1955: Life of a 50s TEENAGER | Special Enquiry | Voice of the People | BBC Archive

Special Enquiry: Britain's Teenagers - a documentary presented by Denis Mitchell - follows the lives of different teenagers living in 1950s Britain.
This clip focuses on schoolgirl Diane, a young Dirk Bogarde fan on the cusp of adulthood, who feels that in West Norwood the people are all either too young or too old. What does Diane do with her time?
Originally broadcast, 1 November, 1955.
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[@callumsykes1307]

The generations come and go. Each apparently so different, each essentially so alike. And the experiment goes on. Profound words.

[@soundseeker63]

Diane's mum seems surprisingly relaxed and enlightened in her attitude. Not the prim/proper and sort of repressed housewife type you associate with the 50s. She wanted her daughter to go out, have fun, and learn to be world wise. Hopefully thats exactly what she did.

[@RocketRocket-ce3ke]

I thought the thing. Seems to approve of under-age drinking in her home too.

[@olivercuenca4109]

I love that she's upset about moving to the suburbs because everyone's either 'too young or too old'. Such a classic small town teenager problem. I remember feeling exactly the same way in the 2010s.

[@17thcentury_girl]

i feel this way now living in a rural area, In my church my youngest siblings and my parents are the closest to my age. But to be honest, most young people I know my age aren't the nicest.

[@biegebythesea6775]

Not a teenage problem. I'm 42 and feel the same.

[@hilaryepstein6013]

She'd be about 83 now so when you see old people remember they were young once. I hope she got what she wanted out of life.

[@Neil-Aspinall]

She wanted very little relatively speaking and I'm sure she got it and then found out how pointless it all is.

[@hilaryepstein6013]

@@Neil-Aspinall Well let's hope she lived a life which was fulfilling for her. It does happen sometimes!

[@ultimatemagic2125]

@@Neil-Aspinall You seem fun to be around.

[@Neil-Aspinall]

@@ultimatemagic2125 People who don't sugar coat it are usually not fune to be around

[@ultimatemagic2125]

@@Neil-Aspinall Saying life is pointless isnt not sugar coating it, its being a miserable cunt who made nothing of their own life.

[@zannaxz]

I am currently a teenager growing up in the 2020s and there are many things I can relate to her with. I love seeing insights on how times were back in these days.

[@Neil-Aspinall]

People acted and looked at least 10 years older than they were in the 50's.

[@heinkle1]

At LEAST

[@snufftherooster93]

A very mature, Conservative people who lived in a society that essentially made you a man at 15, and half of them were married with kids by their 20s. Do with that what you will.

[@Neil-Aspinall]

@@snufftherooster93 There seemed to be such a hopeless sense of continual breeding for breeding's sake. They don't seem to have any dreams? No wonder John, Paul, George and Ringo wanted to get out of that dead end street.

[@carlybishop6160]

It is true and I think that is why a lot of older people think younger people are 10 years younger than they are. An older lady yesterday asked me what I was studying at University, she was shocked when I said I was 32 and graduated over 10 years ago lol. On that note I think education has changed things, a lot of people stay in education until we are 22, then want to have a stable job before they settle down. Marriage is not everything now and average of marriage is now over 30. While in the 1950s most married in their late teens or early 20s. Similarly, relationships are different, you don't just get married, nowadays you live together, etc first (which before was called "living in sin"). So, if you look her at 15, she has to grow up fast as she is expected to have a full time job within a year and be married within the next 10 years. That is what a 22 year old would be like now, a 15 year old nowadays still probably has several years in education, no expectation to settle down any day soon and knows that. They don't have to grow up and seem grown up so quickly.

[@Neil-Aspinall]

@@carlybishop6160 In Germany and other EU countries it is nothing to be in Uni till 26-27 and that's just if you want to be a normal teacher let alone a Doctor!

[@misawajason]

Seeing videos like this makes me wonder. Is she still alive? How was her life? What kind of amazing experiences has she lived and what heartaches has she suffered? Would be amazing to see a follow up video from 70 years later

[@heinkle1]

Agreed - she was probably married by 1965. I think would be about 82/83 now

[@shiraqin]

I, too, would love an update! I think a follow up would be fascinating.

[@skunk5915]

they did do a follow up 10 years later and she was indeed married and had a child, dont know what happened after that though

[@sammemrys8195]

A quintessential example of a teen from any generation.

