Are there any good documentaries on English culture? | TheaterFire

Are there any good documentaries on English culture?

Posted by Ok-Collection5660@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 95 comments

I’m English and I want to connect more to my heritage. There’s all this talk on YouTube of English culture being ‘lost’ but I haven’t been able to find any videos actually discussing what English culture is.

Any recommendations of documentaries on English history and traditions would be much appreciated.

Thanks

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YragNitram1956@reddit

English culture?

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

Every county has racists.

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YragNitram1956@reddit

And some polititians are racist.

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Deuce03@reddit

The biggest threat to English culture is not from immigration but from America. The internet has allowed greater reach of American media into British life and easier contact with Americans. Because they are so loud and numerous, they have a tendency to dominate any conversation they're in, and British culture is becoming increasingly Americanised as a result.

That's not what your YouTube feed means though. They just mean they think there are too many non-white people and are annoyed they can't be openly racist.

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

I agree with your points. The American threat is very real and not enough people realise it. I can’t stand Americans.

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Deuce03@reddit

I actually like Americans, on the whole. There are lots of things about American culture I don't like, they can be surprisingly ignorant and culturally naive, and some Americans are completely nuts, but by and large I find them friendly and refreshingly positive.

But you need to keep in mind that they're a foreign country. They're not just Brits with a funny accent. Their ways are not our ways. If they didn't speak English, the deep differences between the cultures would be much more apparent.

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

You’re right

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Puzzleheaded_Drink76@reddit

Books, but there's one by Kate Fox, called Watching the English about our typical behaviour. I've heard a lot of people say it's really interesting. And Melvyn Bragg's Adventure of English, all about the development of our language.

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MoistRow8363@reddit

I don’t know if English people have culture. They just stole from others when they colonised everyone.

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hoverside@reddit

The Britannia music documentaries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Britannia_documentaries

A lot of them are on YouTube.

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Kindly_Comedian434@reddit

Thanks for the reminder of these

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hoverside@reddit

But I really recommend going out and doing culture rather than watching it on YouTube. Watch a local football or cricket match, look for small art and literature festivals with free or cheap entry, go to a pub's folk music night, look up your local history association and go to one of their talks, try out bell-ringing, buy a DIY punk zine...

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Gulbasaur@reddit

There’s all this talk on YouTube of English culture being ‘lost’

My experience is that people who say that don't go to things and just sit at home complaining about it on the internet.

There's a very vibrant folk dance and music scene with regular folk festivals. Small towns will often have various groups going on. Cricket clubs, sports teams, dwyle flunking, pea flinging, maypole dancing, rapper dancing, the odd bit of molly. I remember hearing Polari out "in the wild" about 25 years ago, but that has mostly gone. I know a few druids.

It's only lost if you don't look for it.

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pooperscooper002@reddit

culture doesnt have to be performed in 'folk' traditions and 1960s neo paganism. culture is how you interact with the world today, not a revival of the past. in fact i think thats far more contrived

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Lassie7777@reddit

Eh this isn’t necessarily a revival tho? My village still does rushbearing, which it’s done on and off since 400 years ago atleast, it experienced a downturn and then bright it back 100 years ago.

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pooperscooper002@reddit

yeah of course i see what you mean, i am from london and i wouldnt get that perspective but id imagine that the majority of the country who live in the atomised subtopia feel the same. i dont dislike urban folk revivals either, i admire my parents 60s upbringing with the revived interest of folk music in schools. but i probably do dislike it being used to explain national cultures

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Lassie7777@reddit

Yeah London definitely feels like it could be its country within the union tbh. To me these are very much part of the fabric of the nation but I imagine as a Londoner the place must change so much hard to relate to them.

I think as well a distinctly English sensibility is to look down at our traditions a bit. I did until a while ago, it’s very interesting imo to get in touch with the reich heritage we have. Dialects are especially good because they really tell a lot about a particular area with their unique lexicon. I agree in broad terms with your last point, you can’t really reduce a culture to a singular tradition, especially England as we have many regional ones and even certain village ones.

