0:00:21 > 0:00:23The telephone.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25How could we live without it?
0:00:25 > 0:00:26I think it is abominable.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29I think it's costly, and I think it's a thundering nuisance.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32Incredibly, there was a time
0:00:32 > 0:00:36when phones weren't pocket-sized wireless devices
0:00:36 > 0:00:40but bulky objects, wired into our homes and workplaces.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44Historians call this distant era The Age Of The Landline.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48Over the course of 100 years,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51engineers rolled out a communications network
0:00:51 > 0:00:53that joined up Britain -
0:00:53 > 0:00:57a web of more than 17 million miles of wire,
0:00:57 > 0:01:00one of the most ambitious engineering projects
0:01:00 > 0:01:02in British history.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06Yet telephones were initially regarded with suspicion.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08Who is going to answer the telephone?
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Will there be improper conversations
0:01:11 > 0:01:15between the maids and gentlemen callers?
0:01:15 > 0:01:18They were agents of social change.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21They were looking for educated, well-spoken young ladies
0:01:21 > 0:01:23who would be able to enunciate clearly.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Number, please.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Thank you.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30But when you wanted a phone, you often couldn't get one.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32They say, "Well, sorry. Bad luck, chum.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35"In two years' time, you might get a telephone."
0:01:37 > 0:01:41This is the story of the battle to build Britain's phone network,
0:01:41 > 0:01:42the heroes...
0:01:42 > 0:01:44He said, "Tradesmen to the rear."
0:01:44 > 0:01:47I said, "Does the doctor go to the rear?" He said, "No."
0:01:47 > 0:01:49I said, "I'm the doctor of telephones."
0:01:49 > 0:01:50..and heroines.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52It was really comical,
0:01:52 > 0:01:55trying to have a tin hat on with these things stuck to your ear.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57The disappointments...
0:01:57 > 0:01:59You would shout down the phone in the hope that they would put
0:01:59 > 0:02:02the phone down so that the line would be restored
0:02:02 > 0:02:04and you could actually use it yourself.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06..and dreams.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08Don't you think it will be rather fun? Don't you think anybody
0:02:08 > 0:02:11who goes up 500 feet would like a panoramic view
0:02:11 > 0:02:13of the greatest capital in the world,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16just spread out in front of them?
0:02:16 > 0:02:20And why it is that now, when we're more connected than ever,
0:02:20 > 0:02:23it's not the telephone that's keeping us on the landline.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42In 1877,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45inventor Alexander Graham Bell sailed by steamship
0:02:45 > 0:02:49from America to Britain, the land he once called home.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53He'd come to showcase a revolutionary new electric device
0:02:53 > 0:02:56that was taking the US by storm -
0:02:56 > 0:02:57the telephone.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02At Osborne House on the Isle of Wight,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Bell faced his sternest test yet.
0:03:05 > 0:03:06The stakes were high
0:03:06 > 0:03:09as he awaited the audience for his latest demonstration.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13He had to impress none other than Queen Victoria.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21This no doubt entirely historically accurate film from the 1930s
0:03:21 > 0:03:25sets out Bell's meeting with the Queen, who politely makes no mention
0:03:25 > 0:03:30of the Scottish inventor's strangely American accent.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32I think you had better speak into it.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36After all, one does not converse with a wire.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Beatrice, Major Phipps, come closer.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43Listen.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45If you please, ma'am, we're ready to begin.
0:03:45 > 0:03:46You may proceed.
0:03:47 > 0:03:48Sir Thomas Biddulph.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52'Yes, I'm here.'
0:03:52 > 0:03:54That is Sir Thomas' voice.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00Bell's telephone arrived at exactly the right moment.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03The rise of the office, a new phenomenon in Victorian society,
0:04:03 > 0:04:06had created an eager market of businessmen.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10There are legal changes to the notion of "company"
0:04:10 > 0:04:13and the modern corporation is born at that time, legally.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17And with it is somewhere for it to live -
0:04:17 > 0:04:19an office block.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21In America, a skyscraper.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24So you suddenly need to be able to talk to each other.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30Queen Victoria was amused enough to buy two devices from Bell,
0:04:30 > 0:04:32and the telephone was away.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36Flush with royal approval, Bell and his partners set up a firm,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39imaginatively named The Telephone Company.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45The fledgling service provided the most basic systems.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48The first subscribers could only make calls to the other end
0:04:48 > 0:04:50of their own phone lines.
0:04:50 > 0:04:55Telephone communications were private circuits, point-to-point,
0:04:55 > 0:04:56which is to say they connected
0:04:56 > 0:04:59floors in a big house or in a factory,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02there was no network, no public network as such.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05No telephone exchanges. They were sold as private instruments,
0:05:05 > 0:05:08initially by Alexander Graham Bell's agent, Colonel Reynolds,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11who came across the Atlantic on a steamship
0:05:11 > 0:05:13with a bag full of these telephone instruments
0:05:13 > 0:05:17which he sold to the very wealthy and to businessmen.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21As the potential for telephones in Britain became clear,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Bell's company was joined by myriad competitors
0:05:24 > 0:05:27in a technological Wild West.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30But businesses wanted to talk directly
0:05:30 > 0:05:33to their suppliers and customers,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36so the phone companies began to create networks of telephone lines,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39connected by exchange switchboards.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Early phones didn't have dials,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47so calls were put through by an operator.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Hello. What do you want?
0:05:49 > 0:05:54The operator would physically have to take a plug, an electrical plug,
0:05:54 > 0:05:58and plug your wires into a socket, which was then the two wires
0:05:58 > 0:06:01connecting to the person you wanted to speak to.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Networks began to spring up
0:06:06 > 0:06:09in commercial centres across the country, a tangled web
0:06:09 > 0:06:13of cutting-edge engineering and financial opportunism.
0:06:13 > 0:06:14But progress wasn't pretty.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18So if you looked up in the sky,
0:06:18 > 0:06:24you would actually see this cobweb of wires, crisscrossing the streets.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28The height, the danger of actually putting men up there
0:06:28 > 0:06:32to put the cables in, the risk when it snowed,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35with snow falling on those wires, creating a lot of weight,
0:06:35 > 0:06:37would sometimes bring down telegraph poles,
0:06:37 > 0:06:40and some of the derricks would actually collapse.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44The sprawling mass of wires expanded
0:06:44 > 0:06:48as fast as the companies could put them in.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51The network was changing the face of our cities.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57But what started out as a service for businesses
0:06:57 > 0:07:01soon began to stray into other areas of Victorian life,
0:07:01 > 0:07:04where it wasn't anywhere near as welcome.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17In Victorian society, the home was sacrosanct.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21Here, telephones were treated with outright suspicion.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24A whiff of scandal clung to the wires.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28Who is going to answer the telephone?
0:07:28 > 0:07:31Will there be improper conversations
0:07:31 > 0:07:35between the maids and gentlemen callers?
0:07:35 > 0:07:39Obviously, it was also lunacy, you know, fake news lunacy -
0:07:39 > 0:07:42ie, "Will I catch a cold if I answer the telephone and other people...
0:07:42 > 0:07:44"the person at the other end has a cold?"
0:07:44 > 0:07:47That was going on, but there was a very real sense
0:07:47 > 0:07:51that this was a leveller, a social leveller,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55and that that was really not necessarily a terribly good thing.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Gradually, though, the changing view of the telephone as something that
0:08:00 > 0:08:04could be tolerated by the wealthy, if not exactly cherished,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08was reflected in new handset designs for the Edwardian era.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11A bit like the camera, the early telephone started
0:08:11 > 0:08:14as a kind of scientific experiment,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17the sort of thing you might find in a lab at Cambridge University -
0:08:17 > 0:08:19mahogany and brass and bits of wire
0:08:19 > 0:08:23and huge dials and details like that - and the big leap, I suppose,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26was the candlestick, which turned this piece of engineering equipment
0:08:26 > 0:08:29into something that you'd actually give houseroom to,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32a consumer object, you might say.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34The stylish design of the candlestick
0:08:34 > 0:08:37encouraged the domestic use of telephones.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41But they would only be seen in the wealthiest of homes.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44If the rest of society wanted to get their hands on a telephone,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47they were going to have to work for it.
