Journalist Chris Bowlby reveals why some of postwar Britain’s most controversial policies, fashions and fads became the orthodoxies of their time

‘History presented the way it should be – as entertainment’ The Times

Everybody makes mistakes – and some of humanity’s biggest ones have been made with the best of intentions. Hoping for a brighter future (and believing they knew best), 20th century scientists, doctors and politicians turned to quick-fix solutions, miracle cures and panaceas: only to find they came with hidden costs.

Over seven series, between 1998 and 2005, journalist Chris Bowlby took a deep dive into post-war history to examine the roots of many of these misguided decisions and contentious policy blunders – from factory farming and football fencing to the mass demolition of housing, scrapping the trams and selling arms abroad. Rediscovered in the BBC archive, this fascinating series has much to say to us today.

Find out how asbestos, heavily marketed as a brilliant building material, turned out to be a killer; how electro-convulsive therapy – initially regarded as lifesaving – became one of the most stigmatised medical treatments in mental health care; and how the great British Railways modernisation plan of the 1950s ran into the buffers, with dire consequences for present-day rail travellers. Plus, Chris’s investigations take in trade unions, mortgages, eugenics and penicillin – as well as some more surprising bad ideas such as white sliced bread, early retirement and sitting down...

Using a distinctive mix of interviews and research to uncover the roots of problems of the day, Why Did We Do That? is full of unexpected twists and turns, and revels in the black humour with which our greatest blunders are laced.

Production credits

Presented by Chris Bowlby

Produced by Chris Bowlby, Smita Patel and Jo Glanville

Editor: Nicola Meyrick

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates:

The Motorised City 19 Feb 1998

Bring on the Bulldozers 8 Jul 1999

We Believe in Bunkers 15 Jul 1999

Tartan Steel 22 Jul 1999

To Cap It All 29 Jul 1999

Factory Farming 11 May 2000

Football Fencing 18 May 2000

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) 25 May 2000

Asbestos 8 Jun 2000

Scrapping the Trams 26 Apr 2001

Trashing the Future 3 May 2001

The Closed Shop 10 May 2001

Mortgage Mania 17 May 2001

Railway Frustration 16 May 2002

Cheap Concrete 30 May 2002

Arming the World 6 Jun 2002

Bad Bread 2 Jun 2003

Deadly Streets 9 Jun 2003

Eugenics 16 Jun 2003

Early Retirement 23 Jun 2003

The Bugs’ Revenge 14 Feb 2005

Glued to Our Seats 21 Feb 2005

The Supercity and Its Shadow 28 Feb 2005

The Ideas Strangler 7 Mar 2005

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