Back in Time for the Weekend: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Like many modern families, the Ashby Hawkins home is stuffed full of tablets, computers, phones, and gadgets to distract them in their spare time. But for one summer they agreed to give up all their 21st century technology and travel back in time, to experience the radical transformation of our leisure time since 1950.

The family's own home becomes their time machine as they are transported back to a different decade each week. Guided by presenters Giles Coren and social historian Polly Russell, the family's entire experience is underpinned by The Family Expenditure Survey, a government study which ran from the 50s right through to 1999. The survey's detailed spending records give us the best possible clue as to what families were doing with their leisure time across the five decades.

Series details

• Title: Back in Time for the Weekend
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: History
• Premiere date: 2016-02-02
• Final broadcast date listed: 2016-03-08
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: BBC Two
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 12242
• IMDb ID: tt5444348
• TVDB ID: 306988

Cast and credited roles

• Polly Russell — Presenter
• Giles Coren — Presenter

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2016-02-02; final listed air date 2016-03-08; episode order: 6.

Source and licence

Adapted from Back in Time for the Weekend on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.