0:08:47 > 0:08:48Literally.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01At the heart of the telephone network were the exchanges.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03They were run by switchboard operators,
0:09:03 > 0:09:06who helped keep the system going for nearly a century.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11At first, the phone companies used young messenger boys
0:09:11 > 0:09:13to connect the calls,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16but it soon became apparent that this was a bad idea.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19Very quickly the boys were dispensed with
0:09:19 > 0:09:23because they were seen to be too rude and cheeky to customers.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Instead, phone companies started recruiting women en masse.
0:09:28 > 0:09:33This change is actually creating
0:09:33 > 0:09:37respectable jobs for lower middle-class girls.
0:09:37 > 0:09:43Um, so women are joining the workforce as exchange operators,
0:09:43 > 0:09:47telephone operators, it's a respectable job for a woman.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50And that is not an inconsiderable factor
0:09:50 > 0:09:54in the changing way we were organising society at this time.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57There's a really simple reason why women were operators -
0:09:57 > 0:10:02it's because they were cheaper workers than the men.
0:10:02 > 0:10:07So there were also preferences for the sort of cultured, civilised,
0:10:07 > 0:10:12soothing tones of the "Hello Girl", the female telephone operator.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20The phone companies had very particular requirements.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23The phone companies were looking for telephone operators
0:10:23 > 0:10:25who would be able to answer in a particular manner.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28They were looking for educated, well-spoken young ladies
0:10:28 > 0:10:30who would be able to enunciate clearly
0:10:30 > 0:10:34and say, "Number, please?" when you called up.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37So they had this imagined middle-class style worker,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41although, in fact, lots of varieties of women went into that profession.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45Women would be recruited as operators for decades to come.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49They obviously took notice of your speaking voice
0:10:49 > 0:10:51because you needed to speak clearly.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56A light would come on in front of the operator,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58we would put a plug into that hole
0:10:58 > 0:11:01next to your light and say, "Number, please?"
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Number, please?
0:11:04 > 0:11:05Thank you.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07So you had an experienced telephonist
0:11:07 > 0:11:09sit with you for a week or so
0:11:09 > 0:11:12and they very rarely said, "Number, please?"
0:11:12 > 0:11:13It was always "rubber knees!"
0:11:16 > 0:11:17Go ahead, please.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21If you wanted to go to the toilet,
0:11:21 > 0:11:27you had to put your hand up and ask the assistant supervisor,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30"Can I have an urgent or a run-through?"
0:11:30 > 0:11:33And you weren't allowed off that board
0:11:33 > 0:11:36until there was a vacancy for you to go.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42There was one funny call, which I only remembered the other day.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44I'd walked back into the switch room from a break
0:11:44 > 0:11:45and one of the operators said,
0:11:45 > 0:11:47"You'll never guess what I've just had to look for."
0:11:47 > 0:11:50She said, "I've spent hours looking for the Countess of Ayr.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52"Countess of Ayr, I've looked everywhere,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54"do you think I could find it...?"
0:11:54 > 0:11:57And eventually, in desperation, you would ask them to spell it.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02It turned out to be the county surveyor.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04She had a bit of a plum, this lady!
0:12:13 > 0:12:16For the first few decades of its existence, the telephone was
0:12:16 > 0:12:21the exclusive preserve of businesses and wealthy households.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24But places began to spring up where anybody could use one -
0:12:24 > 0:12:30early phone boxes, known as public call offices or silence cabinets.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Some of them were, believe it or not, attendant-operated,
0:12:34 > 0:12:35so they would be manned.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38The attendant would open the call box for you to go in,
0:12:38 > 0:12:40they would make the call connection for you,
0:12:40 > 0:12:42they would take your payment
0:12:42 > 0:12:45and then they would close the door behind you
0:12:45 > 0:12:47whilst you made your telephone call.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49Others had coin boxes on them,
0:12:49 > 0:12:54which actually required you to put 2p or 3p into the box
0:12:54 > 0:12:55before you made your call.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58Believe it or not, when you walked into a silent cabinet,
0:12:58 > 0:13:02the floor moved and the roof lifted, so it was ventilated,
0:13:02 > 0:13:04bearing in mind we're talking about a time
0:13:04 > 0:13:07when people's personal hygiene wasn't as good as it is today,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10and therefore people would spit into the microphone
0:13:10 > 0:13:11and those sorts of things.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16It wasn't long before a love-hate relationship with phone boxes
0:13:16 > 0:13:17began to develop.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20One of the earliest reports of kiosk vandalism,
0:13:20 > 0:13:25phone box vandalism, was Samuel Wartski in 1907,
0:13:25 > 0:13:30who had got really annoyed because he'd gone into a call box,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32inserted the money,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36the operator claimed that they hadn't heard him insert this money.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41He knew he had, so he got absolutely riled by this
0:13:41 > 0:13:45and set about wrecking the phone box apparatus,
0:13:45 > 0:13:51and they say he cost 19 shillings' worth of damage to the phone box.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54But strangely, when he was brought to court, the magistrates obviously
0:13:54 > 0:13:57took pity on him and only fined him one shilling.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00And there we are, vandalism begins.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07In 1912, the private phone networks
0:14:07 > 0:14:09were all taken over by the General Post Office,
0:14:09 > 0:14:12which was the branch of government in charge of communications.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16This effectively nationalised the whole system.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20Phone boxes came in a multitude of shapes and sizes,
0:14:20 > 0:14:24but the GPO wanted to spread telephones as widely as they could.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28So, in 1920, they tried to come up with a standard design
0:14:28 > 0:14:31that could be rolled out across the whole country.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35But they were soon to learn how hard it was to please the public.
0:14:36 > 0:14:42They introduce, in 1921, the first design, which they called the K1.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46K1, first of all, is reinforced concrete.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49It has a door with windows in it.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52On that it would say, "Public Telephone".
0:14:52 > 0:14:54It would also say, "Always Open".
0:14:56 > 0:15:00Try as they might, the GPO couldn't please everyone with the K1.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03In Eastbourne, the council wanted a phone box
0:15:03 > 0:15:06to fit in with the bowling club pavilion.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09So the GPO gave it a thatched roof.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12But the K1 just wasn't doing the trick.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15So, in 1924, the GPO tried again.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17This time they got it right...
0:15:17 > 0:15:19nearly.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24A new competition was held to design, yet again, a standard kiosk.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27The winner of that was Sir Giles Gilbert Scott,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31who produced what became Britain's second standard design, the K2,
0:15:31 > 0:15:35and it was radically different to anything which had gone before.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38As an architect, he saw this kiosk, this phone box,
0:15:38 > 0:15:40as a miniature building.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44It has a lovely domed roof,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46which they say he took inspiration
0:15:46 > 0:15:50from the Soane Memorial in St Pancras Old Churchyard in London.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52It's a cast-iron construction,
0:15:52 > 0:15:56so you've got moulded columns, architectural features.
0:15:56 > 0:16:01You have a telephone sign, opaque glass, back-illuminated at the top.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05It looked imposing, but the K2 was too expensive
0:16:05 > 0:16:08to be installed anywhere outside the capital.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12So, to celebrate the King's Silver Jubilee in 1935,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15the GPO had one more try.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18The General Post Office once again turned to Sir Giles Gilbert Scott
0:16:18 > 0:16:21and what he produced has really become
0:16:21 > 0:16:25Britain's ubiquitous red phone box, the K6.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30The K6 had the stylish features of the K2,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33but it was smaller and cheaper to make.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35It is well proportioned,
0:16:35 > 0:16:39the domed roof from the Soane Memorial is preserved.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43But there was one thing about this new phone box
0:16:43 > 0:16:46that many people really didn't like -
0:16:46 > 0:16:49that shocking, un-British red colour.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56Countryside campaigners demanded a rural version,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59initially insisting on a colour that was much more appropriate
0:16:59 > 0:17:02to this green and pleasant land...
