The 90s Back in Time for the Weekend

Meet the Ashby-Hawkins family.

For one summer, they're giving up the trappings of their modern lives

and travelling back in time

to live through 50 years of British weekends.

Steph, Rob, Daisy and Seth

will experience a radical transformation in how we spend our leisure time.

-I'm free!

-From the formal...

-I feel like I'm going to a wedding.

-..to the frivolous.

-We're going on holiday.

-From do-it-yourself...

..to doing almost nothing.

You've turned into Wham!

Starting in 1950...

-Oh, my...!

-..their own home will be their time machine.

It's 1961!

Fast-forwarding them through a new year each day.

What on earth are you doing?

We're making a massive dartboard.

It's beige!

There's a telly up in the corner, as well, look.

As they discover how a social...

..technological...

-What's that?

-..and spending revolution...

Oh, my God!

..has transformed our free time for ever.

-Are you ready?!

-BOTH: Yeah!

-Last time...

-Wahey!

..the '80s opened up a whole new world of leisure.

What will the technology-driven '90s mean for the family's spare time?

Oh, yes!

It's a Game Boy.

# You can't touch this

# You can't touch this...

It's the next leg of our time-travelling adventure.

# You can't touch this...

The Ashby-Hawkins' chock-full-of-chintz 1980s' home

has had a very '90s makeover.

# Break it down

# Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

# Oh, oh, oh, oh...

'I'm back with social historian, Polly Russell,

'to launch the Ashby-Hawkins headlong into the decade.

# Stop, Hammer time! #

Well, this is some very nice colour coordination.

Clearly, there's an element of reaction to the '80s excess and vulgarity.

I think that it's a particular sort of moment

in which people have access to taste.

So where that had been the preserve of being an architect

or a graphic designer, suddenly, taste becomes democratised.

With that baffling, ubiquitous poster of pebbles.

Where do they get those from?

These are one of those pictures that you just saw in so many homes.

Mass-produced, buy them in IKEA.

One of the other things you notice in this room is that again,

the encroaching technology.

It'll be interesting to see what effect the technology has.

The early '90s, they'd probably be in here watching videos.

That's still reasonably new, although it was an '80s thing.

-And over the course of the decade, it'll start to change.

-Yep.

By 1990, the boom years were over

and there was a looming threat of recession.

But with more women than ever in full-time work

and increased use of credit cards,

the average family were spending more on leisure than ever before,

something that's reflected in the Family Expenditure Survey.

Over 10,000 families a year took part in this government study,

recording their spending on everything from clothes to computer games.

The Family Expenditure Survey gives us this really unique insight

into what ordinary people are spending their money on.

And we've had the data analysed for the 1990s

and what you see is that things like CD players, microwaves,

dishwashers, those are what everybody has.

This is where the cost of food is driven down,

the cost of electronic goods is so much cheaper than it's ever been.

What people are now spending their money on is

-things like video games...

-Like this fellow here, for example.

And he's spending £100, a sixth of his income on video games.

That could have just been a heavy week for gaming,

or that could be typical.

Another category that starts to get analysed in the 1990s is mobile phones.

So this data shows us the moment

when we all start to get mobile phones.

And I don't think we had any idea then

how much having mobile phones would change our lives.

Is that you, or me(?)

Everything the Ashby-Hawkins do in the 1990s

will be guided by the survey.

I don't remember a great deal of the '90s.

It was a lot of festivals, a lot of dancing, um... Yeah.

Yeah, it's a bit of a blur.

'I'm just wondering if the '90s have got great technology.'

I'm hoping I'll have some stuff that is my own stuff

and nobody else can use it.

I was born in '99, six months into '99,

and I count myself as a '90s child.

So I am very excited about the '90s.

-Oh!

-Oh, wow!

This is so different!

-It's brilliant!

-STEPH LAUGHS

It's, like, super colourful!

-There's a telly up in the corner, as well, look.

-Oh, yeah.

-I love...

-And there's a sofa in here as well, look.

It's like a... That's unusual.

-Sofa. That's a bit new.

-It's the centre of the home.

This is the place where people come and chill.

-I love that clock!

-That clock is quite cool!

It's awesome, isn't it?

It's got the starts of an IKEA sort of look about it, hasn't it?

Ooo, look, almost a mobile phone.

All: Ohhhhh!

Cordless. It's cordless.

You can probably go two feet outside the front door with it.

-Kitchen done!

-'90s lounge.

Wow!

-Ooooo!

-Whoa!

-Interesting.

-ROB LAUGHS

-Um...

Very '90s. Wow!

This three thing in a row was quite popular, wasn't it?

Three balls there, three of those, three elephants.

It's quite designed, isn't it? This is actually thought about.

I have to say, it's not to my liking. I even preferred the '80s.

-Really?

-Yes.

-Really? No!

-Oh, God!

-No!

-I don't know why.

-Hello, Giles.

-I'm not sure whether you look like Oasis or Blur.

You look like some terrible, or wonderful, indie band.

Still working full-time, you've become a bit more new mannish.

-You'll get out in the kitchen now. You'll be able to cook.

-Yes!

Seth, technology, which I think you've identified as rubbish to now,

-will start to get recognisable to you.

-Nice.

And sort of useful and possibly addictive.

So, here's your manual. DOORBELL

Ya-ha! MUSIC: Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice

It's time for your first upgrade.

'More than any other decade, the '90s is the one

'where technology will change how we spend time together.

'I've arranged a delivery to kick off the decade

'and give the Ashby-Hawkins their first upgrade.'

