Essentially British

What is being British all about? Over 100 films and TV programmes taking us from Glasgow to Stonehenge, hockey sticks to the hijab.

“We are neither of us free to love each other, there is too much in the way. There’s still time, if we control ourselves and behave like sensible human beings…” Brief Encounter (1945)

What is being British all about? Stiff upper lips? Saucy seaside postcard humour? Morris dancing? Or does the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s definition of a Britishness founded on ‘responsibility, liberty and fairness’ get closer to the nub of it?

In over 100 films and television programmes Essentially British explores the histories, people and places of the United Kingdom, sniffing out the things that both unite and separate us whilst uncovering the clichés and turning the stereotypes on their head.

From Glasgow to Stonehenge, Queen Victoria’s funeral to the 1966 World Cup Final, Morrissey to the Women’s Institute, hockey sticks to the hijab, this collection provides a user-friendly guide to what it is – and was – to be British.