40 Minutes was a BBC TV documentary strand broadcast on BBC Two between 1981 and 1994. The documentaries could be on any possible subject, the only connection being that they last forty minutes. Some documentaries in the original series were revisited and updated in a 2006 version, Forty Minutes On.
Nov 1, 1984 - 40m
Gigolos and the different types.
Nov 8, 1984 - 40m
About the medium Doris Stokes.
Nov 15, 1984 - 40m
Grendon prison in Buckinghamshire, Britain's only voluntary psychiatric prison.
Nov 22, 1984 - 40m
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor in self-imposed exile.
Nov 29, 1984 - 40m
The history of lavatories.
Dec 6, 1984 - 40m
Young male prostitutes in Manchester and Birmingham.
Dec 13, 1984 - 40m
The mental asylum in Choroszcz in Poland where patients work in the community.
Dec 20, 1984 - 40m
The Animal Medical Centre in New York.
Jan 10, 1985 - 40m
Britain forty years ago, contrasted with present day Britain.
Jan 17, 1985
Accents and dialects provoke strong prejudices and reactions. In a 40 Minutes film that examines why this should be, broadcaster Janet Street-Porter, Radio 4 announcer Susan Rae and actor Peter Bowles are among those who have suffered because of the way they speak. Meet the Queen's English Society, which keeps a candle burning for the purity of the spoken word, and the Devon Dialect Society, which has very different ideas about how vowels should sound. Eavesdrop on an elocution class, hear from Scottish schoolchildren whose accents might affect their job prospects, and go behind the scenes at the BBC Pronunciation Unit and the northern auditions for the Speaking Clock. See how fashions have changed over the years, and how trends are likely to develop in the future as we enter a world of talking robots and computers.
Jan 24, 1985 - 40m
The group 'Fascinating Aida' and the making of their first pop record.
Jan 31, 1985 - 40m
The problems of putting on a show in the old style of pier entertainments at Cromer, Norfolk.
Feb 7, 1985 - 40m
A group of 'Hell's Angels' in East Anglia.
Feb 14, 1985 - 40m
A film for St Valentine's Day.
Feb 21, 1985 - 40m
Old Victorian mental hospitals are being closed down and the former patients face problems.
Feb 28, 1985 - 40m
A local Council has a compulsory purchase order on the home of two elderly men.
Mar 7, 1985 - 40m
The first film in a trilogy which examines the Eternal Triangle.
Mar 14, 1985 - 40m
The second film in a trilogy which examines the Eternal Triangle.
Mar 21, 1985 - 40m
The third film in a trilogy which examines the Eternal Triangle.
Mar 28, 1985 - 40m
Plymouth, the area near the docks.
Apr 4, 1985 - 40m
The story of a woman who took her baby to hospital where he was found to have several fractures. She denied having caused the injuries but he was taken from her care.
Apr 11, 1985 - 40m
The effects of government cuts leading to the closure of a ward in Guy's Children's Hospital.
Apr 18, 1985 - 40m
Animals used in advertising.
May 2, 1985 - 40m
The biennial festival of humour in Bulgaria. Can humour cross national boundaries?
May 9, 1985 - 40m
The story of a family whose daughter is handicapped because of a drug taken by her mother during pregnancy. The American drug company claims the drug is safe.