0:17:02 > 0:17:03grey.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06And then there was Hull.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Kingston-Upon-Hull was the only municipality
0:17:09 > 0:17:13that remained independent from the GPO's telephone network,
0:17:13 > 0:17:15and it had its own ideas about colour schemes.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20If you are from Hull,
0:17:20 > 0:17:24then your identity as a person from Hull is slightly bound up
0:17:24 > 0:17:27with the telephone system. The cream phone box
0:17:27 > 0:17:34is really the icon of the city and you will still see them everywhere.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38You can buy little biscuit tins in the shape of a cream phone box.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41If you see the cream phone box, you know that you're home.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46It's extraordinary how versatile the K6 turned out to be.
0:17:46 > 0:17:47In rural communities,
0:17:47 > 0:17:49the red phone box on the edge of the village
0:17:49 > 0:17:51was the place which kept the place going.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54People actually would go out and use it to communicate.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56In cities, it fitted in all kinds
0:17:56 > 0:18:00of sensitive architectural environments. They were great.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03They belonged to an era when we still believed in privacy.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06I'm so sorry to keep you waiting.
0:18:06 > 0:18:07Not at all.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10The smartphone might put you in constant contact,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13but it also means everyone knows where you are.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16If you're a spy or planning a bit of adultery,
0:18:16 > 0:18:18forget it with a mobile phone.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20K6 is a much better bet.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32The Post Office had reached a crossroads by the 1930s.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35The business world had felt the benefit of telephones,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38but only the wealthiest actually had one in their home.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43Calls were just frankly too expensive and there wasn't enough
0:18:43 > 0:18:47of an appetite in Britain to pay those high tariffs,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50so the Post Office had two tasks -
0:18:50 > 0:18:54they had to increase the numbers of people using the service
0:18:54 > 0:18:58and the way to do that was to reduce those costs.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01But by increasing the number of people who were using telephones,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03they could also release more money
0:19:03 > 0:19:07into developing better equipment for the public.
0:19:09 > 0:19:14So the GPO turned their attention to the aspiring middle classes.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18Despite the Great Depression, THEIR living standards were on the rise,
0:19:18 > 0:19:20but it was going to take an enormous effort
0:19:20 > 0:19:23to convince them to get hooked up.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26The first step was to make the telephone itself
0:19:26 > 0:19:27an object of desire.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33The real change came with the introduction of the new plastics
0:19:33 > 0:19:39in the 1920s, because that meant you could make a one-piece moulded body.
0:19:39 > 0:19:40The all-in-one pyramid phone
0:19:40 > 0:19:42is something that you can actually relate to.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44it's the start of it as an object,
0:19:44 > 0:19:47rather than something which is fitting into its setting.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49You could see its time...
0:19:49 > 0:19:52It was actually that moment when Art Deco was giving way to modernity
0:19:52 > 0:19:54and so the new look of the phone
0:19:54 > 0:19:57was something which actually did hint at this modern world.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08But if these new phones had more than just panache -
0:20:08 > 0:20:10they also had a dial.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13This meant you could make local calls by yourself
0:20:13 > 0:20:15without the need to go through an operator.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19Automatic exchanges allowed the GPO
0:20:19 > 0:20:22to massively increase the number of people on the network,
0:20:22 > 0:20:24but they didn't come cheap.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27The Government, through the Post Office,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30had invested hugely in the telephone network.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32At one point in the late '20s,
0:20:32 > 0:20:36they were opening a new automated telephone exchange once a week.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Instead of thousands of operators,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43row after row of electromechanical switches connected the calls.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47The system was invented in the 1890s
0:20:47 > 0:20:51by an undertaker from Kansas called Almon B Strowger.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55When his business went through a lean period,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Strowger discovered that the local telephone operator
0:20:58 > 0:21:00was the wife of his rival,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03who put anyone phoning up for an undertaker through to her husband.
0:21:06 > 0:21:07Peeved in the extreme,
0:21:07 > 0:21:12Strowger set about making a machine that replaced operators entirely.
0:21:12 > 0:21:17He gets very worried that the women in the patch exchange, right,
0:21:17 > 0:21:19have power. So somebody rings up and says,
0:21:19 > 0:21:21"I want to talk to an undertaker..."
0:21:21 > 0:21:25And come to think of it, it's exactly the argument about Facebook
0:21:25 > 0:21:29and Google and what comes up if you punch something in.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33So he's... So this guy was saying, "I am losing business."
0:21:35 > 0:21:37Here's how it worked.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39When you selected a number,
0:21:39 > 0:21:43an electrical contact would generate a series of impulses
0:21:43 > 0:21:47as you let go of the dial. So the number nine gave out nine impulses.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50The number three gave out three.
0:21:50 > 0:21:51These went to the exchange,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55where the impulses drove a series of selector switches,
0:21:55 > 0:21:57one from each number you dialled,
0:21:57 > 0:21:59and they connected you to the right line.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02- NEWSREEL:- Here, on the distribution frame,
0:22:02 > 0:22:06is the converging point of 10,000 pairs of private telephone lines.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15The sheer cost of automation meant it took decades to roll out.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Manual operators would still be around until the 1970s.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22But Strowger's machine had other consequences,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25like creating more jobs for the boys.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29The telephone exchange is now a machine,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32so a whole new generation of telephone engineers
0:22:32 > 0:22:35have to be trained on the understanding
0:22:35 > 0:22:37of the Strowger system,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40they have to be trained on how to maintain it.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42So you now find that telephone exchanges
0:22:42 > 0:22:45have their resident engineering staff
0:22:45 > 0:22:46who have to look after this machine
0:22:46 > 0:22:49and care for it 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54With new phones, exchanges and an expanding network,
0:22:54 > 0:22:58the Post Office was ready to attract new subscribers.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01But to make the phone as ubiquitous as the letter,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04the GPO needed to get its message out there.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07By the end of the 1920s, early '30s,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11up to 25% of the network was not being used.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13The whole situation changed, really,
0:23:13 > 0:23:15with the appointment of Clement Attlee
0:23:15 > 0:23:19as Postmaster General for only a few months in 1931.
0:23:19 > 0:23:20But he saw immediately that
0:23:20 > 0:23:22the Post Office had to change its whole approach.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27He brought in Stephen Tallents, who was a pioneer in publicity.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29He brought in press advertising,
0:23:29 > 0:23:30he commissioned artists
0:23:30 > 0:23:33to produce very colourful artwork.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36A lot of the artwork which they submitted was very imaginative,
0:23:36 > 0:23:40very leading-edge, very modernist, almost Bauhaus.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42He also worked with young film-makers
0:23:42 > 0:23:44and established the GPO film unit.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48So there was a big push to really change the look of the Post Office
0:23:48 > 0:23:50to attract new subscribers.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Do not abandon a call without allowing a reasonable time
0:23:56 > 0:23:57for a distant subscriber to answer.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03The GPO had begun its campaigns
0:24:03 > 0:24:07at a time when the competition for middle-class cash was heating up.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12The radio was becoming popular, cars were cheaper than ever before.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15The telephone needed to boost its credentials as an essential service
0:24:15 > 0:24:19for everyday life, particularly in an emergency.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29A tragic house fire in 1935 led to criticism
0:24:29 > 0:24:32that the phone system performed poorly in a crisis.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35What was needed was a dedicated number,
0:24:35 > 0:24:38a short cut to the emergency services.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40What shall I do?