-Take this thing last.

-OK.

-Move through the big things upwards.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Enjoy yourselves.

-I hope life improves.

-Excellent, thank you very much.

-Cheers.

-Woohoo! Let's get stuck in.

'90s entertainment technology has gone from the shared

'to the personal.'

-There's a DVD.

-CD.

-Discman!

-Aw!

Discman! I had a Discman!

I think after the excesses of the 1980s and having it all,

there's a possibility the Ashby-Hawkins

will find the '90s a rather subdued decade.

But of course, it was one that was quite slow to get started

and I know there are big changes on the way.

One, two.

What's the difference between that... Oh, it plays! Look.

We've got a TV in the kitchen, we've got a TV in the lounge.

Where's the third telly going to go?

Well, I'm thinking maybe, against what we normally would do

in the modern days, maybe it can just go in your bedroom.

-SHE GASPS

-Oh, his little face!

Am I not getting anything?

Can I just say, I don't feel any sympathy for you whatsoever.

I'm going to go and put this in my bedroom.

Can we get a photograph of you before you go?

So we can remember you by it.

'In 1960, 30% of homes were without a television.

'By the end of the '90s, more than half of children

'had one of their own.'

-Cool.

-Out with the old.

'Upgrade was the buzzword of the decade and electronic gadgets

'would become almost disposable.

And the reason families like the Ashby-Hawkins could afford

the latest technology?

Three little words -

made in China.

Cheap labour and the eightfold expansion of

global container shipping in 20 years,

meant Chinese manufacturers could drive down the cost

of electronic exports.

In the late '60s, a colour TV cost the equivalent of £3,000.

By 1990, they were less than £200.

As well as all that technology, I've left them with another classic

'90s form of entertainment -

a role-playing murder mystery dinner party game.

"But remember that no-one will prove to be quite what they seem."

Dun, dun, dun!

They were so popular in the early '90s,

that one maker sold 100,000 sets a year.

It talks about setting the mood and setting the scene,

what music you should be playing, dinner menu and wine.

And we need red and white and beer.

And plenty of it. It says that.

Rob's been dispatched to the off-licence,

but in the early '90s, another option was to go on a booze cruise.

-NEWSREEL:

-Vive le plonk! British supermarkets are

crossing the Channel to cash in on the dash for cheap drink.

30 years earlier, a day trip to France to go shopping

would have been unthinkable.

But in the '90s, nine out of ten passengers crossed the Channel,

bought duty-free booze and got straight back on the boat.

Meanwhile, Steph's in the kitchen preparing the pasta part of

Pasta, Passion And Pistols.

I've never done a murder mystery before.

This is the first time in the experiment we've had

friends round for dinner. We've had lunches, we've done party food,

but not the sort of sit down, grown-up thing.

So, yeah, I'm really looking forward to it, actually.

-BOTTLES CLINK

-Aw, listen to that sound.

Sound of success, that is.

With recession looming and a ready supply of cheap alcohol,

staying in was the new going out.

Hello! Good evening!

Dinner parties were a way to impress your friends

without splashing out.

And we drank more, too.

-Would you like red or white?

-Red, please.

In the 1950s, average wine consumption was

four pints per head per year.

By the '90s, it had risen to 25 and a half.

All that wine helped you get into character.

You can't see what you are, stupido.

THEY LAUGH

-ITALIAN ACCENT:

-It is very bad. If the son has no respect

for his father, he does not learn right from wrong.

Murder would be nothing to such a boy.

Even though Papa...

THEY LAUGH

..never listened to me or tried to learn...

I have no idea what they're doing in there.

It's probably really embarrassing, so I don't want to know.

When I was younger, all my friends had TVs in their rooms

and I was never allowed a TV in my room

cos my mum would be like, "No, no, no, no."

So, now I've got a TV in my room, I am so happy.

My sister's got one and there's a TV in the lounge

and there's a TV in the kitchen

and I'm the one without a TV!

-BOTH:

-Ooh!

It's another day and for the Ashby-Hawkins,

a whole new year.

It's a lot of gadgets actually, isn't it?

Just for one meal, there's kettle, toaster, coffee machine...

juicer.

Four different gadgets for one meal.

-Come on.

-All right!

-We're going to be late.

I'm coming, I'm coming.

Got to switch all the gadgets off.

I've sent Rob and Steph to a destination

on the brink of becoming a major '90s hang-out.

In the 1990s, chains like Fitness First and LA Fitness

hit the High Street.

Why jog around your local park when you could pay to join

a private gym?

And enjoy everything from aerobics to personal training.

You know, I fall apart.

Where is those two people I like?

Oh, my God.

Oh, my goodness. I need your body, you two.

Yep, I know. I am the man, I'm here. How are you?

Eight minutes to. Yes, it is time to waken up

because Mr Motivator is back.

Here we go. All right, let's get marching on the spot.

Rob and Steph's instructor started out as a personal trainer

before finding fame on breakfast TV, where he introduced

three million viewers to the joys of working out.

All right, pick it up and down.

So, here we are in the '90s.

Gym business - huge business.

Every single fad came along. But it was all to do with the fact that

you could make so much money from it.

You know, when we look at stepping, for example,

that was a big thing in the '90s. Now, how are you at stepping?

-It's hard.

-I've never stepped.

-You've never stepped?

-Never stepped.

From the top, you ready?

-Are you ready?!

-BOTH:

-Yeah!

We're ready! Everybody go, "Hoo-ah!"

