How We Used To Live
Encyclopedia
How We Used to Live is a British
educational historical television drama written by Freda Kelsall and sometimes narrated by Redvers Kyle
and John Crosse
, both employed as continuity announcers at Yorkshire Television
at the time of production. Production began in 1968 at the YTV studios in Leeds
. The series traced the lives and fortunes of various fictional Yorkshire
families from the Victorian era
until the 1960s, in and around the fictional town of Bradley, using self-contained short dramas interspersed with archive footage.
, on ITV
between 1968 and 1987 and then on Channel 4
and S4C
. The series would be split into two halves, with the first ten episodes transmitted in the autumn term (usually September – December) with the remainder of the series being shown in the spring term (from the second week of January until late March). The programmes were repeated frequently, enabling new generations of children to learn about modern history.
The series was mainly shown during the main schools schedule, though it was occasionally transmitted at other times - the British Film Institute
lists Thora Hird Introduces How We Used to Live for 30 August 1984, described as "a documentary on the making of the award-winning schools series" and shown late at night on ITV
. It would not have gone out in the London
area on that date because of a Thames Television
strike, but it was shown again on the morning of 2 September. Part of the first series was repeated late at night in its home region of Yorkshire Television
in early 1969. Also, the episodes 'Blitz' and 'Victory', first shown in 1976, were repeated on the ITV network on 8 May 1985, the 40th anniversary of VE Day.
Series 1 centred around the late Victorian era. It was first broadcast in 1968. Some additional episodes were added to this series in 1972/73 but this was not a separate series.
Series 2 covered the periods 1908-1918 (Autumn term 1975) and 1925-1945 (Spring Term 1976). The first half of the series centres round the Ackerley family. Albert, the father, is an assistant at a printing works. He earns 22/- per week. His son Harry takes a job as a grocers boy, earning 5/- per week. The rent of their terraced house, with gas and water laid on, is 6/- per week. Albert’s wife Daisey must make the rest of the income cover food, fuel and clothing. Jane, their daughter, is still at school until the age of 14 when she goes to work as a housemaid in a middle class home. The later episodes (1925 onwards) see the Dawson family move into the house occupied by the Ackerley family. Stanley Dawson, the father, works as a stores clerk in a factory, earning £3/2/6 per week. He becomes unemployed in the thirties and he, his wife Doris and son Gerald are forced to rely on the earnings of daughter Marjorie, who works as a library assistant. The Boothroyds move into the terraced house just before World War Two. Later programmes in the series describe how they cope with the varied hazards of civilian life in wartime Britain.
Series 3 covers a thirteen year period, namely the years 1874-1887. This series was first broadcast in 1978/1979. This series contrasts the fortunes of three families that although linked, have very different lives. Dr Hughes has a successful medical practice in middle-class Upper Bradley. His fee-paying patients live in the better of town, or in the country houses on the outskirts. He gives some of his time to the Bradley Free Hospital, and, as Medical Officer of Health, is appalled by conditions in poor working-class areas. His wife, his son and youngest daughter live comfortable lives in a large house with their every need taken care of by the hired help- namely housekeeper Mrs Tandy, Annie Fairhurst and Nanny. The Hughes eldest daughter, Dora, is married to Captain Bertram Selwyn. His father is the squire of Westmoor (a role Bertram is required to fulfil after the death of his father). They have two children: Humphrey (born in 1874) and Sophie (born 1881). The lifestyles of the middle class Hughes and mildly aristocratic Selwyn families is in sharp contrast to that of the Fairhurst’s. Ben and Mary Fairhurst are poor working class mill workers with more children than they can afford to feed. Annie, the eldest, is in service for Dr Hughes. Among the other children are Matt, Flo, Maudie, Tommy, Dinah as well as the others who died young.
Series 4 covered the period from 1936 until 1953. It centred around the lower middle-class Hodgkins family. First broadcast in 1981/82, this series embraces the events during the reign of George VI as they affected the family of Arthur Hodgkins, a railwayman living in Bradley. Along with his housewife Mabel and his four children, Patricia, Jimmy, Avril & Edward, they endure the hardships of the Second World War and the subsequent austerity period. The series climaxes with the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
.
