Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Episode 2

A series telling the story of the NHS through the voices of the people whose lives it has affected. This episode covers a period in which the NHS expands beyond all recognition.

This episode covers a period in which the NHS expands beyond all recognition as it is forced to evolve and adapt to the needs of an ever-growing, and ever more diverse population, all against a background of social strife and the increasing pressures to privatise. Amongst the highly cherished artefacts shown are the personal letters of Dr Elphis Christopher, a family-planning specialist who received death threats when she dared advocate sex education in schools, the NHS wigs given to Grand National-winning jockey Bob Champion when he underwent a then revolutionary form of chemotherapy for testicular cancer and the pram and teddy bear of Alastair Macdonald, the world's second, and the NHS's first, test-tube baby.

This era of 1973 to 1997 was a time of extreme social change and the NHS was forced to adapt accordingly. Neurosurgeon Alan Crockard reveals a small titanium plate he and his colleagues in Belfast invented at the height of the conflict in Northern Ireland to insert into head wounds, an innovation that in his words 'helped people survive the unsurvivable'. Wendy Watson, the first woman in Britain to have a pre-emptive double mastectomy, shares the handwritten letter she received from Princess Diana, thanking her for her work raising money for breast cancer screening. And mum of two Rosemary Cox shows the brooch her dying son gave her, shortly before his tragic death from a brain tumour became the catalyst for her campaign to create of the UK's Organ Donor Register.

59 minutes

Music Played

  • Eurythmics

    Sweet Dreams

  • Bronski Beat

    Smalltown Boy

  • Saint Etienne

    Former Lover

  • Led Zeppelin

    When The Levee Breaks

  • The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band

    Albatross (feat. Rick Vito)

  • Shocking Blue

    Venus

  • Lieutenant Pigeon

    Mouldy Old Dough

  • The Sensational Alex Harvey Band

    The Faith Healer

  • Black Sabbath

    War Pigs

  • Thin Lizzy

    Whiskey In The Jar

  • James Last Orchestra

    A Whiter Shade of Pale

  • Bryan Ferry

    Let's Work Together

  • Supertramp

    The Logical Song

  • Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

    Electricity

  • Rose Royce

    Wishing On A Star

  • Boney M.

    Brown Girl In The Ring

  • The Selecter

    On My Radio

  • The Human League

    Love Action (I Believe In Love)

  • Manfred Mann鈥檚 Earth Band

    Blinded By The Light

  • The Flying Lizards

    Money (That's What I Want)

  • Duran Duran

    Ordinary World

  • Tori Amos

    Cornflake Girl

  • Enya

    Caribbean Blue

  • Annie Lennox

    Why

  • Edwyn Collins

    A Girl Like You

  • Gina G

    Just A Little Bit

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Alex Brooker
Series Producer Zoe Jewell
Executive Producer Eve Kay
Director Kemi Majekodunmi
Production Company 7 Wonder Productions

Broadcasts

How much do you know about the NHS? Test your knowledge and find out what it鈥檚 like to be a nurse

Visit The Open University to find out more about the NHS.

The University of Warwick: People's History of the NHS

For more on the history of the NHS, go to Warwick University鈥檚 site.