0:24:40 > 0:24:41Oh!
0:24:41 > 0:24:44Dial nine-double nine.
0:24:51 > 0:24:52Fire!
0:24:52 > 0:24:54BELLS RING
0:25:00 > 0:25:02Oh, thank you!
0:25:02 > 0:25:04So the question arose - what number to give it?
0:25:04 > 0:25:09It couldn't be a one because the Post Office technicians,
0:25:09 > 0:25:14the engineers, were concerned that there was more chance of a misdial
0:25:14 > 0:25:17or the equipment not working correctly
0:25:17 > 0:25:19if the first digit dialled is a one.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22They wanted another distinctive number
0:25:22 > 0:25:27and it was decided it would be nine,
0:25:27 > 0:25:28but then 9-9-9.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32Why not 9-1-1, I don't think anybody knows.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37But it was the phone as a source of instant information
0:25:37 > 0:25:39that really impressed the public.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45In 1936, the GPO again showcased its technical prowess
0:25:45 > 0:25:49and eye for publicity to launch the most famous service of all,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51the Speaking Clock.
0:25:53 > 0:25:58- RECORDING:- At the third stroke, it will be 8:57 precisely.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03The Speaking Clock was designed by E Speight
0:26:03 > 0:26:06at the Post Office Research Station in Dollis Hill,
0:26:06 > 0:26:08which was in North West London,
0:26:08 > 0:26:12and he brought a new way of recording sound to disc,
0:26:12 > 0:26:16and it was recording the voice onto glass plates,
0:26:16 > 0:26:21which were then synchronised and when a phone call was made,
0:26:21 > 0:26:23it intercepted that signal and told the time.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25In order to promote the service,
0:26:25 > 0:26:28they had a competition called The Girl With The Golden Voice.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32But there was a slight problem.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36The winner's voice made it hard to distinguish between certain numbers.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40At the third stroke, it will be 4:33 and 40 seconds.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45It was won by a London telephonist, Ethel Cain,
0:26:45 > 0:26:49and she became Jane Cain and took up a film contract.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53Has to be said that when the engineer who made the recordings -
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Eugene Wender, who had designed the optical disc system
0:26:56 > 0:26:58that the clock was using -
0:26:58 > 0:27:00heard the voice, he said, "Well, this is unsatisfactory.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02"Can we have the runner-up?"
0:27:02 > 0:27:04And then they said,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07"No, you can't because there's been so much publicity about Jane Cain
0:27:07 > 0:27:10"that you're stuck with her," and she had a slight speech defect,
0:27:10 > 0:27:12which the judges hadn't noticed.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14Well, I'm thrilled,
0:27:14 > 0:27:16absolutely thrilled to have won this competition.
0:27:16 > 0:27:17So, if you want to know the time,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20there's no need now to ask a policeman,
0:27:20 > 0:27:22just give me a ring sometime.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25And Wender had to spend a lot of time
0:27:25 > 0:27:29working on those optical soundtracks with Indian ink,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32just changing the shape of the soundtracks
0:27:32 > 0:27:35to get rid of this speech defect
0:27:35 > 0:27:39and there still were complaints for years afterwards
0:27:39 > 0:27:42that you couldn't distinguish between 30 and 40.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44# Ring the supervisor
0:27:44 > 0:27:46# She's sure to be at home
0:27:46 > 0:27:48# It's me, you see
0:27:48 > 0:27:50# The fairy of the phone... #
0:27:52 > 0:27:56The British attitude to telephones was being transformed.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58More and more people wanted to join the network
0:27:58 > 0:28:01and the GPO encouraged them.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03But the failure to deliver on their promises
0:28:03 > 0:28:06would haunt the service for a generation.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12AIR RAID SIREN WAILS
0:28:16 > 0:28:18With the outbreak of World War II,
0:28:18 > 0:28:20the drive to get the masses connected
0:28:20 > 0:28:22came to a sudden, grinding halt.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28The telephone network was redirected away from civilian use
0:28:28 > 0:28:30to serve military needs.
0:28:30 > 0:28:35After a decade of being constantly encouraged to make calls,
0:28:35 > 0:28:37the public was now told to get off the line as quickly as possible.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42The 1930s advertising was so successful
0:28:42 > 0:28:44that the network is at capacity
0:28:44 > 0:28:47and the network was needed for the war effort.
0:28:47 > 0:28:48Lines are all engaged.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50No, no, I can't get back Saturday night.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52Darling, I'd rather go and see...
0:28:52 > 0:28:55The Post Office introduced a whole range of posters
0:28:55 > 0:28:57with messages like, "Be brief,"
0:28:57 > 0:28:59"Telephone less, telegraph less,"
0:28:59 > 0:29:01"Don't phone if a letter will do,"
0:29:01 > 0:29:04because the network was needed for military purposes.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07The demand for new lines was relentless.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12There were so many new installations to put in -
0:29:12 > 0:29:15all the arms of the services, all the new airfields,
0:29:15 > 0:29:18all needed to have their telephone systems
0:29:18 > 0:29:21and also other landline communication networks
0:29:21 > 0:29:24for radio systems, and the Post Office did all of those.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29Keeping the network going was a major concern.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32Telephone operators found themselves at the spearhead
0:29:32 > 0:29:34of the GPO's war on the home front.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39Gene Toms began working as an operator in 1940.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43When the air raid went, we just put on our tin hats,
0:29:43 > 0:29:44it was as simple as that,
0:29:44 > 0:29:48which were, looking back on it, pretty useless
0:29:48 > 0:29:50because it wasn't the bombing that bothered most of us,
0:29:50 > 0:29:53because if the bomb dropped, I mean, then that was it.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55It was the shrapnel coming from our own guns
0:29:55 > 0:29:58then falling on these tin hats.
0:29:58 > 0:29:59Wouldn't have had any impression at all -
0:29:59 > 0:30:01they would have gone straight through...
0:30:01 > 0:30:02But it made you feel better.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07Even getting to work could be a challenge.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09You turned the corner to go to work
0:30:09 > 0:30:12and there was a land mine up in the tree outside the building.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15The Germans used to drop these things by parachute
0:30:15 > 0:30:18and they were exactly like the mines that you see at sea.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20So there was no work that day
0:30:20 > 0:30:23and, of course, poor police officers standing there,
0:30:23 > 0:30:26waiting for the bomb disposal squad to arrive.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28Gene was moved from a local system
0:30:28 > 0:30:30to the Central London Faraday Exchange,
0:30:30 > 0:30:32one of the largest in the country.
0:30:33 > 0:30:35It was quite quiet.
0:30:35 > 0:30:40You could hear a hum, but never any real noise,
0:30:40 > 0:30:42not unless the air raid siren went and then, of course,
0:30:42 > 0:30:46everybody ran to put our tin hats on, which was really comical,
0:30:46 > 0:30:49trying to have a tin hat on with these things stuck to your ear!
0:30:50 > 0:30:53With the German bombing campaign in full flow,
0:30:53 > 0:30:56operators had to keep calm and carry on.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58We didn't go anywhere.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01People still wanted telephone calls and, of course, in Faraday,
0:31:01 > 0:31:04they were all long-distance calls, of course, that's why we were there,
0:31:04 > 0:31:07and some of these, of course, were very urgent.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10We had the Air Ministry, War Office, Admiralty -
0:31:10 > 0:31:13all their switchboards came through to us.
0:31:13 > 0:31:15Sometimes we couldn't get a call through.
