The '70s

Goodbye Great Britain: 1975-77 (1x3)

: 30, 2012

This episode looks at the Britain of 1975-77. New sex discrimination laws challenged the British bloke, while football hooliganism and industrial unrest heralded the end of the post-war peace. Equal pay and rights meant that women could, technically, work on an equal standing to men. Dominic contrasts their new 'equality' with the epidemic of casual sexism in British culture. Fighting on the football terraces brought the national game into disrepute, while in industry there was a sense that Britain was slipping out of control: despite the government ploughing millions into British Leyland, the company was unable to control its workforce or to make cars that people wanted. And in the midst of silver jubilee fever, a different cultural force was challenging society. Punk, embodied by the Sex Pistols, was sweeping the nation.