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Season 8

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Broadcast date

14-09-2008 • 8 episodes

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Episodes of this season

1. How to Be a Good President

Helped by contributors including Shirley Williams, Douglas Hurd and Simon Hoggart, journalist Jonathan Freedland attempts to define the qualities which make a great US president.

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2. Between the Lines - Railways in Fiction and Film

Novelist Andrew Martin presents a documentary examining how the train came to shape the work of writers and film-makers, from Wordsworth and Dickens to The Railway Children.

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3. Last Days of Steam

Documentary that tells the surprising story of how Britain entered a new age of steam railways after the Second World War and why it quickly came to an end.

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4. How to Write a Mills and Boon

To mark 100 years of romance publishers Mills and Boon, literary novelist Stella Duffy takes on the challenge of writing for them, a task that ends up being harder than it looks.

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5. How to Solve a Cryptic Crossword

Don Manley reveals the tricks that compilers use to bamboozle and entertain cryptic crossword solvers, while fans including Prunella Scales explain why they enjoy them.

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6. The Comic Songbook

Documentary which celebrates Britain's tradition of comic songs, from Noel Coward's Mad Dogs and Englishmen to Benny Hill's Ernie, and reveals the skill involved in creating them.

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7. Fashion versus the BBC

A team of fashion writers and commentators including Peter York, Colin McDowell, Ted Polhemus and Hilary Alexander looks at the relationship between British fashion and the BBC.

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8. The North-South Divide

Journalist John Harris travels around England to find out why the north-south divide is still an economic reality following the decline of industry, and if it can be closed.

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