0:31:15 > 0:31:19If we'd had a bad raid on London, we had no lines out,
0:31:19 > 0:31:21we had to find those that we'd got
0:31:21 > 0:31:24and I have actually called to Glasgow via Cornwall
0:31:24 > 0:31:27and then to Wales because they were the only ones that had lines.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32But in wartime, with many calls urgent in one way or another,
0:31:32 > 0:31:36determining who should be put through first wasn't easy.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38I must get through straight away.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42The people who were entitled to priorities one and two
0:31:42 > 0:31:44were no problem at all.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47It was those who thought that they were very important
0:31:47 > 0:31:50who, with a bit of luck, would have priority three,
0:31:50 > 0:31:53and I'll call him Major Smith, which wasn't his name,
0:31:53 > 0:31:57he was a terror. You had to be extremely polite, of course,
0:31:57 > 0:32:00but tell him that it wasn't his job.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02You're holding up vital war work.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04But Major Smith, he was definitely my nemesis.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11Not all calls from Army personnel were about operational matters.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15Ordinary soldiers often wanted
0:32:15 > 0:32:18to speak to loved ones from phone boxes.
0:32:18 > 0:32:19That was the thing I disliked most,
0:32:19 > 0:32:21cutting servicemen off after three minutes.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24He was talking to his wife or his children or whatever.
0:32:24 > 0:32:25That was the worst bit.
0:32:25 > 0:32:30Occasionally, you would risk letting them stay.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33Fortunately, I never got caught.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37In the exchange, news about the progress of the war travelled fast.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41I was on duty the morning of D-Day.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43The rumour rang through the exchange,
0:32:43 > 0:32:45"They've landed and, no, they haven't..."
0:32:45 > 0:32:46And I don't know who found out
0:32:46 > 0:32:48and by the time they'd actually landed,
0:32:48 > 0:32:50we knew they were on the way.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59With the end of the war, thousands returned to civilian life.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01But it wouldn't be business as usual.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04Austerity meant long waiting lists
0:33:04 > 0:33:06and Britain's telephone infrastructure
0:33:06 > 0:33:08had taken a battering.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14A new generation of roaming engineers took on the task
0:33:14 > 0:33:17of getting the post-war network into shape -
0:33:17 > 0:33:20rebuilding, repairing and expanding it.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22This was an enormous challenge,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25but, despite limited resources, they would embrace it.
0:33:28 > 0:33:29Well, you had a stepped...
0:33:29 > 0:33:31What was known as a stepped trench.
0:33:34 > 0:33:39And you slid your pole down to the bottom, pushed it up with a ladder
0:33:39 > 0:33:42and then filled it in.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44And then you climbed the pole.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47You've got the arms, wooden arms,
0:33:47 > 0:33:51and you put the insulators and everything on before it went up,
0:33:51 > 0:33:55so all you had to do was to climb up and put the wires on the insulators.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00Initially, it was a bit daunting to go up a pole.
0:34:00 > 0:34:01You used to have leather belts.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04Once a week, you used to have to coat them
0:34:04 > 0:34:07with a special kind of polish to keep them flexible
0:34:07 > 0:34:09and you all had your own belts,
0:34:09 > 0:34:10you were responsible for your own belt.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16You got up the pole, holding one hand on a step
0:34:16 > 0:34:20and you flicked the belt and if you got used to it,
0:34:20 > 0:34:23it would come right round the pole, right up to your safety device,
0:34:23 > 0:34:27you buckled up, and then put it into the safety buckle
0:34:27 > 0:34:29and, bingo, you were there.
0:34:31 > 0:34:36And I think the worst thing was leaning out, that was the time,
0:34:36 > 0:34:38and your feet are on two steps.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42That's the time that, you know, wow, do you hold on or what?!
0:34:42 > 0:34:45Once you got used to it, it was all right.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Attitudes to safety were rather laissez-faire.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Health and safety didn't really exist.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55I can remember being on one pole and it was known as a D-pole -
0:34:55 > 0:34:58it had a red label saying "danger".
0:34:59 > 0:35:01And we had to transfer the wires off it
0:35:01 > 0:35:05and the only thing that was holding it up were the wires.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07So when I got rid of the last pair,
0:35:07 > 0:35:10the pole began to go like this, you see,
0:35:10 > 0:35:12and I thought, "Oh, dear, I'm going down."
0:35:12 > 0:35:15So I had to unlock my safety belt,
0:35:15 > 0:35:18jump onto the new pole that was alongside
0:35:18 > 0:35:20and the old one just went down.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22So I thought, "That's one up!"
0:35:22 > 0:35:23HE CHUCKLES
0:35:27 > 0:35:29In the '50s and '60s,
0:35:29 > 0:35:32the sheer scale of the network meant that modernising it
0:35:32 > 0:35:33was a perpetual struggle.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36Much of the equipment in the exchanges was ageing
0:35:36 > 0:35:39and needed teams of engineers to keep it all going.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45Even in London, there was quite a few exchanges
0:35:45 > 0:35:49that dated from the 1930s still working well
0:35:49 > 0:35:52virtually to the end of the Strowger system,
0:35:52 > 0:35:54until about the 1990s.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58There was a lot of routine work, which meant taking switches out,
0:35:58 > 0:36:00lubricating, cleaning, adjusting.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05So, at each telephone exchange, you would find a team of engineers
0:36:05 > 0:36:08whose job it was to actually maintain,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11that meant cleaning the Strowger equipment,
0:36:11 > 0:36:15the switch banks and keeping it in tiptop condition.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18And there's also the fault-finding aspect of it.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20Things obviously went wrong, bits dropped off...
0:36:20 > 0:36:24You could find yourself being involved on a fault
0:36:24 > 0:36:25for several days.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29Parts of the network truly did belong to another era.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33We were converting telephone exchange to automatic
0:36:33 > 0:36:36cos all around this particular area was manual.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38And when we done Esher and Oxshott,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41it was like going back in a time warp.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48He's in a hurry, Joe.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50So are we, we've got to have this back in service by morning.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54And we had to do everything from scratch - rewire every house,
0:36:54 > 0:36:56bring it up to date...
0:36:56 > 0:37:01And the Oxshott Telephone Exchange was all in one room -
0:37:01 > 0:37:04the frame, the equipment, the lot.
0:37:04 > 0:37:05And at night-time,
0:37:05 > 0:37:09it was manned by a husband and wife team who lived upstairs.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12Now, it was a very, very personal service,
0:37:12 > 0:37:13because the people used to say,
0:37:13 > 0:37:17"Um, I'm going out. I'll be back about ten o'clock tonight."
0:37:17 > 0:37:19So people were ringing in...
0:37:19 > 0:37:21They used to put what we called a peg in the multiple
0:37:21 > 0:37:22with a little note,
0:37:22 > 0:37:25and they used to take notes, just like an answer service,
0:37:25 > 0:37:27but it was very, very personal, you see.
0:37:27 > 0:37:29And they'd come in and say, "Did anyone leave any...
0:37:29 > 0:37:32"Call me?" "Yes, yeah, Mr So-and-so, called you..."
0:37:32 > 0:37:35"Thank you very much." And at Christmas time,
0:37:35 > 0:37:37you could not move in that exchange
0:37:37 > 0:37:40for hampers sent in by the customers.
0:37:40 > 0:37:413-4...
0:37:44 > 0:37:47It wasn't just the technology that could be tricky,
0:37:47 > 0:37:49but the customers, too.
0:37:51 > 0:37:56When I was told that a customer was possibly very obnoxious
0:37:56 > 0:37:59and been shouting and all the rest of it,
0:37:59 > 0:38:03I would ring and knock on the door in a bright manner
0:38:03 > 0:38:05and turn my back on the door,
0:38:05 > 0:38:08and the moment I heard the latch go and the door open,
0:38:08 > 0:38:11I would swing round with a bright smile on my face
0:38:11 > 0:38:15and say, "Good morning, telephone engineer!"
0:38:15 > 0:38:18And, of course, they go... They go to say...
0:38:18 > 0:38:21Well, they think, "Well, I can't be rude to this fella,
0:38:21 > 0:38:23"He is being pleasant."
