SPECIAL ENQUIRY - BRITAIN'S TEENAGERS (1955)
Out of the post-war years of austerity, the 1950s saw the birth of the teenager, and the BBC’s Special Enquiry was on hand to investigate the hopes and dreams of these strange new creatures. What are they? What do they want? Presenter Denis Mitchell attempted to get to the bottom of these questions.
Pat and Mike are teddy boys, with no ambitions other than to stay as they are, but have more money. Lynette is a teenage fashion model on the precipice between adolescence and adulthood. Philip, 19, is an undergraduate at the London School of Economics. Diane is a Dirk Bogarde fan from ‘deserted’ West Norwood, where everyone is either too young or too old.
Duration: 29 minutes
Suggested credit: Special Enquiry - Britain’s Teenagers (1955) © BBC Archive