-Hoo-ah!

-You got it!

After five, six, five, six, seven, eight, go!

Oh, wrong leg, sorry!

Left leg.

Left leg.

Right leg.

It's OK. It's all to do with rhythm, my darling.

You see, look at him.

He's so Fred Astaire.

He's got all the rhythm! Here we go.

So, right leg goes up. Right then left.

Exercise was no longer just a leisure activity,

it was a whole new leisure industry.

You're doing good!

As the fitness market boomed, the fight was on

to find the next money making exercise equipment fad.

The step was a top seller.

-ALL:

-Ow, ooh!

Yes, yes, yes!

Other big hits were the ab roller and the Thighmaster.

Because there was so much demand for anything to do with

fitness and health, here's a classic case

of where demand was outstripping supply.

In fact, they ran out so many times because people believe

those adverts.

Go, go, go!

Go! Quicker!

We're on a mission here! We want to get as fit as we can!

What's your problem?

OK, now you should feel it working the chest area.

This won't give you more, but it may help you to hold on

to what you've got!

Which is not very much!

Let's go. Four more.

By 1998, the fitness industry was worth more than a billion pounds.

In part, because almost 70% of us were paying for a gym membership

we didn't use.

Move it!

Come on, give them a look. Whoa, that one!

Come on, give them a hard look!

Oh, yes!

Good for you guys, yeah? Thank you so much for you time.

-Thank you so much.

-Cheers, OK.

-Thank you so much.

-Bye.

Oh!

I'm knackered.

HE GROANS

I think we fooled him enough.

I found it comical that all these gadgets that were on sale

throughout the '90s and now in contemporary life,

actually a lot of them are just useless.

Although, I will be buying one of those ab machines.

NEWS CHANNEL INTRO MUSIC

A clear victory for the Conservatives.

They become the first party this century to win four elections

in a row.

It's 1992 and there's company at the breakfast table.

'..defeated by the voters of Bath.'

I'm watching the telly, shh.

With a TV in every room, you could have it with your breakfast,

lunch and dinner and even in your bed.

'Will Mr Kinnock resign?'

We seem to be speaking a lot less this morning.

-It's cos the box is on, isn't it?

-The telly's on.

But in the early '90s, most of us only had

terrestrial television.

DOORBELL

Door.

-Ah!

-Ta-dah!

-Steph, Giles is here.

-Come in.

Not just Giles, but Giles...

-Wow.

-Whoa.

-..with new TV channels.

You've got a satellite dish. You're going to get

international excitement - football, European films(!)

THEY LAUGH

It's bigger than I thought it was. It's huge, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah. It's going to cover your house.

Can you put it on your roof? Will the neighbours mind?

-Do you mind?

-No, not at all. I don't mind.

I'm sure it will enhance the look of the house greatly.

The Family Expenditure Survey shows that people

were prepared to fork out for a satellite dish.

Like this man from North Yorkshire, who spent £110 on his.

Satellite television was a cut-throat market,

but in '92, Sky hit on a winning formula -

purchasing broadcast rights to the newly formed Premier League.

By the end of the year, 1.1 million new Sky Sports subscribers,

like Rob's mate KP, were happy to pay around £18 a month

to sit on their own sofa watching their own television.

The FA Premier League, live only on Sky.

We didn't have Sky at home, but I had a girlfriend

and the dad had it and every Sunday round there was so exciting

when it first came along. Nowadays, I don't think kids could imagine

that there wasn't football on the telly.

I just thought it's always been there.

I thought, "You wake up on a Saturday,

"you wait for the 12.45 game then you have a rest in the afternoon..."

-Have a rest!

-Yeah, just have a little rest.

A rest from the effort of...

And then you watch a five o'clock game and then there we go.

-So, there's one at five as well?

-Yeah.

You can tell he's not a football fan cos look how he's sitting.

We're football lads. You're either like that with your legs apart

or like that, not like that.

That's not how people sit to watch the football.

That's how you sit to watch the ballet.

Watch the football, get your legs open.

Match over, I've left tech-starved Seth a parting gift.

Oh, yes!

It's a Game Boy.

It's a Game Boy.

Personal, portable and an instant hit,

Game Boy sold 35 million by the end of the year.

This is my version of my phone in modern day.

Except only I can't make calls with it.

I'm...

I'm just... This is just unbelievable.

Its graphics are so bad, but I don't care

because I'm playing.

GAME PLAYS TUNE

No! Stop placing them! I don't have enough time to place them!

MUSIC: Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

In the '50s, Steph's day was dominated by household chores.

But with Seth happily occupied, Daisy embracing her teen spirit...

-Stop it!

-Sorry!

..and Rob cooking dinner,

she can indulge herself in her new-found free time.

Oh.

The idea of me-time doesn't come naturally.

I always feel really disconcerted if I'm sitting around

doing nothing, like I've missed something important.

So, I've not graced it, but I'm going to give it a go with this.

Yeah, it's weird.

I'm going to try this contraption next...

which is a facial sauna.

This smell does remind me of having massages and things

and that whaley music they always play.

Right, I'm going in.

WHALE MUSIC

Oh, my God, it's so weird.

Rob! I've got something for you to try.

Say anything, it's good.

-DARTH VADER VOICE:

-I am your father.

STEPH LAUGHS

That's the best thing!

ROB LAUGHS

See, this is so much more fun with you here than doing it on my own.

Mmm.

I think this me time thing's a bit overrated.