0:38:23 > 0:38:25PHONE RINGS
0:38:27 > 0:38:29Hello? 6-0-9-5-7?
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Good morning, the exchange here, just testing the line.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36Have the engineers left you a directory and a dial code list?
0:38:36 > 0:38:37Thank you.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39I've worked in houses where, you know,
0:38:39 > 0:38:42the butler came to the door and I said, "GPO."
0:38:42 > 0:38:44He said, "Tradesmen to the rear."
0:38:44 > 0:38:46I said, "Does the doctor go to the rear?"
0:38:46 > 0:38:49He said, "No." "Well," I said, "I'm a doctor of telephones," you see?
0:38:49 > 0:38:53In I go, and I actually had tea, the tea was pushed on a trolley in,
0:38:53 > 0:38:55and you sit down, you know, this...
0:38:55 > 0:38:57It was that type of area.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07The limited resources available to expand the phone network
0:39:07 > 0:39:09presented a conundrum.
0:39:09 > 0:39:11People WANTED to get connected,
0:39:11 > 0:39:14but there just wasn't the capacity to give everyone a phone.
0:39:14 > 0:39:18One cheaper solution was to double up with another household,
0:39:18 > 0:39:20the so-called party line.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22It was a lot less fun than it sounded.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27- Here's the tea. - Thank you very much, lady.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29We had a party line for a while,
0:39:29 > 0:39:31which was something that you did.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33You got it on a slightly different rate,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36it was cheaper and you shared the line with somebody else.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40So you had to kind of gingerly pick it up just to check if there was...
0:39:40 > 0:39:43If the people, whoever they were, I mean, they weren't the...
0:39:43 > 0:39:45That's the mysterious thing, they weren't...
0:39:45 > 0:39:46Were they the people next door?
0:39:46 > 0:39:50I don't know, they almost seemed like occupants of another realm.
0:39:50 > 0:39:52- Oh, good morning.- Morning.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55You are Mr Health, aren't you, number 14?
0:39:55 > 0:39:57- Aye, that's right.- How do you do?
0:39:57 > 0:39:59- My name's Richards. - Oh, how do you do?
0:39:59 > 0:40:00Pleased to meet you.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03I believe we're sort of sharing a line now.
0:40:03 > 0:40:04Sharing, yes...
0:40:04 > 0:40:06You would pick up the phone and find
0:40:06 > 0:40:09that you were connected to somebody else's house
0:40:09 > 0:40:12and it meant that the person who you shared the line with,
0:40:12 > 0:40:15whoever they were talking to, hadn't put the phone down.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18And I can remember doing things like, you know,
0:40:18 > 0:40:21when it was stuck in this position, as it were,
0:40:21 > 0:40:23yelling down the phone to try and attract
0:40:23 > 0:40:25the attention of a person who...
0:40:25 > 0:40:27You know, we had no idea who...
0:40:27 > 0:40:29Who they were, where the were in the world.
0:40:29 > 0:40:31But you would ring and you would shout down the phone
0:40:31 > 0:40:35in the hope that they would hear it and put the phone down
0:40:35 > 0:40:40so the line would be restored and you could actually use it yourself.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43Of course, not everyone wanted to share.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47A lady, she refused to go party line.
0:40:47 > 0:40:48She utterly refused.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50Couldn't get past the front door.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52And it was on my patch.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56I went to see her and I said, "Look, you've got to go."
0:40:56 > 0:40:59"But I can't," she said. "It'll ruin my business."
0:40:59 > 0:41:03So I said, "How is it going party line ruining your business?"
0:41:03 > 0:41:05Well, she was lady of the night.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10So she didn't want to go party line in case the neighbour picked up
0:41:10 > 0:41:14and could hear the customers applying for a time and place.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17Eventually, we did get in and converted to party line
0:41:17 > 0:41:19but we never said nothing to the other half
0:41:19 > 0:41:21of what she was doing, obviously,
0:41:21 > 0:41:24cos he'd be listening on the phone all the time!
0:41:27 > 0:41:31The party line enabled more subscribers to get on the network,
0:41:31 > 0:41:33even if some were unimpressed.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37But behind the scenes, the GPO were making advances in technology
0:41:37 > 0:41:40that would change how people used their phones.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43In 1958, the Queen visited Bristol
0:41:43 > 0:41:48to unveil a new system with the slightly unfortunate name of STD -
0:41:48 > 0:41:50Subscriber Trunk Dialling.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53STD meant you could make long-distance calls
0:41:53 > 0:41:56without the help of an operator and they cost less.
0:41:59 > 0:42:00PHONE RINGS
0:42:00 > 0:42:03The Lord Provost of Edinburgh speaking.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06This is the Queen speaking from Bristol.
0:42:06 > 0:42:07Good afternoon, Lord Provost.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13STD also made phone calls more complicated.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16It inevitably meant telephone numbers got larger
0:42:16 > 0:42:20because you had more numbers that had to be used
0:42:20 > 0:42:22to represent the whole country,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25rather than just a small region.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27So we get regional codes.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30This is when Manchester becomes 061,
0:42:30 > 0:42:32it's when London becomes 01 and so on.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35What is your number, please?
0:42:36 > 0:42:39Well, all very charming but no more of that.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45O-B...
0:42:45 > 0:42:47It took a while for the nation to catch up.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50This is Subscriber Trunk Dialling.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53You, as a subscriber, is dialling your number
0:42:53 > 0:42:56through the trunk network and they used to kind of...
0:42:56 > 0:42:58"Oh, I can see what we're doing."
0:42:58 > 0:43:01'Let us look up the code for Bristol in the code list.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03'Bristol.
0:43:03 > 0:43:05'Here it is, OBR 2.
0:43:05 > 0:43:12'O-B-R-2.'
0:43:12 > 0:43:16I picked up a coin box one day and I said to this gentleman,
0:43:16 > 0:43:20"You can now dial these calls yourself,"
0:43:20 > 0:43:23and gave him the code and he said to me,
0:43:23 > 0:43:27"Oh, Miss, I would try and dial it myself,
0:43:27 > 0:43:30"but there's three letters and only one finger hole,
0:43:30 > 0:43:32"and so I don't know what to do."
0:43:32 > 0:43:35So then I dialled it for him.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38When you talk about the introduction of Subscriber Trunk Dialling,
0:43:38 > 0:43:43you're talking about the continued automation of the telephone network.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46So, inevitably, more engineers are needed
0:43:46 > 0:43:50because of course the network has got more complicated,
0:43:50 > 0:43:53there's more technology in the network.
0:43:53 > 0:43:58It would take a long time before everyone had access to STD.
0:43:58 > 0:44:00Meanwhile, the GPO once more turned its attention
0:44:00 > 0:44:04to getting as many people connected as it possibly could.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07A new post-austerity era was dawning.
0:44:09 > 0:44:11Oh, two pennyworth is all I can afford.
0:44:11 > 0:44:12See you Friday. Bye!
0:44:12 > 0:44:15- Bang on time. - Wish I were coming.
0:44:15 > 0:44:16There you are, tuppence.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27In the '60s, having a telephone was about living the dream
0:44:27 > 0:44:29in a very modern way.
0:44:29 > 0:44:34Everything from music to design demanded the fresh and new.
0:44:34 > 0:44:35Just as in the 1930s,
0:44:35 > 0:44:39phones needed to rediscover their sense of style
0:44:39 > 0:44:42and appeal to a new generation of potential callers.
0:44:46 > 0:44:47'The telephone age.
0:44:47 > 0:44:49'Yes, indeed it is.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52'The telephone is everywhere around us.
0:44:52 > 0:44:56'Part of our lives, as modern as the jet plane,
0:44:56 > 0:45:01'as familiar and as taken for granted as an electric cooker.'
