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4. The Makeover Era: The Swan and What Not To Wear
How the rise of cosmetic surgery collided with reality TV, and laid the foundations for our current preoccupation with self-improvement.
Sirin Kale and Pandora Sykes explore how the rise in cosmetic surgery collided with reality TV, and laid the foundations for our current preoccupation with self-improvement. Featuring interviews with The Swan's show creator and contestant, and many more.
Producer: Hannah Hufford
Executive Producer: Pandora Sykes
Executive Editor: James Cook
Content Producer: Hannah Robins
Technical Producer: Giles Aspen
Archive credits:
The Swan, Galan Entertainment
What Not to Wear, BBC
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Hot Sauce
Parkinson, BBC
Last on
Thu 8 Dec 202221:00
BBC Radio 4 Extra
Broadcasts
- Thu 25 Aug 202219:15BBC Radio 4
- Thu 8 Dec 202221:00BBC Radio 4 Extra
Podcast
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Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV
The dumbest genre in entertainment, or the one that tells us the most about ourselves?