[@pallasathena1555]

Stability is the key to happiness, love and money are both a part of that.

[@evelynwilson1566]

Diane has no homework, enough money to buy records and decent parents. Life seems pretty good😂

[@westminsterwatcher5152]

Fascinating footage! This is why I love BBC Archive!

[@welshlad6427]

It's the only part of the BBC that's any good these days.

[@westminsterwatcher5152]

@@welshlad6427 True!

[@leefinney592]

There was a followup to this 10 years later then she was on a TV show in 77. Both are on the archive but not via youtube....yet

[@johnmcgahern3946]

Wouldn't that be 22 years later?

[@noplace82]

@John McGahern Two separate programmes. Lee did say 'both'.

[@johnmcgahern3946]

@@noplace82 Ah, yes, I can't read! Thanks!

[@sie4431]

Interesting, how do you know that?

[@Neil-Aspinall]

So I suppose she was a grand mother by then?

[@Loupdelou-ly1ve]

I'm confused - who are all these people at Diane's party? She said she has no friends. I'm not sure Diane is 15 and a half at all! They all look 35, at least!

[@bordersw1239]

Someone needs to tell her about Dirk Bogarde 😂

[@rosiebottom3870]

"Diane, you're not his type." 😂

[@stephendavies925]

This was a time when not everyone was happy but everyone knew where they stood in life

[@user-fy3qx3jd6n]

'School, it get's boring'. You don't say.

[@meowstermeow2967]

The teenages already looked like in their 50s with the perms, hairstyles and clothing

[@Neil-Aspinall]

Yes and her attitudes seemed so incredibly old fashioned even for those days? I want to know what she did with all these guys she dated, not even kissing it would appear?

[@arlosmith9504]

The house in West Norwood is probably worth at least £1m today 😄

[@joannamillan8882]

Love the 50s would have loved it back then 😊

[@jillkemp5521]

I was born in the mid fifties, life was hard and 's***'. poverty was everywhere, wages were low for most workers, especially women. The middle and upper class had a far better time of it, and nothing has changed in this regard today.

[@Harry-fk5of]

The streets looked so peaceful back when most people couldn't afford a car.

[@DavidHembrow]

At that time British people cycled more than the Dutch do now. A fifth of all journeys in the UK by distance were by bike in 1955.

[@sie4431]

Less people too! 15 million less than today

[@UnIimited_Power]

One day we'll have the illusion there are no cars until we look at the window because they'll all be silent but deadly!

[@jakecavendish3470]

They're all actually surprisingly aggressive, seems to be a lot of angst going on there

[@TheConorsmithusa]

1955 always makes me think of james dean. that was his year

[@epinhervin9355]

Look like the music video of The Smiths ❤ R.I.P. Andy Rourke 😢 my dream for The Smiths reunion in Bandung, Indonesia are never be completed

[@bones228]

And they say "We've progressed". Pull the other one. it's a mess!

[@CamperVanPersie]

Look at those Roads....like Billiard Tables.

[@AtheistOrphan]

1:20 - Somehow I don’t think he’d be interested Diane. Now if you had a brother......

[@2ToneWalt]

Blimey, what a contrast to how West Norwood looks today.

[@RestWithin]

I’m surprised there wasn’t a warning for the lack of diversity.

[@davidmathews4524]

You are absolutely right It's now like a Horror movie No progress there 🎉

[@mistereuro4738]

​@@davidmathews4524 Can't beat a good old Jamaican patty 🤓

[@sarahlouise7163]

the inexplicable 1950s thing for chopping off your hair and fashioning it into an unflattering, immovable helmet

[@daedralord1]

They are actors pretending to be teenagers. The guy was a teddy boy with a job in a different video. Now all of a sudden he’s a teenage school boy

[@chestercopperpot9294]

The two teddy boys were in a previous video.

[@Geordie_Explorer]

Born in 1939 she was so if still alive Roughly mid 80s now

[@sie4431]

She would have been born mid 1940

[@Neil-Aspinall]

Apparently she is a great great great grandmother now.

[@terrybrown4400]

They sound like the cast from Please Sir

[@davidlong1459]

Tricky time to be a teenager with society finding its feet post war. Illustrates how the 60s youth breaking out was inevitable. (Pretty liberal mum for the time though I reckon).