0:45:01 > 0:45:04We were going in the '60s from a period of austerity,
0:45:04 > 0:45:05of post-war rationing,
0:45:05 > 0:45:09to a time of consumer abundance and that spilled over into everything,
0:45:09 > 0:45:11the colour of the phone, its shape,
0:45:11 > 0:45:14the idea that you might actually change it regularly,
0:45:14 > 0:45:16that you had some kind of choice,
0:45:16 > 0:45:19that you weren't just being provided.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22Just here. There, on the hall table.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25The introduction of modern plastics into the telephone
0:45:25 > 0:45:27also brought with it colour,
0:45:27 > 0:45:30and now you had a choice of colour for the phone.
0:45:30 > 0:45:31It didn't have to be black any more.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35And I had one lady one day, she said,
0:45:35 > 0:45:38"Now, I'll arrange the hall table with the phone on it.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40"Don't fix it yet."
0:45:40 > 0:45:43And she opened the front door and she walked down the path
0:45:43 > 0:45:46to the front gate and she said, "Oh, yes, that's ideal."
0:45:46 > 0:45:51And what she was looking for was that when the front door was open,
0:45:51 > 0:45:54the neighbours would be able to see the coloured phone
0:45:54 > 0:45:56through the front door!
0:45:57 > 0:45:59If you wanted cream, you could have cream.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01If you wanted red, you could have red.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03The phone is becoming fashionable.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07It's tuning in to that interest in home decoration.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09'There are some more over here, you know.'
0:46:09 > 0:46:13The coolest phone of the lot was the Trimphone.
0:46:13 > 0:46:15'Mrs Lund takes it all in her stride
0:46:15 > 0:46:17'and she dictates that a blue Trimphone
0:46:17 > 0:46:21'will match the new decorations in the hall very nicely, thank you.'
0:46:21 > 0:46:25The General Post Office actually wanted a more luxurious home,
0:46:25 > 0:46:27a different style of phone.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30And that brought along really quite a novel design,
0:46:30 > 0:46:32the so-called Trimphone.
0:46:32 > 0:46:37Trim Ringer Illuminated Model - Trimphone.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39And this was quite different
0:46:39 > 0:46:42to any of the other handsets of the time.
0:46:42 > 0:46:47First of all, the actual handset you held was L-shaped.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50It sat vertically on the body of the phone,
0:46:50 > 0:46:54rather than horizontally at the top.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58It was also, as it turned out later in life, controversial.
0:46:58 > 0:47:02It had an illuminated dial - it glowed in the dark.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05And the controversy was over how that glow was on done,
0:47:05 > 0:47:08which was a small amount of radioactivity in a glass tube
0:47:08 > 0:47:10underneath the dial.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14Changing the shape, the form, the shape of handle,
0:47:14 > 0:47:16the Trimphone was trying to be a revolution.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20You could say maybe it was the Mini Cooper of telephone design.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23It looked lighter, it was less ponderous,
0:47:23 > 0:47:28it sort of belonged to this modern drip-dry nylon world.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30'Satisfied that everything's working correctly,
0:47:30 > 0:47:33'it's over to you, Mrs Lund, and that's all there is to it.
0:47:33 > 0:47:35'It's off to the next job for him...
0:47:36 > 0:47:39'..and for her, a chance to try the new phone for herself
0:47:39 > 0:47:41'and guess who she calls first?'
0:47:43 > 0:47:45'Why, Mr Lund, of course.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47'She tells him she's speaking from their very own phone.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49'Well, isn't that nice?'
0:47:53 > 0:47:55With new colours and shapes available,
0:47:55 > 0:48:00phones were more appealing than ever before and more people wanted one.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04In 1965, the Post Office had 4.3 million subscribers,
0:48:04 > 0:48:07many of whom had bought into the aspirational lifestyle
0:48:07 > 0:48:10that the new telephones represented.
0:48:10 > 0:48:14But the reality of the service was often considerably less inspiring.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18We'd just pick up the phone and there'd be nothing happening
0:48:18 > 0:48:20and you'd hear clicks and things and know that someone was there
0:48:20 > 0:48:22and they wouldn't speak to you.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25I have to wait sometimes 15 to 20 minutes
0:48:25 > 0:48:28before I can get hold of the operator to make a call.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30I find that quite often,
0:48:30 > 0:48:33my calls don't ring straight through and you have to try at least
0:48:33 > 0:48:36four or five times before the call actually registers.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38Mr Wedgwood Benn, as Postmaster General,
0:48:38 > 0:48:41why is it, do you think, that the Post Office's telephone service
0:48:41 > 0:48:43has got such a bad name?
0:48:43 > 0:48:45Well, first of all, I don't think it has.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47We commission independent surveys
0:48:47 > 0:48:48and 70% are satisfied.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50Not good enough, but the people
0:48:50 > 0:48:52appearing in the programme
0:48:52 > 0:48:53were not representative, of course.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55Obviously, they were picked because they had complaints.
0:48:55 > 0:48:57Well, we are investigating complaints...
0:48:57 > 0:48:58Well, I appreciate this.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01I mean, any viewer looking at it would want to know
0:49:01 > 0:49:03that this isn't, of course, a cross section.
0:49:04 > 0:49:05I can't hear you...
0:49:05 > 0:49:08Even a well-known mayor waded into the debate.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10What? Yes!
0:49:10 > 0:49:11Crackling!
0:49:12 > 0:49:14Oh, it's no good. Try again later.
0:49:16 > 0:49:17"I've had the same trouble," says Mr Troop.
0:49:17 > 0:49:19"Every time I ring anybody up,
0:49:19 > 0:49:21"there's this crackling noise and I can't hear a thing."
0:49:21 > 0:49:23There is an episode of Trumpton
0:49:23 > 0:49:27where the phone system goes totally haywire, really,
0:49:27 > 0:49:30and it creates chaos in the town.
0:49:30 > 0:49:34Nobody's calls are connected properly because this character,
0:49:34 > 0:49:36he's just some guy from the GP...
0:49:36 > 0:49:38Actually, he's not even from the GPO, he's from the PO,
0:49:38 > 0:49:42which perhaps tells us something about Trumpton's attitude
0:49:42 > 0:49:43to the telecommunication system.
0:49:43 > 0:49:45# Engineers... #
0:49:45 > 0:49:48And he makes all these connections in the wrong way
0:49:48 > 0:49:52and all of these cross-purposes conversations happen,
0:49:52 > 0:49:56including a false call for the emergency services of Trumpton
0:49:56 > 0:49:59and we know how hard-pressed they are,
0:49:59 > 0:50:02because they're called out every week to deal with something.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11During the '60s, phone subscriptions doubled.
0:50:11 > 0:50:12But for most of the country,
0:50:12 > 0:50:14making a call still meant using a phone box
0:50:14 > 0:50:18and the service could be even worse than home lines.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22- NEWSREEL:- But there are 20 times as many complaints
0:50:22 > 0:50:25about public telephones as about private ones.
0:50:25 > 0:50:31Complaints about broken instruments, directories missing or torn up,
0:50:31 > 0:50:33cracked glass and filthy floors.
0:50:35 > 0:50:37Of course, the Post Office is well aware of these problems.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41In 1962, they designed and launched these brave new kiosks,
0:50:41 > 0:50:43all glass and aluminium.
0:50:43 > 0:50:45Three years later and the total number
0:50:45 > 0:50:47of these super kiosks throughout the land...
0:50:47 > 0:50:48is five.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53The GPO needed to dispel the nagging doubts about telephones
0:50:53 > 0:50:57and reassure the public that the future would be bright.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00And they did it with a dazzling, unmissable symbol
0:51:00 > 0:51:01of technological prowess.
0:51:10 > 0:51:11By the early '60s,
0:51:11 > 0:51:14the GPO needed to find a new way of meeting the growing demand
0:51:14 > 0:51:17for connections and get ahead of the game.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21Simply winding out ever more landlines wasn't going to cut it.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24Instead, they went wireless, turning to a technology
0:51:24 > 0:51:28that transmitted microwaves through the air.
