Carryon abroad
HOLIDAYING IN THE 70s: WISH YOU WERE HERE
Channel 5, 9pm
THE 1970s was the start of a travel revolution, changing how we travelled, where we went and what we did when we got there.
It was bye bye to wet weekends in Blackpool and hello to sangria in sunny Benidorm.
Suddenly Brits were jetting off to package holidays on the Costas and we all knew what a peseta was, with holiday programmes taking over the airwaves.
This fun, nostalgic two-part series takes a look back at this time of change, recreating a high street travel agency (remember those?) and boarding an authentic 1970s plane. It reveals the delights of the in-flight drinks trolley, when smoking on board was common.
There is also insight into the secret history of backroom deals with dictatorships that helped finance our favourite resorts.
Tonight’s episode charts the rise of the package holiday, discovering how Brits swapped staycations for Mediterranean sun. Benidorm became a must-visit destination, with a building boom that made tour operators millions but caused trouble for tourists who arrived to find the hotels still being built.
These were the glory days of airports, when we dressed up in our Sunday best just to get through check-in, and security was so minimal we could wander onto the Tarmac.
Experts look back at a time when air hostesses were the queens of the skies, complete with uniforms created by legendary designer Sir Hardy Amies and make-up by Elizabeth Arden.
And there are laughs with memories of Brits trying to get their heads around foreign food, ‘funny money’ and the local lingo.