40 Minutes was a BBC TV documentary strand broadcast on BBC Two between 1981 and 1994. The documentaries could be on any possible subject, the only connection being that they last forty minutes. Some documentaries in the original series were revisited and updated in a 2006 version, Forty Minutes On.
Showing Season 4 of 14
Season 4
1984
No overview available.
01. Gigolo
1984-11-01
Gigolos and the different types.
02. The Happy Medium
1984-11-08
About the medium Doris Stokes.
03. The Grendon Experiment
1984-11-15
Grendon prison in Buckinghamshire, Britain's only voluntary psychiatric prison.
04. Love in Exile
1984-11-22
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor in self-imposed exile.
05. On the Throne
1984-11-29
The history of lavatories.
06. Rent Boys
1984-12-06
Young male prostitutes in Manchester and Birmingham.
07. Asylum
1984-12-13
The mental asylum in Choroszcz in Poland where patients work in the community.
08. The Loved Ones
1984-12-20
The Animal Medical Centre in New York.
09. The Promised Land
1985-01-10
Britain forty years ago, contrasted with present day Britain.
10. Talking Proper
1985-01-17
Accents and dialects provoke strong prejudices and reactions. In a 40 Minutes film that examines why this should be, broadcaster Janet Street-Porter, Radio 4 announcer Susan Rae and actor Peter Bowles are among those who have suffered because of the way they speak. Meet the Queen's English Society, which keeps a candle burning for the purity of the spoken word, and the Devon Dialect Society, which has very different ideas about how vowels should sound. Eavesdrop on an elocution class, hear from Scottish schoolchildren whose accents might affect their job prospects, and go behind the scenes at the BBC Pronunciation Unit and the northern auditions for the Speaking Clock. See how fashions have changed over the years, and how trends are likely to develop in the future as we enter a world of talking robots and computers.
11. Sweet F.A.
1985-01-24
The group 'Fascinating Aida' and the making of their first pop record.
12. The End of the Pier Show
1985-01-31
The problems of putting on a show in the old style of pier entertainments at Cromer, Norfolk.
13. The Outcasts
1985-02-07
A group of 'Hell's Angels' in East Anglia.
14. Love Story
1985-02-14
A film for St Valentine's Day.
15. Free!
1985-02-21
Old Victorian mental hospitals are being closed down and the former patients face problems.
16. Whose House Is It Anyway?
1985-02-28
A local Council has a compulsory purchase order on the home of two elderly men.
17. The Eternal Triangle: The Mistress
1985-03-07
The first film in a trilogy which examines the Eternal Triangle.
18. The Eternal Triangle: The Wife
1985-03-14
The second film in a trilogy which examines the Eternal Triangle.
19. The Eternal Triangle: The Husband
1985-03-21
The third film in a trilogy which examines the Eternal Triangle.
20. Union Street
1985-03-28
Plymouth, the area near the docks.
21. Whatever Happened to Baby Paul?
1985-04-04
The story of a woman who took her baby to hospital where he was found to have several fractures. She denied having caused the injuries but he was taken from her care.
22. Matters of Life and Death
1985-04-11
The effects of government cuts leading to the closure of a ward in Guy's Children's Hospital.
23. Star Paws
1985-04-18
Animals used in advertising.
24. Laughter in Gabrovo
1985-05-02
The biennial festival of humour in Bulgaria. Can humour cross national boundaries?
25. Dear Mr President
1985-05-09
The story of a family whose daughter is handicapped because of a drug taken by her mother during pregnancy. The American drug company claims the drug is safe.