[@TotallyLostSoul]

Who are all the people at her party if she doesn't have any friends?

[@terrybiddle6189]

Love this stuff. Very liberal parents for her time. Odd to think she may still be alive. Imagine if she finds this

[@olajideparis]

Yes, I was thinking the same

[@RestWithin]

The fashion seem to be to dress like your mother. Very aging.

[@Neil-Aspinall]

@@RestWithin Yes until the 60's that is what kids were made to do.

[@smeatballs]

She’s dead

[@Neil-Aspinall]

@@smeatballs Fact?

[@1969Kismet]

I wonder if this "Special Enquiry" gave Michael Apted the idea for "SevenUp!"?

[@OlafProt]

Goodness life of a middle class teenager.

[@katewebber1131]

Such simple times, born 1950 yes it was different we lived day to day week to week. Not a lot of money. Also the queens english was spoken. Regardless where you lived.

[@richardcummins5465]

Good to see the Walls Ice Cream van . A Trojan. Remember them well.!

[@susiefairfield7218]

Next Stop!!! Willoughby!!!

[@deshawn53988]

Jesus! They look 30! Wowww

[@nathandurbin9260]

This is my grandparents generation love was real then its sad we will never know it

[@biegebythesea6775]

Luke Littler would fit right in.

[@joytotheworld6804]

Moans she has no friends her age, has party with loads of young people at her house and rarely is without a boyfriend

[@AtheistOrphan]

A bit different from the town Marty McFly visited in 1955!

[@northernsnow6982]

Imagine an actual place in England in 1955, being different from a fictional town in America written in 1985.🤯

[@biegebythesea6775]

​@@northernsnow6982it was meant to be a recreation so the year is irrelevant but the location is yes.

[@northernsnow6982]

@biegebythesea6775 Excuse me, what are you trying to say? The movie was based on that year, not that town. So why do they have to be similar? Marty McFly went back to 1955 in a fictional American town. This video was actually filmed in 1955, in England. I couldn't imagine fictional town in California, about 1955, written in 1985, being anything like any place anywhere in England during 1955. You might as well be looking at actual interviews filmed in China, Mexico, India, or Africa from 1955, and comparing those videos to Hollywood productions written and acted out in 1985, on a film set. Imagine a movie about 1994, coming out this year set in a fictional American town. Then Imagine trying to compare that fictional town to an actual town, in England from 1994. It would be useless. Anyway, my morning crap is done. So I wipe myself of it and of you. Bye.

[@petergivenbless900]

It must have been awkward to have been born at the outset of WWII; you were not part of the Great Generation but you were much older than the Baby Boomers who followed you. In the Summer of Love, '69, I was born to my young parents, 19 and 22, while the teenager in this video would have been 29!

[@heinkle1]

The father: “I’ve found some very nice young people around here” 👀

[@garryleeks4848]

😂😂

[@susiefairfield7218]

🤔

[@welshlad6427]

And? Must be in your mind sister.

[@Neil-Aspinall]

I thought the same thing Heink. 😂

[@garryleeks4848]

0: 54 tom hardy looks good with a D A haircut

[@AtheistOrphan]

‘IT’S A SHOOTOUT!’

[@garryleeks4848]

@@AtheistOrphan never give power to the big man 🙄

[@rashpalsingh6041]

Money starts trouble.. she switched on🤚

[@biegebythesea6775]

Can do in the wrong hands but she needs a man with money.

[@DonnellOkafor-pd7yn]

Love doesn't last forever. Hes r

[@fidelabc123]

She looks like she's 40

[@Neil-Aspinall]

Her attitude certainly was.

[@user-zm4cd4vj4z]

Oh you mean she's not like the lard a.. tattoo covered thing like we have today!

[@Neil-Aspinall]

@@user-zm4cd4vj4z Regardless she looks like she is a carbon copy of her mother, physically and mentally.

[@sallywright8065]

The teenagers look middle aged!

[@RocketRocket-ce3ke]

That's what war probably does to children

[@biegebythesea6775]

Today she would have had online friends. Very important for women to have friends esp so they dont end up with terrible men and have self respect.

[@user-zm4cd4vj4z]

Oh my god!

