John Lennon declares the Beatles "bigger than Jesus".
England win the World Cup.
And Time Magazine calls London "Swinging" - in what would become the word that defined a decade.
But 1966 wasn't all about the capital. And it wasn’t all about football. All over the country, things were changing, and they were changing fast.
I hadn’t been born in 1966, but for most of my life I’ve been immersed in the cultural impact of that year. I grew up watching Star Trek which first aired in the US in ’66 – as did other childhood favourites of mine The Monkees, The Time Tunnel and Mission: Impossible. It was also the year that a number of incredible songs were hits – including the extraordinary Beatles classic Eleanor Rigby. Many of the hits of ‘66 I play regularly now on my phone, still marveling at a technology that back then would have seemed just impossibly far fetched.
So to mark a half century passing, we decided to make a programme in every region of England, celebrating 1966 and the changes it brought about.
They’re a fascinating selection of films.
In the West Midlands, Adrian Chiles discovers how new arrivals battled racism in everyday life.
In the South East, Simon Fanshawe visits my old university – then a new university – in Canterbury. In the East Midlands Robert Lindsay remembers life in Nottingham while Stuart Maconie uncovers a world of casinos, strip joints, slum clearances and women’s lib in the North West.
Vivien Walden outside the former Mr Smith's strip club
Writer Kay Mellor in Yorkshire with Fashion entrepeneur Rita Britton
Then, of course, there is the capital of the swinging sixties where Patsy Kensit explores what it was really like in London using five of her favourite photographs from the time.
Wherever you are in England, you’ll find Living in ’66 a wonderful reminder of a world now gone, but not totally forgotten. Frankly the great thing about making a TV programme about the mid sixties is that there was colour everywhere – and the music was sensational – which are quite simply a programme maker’s dream. If I was to think of 1956 I’d imagine black and white pictures and prim and proper people – think 1976 and I’d imagine beige outfits and an economic crisis – both a far cry from the exuberance, the colour and the change of the mid-sixties.
There's a unique perspective to explore with regional programmes like these - an opportunity to see the transformation of inner city areas to huge changes in transport and education. Do be sure to watch to find out – or to help you remember – what it was like 'Living in ’66'.
Stuart Thomas is Head of English Regions Programmes
- airs on 成人论坛 One in England at 7.30pm on Wednesday 1 June, 2016 and all regional programmes will be available to watch on iPlayer for 30 days after broadcast.
- Read more about the programme on the .