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pooperscooper002@reddit

to be honest i think i dont represent london well, my parents actually have very traditional regional english village cultures and their connection to the countryside is something im incredibly grateful for which most londoners dont get to experience. but yeah i so agree, i think my comment i was just annoyed about the reductive summation of culture we most often use

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Gulbasaur@reddit

This is not an exhaustive list. I welcome you to add your own.

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Acubeofdurp@reddit

Exactly, football clubs, pub quizzes, they way we talk, what we don't, say how to queue properly..

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uttertosser@reddit

We have a folk festival here in Todmorden West Yorkshire over the weekend, where we have a variety of dancers, singers and merriment. I would question what is ‘English’ culture as we have always been a blend of other cultures and then take what we like and make it our own.

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RoyofBungay@reddit

Don't forget Morris and his dancing. An excuse for repressed middle-aged males to drink beer and beat each other gently with a wooden stick.

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TinhatToyboy@reddit

Gently? You should see our local , mainly female, side.

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Gulbasaur@reddit

Yeah, our side was about half and half and

I think Cotswold tends to be mostly male but Border is more open to anyone.

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Gulbasaur@reddit

I used to be a morris dancer actually!

A lot of the folk scene is made of old punks who finally learnt how to play their instruments. We had to take a bit of a break when two of our more experienced dancers were too pregnant.

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RattyHandwriting@reddit

I just joined a club dancing group. I get to put on massive shoes and kick shit, then drink G&T in the sunshine. I wish I’d done it years ago…

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

Thank you for the insight. I haven’t heard of most the things you listed, I’ll definitely have a look into each.

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Yorkshire_Roast@reddit

Which part of England are you specifically interested in learning about?

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CardiologistAny2161@reddit

Don’t know if there is too much of an ‘English’ culture, it’s more Scouse, Manc, Brum and so on… I went to a ‘Scouse Panto’ a few years ago, everybody there was cracking up but for me it was like I had just landed on the moon

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jeggy111@reddit

Watch some 1950s ealing comedies

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bella_luna_@reddit

I loved Zakia"s "my Albion series" - she talks it about English folklore, her experience of it and in relation to her Carribbean heritage.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pffy

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atomic_mermaid@reddit

English culture can never be lost because it's how we live. You can't see it because you're in it.

Honestly? Go abroad. Travel. Get exposed to other cultures. That's how you'll clock what ours is.

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Implematic950@reddit

Digging for Britain, time team, and various other history programs on BBC & Chanel 4/5.

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60sstuff@reddit

Best Place to start is probably the small British Pathe docs on youtube then follow your algorithm and you will get people uploading older stuff in full. also check out Fred Dibnah

https://youtu.be/2Qwxe5T2_uA?si=PqLAIo-4K_mW2ixZ

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Cheesemouth4142@reddit

Theres tons of about Britain over the years look up the bbc and channel 4 archives

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TurbulentLeg1084@reddit

This is such a confusing question. You can’t really watch a documentary and learn more about your culture than you can get by living your life and connecting to the people around you.

The culture in rural Yorkshire is different from the culture in Liverpool is different to the culture in London is different from the culture in rural Cornwall.

You can learn about morris dancing and you can learn about private London clubs. But neither of those is anything to do with my experience being English.

Culture is what people wear, what your buildings look like, what you eat, the media and music you consume, your language, your gestures, how you relate to the people around you etc etc etc. If you’re English yourself, I struggle to see what a documentary is going to be able to explain to you about being English.

If you’re interested in your heritage, you can have conversations with your parents (and if you’re lucky enough your grandparents) to learn what their lives were like, you can learn about the history of local buildings, but I think that setting out to gather an idea of your heritage and culture from documentaries about England in general is misguided tbh.

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

While I agree with your points, I certainly think documentaries can help me connect with parts of my heritage I don’t commonly experience in day to day life. They can also help me identify the things that I do observe and engage with.

It’s tricky understanding the norms between my life and someone else’s when I haven’t lived in another country or been raised in a mixed ethnicity household. Absolutely culture is what you interact with - I’m just unsure on naming aspects of mine when it’s all I’ve ever known.

