''24 Hours in the Past'' is a

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

living history Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to ree ...

TV series first broadcast in 2015. Six celebrities were immersed in a recreation of impoverished life in

Victorian Britain In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

. Each of the four episodes represented 24 hours living and working in four different occupations. 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. Living history has become a popular theme in recent UK TV series, 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 and cast with "the randomest collection of participants" to create an air of surprise at their conditions.

Cast

Presenters

Fi Glover Fiona Susannah Grace "Fi" Glover (born 27 February 1969) is a British BBC journalist and presenter who formerly presented the ''Fortunately'' podcast, '' The Listening Project'' for BBC Radio 4 and ''My Perfect Country'' for the BBC World Ser ...

* Ruth Goodman, well-known consultant historian and TV presenter for many living history series.

Participants

* Alistair McGowan,

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

Ann Widdecombe Ann Noreen Widdecombe (born 4 October 1947) is a British politician, author and television personality. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone and The Weald, and the former Maidstone constituency, from 1987 to 2010 and Member of the E ...

, former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

MP and

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

Colin Jackson Colin Ray Jackson, (born 18 February 1967) is a Welsh former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. During a career in which he represented Great Britain and Wales, he won an Olympic silver medal, became wo ...

, world champion

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

Miquita Oliver Miquita Billie Alexandra Oliver (born 25 April 1984) is a British television presenter and radio personality. With Simon Amstell, she co-hosted Channel 4's '' Popworld'' from 2001 to 2006. Miquita then went on to present on T4 from 2006 to 201 ...

, TV presenter *

Tyger Drew-Honey Lindzi James Tyger Drew-Honey (born 26 January 1996) is an English actor and television presenter. He is best known for his role as Jake Brockman in the British sitcom '' Outnumbered'', Citizen Khan as Richard Scab before later appearing in '' H ...

, actor in '' Outnumbered'' *

Zöe Lucker Zöe Elizabeth Lucker (born 11 April 1974) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Sonya Leach in ''Coronation Street'' Tanya Turner in the ITV drama series, ''Footballers' Wives''; Vanessa Gold in the long-running BBC One soap o ...

, actress

Episodes

Reception

Critical reception was muted. The most scathing description as "frustrating and pointless watching" came from

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Casting of the participants worked well as five of the six were a balanced ensemble. They cooperated as a team and supported each other through adversity. Nor were any of them well-known enough to the audience to engender preconceptions of their personalities or attitudes. The obvious exception was

, the best-known of them and notable as a cabinet minister in the Back to Basics government of

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

. The audience revelled in her becoming a labour organiser protesting against their oppressive employers. Although such casting could not have been made in ignorance, Widdecombe herself denied that any part was scripted and confirmed that all of the grim accommodation was genuine. Viewing figures were unimpressive. Although it did well against other programming in that slot, its series average of 3.3m (16%) was below the BBC1's slot average of 4.9m for the previous year. Viewing figures for the series dropped from 3.8m for the first episode to 3.2m.

Notes

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 4649322 Historical reality television series 2015 British television series debuts 2015 British television series endings 2010s British reality television series English-language television shows Television shows set in the United Kingdom Reenactment of the late modern period BBC television documentaries about history during the 18th and 19th centuries