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Booze, Beans and Bhajis: The Story of the Corner Shop

Timeshift Series 16
Episode 4 of 5

Babita Sharma explores the growing and shifting fortunes of the British corner shop to discover why this unsung hero has been at the centre of ordinary lives for over 70 years.

What is it about the British and the corner shop? The corner shop has always been there for us, it's a British institution. It was on the front line of what was happening in society from the '40s to the noughties. It saved our bacon during World War II and it has become a rite of passage for new immigrants.

Journalist Babita Sharma, the daughter of shopkeepers, explores the growing and shifting fortunes of the corner shop to discover why this unsung hero has been at the centre of ordinary lives for more than 70 years. With contributions from comedian Sanjeev Singh Kholi and actor Nitin Ganatra, the film uses the shop as a way to explore the social fabric of Britain - from economic change to immigration.

The death of the corner shop has been predicted many times - but still it soldiers on. So just how has it managed to survive?

59 minutes

Last on

Thu 25 Aug 2022 00:00
Â鶹ÊÓƵAV Four

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Penny Blacks and Twopenny Blues: How Britain Got Stuck on StampsSeries 16

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:01

    Toots & The Maytals

    54-46 Was My Number

  • 00:06

    Glenn Miller Orchestra

    American Patrol

  • 00:12

    Booker T. & The M.G.'s

    Green Onions

  • 00:12

    Booker T. & The M.G.'s

    Green Onions (feat. Steve Cropper)

  • 00:12

    Apache Indian

    Chok De

  • 00:14

    Antonín Dvořák

    Symphony No 9 In E Minor Op 95 'From The New World': 2nd Movement: Largo

  • 00:15

    The Orioles

    Bring That Money Home

  • 00:17

    Bally Sagoo, Reema Das Gupta, Debashish Dasgupta & Cheshire Cat

    Chura Liya

  • 00:25

    Thin Lizzy

    Black Boys On The Corner

  • 00:25

    Thin Lizzy

    Black Boys On The Corner

  • 00:34

    The Fall

    F-'Oldin' Money

  • 00:40

    The Rishi Rich Project

    Dance With You (Dancehall Diwali Remix)

  • 00:41

    Ghostpoet

    Cash and Carry Me Home

  • 00:42

    Ghostpoet

    Cash and Carry Me Home

  • 00:46

    Panjabi MC

    Beware Of The Boys (feat. JAY-Z)

  • 00:48

    Semisonic

    Closing Time

  • 00:51

    Cornershop

    We're in Y'r Corner

  • 00:53

    Luis Bacalov

    The Grand Duel

  • 00:57

    Allie Moss

    Corner

  • 00:58

    Cornershop

    Brimful of Asha

  • 00:59

    Cornershop

    Brimful of Asha

Credits

Presenter Babita Sharma
Series Producer William Naylor
Producer Linda Sands
Director Linda Sands
Executive Producer Michael Poole

Broadcasts