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Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl

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Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl
GenreDocumentary
Presented byGeoffrey Palmer
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producerMichael Poole
ProducerRachel Bell
Running time50 mins
Original release
NetworkBBC Two
Release23 February 2001 (2001-02-23)

Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl was a six-part BBC documentary television series broadcast in the United Kingdom in 2001, narrated by Geoffrey Palmer.

It gained favourable reviews including from Will Self who said "No simple overview can do justice to this programme — an exemplary series and mandatory viewing."[1]

In 2002 an accompanying book was published, written by the historian Simon Gunn and television producer Rachel Bell.[2] The television series was repeated on BBC Four in 2007, but as of 2022 was not available to view on BBC iPlayer.[3]

The series found renewed attention in 2022 with the launch of the Conservative Party leadership campaign of Rishi Sunak, who featured in the programme.[4] Sunak, then a student at Lincoln College, Oxford, was interviewed with his parents in episode five, about their decision to educate him at the independent school Winchester College. Sunak said "I have friends who are aristocrats, I have friends who are upper class, I have friends who are, you know, working class but – well, not working class – but I mix and match."[5] In the accompanying book Sunak says "I am very lucky to have been at these places, it does put me as an elite in society."[6]

Episodes

#TitleOriginal airdate
1"The People in Between"23 February 2001 (2001-02-23)[7]
Social mobility and middle-class life in Victorian suburbia
2"Them and Us"2 March 2001 (2001-03-02)[8]
Snobbery and class hatred between the wars, illustrated by the walls erected in Cutteslowe, Oxfordshire
3"Leader of Society"9 March 2001 (2001-03-09)[9]
The Establishment and meritocracy before and after the Second World War
4"Troublemakers"16 March 2001 (2001-03-16)[10]
Middle-class radicals
5"Lessons in Class"23 March 2001 (2001-03-23)[12]
Comprehensive and private education, illustrated by Winchester College. Rishi Sunak is interviewed for this episode.[11]
6"Trouble Ahead"30 March 2001 (2001-03-30)[13]
Recent changes to middle-class values and attitudes

References

  1. ^ Gunn, Simon; Bell, Rachel (16 June 2011). Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl - Simon Gunn, Rachel Bell - Google Books. ISBN 9781780220734.
  2. ^ Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl. Orion. 16 June 2011. ISBN 9781780220734.
  3. ^ "BBC Four - The Middle Classes: Their Rise And Sprawl, The People in Between". BBC.
  4. ^ "Rishi Sunak's old video on 'no working-class friends' resurfaces, goes viral". Hindustan Times. 10 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Rishi Sunak criticised after footage emerges of him saying he has 'no working-class friends' – video". The Guardian. 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  6. ^ Gogarty, Conor (9 July 2022). "Rishi Sunak says he has 'no working-class friends' in resurfaced video". WalesOnline. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  7. ^ Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl. "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  8. ^ Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl. "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  9. ^ Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl. "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  10. ^ Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl. "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Lessons in Class". imdb.com. IMDb. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  12. ^ Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl. "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  13. ^ Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl. "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2022.

Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl at IMDb

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