24 Hours in the Past

24 Hours in the Past
GenreLiving history
Directed byChris Parkin
Presented by
Starring
No. of series1
No. of episodes4
Production
Executive producerRachel Morgan
ProducerJames Peters
Production companyDarlow Smithson Productions
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release28 April (2015-04-28) –
19 May 2015 (2015-05-19)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

24 Hours in the Past is a BBC One living history TV series first broadcast in 2015. Six celebrities were immersed in a recreation of impoverished life in Victorian Britain. Each of the four episodes represented 24 hours living and working in four different occupations.[1]

A key part of the series was its immersive nature. The four episodes were ostensibly filmed in direct sequence, and the participants lived, ate and slept in the often filthy conditions portrayed.[2]

Living history had become a popular theme in UK TV series at the time, usually involving Ruth Goodman and regular collaborators in a long-term series, filmed in intermittent episodes with a cast of historians. This series took a different pitch, using a continuous filming technique without the respite of hotels between episodes[3][4] and cast with "the randomest collection of participants" to create an air of surprise at their conditions.[5]

  1. ^ 24 Hours in the Past. April 2015. BBC One.
  2. ^ Ann Widdecombe (20 May 2015). "It was not pleasant to live in Victorian times says Ann Widdecombe". Daily Express.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC, 2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC, 3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Guardian was invoked but never defined (see the help page).