Around London

London on BBC iPlayer

A collection of BBC programmes celebrating the people, places and spaces of London

London hospitals in wartime

Hospital staff describe the steps they have taken to protect patients during the war

London August Bank Holiday, 1949

A BBC news crew spend the day capturing the sights and sounds of the capital

Christmas Eve shopping, 1948

Bethnal Green is full of last-minute shoppers having a butchers for bargains

Back to school for boarders, 1949

Children head back to boarding school after the Christmas holidays

Lights return to London after WW2, 1949

London switches the lights on again after 10 years of darkness

BOAC flying boat lands on the Thames, 1949

London was treated to the rare sight of a new flying boat alighting near Tower Bridge

Newsreel - Operation Pegasus, 1950

News report on the first live television filming from the air

Female drivers join 'pilot' service, 1950

A Car Pilot Service to help nervous drivers is introduced

Motorcycle phone system for Met Police, 1951

The Metropolitan Police show off their snazzy new radio motorcycle bikes

January sales, 1951

"Mrs and Miss Britain turned out in force - and somewhere among them all there were some males, too"

Great Smog of London, 1952

Tonight revisits the chaos caused by choking thick smog that engulfed the city

New Year bargains, 1953

Bargain hunting during the sale season is a very civilised affair here. Complimentary coffee, anyone?

Street traders in Stepney, 1957

Some mighty fine accents here, as street traders deny they have an unfair advantage over local shopkeepers

The Man at Dover, 1957

An immigrant, Rudolf Offenbach, takes an affectionate look at life in London

Petticoat Lane Market, 1960

Market traders - this is how it's done

John Mortimer's Hampstead, 1960

The author narrates a short film about the area that inspired his play The Wrong Side of the Park

Hippie nightclubs, 1967

A new type of night spot opens, but is it high art, the start of a new movement or just a commercial racket?

What is jogging? 1971

A strange new trend from the US appears in Hyde Park, so Nationwide's Bob Wellings heads out to try it

The Barbican, 1972

This London estate is fine, as long as you don't have kids or need to do any washing or shopping

Cockney Accents, 1976

Cockney Lives OK charted the origin of some common cockney phrases and discussed some of the preconceptions about people who use them.

Covent Garden redevelopment, 1980

A revamp of the old fruit and veg market isn't to everyone's liking

Hoskins' London, 1982

Bob Hoskins takes Barry Norman on a riverside walk to voice his concerns about development

Best London cuppa tea, 1985

You couldn't get a decent brew anywhere in London, according to Egon Ronay

Big Ben's chimes, 1986

Frosty weather has a chilling effect on the famous bell

Swaying bridge, 2000

Millennium Bridge gets off to a wobbly start

More archive things

Arts and entertainment

The world of showbiz, from Shakespeare to Saturday night telly

Society and welfare

The changing face of Britain, from lifestyle and culture to law and ethics

Nature and Environment

Explore the changing world about us, from the jungle to the polar ice caps