WHALE MUSIC

With satellite TV, gaming and the home spa,

the '90s was full of exciting new ways to spend money on your free time.

We got... We got more gadgets today.

My goodness, this house is full of gadgets.

Um...I'm looking...

..from a modern-day perspective

and I'm looking back at the technology that we are using now

that's actually, to our eyes, modern eyes, is quite old and naff now,

but at the time was really new and shiny and I remember the new

and shiny feeling that came with it in the '90s,

so I'm looking now back and thinking...

That stuff's going to be obsolete really soon.

TETRIS MUSIC AND BLEEPS

Doing my diary.

Hello, it's nine o'clock and you're watching BBC One for the very

first edition of Live & Kicking, woo!

LIVE & KICKING THEME TUNE

Your feet stink. SETH LAUGHS

Do you want me to take my socks off?

Is that John Barrowman?

Yeah.

-Look how young he is!

-I know.

Seriously, mate, I can't see the telly.

OK, I'm going to try and move.

DAISY WAILS

-This is my telly as well!

-Shut up!

Keep up the good work.

-Morning.

-Morning.

And...

Good morning, 1993.

MUSIC: I've Got The Power by Snap

# I've got the power... #

In 1993, the big story of technology was a battle

between two video game giants.

# I've got the power... #

Gaming was no longer a niche market.

Sega's Sonic The Hedgehog and Nintendo's Super Mario fought it out for global domination.

# I've got the power... #

I'm sending Seth the rival consoles delivered by his best friends

Harvey and Max.

You guys look like idiots.

We do, it's great.

Hello, hello?

You're good. OK, so that's how you...

That's how you jump.

In 1993, video games show up

on the Family Expenditure Survey for the first time.

Like this 28-year-old man from the south-east.

He spent £100 on video games in one week.

He wasn't alone.

In that year, these two games combined sold more than 16 million copies.

IN UNISON: Sonic The Hedgehog!

-Oh, wow.

-Oh, he's already dead.

It's a long way from '70s Pong...

-Yeah!

-Oh, no!

..and the '80s home computer.

Back. Back.

'I used the Commodore 64 in the '80s and that was so slow and so painful.'

But this didn't take ages to load, you just put it in,

it comes up on the screen, you play the game, that's it, it's so much simpler.

Fast evolving gaming software would one day open up an industry

worth more money than the movies.

MUSIC: Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus

Leaving Daisy and Seth at home,

Steph and Rob are stepping out to try a classic '90s dance craze

that gave exercise classes a run for their money.

Billy Ray Cyrus's hit Achy Breaky Heart spent six weeks in the top ten

and brought a little bit of Nashville to the British church hall.

-Are you ready for the Achy Breaky Heart?

-ALL: Woo!

-Yes!

One, two, three, hey.

Now forward! Step, clap, step, clap, back, two, three, hey!

OK. You've got it.

He's got it.

Why haven't you got it?

Line dancing was a big hit with the mums and dads, but the 1990s

youth scene was dominated by a different sort of dancing.

DOORBELL RINGS

-DAISY:

-I'll get it.

Daisy's too young to go out clubbing,

so I've sent the rave to her.

Together with '90s superstar DJ Ann Savage.

Hello!

The '80s rave scene had moved from illegal gatherings in fields...

To new super clubs like Ministry of Sound and Cream.

-MUSIC:

-Night In Motion by Cubic 22

1993 was a massive year for me.

It was the year I got my first residency in a nightclub.

Where have you played?

-I've played Australia, America, China, South Africa, Japan, everywhere...

-Wow.

And you know, private jets from one festival to another if there was more than one in one day.

-I'm so jealous.

-Ibiza every week.

How much, if you don't mind me asking, how much...

What was the biggest sum of money that you earnt from DJing?

It's been in the five figures.

Holy...

Every Saturday, thousands of young people queued

and paid the equivalent of £30 to get in.

This is Daisy's mini-Ministry.

MUSIC: Don't You Want Me by Felix

CHEERING

# Don't tell my heart, my achy breaky heart

# I just don't think he'd understand... #

MUSIC: Don't You Want Me by Felix

# You can tell your ma I moved to Arkansas

# You can tell your dog to bite my leg... #

You see, with me, it wasn't so much line dancing as sort of blob dancing

cos I wasn't ever in a line with anybody else!

I was raving in the '90s,

-that was the only kind of dancing I did really.

-Techno...

-A little bit of a trance, basically.

-Yeah, trans, techno, big fish, still fish, cardboard box, yeah?

-I never did that.

-No, I didn't do it either.

Big fish, little fish, cardboard box.

Big fish, little fish, cardboard box.

MUSIC: Don't You Want Me by Felix

The '90s is awesome.

It's for young people, it's for dancing,

it's for having fun and it's not serious like the '80s,

it's just like embracing life and enjoying it.

I love it cos it's social, we're all together.

Usually I'll be messaging them on my phone and now

we're all together in the same room dancing, it's amazing.

But I'm just going to go back right...I'm going to go back in right now.

Definitely through the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s,

there has been that continuous thing about teenagers having that

music as their freedom, their way of freedom.

So, yeah, '90s...

Awesome.

BREAKFAST WITH FROST THEME

Hello, good morning and welcome to Breakfast With Frost.

On the programme...

It's Sunday.

1994!

And I've sent the Ashby-Hawkins something that will transform their leisure time forever.

DOORBELL

You're all looking at me, so I'll go. I suppose I'm nearest the door.

Fair enough.

-I've got a package.

-ALL: Oh!

-Are you ready?