[@ChadSlampiece]

She's not a teenager. She's a 45 year old woman. XD

[@Neil-Aspinall]

With a grandmothers attitudes.

[@PaulElstins-gt2qc]

❤ no old houses in 1956 site yes old old ones no more old 😮😮😮 1950 oldest one no more 😮 ££ no more like this no

[@user-ck5ho3di2o]

Well she did not come from working class family the way her parents spoke,think she was very lucky to have a privilege life,notice how empty streets were of cars,if she stop moaning might make friends,also only child when most of us came from big families, never had to share,

[@biegebythesea6775]

Those men look about 50!!

[@Grunchy005]

Mum says: "But what can I do about it? Let her bring the boyfriends home, let her compare them with her own people, and then she'll meet, eventually, the type of man that I'd like her to marry." Diane says: "I'd like him to be well-built, and 3 years older than myself. I'd like to know where he's going if he's going out, but I wouldn't ask, I'd like him to tell me. I'd like a man who likes children, because more than anything I want children." So... somebody stronger & older (more capable) yet knows who's the boss. Gotcha!

[@biegebythesea6775]

What a sexist response. She didn't ask for a man who thinks he in charge. She wants someone communicative.

[@mbvideoselection]

​@@biegebythesea6775Oh dear.. Virtue just can't be signalled enough, can it? I cry when I see how immature the world has become since this was filmed. You would have loved to be a part of unravelling all that was good about society then aswell as what was bad, wouldn't you? Pious misandrists such as yourself have done, and continue to do, so much to wreck the world because of the warrior mentality that has been brainwashed into you by a media run almost entirely by gay, Jewish influencers with an axe to grind who want to reform the world in their image.

[@cuteanimalseverywhere7620]

Is it imagination or do Disney and her dad sound a bit Aussie?

[@user-yq9ii5kz4q]

Oh! The full skirts and petticoats...homemade cotton dresses...nylons held up with suspenders. And the stiff hair after a home perm....had to be wavy hair. ..girl's hair today would be called " rat's tails". Lace-up shoes for sports or hiking only.....

[@thomastereszkiewicz2241]

they seem a bit old for teenagers, I think they might be actors in their 20's.

[@user-dt3rj8qm3k]

Teenagers looked like that back in the 50's. Even in the states

[@jakecavendish3470]

Three of them are definitely actors so I'm guessing all of them could be. They seem a bit too amdram John Osborne to be believable and they also all seem far too familiar with being on camera

[@thomastereszkiewicz2241]

I think you are definitely correct, are any still acting? @@jakecavendish3470

[@sandrajenkins6822]

But Diane, Dirk Bogarde is gay.

[@nicholashanson9508]

does the BBC acknowledge the extreme lack of diversity in this video?

[@Dynastone]

must be so boring to be a teen then.

[@TheConorsmithusa]

fortnite sucks

[@biegebythesea6775]

If you don't have friends, yes but you had books, music, cafes, buses/trains for travel, the cinema...

[@Dynastone]

@@biegebythesea6775 you have those today too

[@JM-ws6ku]

This is what they took from you.

[@ebridgewater]

The UK is unrecognisable today. In a bad way.

[@DJ-dk8he]

Agreed 🙏

[@truthhurts8924]

Immigration... ruined the country.

[@DJ-dk8he]

@@truthhurts8924 i agree with you, im a foreign student studying in this country !! But i hate the way immigrants especially the illegals are ruining this place.. and the govt supports them ffs..this needs to change or uk is doomed

[@heinkle1]

Every generation will have said that since the Norman Conquest. Change is inevitable.

[@TheDanEdwards]

Good!

[@dan11438]

Back when there were actually English schoolchildren in London 😂😂😂

[@biegebythesea6775]

We're all English, dear

[@PrayTellGaming]

This is propaganda, no? They are just actors?

[@billymac702]

They look great much better than the scruffy drones walking the streets nowadays who don't even look clean

[@RocketRocket-ce3ke]

Yes. I dont know too many girls who go home from school today and change into a lovely frock and pearls.

[@ultimatemagic2125]

15 and half! She looks about 45!

[@Neil-Aspinall]

With the attitude of her grandmother's aunty

[@biegebythesea6775]

Like Luke Littler

[@Neil-Aspinall]

@@biegebythesea6775 Yeah what the hell is going on with that 38yo man masquarading as a 16yo boy?