson with “In the sixties…”!
No, no, no.
It IS the sixties!
Or at least it is supposed to be the 1960s.
Nice lesson on hover crafts, but that isn’t an 1960s pump… go on art department, hide it in a wooden box or something.
Social studies, a lesson on race relations and racial tension.
Quite an eye opener to the pupils although of course today these tensions are still around and, so it seems, worse than they were not that long ago.
Of course all the children are shocked and upset, but it would have been interesting if there had also been someone in the class who actually had a different opinion.
1969.
As part of the last day party everybody watches the landing of Neil Armstrong on the moon.
Which is fun but of course in reality it happened at about 3AM, so it wouldn’t be something they’d seen in school.
The children and teachers agree that there has been a lot of progress when it comes to careers.
I hope they will also get to see some of the things that didn’t get better.
The 1970s next… things are going to get EVEN worse looking.
Historical Reality Television 