-You lot are going to be so jealous.

-Whenever you're ready.

-Any day now.

ALL: Awww!

-I've got a mobile.

-Can I have a look?

-Ah, ah, ah!

-D-d-d-d-d...

STEPH LAUGHS

STEPH MIMICS MONKEY

-Oh...

-You're meant to have games on it.

No, it's for calling. Take a picture of me with it.

Oh, you can't!

So, legit, it literally is just for calls, so it's not...

-It's a proper phone.

-It's a mobile...phone!

Previously the preserve of the wealthy,

by 1994 cheap mobile phones were flooding the market.

Life without one would be unimaginable now,

so Polly's come to meet Charles Dunstone,

founder of Carphone Warehouse,

to find out how they became so indispensable.

When it all started,

everyone just imagined that it would be a business tool.

When Vodafone...

There were two networks at the beginning, Vodafone and Cellnet.

Vodafone, everyone thought they were crazy.

In their application, they said they thought ultimately,

-ultimately there could be 600,000 mobile phone users in the UK.

-Never!

That was the extent of people's ambition.

And that seemed outlandish?

People thought it was absolutely crazy, yeah.

Of these phones, which one was the one that was really

picked up by, sort of, everyday consumers.

People using them recreationally.

The Nokia 2110, that was like the Volkswagen Golf of mobile phones, if you like.

And how many of these do you know sold?

I think someone said 20 million of them, of those were sold.

They look funny.

This is such a revolution to have these and people think a modern

smartphone is amazing, and it is absolutely amazing,

but it's actually not as amazing as this was,

just the concept that you could

always be in touch wherever you were.

When I was your age with my mates,

we'd arrange to meet somewhere and we'd arrange to meet

at the phone box on the corner of whatever at one o'clock.

And that was it. That was the way you made arrangements.

And you'd keep to your time.

PHONE RINGS

Oh...Excuse me.

Hello?

Hello, Polly, how are you doing?

Oh, it's great.

I'm sitting here at the breakfast table rudely talking to you and ignoring everyone else.

It's brilliant.

Oh...exciting!

We'll see you at Lakeside at 11.

And if I get delayed, I'll call you on your mobile. Woohoo!

1994 saw the passing of legislation that changed our weekends forever.

Sunday in England and Wales will never be the same again after

last night's Commons vote

and the Church of England is worried about the impact of new

Sunday trading on the nation's spiritual and physical health.

So, we walked along this route.

-In our Sunday best.

-In our Sunday best.

-And we went there to the church.

-In there.

-Right there?

-There.

-In there.

-It's strange.

-It is r...

-It is really strange.

I have to say, I felt very uncomfortable going to church

not being religious and I feel much more comfortable shopping.

By 1994, with the ready availability of credit, ten times as many

people were going out shopping on a Sunday as were going to church.

MUSIC: Music For A Found Harmonium by Penguin Cafe Orchestra

But we weren't just heading to the high street any more.

Huge new out-of-town shopping centres offered

parking for thousands of cars,

millions of square feet of retail space

and hundreds of shops and restaurants.

Is this the first time that you've been to Lakeside Shopping Centre?

I've been before once.

-When did you come?

-Not long after it opened.

Why did you come?

Christmas shopping and pure curiosity

about what this huge new shopping Mecca was, really.

And it was huge.

Yeah, because in the 1990s, this is really the decade when shopping

and consumption become the way that people spend their time.

And the way that we are shopping is being shaped and controlled

and interpreted by consumer analysts.

These spaces are clean and safe and ideal for families.

There were rules in some of these shopping centres that you couldn't wear hoods.

I mean, you can't come here and beg.

There is a degree of social engineering going on.

So, where a high street organically grew up over years

and decades and centuries, this space has been very carefully

planned to make sure that you spend maximum time and maximum money.

The 1990s see an explosion in service industry jobs

and a decline in manufacturing jobs.

And that is why today, Daisy, you're going to go and work in a shop.

You're going to be part of the retail industry.

New shopping centres like this one were significant employers.

Welcome to Flutterbyes.

-Here's your pinny.

-Thank you.

-Today, as your first task, can you do some sweeping for me?

-Yeah.

In the mid-1990s, around 40% of teenagers had a weekend job

compared with just 20% now.

With all these new ways to spend our time and money, the retail

industry was becoming increasingly important to the country's economy.

I find doing things like this very satisfying and I do enjoy it.

I wouldn't take it up as a professional profession.

But I do enjoy stacking shelves!

As the number of things to spend money on grew, 1994 saw the

arrival of a game that offered to fulfil all your consumer fantasies.

Within the next hour,

somebody watching this show is going to be made a millionaire.

And it could be you.

Tonight, Grandma Jennifer is joining them for the big draw.

In the advert, it was the finger, wasn't it? "It could be you."

It was brilliant. Yeah, love it. Absolutely love it.

I was so excited about it.

It wore off after about two weeks of not winning,

but at the time I was like, "Yes, here we go!"

-Five, four, three, two, one!

-Activate the balls!

And the first ever national live lottery draw...

Here they come, here they come, here they come. Check your numbers.

And the first number to be coming out now, it's green,

and it is number 30!

-Yes!

-I got that one. I thought it was a three.

Oh, no, there's the three. I got the three!

Yeah, I got a five!

-Wow!

-Come on!

44!

You got 44? ALL: No!

-14?

-No-o-o...

And the bonus is number 10.

So, erm, we're not millionaires,

so let's see what's on the other side, shall we?

He's off already.

