Postwar Britain: Between Progress and Tradition
Postwar Britain’s relationship with its past was laid bare in a long-running television show, argues Tim Stanley.
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It sometimes feels like everything was better in the past, even nostalgia. I’ve become addicted to The Good Old Days, a BBC variety show that was broadcast for 30 years from 1953 and can now be found archived on YouTube. It was staged in Leeds City Varieties theatre and was an attempt to revive the Edwardian music hall tradition. On stage were clowns and ventriloquists, pearly kings and pub-class singers. Every episode ended with a chorus of Down At The Old Bull and Bush. Even the audience, ordinary members of the public dressed up in period costume, seemed to know all the words. It was basically Britain’s Got Talent, with a bit more talent and relocated to the 1900s.
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