Series 5 was filmed and broadcast in 1984. It covered the major events and social changes from the end of the Boer War in 1902 to the General Strike of 1926. The series tells the story of the friendship between two families of children who meet in Sunday school. The Holroyds, Maurice, Charlotte and Alexander are middle class. Their father owns the local textile mill. The Selbys, Maggie, Tom, Freddy, Albert & Alice are poor. Their father is a drunkard, their mother works long hours in the mill to support them. As they grow up into young adults, their lives become intertwined and the relationship, sometimes strained, shows the huge social changes which affected people in Britain during this time.
Series 6 covered the period 1954-1970. It was first broadcast in 1987 and centred around the Brady family. Michael Brady, the father of the family, was a character originally introduced in series 5 when he was born to Maggie Selby and Patrick Brady. The series begins with he and his family (wife Joan and children Susan, Roger & Beverley) moving back to Bradley. The series also features Michael’s Uncle Albert & Aunt Bertha (Selby) who were also in the fifth series. Characters introduced in the fourth series, Jimmy, Eileen and Edward Hodgkins and Laurence & Avril Butterworth, are also regulars, and the characters of Tom and Charlotte Selby from Series 5 and Esme Birkett from Series 4 also make guest appearances.
After this point How We Used To Live changed its direction (largely because of the National Curriculum). The drama format was expanded in order to take in documentaries, and series became shorter than the usual 20 episodes.
Series 7 was in two halves. The first 10 episodes were called Victorians: Early and Late. These were first broadcast in 1990. In Spring 1991 five programmes, under the title Expansion, Trade and Industry, followed the experience of a merchant family.
Subsequent series were In Civil War (first shown Spring 1993), A Tudor Interlude (first shown Autumn 1993), Isaac Newton: Under the Stuarts (first shown Spring 1995) and From Iron Ways to Victorian Days (first shown Spring 1996; the Iron Ways section was new, and the last series of HWUTL to be written by Freda Kelsall, but the Victorian Days section was a rerun of the first half of Victorians: Early and Late). Britons at War (first shown Spring 1997) and The Spanish Armada (first shown Autumn 1998) were still produced by Yorkshire Television, but the remaining four units were made by independent companies - All Change (first shown Autumn 1999, and dealing with the 25 years after the Second World War in the UK), and Tudor Times, Tony Robinson's Local History Search and A Giant in Ancient Egypt (all first shown Spring 2002). The last of these units was still regularly repeated until Channel 4 stopped showing schools programmes in 2009.
Holroyd family
Other characters
To help teachers make the most from each programme, Teachers’ Notes provided a wealth of knowledge and ideas. Typically the notes contained:
.
originally announced a DVD release of Series 2 (first transmitted 1975-76) for June 2010. This has now been delayed to 31 December 2011.Amazon link
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
educational historical television drama written by Freda Kelsall and sometimes narrated by Redvers Kyle
Redvers Kyle
Redvers Kyle is a retired television announcer and presenter who worked on ITV in the United Kingdom.-Biography:Kyle was born in South Africa and was named after General Sir Redvers Buller, the British military commander in the early stages of the Anglo-Boer War...
and John Crosse
John Crosse
John Crosse was a radio DJ, presenter and continuity announcer, famed for being one of the voices of the Yorkshire Television region of Independent Television for 17 years.-Career:...
, both employed as continuity announcers at Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
at the time of production. Production began in 1968 at the YTV studios in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
. The series traced the lives and fortunes of various fictional Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
families from the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
until the 1960s, in and around the fictional town of Bradley, using self-contained short dramas interspersed with archive footage.
