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BBC Four

The Secret Life of Rubbish

Emma Hindley

Chris Durlacher

The Secret Life of Rubbish: Episode 1

Documentaries

Factual: History

Episode 1

BBC Four - The Secret Life of Rubbish, Episode 1

A history of British refuse collection from the Second World War to the consumerist 1960s.

With tales from old binmen, this series offers a view of modern British history from the back end. The first part deals with the decades immediately after the Second World War.

With tales from old binmen and film archive that has never been broadcast before, this two-part series offers an original view of the history of modern Britain - from the back end where the rubbish comes out.

The first programme deals with the decades immediately after the Second World War. Ninety-year-old Ernie Sharp started on the bins when he was demobbed from the army in 1947, and household rubbish in those days was mostly ash raked out of the fire-grate. That's why men like Ernie were called 'dust' men. 

But the rubbish soon changed. The Clean Air Act got rid of coal fires so there was less ash. Then supermarkets arrived, with displays of packaged goods. And all that packaging went in the bin.

In the 1960s consumerism emerged. Shopping for new things became a national enthusiasm. It gave people the sense that their lives were improving and kept the economy going. And as the binmen recall, the waste stream became a flood.

As the programme sifts through the rubbish of the mid-20th century, we discover how the Britain of 'make do and mend' became a consumer society.

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A view of the history of modern Britain - from the back end where the rubbish comes out.

With tales from old binmen and previously unseen film archive, this two-part series offers an original view of the history of modern Britain - from the back end where the rubbish comes out.

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