22 million people watched the first National Lottery draw,

but by the mid-1990s,

family viewing was no longer the default leisure time activity.

Instead, personal technology dominated.

-ROB:

-Oh, flip.

Yes, all right, come on, then, you stupid hedgehog.

Do your thing.

I've always been rubbish at video games.

MUSIC: Human Behaviour by Bjork

# Human behaviour... #

'I miss my children, I have to say.'

We've been replaced by gadgets.

And electrical toot.

That felt weirdly normal.

I felt like this was the closest to contemporary life.

I knew something like that would happen,

but I didn't really expect it to happen so early in the '90s.

MUSIC: All Over You by Level 42

Daisy's off to pick up a message.

That's clearly my computer, it's so retro.

SHE LAUGHS

It does feel a bit odd that I'm going out to check my e-mails

and paying to do that, whereas now I can just go on my phone.

In 1995, just 2.5% of us had internet access at home,

so cafes where you could pay a couple of quid to dial up thrived.

This is a really slow computer.

I'm used to everything being done like that.

It's from Giles.

"Dear Ashby-Hawkins, I hope you're enjoying the 1990s.

"You are no doubt already feeling the impact of all the new

"technology that has come your way.

"I have taken it upon myself to ensure that you have some quality time together..."

Oh, yay(!)

"I have arranged for you to have a mini break in the Center Parcs.

"Enjoy, Giles."

Oh, that is so nice! That's really cool.

What's Center Parcs?

-VOICEOVER:

-Beneath the canopy of a million trees,

in 400 acres of woodland and water...

By the mid-90s, in addition to a summer holiday,

a third of Brits were taking at least one short break a year.

This is the magic of Center Parcs.

Opened in 1994, this new resort tapped into the mini break market.

MUSIC: Alright by Supergrass

Some of the activities have changed, but the principle is still the same.

A secure environment where families can enjoy quality

time in the outdoors.

Woahhhh!

# We are young, we run free

# Keep our teeth nice and clean... #

One, two, three.

We're lost.

Safety was a big part of the appeal.

I exceed the height.

With more cars on the road than ever before

and saturation media coverage of some high-profile crimes,

the outside world felt like an increasingly dangerous place.

For goodness' sake, keep tight hold of your children.

And these fears had an impact.

In the mid-90s, only 9% of parents let their seven

and eight-year-olds walk to school on their own compared to 80%

just two decades before.

Places like this offered your children the chance to run free

and face only the right kind of danger.

Woo!

Oh, my God, it's amazing!

-Three, two, one!

-Go, go!

SCREAMING

# Of the scene as she turns

# We are strange in our worlds

# But we are young... #

I don't want a hug.

-What do you think?

-That's great.

That was awesome.

No, Daisy, I'm never doing that again.

That was so good.

I want to do it again and again and again.

What I like about this place is it's a secure environment.

The outside world is big and scary, particularly in the '90s,

it becomes a bit, you know, scarier and I would never have

dreamt of letting you out at the age of 10 or 11 onto the streets.

-Do you think we've spent quality time together?

-Yeah.

-I do.

When I was playing Tetris and you were on Sonic

and you are on something else, that's time together,

but it's rubbish time together, isn't it?

But quality time together is actually where we are interacting.

This place gives it to you on a plate,

but the point is it's a contrived thing.

It was like the equivalent of the shopping centre, isn't it?

And before that quality time phrase was invented,

-places like this didn't exist.

-No.

MUSIC: Bagatelle In A Minor by Ludwig van Beethoven

# Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want

# So, tell me what you want, what you really, really want... #

I wasn't into the Spice Girls.

I'd just be a dirty old man, cos they were all young ladies.

THEY LAUGH

I feel like they're your guilty pleasure.

Like my guilty pleasure is, like, Taylor Swift

and then your guilty pleasure is the Spice Girls.

'It's 1996, and I've sent the Asbhy-Hawkins another upgrade.'

-What is it?

-Whoa, they're huge!

'Having technology is no longer enough.

'What matters now is having the latest...'

Look at that!

-'..including a brand-new home computer.'

-Compact, isn't it?

'By '96, 27% of UK households had one.

'As did this 35-year-old from Scotland, who spent £357 on his.

'This one comes with a feature that will change everything.'

-Family!

-Yeah?

-Come hither. Historic moment

-in the Ashby-Hawkins household.

-We got post?

We're going to dial up.

-So, can you see the little icon?

-Yeah.

That's the telephone line communicating with the computer,

and it's going to make a noise in a minute

cos you'll get a dialling tone.

LOUD BUZZING

That's quite cool, actually.

COMPUTER BUZZES

That's the data, Stevie. Down the line. That noise.

-So we're now connected.

-To the internet.

-Ooh, check that out!

That is retro.

'Today, there are a billion websites,

'and we average more than three hours a day staring at them.'

..the address of the very...

'In 1996, there was little to do online,

'and it was hard to imagine that to Google would one day be a verb.'

What do you think, though, about the way it looks and what's in it?

Slow and boring and simple.

You keep asking for more tech and when you get it,

all you do is complain about it! I don't understand you, mate.

Can I have a go?

-Yeah, course you can.

-I'm going to go and make some food.

-I'm going.

-How are you not excited? I'm so excited.

-I think it's brilliant!

It's gone from a typewriter to this.

MUSIC: Babies by Pulp

Rob and Seth may be underwhelmed,

but the internet has made its first move on family life.

With the endless upgrades, the outdated tech had to go somewhere,

to either landfill, lofts or the shed.