How We Used to Live Episodes Series 2: 1908-1945 Original air date: Autumn 1975 & Spring 1976 |
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How We Used to Live Episodes Series 3: 1874-1887 Original air date: Autumn 1978 & Spring 1979 |
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How We Used to Live Episodes Series 4: 1936-1953 Original air date: Autumn 1981 & Spring 1982 |
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How We Used to Live Episodes Series 5: 1902-1926 Original air date: Autumn 1984 & Spring 1985 |
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How We Used to Live Episodes Series 6: 1954-1970 Original air date: Autumn 1987 & Spring 1988 |
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How We Used to Live Episodes Later series |
Original Air Date: 1995 |
Transmission details
Each series was broadcast as part of ITV SchoolsITV Schools
ITV Schools was the educational television service set up in 1957 by the Independent Broadcasting Authority, broadcasting learning programmes for children ages 5 to 18 across ITV-affiliated stations...
, on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
between 1968 and 1987 and then on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
and S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
. The series would be split into two halves, with the first ten episodes transmitted in the autumn term (usually September – December) with the remainder of the series being shown in the spring term (from the second week of January until late March). The programmes were repeated frequently, enabling new generations of children to learn about modern history.
The series was mainly shown during the main schools schedule, though it was occasionally transmitted at other times - the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
lists Thora Hird Introduces How We Used to Live for 30 August 1984, described as "a documentary on the making of the award-winning schools series" and shown late at night on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. It would not have gone out in the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
area on that date because of a Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
strike, but it was shown again on the morning of 2 September. Part of the first series was repeated late at night in its home region of Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
in early 1969. Also, the episodes 'Blitz' and 'Victory', first shown in 1976, were repeated on the ITV network on 8 May 1985, the 40th anniversary of VE Day.
Series
There have been several series of How We Used to Live.Series 1 centred around the late Victorian era. It was first broadcast in 1968. Some additional episodes were added to this series in 1972/73 but this was not a separate series.
Series 2 covered the periods 1908-1918 (Autumn term 1975) and 1925-1945 (Spring Term 1976). The first half of the series centres round the Ackerley family. Albert, the father, is an assistant at a printing works. He earns 22/- per week. His son Harry takes a job as a grocers boy, earning 5/- per week. The rent of their terraced house, with gas and water laid on, is 6/- per week. Albert’s wife Daisey must make the rest of the income cover food, fuel and clothing. Jane, their daughter, is still at school until the age of 14 when she goes to work as a housemaid in a middle class home. The later episodes (1925 onwards) see the Dawson family move into the house occupied by the Ackerley family. Stanley Dawson, the father, works as a stores clerk in a factory, earning £3/2/6 per week. He becomes unemployed in the thirties and he, his wife Doris and son Gerald are forced to rely on the earnings of daughter Marjorie, who works as a library assistant. The Boothroyds move into the terraced house just before World War Two. Later programmes in the series describe how they cope with the varied hazards of civilian life in wartime Britain.
Series 3 covers a thirteen year period, namely the years 1874-1887. This series was first broadcast in 1978/1979. This series contrasts the fortunes of three families that although linked, have very different lives. Dr Hughes has a successful medical practice in middle-class Upper Bradley. His fee-paying patients live in the better of town, or in the country houses on the outskirts. He gives some of his time to the Bradley Free Hospital, and, as Medical Officer of Health, is appalled by conditions in poor working-class areas. His wife, his son and youngest daughter live comfortable lives in a large house with their every need taken care of by the hired help- namely housekeeper Mrs Tandy, Annie Fairhurst and Nanny. The Hughes eldest daughter, Dora, is married to Captain Bertram Selwyn. His father is the squire of Westmoor (a role Bertram is required to fulfil after the death of his father). They have two children: Humphrey (born in 1874) and Sophie (born 1881). The lifestyles of the middle class Hughes and mildly aristocratic Selwyn families is in sharp contrast to that of the Fairhurst’s. Ben and Mary Fairhurst are poor working class mill workers with more children than they can afford to feed. Annie, the eldest, is in service for Dr Hughes. Among the other children are Matt, Flo, Maudie, Tommy, Dinah as well as the others who died young.