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TinhatToyboy@reddit

I forgot Jack Hargreaves's many contributions to regional English television:

I presume Jack was the inspiration for the Fast Show's Bob cough Fleming bringing us neatly back to contemporary English culture.

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SmugMiddleClarse@reddit

It depends on what you mean by culture and I'm going to also assume that you are not baiting. I love old TV shows where they interview people on the street or documentaries at the time. There is one called The Family. I think it's from 1974. It follows a family in Reading over a series of weeks. It's all on You Tube. Type The Family 1974 and you can find all episodes. I live that kind of snapshot of life.

I was born in 1972 so I'm too young to remember life at that time, but I watched it with my mum a few years ago, and she commented that the way Tom walked in the show was such a throwback! Apparently men walk different now.

Some things are depressing. I do remember everything being brown and that is definitely apparent in the show, and the overcrowding in the flat. But the young lad was able to get a job right after leaving school, and they were able to get a council house much easier than today. I remember the young mum saying that she spent most of the day looking out of the window....

My hometown has completely changed since those days, and I think a lot of what we miss is things being simpler and less overwhelming, but poverty, stress, unable to move upwards in life, those things remain.

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

Thank you I’ll give it a watch. What is baiting - rage baiting?

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DemonicHedgehogs@reddit

English culture is the thing we live in, people on the inside generally won’t notice their culture because they are constantly in it and for them it’s just normal basic boring life. Culture also constantly evolves, cock fighting and public executions were integral to the culture for hundreds of years, but we don’t do that anymore. So much of our culture now is built around comedy, and not taking things too seriously. We even get upset when our politicians don’t have a good sense of humour. How many countries do you think have politicians feeling the need to appear on comedy panel shows to have the piss taken out of them?

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

I never thought of that, you’re right.

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solilotrap@reddit

DJ Zakia Sewell just wrote a book about Britain's lost myth & folklore called Albion. Arguably British folkore is the only real culture Britain has.

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

Why do you say that?

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solilotrap@reddit

which bit? the last bit? Because everything else we've imported. The only thing native to the British isles is probably its pagan folklore.

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

I don’t think culture has to be strictly original. The English are known for their love of tea. We got that from other countries, but it’s certainly part of our culture now and has been for a long time.

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TomfromLondon@reddit

8 out 10 cats drives countdown I think shows our Culture pretty well too

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

Yes I love British comedy, I watch tonnes of it.

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Truewit_@reddit

Depends what you mean by that. Do you mean how things were a hundred years ago? There’s a lot bbc archive footage that will show you. Do you mean 300 years ago? There’s plenty of documentaries about the early modern period in England. Do you mean 700 years ago? There’s plenty of documentaries about the medieval periods in England. Do you mean 1000 years ago?

I think it’s difficult to direct you without knowing what you mean by your heritage and our culture. Real cultures don’t disappear they evolve over time and that’s what England is always doing.

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

Well, I know that we have a vast history here in England. I find it’s easy to point out aspects of other cultures like singing and dancing because I’m not always surrounded by them. It’s harder for me to do that with English culture, because they’re my norms that I’ve grown up with.

I guess I’d like to be able to better identify what makes England, English. I’d like to start with more modern English culture from say the 1950s to now.

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lastaccountgotlocked@reddit

You should read Watching the English by Kate Fox, and The Lion and the Unicorn by George Orwell.

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Truewit_@reddit

If you want modern then like I say there’s loads of stuff on the BBC archive on YouTube that’s amazing.

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MFA_Nay@reddit

Looking at British Pathe's old historical videos is quite nice: https://www.youtube.com/@britishpathe/playlists

It's obv dated to modern trends, but gives an older view and lens of different topics and traditions. In addition the news of decades ago.

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TomfromLondon@reddit

The inbetweeners

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Gold_Leef101@reddit

This is England, although not a documentary is a great observation.

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

I’ve done plenty of learning about racism here in England. I’d like to learn about my culture now.

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Gold_Leef101@reddit

Well, you did ask an open question. Be more specific.