But that didn't dampen our enthusiasm for all things new.

Technology is very addictive, and from this point of history onwards,

particularly with the internet,

you could just waste an entire life away just looking at the screen.

It's making sure that it doesn't take over our lives.

MUSIC: Things Can Only Get Better by D:Ream

'1997 was a big year for Britain.

'After 18 years of Conservative rule,

'a historic victory for Tony Blair and the Labour Party.'

I say to the people of this country,

we ran for office as New Labour - we will govern as New Labour.

MUSIC: Brimful of Asha by Cornershop

'With a sense of the country starting afresh, there was a massive

'appetite for reinvention, which we even applied to our own homes.

'And if we weren't doing it ourselves,

'we were watching it on television.

'Lifestyle and makeover programmes

'dominated the TV schedules in the '90s.

'Linda Barker and Tommy Walsh were stars of Changing Rooms

'and Ground Force, with audiences of ten million tuning in every week.

'They're coming to give the Ashby-Hawkins

'their own '90s makeover.'

Yeah!

One, two, three - open your eyes.

'Both shows were a race against the clock,

'creating radical transformations... triumphs and disasters.'

I think we just have to put our hands up on this one.

DOORBELL RINGS

Oh, my goodness! Hello, hello! How lovely to meet you!

Tommy!

So, in good Changing Rooms fashion, we've got the shirts.

-I'd forgotten about the shirts. The team shirts!

-Yeah.

Rob, do you fancy red? And Daisy.

And you guys can be in the orange team.

Cos it's competitive, you know.

'Daisy and Rob are with Linda,

'giving the living area a cool Britannia twist...'

I am bursting with excitement right now. This is so cool!

I mean, I've got Tommy Walsh in the back garden

and I've got Linda Barker all to myself.

Absolutely fabulous. What more can I ask for?

'..while Seth and Steph are with Tommy, creating an outdoor room.'

On a scale of one to ten with ten being really, really excited,

I'm about an 11.

I'm really excited!

Yes! Victory is mine!

Oh, it's lovely, isn't it, having a zip?

-Makes it so much easier, doesn't it?

-Has it transformed your life?

'It's not just the Ashby-Hawkins going crazy for home improvements.

'The Family Expenditure Survey shows countless entries for DIY.

'Like this 42-year-old woman from the West Midlands,

'who spent £115 on materials in one week.

'As we took inspiration from our televisions, makeover shows

'helped turn DIY into a leisure pursuit worth £9 billion by 1997.'

It enabled people to be their own interior designers.

Prior to that, interior design was really for the rich

and famous and rock royalty, not for the ordinary person in the street.

Guess what I'm going to say?

We've got, like, 40 minutes, so keep it big and colourful, I think.

-Now is not the time for taste.

-Right.

-What's this?

-This is just made out of MDF.

LINDA: After most of the shows that we did,

the big DIY stores would have massive increase of sales.

They loved us.

They would get us to open their new showrooms, and they would be

opening new showrooms like every week, so it was just bonkers.

We had a regular slot on a Friday night, and then everyone would

then go to the garden centre on a Saturday and a Sunday asking for

all the stuff that they'd seen on the show the night before,

and there was a real problem because all the merchants had to try

and guess what we would do.

'It was no coincidence that in the space of three years,

'B&Q's annual decking sales went from £5,000 to £16 million.'

It made a fundamental change to the way people spent their leisure time.

Such was the popularity of Ground Force

that they even entered the world of international politics.

From the Ground Force team, in the garden of -

and I still can't really believe I'm saying this - Nelson Mandela,

from Mr Mandela and the Ground Force team...

If you can't believe it, it's even more for me!

-My pleasure.

-High five!

They're keeping their eyes shut!

Open your eyes.

Oh! It's amazing!

-Oh!

-Wow!

Here's to Ground Force/Changing Rooms mashup!

-1990s.

-Welcome to the club, and as we used to say, until the next time.

Home improvements or DIY...

not really my thing.

Just look at that, on my head.

That's not amazing DIY.

It's 1998, Seth.

More stuff. Kids! Kids.

'I've sent Steph everything she needs to work from home,

'including a brand-new designer Apple iMac.'

Look at that! It's a thing of beauty, isn't it?

'Launched in May '98, it sold 800,000 that year,

'which is one every 15 seconds.'

-Out with the grey, boring old.

-We only got that a couple of years ago.

No, seriously, we got that, like, two years ago

-and now we're getting a new computer.

-That's what happens.

'And if you are going to work from home,

'who wouldn't want something that looks like it belongs there?'

It feels much more like what I'm used to, in modern day,

which I guess for its time was a real step forward.

We've got a Linda Barker designed kitchen now,

and now we've got a lovely computer that doesn't look out of place.

It's almost turned it into a design statement piece of furniture,

as well as it being a computer.

'By 1998, twice as many people

'worked from home as in the early '80s,

'and technology once thought extraordinary had become everyday.

'So for a special treat, you had to think outside the box,

'which is what Steph's done for Rob's birthday.

'Experience gifts, like this, were a '90s innovation.

'In the '50s, a trip to the pub was a treat.

'Now Rob's getting to ride in a vintage Tiger Moth.'

Right, these straps here....

Erm, will keep you in.

-Or keep your body with the wreckage.

-ROB LAUGHS

The company that started them sold 22,000 experiences in 1998

and kick-started an entirely new form of leisure.

MUSIC: Tomorrow Never Dies By Sheryl Crow

Oh, what an experience.