Series 4 covered the period from 1936 until 1953. It centred around the lower middle-class Hodgkins family. First broadcast in 1981/82, this series embraces the events during the reign of George VI as they affected the family of Arthur Hodgkins, a railwayman living in Bradley. Along with his housewife Mabel and his four children, Patricia, Jimmy, Avril & Edward, they endure the hardships of the Second World War and the subsequent austerity period. The series climaxes with the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was the ceremony in which the newly ascended monarch, Elizabeth II, was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ceylon, and Pakistan, as well as taking on the role of Head of the Commonwealth...
.
Series 5 was filmed and broadcast in 1984. It covered the major events and social changes from the end of the Boer War in 1902 to the General Strike of 1926. The series tells the story of the friendship between two families of children who meet in Sunday school. The Holroyds, Maurice, Charlotte and Alexander are middle class. Their father owns the local textile mill. The Selbys, Maggie, Tom, Freddy, Albert & Alice are poor. Their father is a drunkard, their mother works long hours in the mill to support them. As they grow up into young adults, their lives become intertwined and the relationship, sometimes strained, shows the huge social changes which affected people in Britain during this time.
Series 6 covered the period 1954-1970. It was first broadcast in 1987 and centred around the Brady family. Michael Brady, the father of the family, was a character originally introduced in series 5 when he was born to Maggie Selby and Patrick Brady. The series begins with he and his family (wife Joan and children Susan, Roger & Beverley) moving back to Bradley. The series also features Michael’s Uncle Albert & Aunt Bertha (Selby) who were also in the fifth series. Characters introduced in the fourth series, Jimmy, Eileen and Edward Hodgkins and Laurence & Avril Butterworth, are also regulars, and the characters of Tom and Charlotte Selby from Series 5 and Esme Birkett from Series 4 also make guest appearances.
After this point How We Used To Live changed its direction (largely because of the National Curriculum). The drama format was expanded in order to take in documentaries, and series became shorter than the usual 20 episodes.
Series 7 was in two halves. The first 10 episodes were called Victorians: Early and Late. These were first broadcast in 1990. In Spring 1991 five programmes, under the title Expansion, Trade and Industry, followed the experience of a merchant family.
Subsequent series were In Civil War (first shown Spring 1993), A Tudor Interlude (first shown Autumn 1993), Isaac Newton: Under the Stuarts (first shown Spring 1995) and From Iron Ways to Victorian Days (first shown Spring 1996; the Iron Ways section was new, and the last series of HWUTL to be written by Freda Kelsall, but the Victorian Days section was a rerun of the first half of Victorians: Early and Late). Britons at War (first shown Spring 1997) and The Spanish Armada (first shown Autumn 1998) were still produced by Yorkshire Television, but the remaining four units were made by independent companies - All Change (first shown Autumn 1999, and dealing with the 25 years after the Second World War in the UK), and Tudor Times, Tony Robinson's Local History Search and A Giant in Ancient Egypt (all first shown Spring 2002). The last of these units was still regularly repeated until Channel 4 stopped showing schools programmes in 2009.
Cast and characters
Character name is in bold; actor(s) names are in brackets. Many characters were played by multiple actors as the character grew up from year to year.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493329/Series 4
The Hodgkins family- Arthur Hodgkins
- Mabel Hodgkins (Diana Davies)
- Jimmy Hodgkins
- Patricia Hodgkins (Julie Shipley 2 episodes)
- Avril Hodgkins
- Edward Hodgkins
Series 5
Selby family- Victor Selby (Jack Carr 6 episodes). Alcoholic father of the family. Often absent from home in the earlier episodes. Died in 1918 just after the armisticeArmisticeAn armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
was declared. - Sarah Selby (Brenda Elder 8 episodes). Working class mother of five children. Died of an illness in 1913.
- Maggie Brady (nee Selby) (Kathy JamiesonKathy JamiesonKathy Jamieson is an English actress. Her first notable TV appearance was as "Maggie Brady" in educational historical drama How We Used To Live. She has appeared in British films including Business as Usual and Butterfly Kiss...