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girlelectric1@reddit

Finding Albion by Zakia Sewell could be an interesting one for you: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238270425-finding-albion

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InkedDoll1@reddit

David Olusoga did a great series, Black and British: A Forgotten History, and his A House Through Time series is also super interesting for snippets of British history and culture. For the 70s specifically I recommend Dave Haslam's book Young Hearts Run Free (he also has excellent books about Manchester and about nightclub culture in the uk)

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PullUpAPew@reddit

Grayson Perry's series looking at the tastes of the English classes is very good:

https://www.channel4.com/press/news/all-best-possible-taste-grayson-perry

He also did one Grayson Perry's Full English which received mixed reviews and isn't currently on the Ch4 website

The Beeb's A Very British History is good, but not currently on iPlayer so you'll have to dig around for this one too

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0btrpzf

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BraveLordWilloughby@reddit

US training films for GIs stationed in Britain during WWII. All available in YouTube.

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

They’re quite funny.

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Kooky_Writing_7780@reddit

Theres BBC archive videos like this one which look into old English cultural traditions

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

I’ve seen many of those, I love them!

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Unlucky-Public-2947@reddit

Not specifically England but shifty by Adam Curtis is an amazing look at the uk toward the end of the last century

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

I appreciate it, I’ll take a look.

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SorryNotSorryMatey@reddit

Andrew Marra history of Britain and history of modern Britain are both great.

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

Thanks.

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Euphoric-Wall-2576@reddit

Darcus Howe made a documentary called White Tribe where he is asking pretty much the questions you are asking - what is English culture and why do people struggle to answer that question?

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

Thank you, this is what I’m looking for.

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RudeHelicopter4662@reddit

Sounds to me like your YouTube feed has taken a dark xenophobic turn. Algorithms will do that because rage keeps people clicking. I’ve never seen a video claiming that.

Eddie Izzard presented a great series called Mongrel Nation in 2003. Looks to be on YouTube.

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

Yeah it’s a shame, racism and hatred are pretty popular amongst many people online.

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TinhatToyboy@reddit

Both Jonathan Meades and Ian Nairn have made interesting docs. on British subjects.

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

Thank you

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hoverside@reddit

And Patrick Keller, not exactly documentaries but art films that capture something about England.

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Decard_Pain@reddit

Blackadder, month python and faulty towers.

Clearly documentaries.

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

Thanks

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RattyHandwriting@reddit

Maybe something like Secrets of the National Trust for actual fact-based stuff, for entertainment you could try Upstairs Downstairs, The Crown, Dad’s Army and the Great British Bake Off?

Tony Robinson did a good series on English Folklore a few years ago as well.

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

Thank you.

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LargeLetter1@reddit

There’s a great series about the history of British Art if that’s the kind of culture you mean.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00b4jvb

Culture isn’t static, it evolves through time. It’s odd to say British culture is dead because it’s not like it was in the 1950s. We don’t do bear baiting anymore either. Change isn’t a bad thing

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Ok-Collection5660@reddit (OP)

I agree

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grafeisen203@reddit

In the Thick of It.

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No_Economy6175@reddit

The Inbetweeners documents coming of age in Britain

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TomatoChomper7@reddit

The best documentary on modern British culture is Benefits Street.

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Common-Spend5000@reddit

The one on channel five about dodging train fares has similar vibes too.

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conradslater@reddit

The must a be few seasons of Arena online somewhere.

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mixedpositive@reddit

Allow me to introduce

Borat's Guide to Britain

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KonkeyDongPrime@reddit

Blackadder

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_Daftest_@reddit

The best documentaries on this subject are "Dad's Army", "Porridge" and "Are You Being Served?".

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Euphoric-Wall-2576@reddit

I's also like to nominate Keeping Up Appearances.

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LouTheOM@reddit

“Cunk On…” is a mockumentary series but it’s a great example of British humour and does actually have some good facts. Just don’t take everything she says as gospel.

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Eyup_Amigo@reddit

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FiSctWh5TF4

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farr2211@reddit

Not the place to ask

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tekkerslovakia@reddit

Saying that English culture is lost is not being positive about England

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Gibber_jab@reddit

Peep show