As experiences go.

It's hard to put into words how fantastically brilliant that was.

I mean, it was just... Yeah.

It was just the smoothest plane ride I've ever had in my life

and the most exhilarating thing that I've ever done.

Last day of the '90s tomorrow

and I've been thinking about the whole experience

and it's been incredible.

And I know I'm going to get really emotional on the last day

because it's...

It's literally the end of an era.

Tonight we're going to party like it's 1999.

That's cos it is 1999.

Over five decades of time travelling,

the Ashby-Hawkins' home has gone from sparse to overflowing.

Their shed is now full of all the stuff they've accumulated.

Luckily, in the '90s,

some savvy businessman came up with a solution for our storage woes.

'I'm meeting James Gibson who founded Big Yellow Storage.'

Why do you think in the '90s Britain suddenly started to need

storage space like this?

Rising house prices in the '80s and '90s

did lead to people beginning to invest in their homes more.

Whether they were doing lofts or extending,

they're taking storage out of their houses.

We're providing just an extension to their home.

Why do they need to store it in a special space?

Why not in their homes?

Part of what they're storing will be emotional -

stuff that they have an attachment to.

But part of it, in these very small rooms,

is stuff you want access to,

but you don't necessarily have to keep in your flat

or your house 24 hours a day.

You know, it wasn't until we started filling this store up

after a week or two, then they started signing licence agreements,

putting locks on doors, that we really knew we were onto something.

I'm back with my final delivery of the decade.

-Giles.

-Hello, Rob.

-Hello, sir. How are you?

-Take me to your shed.

You don't mind if I open your shed?

-No.

-Help yourself.

-The newly blue shed.

Look at all this stuff.

-You've finished with it, and there's nowhere to put it.

-No.

This wouldn't have been a problem for people in the '50s.

-No, of course.

-They knew the value of possessions.

Luckily what we have here is the key to a self storage unit.

The kind of houses we live in today, the size of houses,

are not designed for the amount of stuff we have.

So, people who lived in sort of Downton Abbey

there's always a loft, an attic and a wing to lob it in.

-But a normal, terraced, urban house there just isn't room.

-No.

And you can't throw it away, so you sort of punt it into the future.

-Yeah.

-OK, look.

-Steph, you have the key.

-Thanks.

It's the '90s after all.

-You have the hard stuff for boxing up.

-Thank you very much.

Get on with that. And I'll see you later.

-Thank you very much.

-Bye.

There's a nice pair of puppies.

Remember this? Huh? Remember this?

A cabinet.

IBM. IBM monitor.

Where's Seth?

Seth, where are you? Come on.

Ah! What? What the...?

Oh, no.

Oh, that's tape.

For the Ashby-Hawkins, a new millennium is fast approaching.

And they're off out to celebrate.

In the build-up to the millennium,

the government pumped £1.3 billion of lottery money

into big leisure sites, like the Eden Project,

Cardiff Millennium Stadium and the Dome.

-Hey!

-Oh, you're here.

Happy New Year, everyone.

So, it's December 31, 1999.

It's the last day of the old millennium,

-and what better place to celebrate it than on the London Eye?

-Yay!

It was opened that night by Tony Blair, although

general punters couldn't go on it until March.

We are not general punters, we are special.

We are going to celebrate on there. So, let's go and tear it up.

On that evening, people across the country gathered together

to see in the new millennium.

3 million made their way to the banks of the River Thames.

-ALL:

-Five...four...

three...two...one!

THEY CHEER

MUSIC: Nessun Dorma

Cheers, welcome to the new millennium.

-Cheers, yes, thank you.

-Cheers!

So, how was your 50 years then?

-Awesome.

-Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

-And what about you, Daisy?

-There were some moments where I'm like,

"Oh, I hate being a teenager." But there's some moments

I've actually rejoiced in being a teenager. It's been fun.

Are you glad to get back into the 21st century?

I'm glad to get back to the 21st century,

but I also didn't want to say goodbye to this.

-Really?

-I've really enjoyed it.

What's shone out of this whole experiment is

it's all about people, isn't it?

It's about spending time with people who you care about

and having the freedom to choose the stuff that you do.

Oh, my God. It's amazing!

I think what it's done... It's laid the foundations for us,

when we go back to our contemporary life,

to spend longer with our family.

Because we weren't.

And it's opened our eyes up as to what we have to do

when we go back to our modern lives.

I'd probably take away this whole being a proper teenager thing

and I'm slightly envious of previous decades' teenagers

cos they're proper teenagers,

whereas we just stare at our screens the entire time.

So, I really will... I really will miss that.

When I go back to contemporary life,

I will probably miss the family time that I've spent.

In modern-day life, spending time with my family

is the difficult part.

It shouldn't be difficult,

but it is, because technology gets in the way

and it absorbs your entire life.

It's like a new beginning, it's great. I love it. I'm just so...

I'm so happy we did it and really sad it's finishing.

Sorry.

In just a few short weeks, the Ashby-Hawkins have gone from 1950,

a point at which leisure barely existed,

to 1999 with its dizzying array of choices for our free time.

As they leave the 20th century and step into the future,

does the family have any idea how much technology will continue

to transform our leisure time?

Next time...

-ALL:

-Whoa!

..will technology in the future free us...?

I've got control of it,

but it's going the wrong way. Whoa!

..or constrain us?

You spent seven hours and 15 minutes on your phone that Sunday.

Oh!

It's the future.

Freedom.

MUSIC: Whatever by Oasis