12 episodes, Jane HazlegroveJane HazlegroveJane Hazlegrove is an English actress.Jane is well known for portraying Lisa Shepherd in Families, Yvonne Bradley in London's Burning, Sue Clayton in Coronation Street in 1985 and has appeared in Jonathan Creek, The Bill, Doctors and Holby City. She is currently playing Kathleen "Dixie" Dixon in...
5 episodes). Eldest child of Victor and Sarah. Married soldier Patrick Brady - Patrick Brady. Married Maggie Selby after returning from the Boer WarSecond Boer WarThe Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
to find the Selby family living in his old house after his family had done a moonlight flit. Killed in action in World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
-
-
- Michael Brady (Craig McKay 4 episodes, Stephen Bollard 3 episodes, Nicholas Ross 2 Episodes). Young son of Maggie and Patrick. Character reappears as the father in Series 6.
- Tom Selby (Peter HowittPeter HowittPeter Howitt is an English actor and film director. He grew up in Eltham, London and Bromley, Kent, Peter used to be a part of the Priory Players in the Priory behind Christ Church, Eltham. He studied at the Drama Studio London. He has two children, Luke and Amy...
- 12 episodes, Cy ChadwickCy ChadwickCy Chadwick is an English actor, director, producer, and Presenter. His most notable acting role was of Nick Bates in the long-running British soap Emmerdale Farm between 1985 and 1996....
3 episodes). Second child of Victor and Sarah. Gets elected as a LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Member of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in the 1920s. Eventually marries Charlotte Holroyd. - Freddie Selby (Ian MercerIan MercerIan Mercer is an English actor. On leaving school Mercer trained as an electrical engineer but decided to become an actor when he became an assistant stage manager at the Oldham Coliseum in 1979. His first television appearance was as a butcher in the film Blue Money in 1982...
3 episodes). Third child of Victor and Sarah. Killed in action, along with Maurice Holroyd, in World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918... - Albert Selby (John Laing 6 episodes, Alistair Walker 5 episodes). Fourth child. Lied about his age to sign up to fight in World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Marries Bertha Beale after the war. Character reppears as elderly uncle of Michael Brady in Series 6. - Bertha Beale (Maria Mescki 5 episodes, Katie Hall 2 episodes). GrocerGrocerA grocer is a bulk seller of food. Beginning as early as the 14th century, a grocer was a dealer in comestible dry goods such as spices, pepper, sugar, and cocoa, tea and coffee...
s daughter. Married Albert Selby after the war. Character reppears as the elderly aunt of Michael Brady in Series 6. - Alice Selby (Tara MoranTara MoranKathleen Tara Moran is an English actress.Moran's television debut was in Yorkshire Television's educational history series for schools, How We Used to Live...
6 episodes, Lorraine Sass 5 episodes). Youngest child of Victor and Sarah. Went to London in 1920s and inexplicably reappears in 1925 as a socialiteSocialiteA socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
and flapperFlapperFlapper in the 1920s was a term applied to a "new breed" of young Western women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior...
having got in with a posh crowd despite her working class roots.
- Tom Selby (Peter Howitt
- Michael Brady (Craig McKay 4 episodes, Stephen Bollard 3 episodes, Nicholas Ross 2 Episodes). Young son of Maggie and Patrick. Character reappears as the father in Series 6.
-
Holroyd family
- George Holroyd (David ScaseDavid ScaseDavid Scase was a British actor.Born at Fulham, London, as the son of a plumber, his first job as in a bicycle factory in the mid 1930s. He joined the Merchant Navy on the outbreak of World War II in 1939, but by the end of the war was working as a BBC sound engineer...
5 episodes). Head of the rich Holroyd family and owner of the factory where many of the Selby family work. Died in 1908 of an illness. - Emily Holroyd (Elizabeth KellyElizabeth KellyElizabeth Kelly is a British actress.She started acting on television in the early 1970s...