0:51:28 > 0:51:32In 1961, construction began on the Post Office Tower.
0:51:34 > 0:51:39The tower was actually built essentially as a tall radio antenna
0:51:39 > 0:51:41and throughout the country,
0:51:41 > 0:51:44there was a whole series of these towers built,
0:51:44 > 0:51:47not quite as elegant as the Post Office Tower in London,
0:51:47 > 0:51:49but as functional.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53So this whole network was built in order to provide the capacity
0:51:53 > 0:51:56for the handling of the phone calls we were now making.
0:51:59 > 0:52:04The tower could handle 150,000 calls simultaneously.
0:52:04 > 0:52:05The GPO built it so tall
0:52:05 > 0:52:09that nothing else would get in the way of the signal.
0:52:09 > 0:52:13It was part of a network of 130 stations throughout the country,
0:52:13 > 0:52:16and the tallest building in London when it was finished.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22But the tower was more than the sum of its parts.
0:52:22 > 0:52:26It made you feel that the telephonic future was in good hands.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30And you could stop by for a bite to eat, if you had the head for it.
0:52:30 > 0:52:32You're going to have the floor of the restaurant revolving.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35- Why did you do this?- Don't you think it would be rather fun?
0:52:35 > 0:52:39Don't you think anybody who goes up 500 feet would like a panoramic view
0:52:39 > 0:52:42of the greatest capital in the world just spread out in front of them?
0:52:42 > 0:52:45It won't go around too fast, you know.
0:52:45 > 0:52:47About one revolution in half an hour.
0:52:47 > 0:52:48So it won't put them off their food?
0:52:48 > 0:52:50Well, I don't think so. I don't think so.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58However, there was a downside
0:52:58 > 0:53:01to this growing technological transformation.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04Creating a network that could cater for everyone
0:53:04 > 0:53:07meant removing people from the process.
0:53:07 > 0:53:11Operators had been at the centre of the system since the outset.
0:53:11 > 0:53:12But in the 1970s,
0:53:12 > 0:53:17the last manual exchanges were finally replaced by machines.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20We were a family. Everybody looked after everybody.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23We grew up through those teenage years,
0:53:23 > 0:53:25learning from each other,
0:53:25 > 0:53:27learning about boys and life.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32Everything was done together as a real family.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34We all realised that was the end of an era.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38It was a sad time for operators.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41But automation and the Post Office's new technology meant
0:53:41 > 0:53:45that the infrastructure was finally in place to begin to match demand.
0:53:53 > 0:53:54During the '70s,
0:53:54 > 0:53:57having a phone in the home became considered a necessity.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04The baby boom generation were starting families of their own
0:54:04 > 0:54:06and consumer culture had given them
0:54:06 > 0:54:09very different expectations from their parents.
0:54:09 > 0:54:10They wanted their mod cons
0:54:10 > 0:54:13and they had the disposable income to buy them.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19Uptake in the 1970s was particularly marked
0:54:19 > 0:54:21and that may have been because
0:54:21 > 0:54:23families were moving around the country.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26You see higher levels of geographical mobility,
0:54:26 > 0:54:29so Britons had a stronger need to phone home,
0:54:29 > 0:54:32to try to maintain contact, for example, with the families
0:54:32 > 0:54:34who were being rehoused outside of London
0:54:34 > 0:54:35in the overspill developments
0:54:35 > 0:54:37and who wanted to maintain their links
0:54:37 > 0:54:40with their prior friends and family.
0:54:40 > 0:54:41- Hello?- 'Hello, Granny.'
0:54:41 > 0:54:43Daniel!
0:54:43 > 0:54:45'Your phone could get you closer to someone.'
0:54:47 > 0:54:50Ever more of us were joining the network.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52But even with access to our own phones,
0:54:52 > 0:54:55we weren't exactly a nation of chatterboxes.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59Most people kept a wary eye on the length of calls.
0:54:59 > 0:55:01The public needed convincing to loosen up,
0:55:01 > 0:55:04relax and stop worrying about the cost.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07In 1976, the Post Office came up
0:55:07 > 0:55:09with just the thing to help us along -
0:55:09 > 0:55:12a yellow bird called Buzby.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14TRILLING, PHONE RINGS
0:55:14 > 0:55:16TRILLING, PHONE CLICKS
0:55:16 > 0:55:17Hey, listen to this.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21'# Happy birthday, dear Grandma
0:55:21 > 0:55:24'# Happy birthday to you. #'
0:55:24 > 0:55:28Buzby was the state-owned bird
0:55:28 > 0:55:30who represented the phone system
0:55:30 > 0:55:33and who, I think, used to hang around in telephone boxes,
0:55:33 > 0:55:36um, encouraging people to use them.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40First, I fell out of the nest this morning and hit me head.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43And I sprained me ankle on the way to the shop.
0:55:44 > 0:55:50The 1976 Buzby campaign really changes the pace, in my view,
0:55:50 > 0:55:53because suddenly you've got a campaign
0:55:53 > 0:55:55which has gone truly national.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58It was truly a massive campaign,
0:55:58 > 0:56:01probably the largest and first of its type.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04And that really brought the telephone
0:56:04 > 0:56:06into the consciousness of the general public.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09And if you dial direct on your own phone during cheap rate,
0:56:09 > 0:56:12you get at least three minutes for less than 10p -
0:56:12 > 0:56:14so why not phone someone you love tonight?
0:56:14 > 0:56:16It could be the happiest 10p you've ever spent.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22After a few years of Buzby flapping around,
0:56:22 > 0:56:25the burgeoning network was making millions.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28By the 1980s, we'd become the nation of phone users
0:56:28 > 0:56:31that the early pioneers had dreamed of.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34What had once been a service was now very much a business -
0:56:34 > 0:56:37with what appeared to be a lucrative future.
0:56:37 > 0:56:41So, in 1984, the Government sold it off.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44But as the shareholders of this newly privatised business
0:56:44 > 0:56:46dreamed of their coming balance sheets,
0:56:46 > 0:56:49a quirky piece of new technology arrived on the scene
0:56:49 > 0:56:52that would go on to change the world.
0:56:52 > 0:56:54The C5.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56No, not the C5.
0:56:56 > 0:56:57Right, now, then...
0:56:57 > 0:57:00I've got my cellular radio phone here.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04That's it. You see, no cables attached at all.
0:57:04 > 0:57:05Completely portable.
0:57:09 > 0:57:13Now, of course, we all use mobile phones.
0:57:13 > 0:57:15But in true telephone tradition,
0:57:15 > 0:57:19we still complain about bad service and dodgy lines,
0:57:19 > 0:57:22and sometimes we even use them to speak to people.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26The popularity of the mobile phone
0:57:26 > 0:57:29appeared to signal the death of the old landline,
0:57:29 > 0:57:33but that was before the arrival of something nobody was expecting -
0:57:33 > 0:57:34the internet.
0:57:35 > 0:57:39A communications revolution that used the landline network
0:57:39 > 0:57:41to transmit digital data.
0:57:42 > 0:57:46All that effort by the pioneers and builders of Britain's phone system
0:57:46 > 0:57:50was vindicated by a technology they could never have imagined.
0:57:51 > 0:57:54So the landline lives on,
0:57:54 > 0:57:58the epic achievement of a century of struggle to connect the nation.
0:58:00 > 0:58:02It was part of history and something that I don't really think
0:58:02 > 0:58:04I would wanted to have missed.
0:58:05 > 0:58:09I was very proud of the work I did and I'm still very proud.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12I saw a revolution outside.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15I never thought it would happen, but it did.
0:58:15 > 0:58:17It was changing every day.
0:58:17 > 0:58:24Before your eyes, you saw a vast advancement in communications.