Sign language

BBC One North West

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

BBC One London

London

BBC One West Midlands

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

BBC One Yorkshire

BBC One Oxfordshire

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

BBC One Cambridgeshire

BBC One Channel Islands

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

BBC One Wales

Wales

The Town That Never Retired

Deborah Colman

Robert Thirkall

Daisy Goodwin

Nick Hewer

Margaret Mountford

The Town That Never Retired: Episode 2

Documentaries

Factual

Episode 2

BBC One - The Town That Never Retired, Episode 2

The remaining pensioners face competition from genuine young job seekers.

An experiment to send pensioners back into full-time work. The remaining pensioners face competition from genuine young job seekers. Will the bosses decide that youth is best?

Nick Hewer and Margaret Mountford continue their experiment to send 70-something pensioners back into full-time work in the city of Preston to reflect the Government's planned rise in the state pension age.

During the first week there were trays of chocolates on the floor of the factory, arguments between pensioners and younger builders on the construction site and a nurse who couldn't bring herself to give advice against drinking red wine. But some  pensioners who did manage to prove themselves to their bosses during week one have been kept on in their jobs. Now they face a real life challenge. They'll have competition from genuine young job-seekers aged between 18 and 25 who are brought in to work alongside them.

All the youngsters claim to be desperate for jobs and they're around 50 years younger than their pensioner rivals so the older workers will have their work cut out. But once things get started the generation clash brings up more than just a contrast in physical strength. Timekeeping, dress codes, staying power and people skills all go to emphasise the divide and in some cases what one generation can share with the other.

Nick and Margaret keep an eye on the five workplaces as they try to predict whether eager pensioners will have the stamina to last the course and whether the obvious advantage of youth, energy and knowledge of up-to-date technology will be enough to convince bosses that youth is best.

By the end it's hard not to root for some of  the pensioners even though the youngsters are clearly in more need of the jobs. But it's all down to the bosses to decide whether in their eyes workers in their seventies could ever cut it back in the workplace.

BBC One

BBC One is a TV channel that started broadcasting on the 20th April 1964. It replaced BBC Television.

BBC 1

BBC1

Nick Hewer and Margaret Mountford launch a bold experiment sending retirees back to work.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Town That Never Retired

Episode 2

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Series

BBC One North West

About BBC One