4 episodes). Wife of George Holroyd. Injured when the Scarborough hotel she had evacuated to was bombed in the First World War and died off-screen shortly afterwards. - Maurice Holroyd (Paul GabrielPaul GabriëlPaul Joseph Constantin Gabriël was a painter, draftsman, watercolorist, and etcher who belonged to the Hague School....
7 episodes, Mark ThrippletonMark ThrippletonMark Thrippleton is an English actor from Leeds.Thrippleton worked as a roofer and tiler before taking up acting in the 1980s.In 1984 he appeared in How We Used to Live — a British educational drama tracing the lives and fortunes of fictional Yorkshire families from Ewardian times...
3 episodes). Eldest child of George and Emily. Friend to Tom Selby. Killed in action along with Freddie Selby in the First World War - Charlotte Holroyd (Sue JenkinsSue JenkinsSusan Elizabeth Jenkins is an English actress and one of two daughters of Albert and Marjorie Jenkins.-Biography:Sue Jenkins became an actress at the age of eighteen having studied at drama college...
12 episodes, Wendy Jane WalkerWendy Jane WalkerWendy Jane Walker is an actress who became well known during the 1980s for playing Susan Barlow in the ITV Soap Opera, Coronation Street....
6 episodes). Eldest daughter of George and Emily. Was a suffragetteSuffragette"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
and eventually married Tom Selby. - Alexander Holroyd (David Michaels, 8 episodes). Youngest child of George and Emily. Was imprisoned for being a conscientious objectorConscientious objectorA conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
in the First World War
Other characters
- John Pilling (James Walker, 6 episodes)
- Mr Beale (Alan Starkey 4 episodes). Bertha's father
- Mrs Beale (Ruth Holden 5 episodes). Bertha's mother
- Ned Wilkins (Dickie Arnold 4 episodes)
- Hospital Sister (Eileen O'Brien, 1 episode)
Series 6
- Dorothy Clegg (Jane HazlegroveJane HazlegroveJane Hazlegrove is an English actress.Jane is well known for portraying Lisa Shepherd in Families, Yvonne Bradley in London's Burning, Sue Clayton in Coronation Street in 1985 and has appeared in Jonathan Creek, The Bill, Doctors and Holby City. She is currently playing Kathleen "Dixie" Dixon in...
) - Bertha Selby (Ruth Holden). A reappearing character, having originally appeared in series 5.
- Albert Selby A reappearing character, having originally appeared in series 5.
- Michael Brady. Head of the Brady family. Reappearing character, having originally appeared in series 5.
- Joan Brady (Eileen O'Brien). Wife of Michael
- Avril Butterworth (née Hodgkins) (Rachel Laurence 2 episodes). Reappearing character having originally appeared in series 4). Married to Laurence. Killed in a car crash.
Support materials
Each series was handsomely supported by a range of materials for teachers and their pupils.To help teachers make the most from each programme, Teachers’ Notes provided a wealth of knowledge and ideas. Typically the notes contained:
- An introduction to the historical period covered & the principal characters;
- Reading List for teachers & pupils;
- Main events of the period;
- The Story of each episode;
- Historical Notes on each episode;
- Preparation, which suggested activities which completed prior to viewing of each episode would help pupils make sense of what they saw;
- Questions which could be used in discussion or as part of a worksheet;
- Follow-up Activities which would build on what had been seen in the episode, e.g. a wall collage, class discussion, role play etc.
VHS
All series of How We Used To Live from the 1975-76 series to A Tudor Interlude (1993) were released on VHS in 1994 and 1995 by Yorkshire International Thomson Multimedia. These were intended for educational institutions only, but have since become collectable among a general audience and are often available on sites such as eBayEBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
.
DVD
Network DVDNetwork DVD
Network DVD is a DVD publishing company that specialises in classic British television. In particular, it has the rights to a number of well-known ITV programmes...
originally announced a DVD release of Series 2 (first transmitted 1975-76) for June 2010. This has now been delayed to 31 December 2011.Amazon link