Back in Time for The Weekend, BBC2 - TV review: Of all the decades, the Ashby-Hawkins were happiest in the Seventies

Life in the Fifties was the biggest revelation for 12-year-old Seth who learnt it was possible to have fun with friends away from a computer screen

Daisy Wyatt
Tuesday 08 March 2016 22:38 GMT
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Home truths: the Ashby-Hawkins, with Giles Coren (centre), in 'Back in Time for the Weekend'
Home truths: the Ashby-Hawkins, with Giles Coren (centre), in 'Back in Time for the Weekend'

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The future looked bright in the final episode of Back in Time for the Weekend on BBC2. The Ashby-Hawkins family have been merrily transported through every decade since the Fifties, and last night experimented with some gadgets that could improve our technology-obsessed lives in decades to come.

Teenager Daisy tested a clip-on device that took photos of her and her friends throughout the day. It meant they enjoyed the moment, rather than spending hours constructing photos to look as if they were having fun. She most enjoyed living in the Nineties, when she could let her hair down at a rave rather than posing for tomorrow's Facebook likes.

Life in the Fifties was the biggest revelation for 12-year-old Seth, who learnt it was possible to have fun with friends away from a computer screen. Last night the self-proclaimed “captive of modern technology” tested a futuristic drone with his friend in the park and loved the real-life human interaction.

Of all the decades, the Ashby-Hawkins were most happy in the Seventies. There may have been endless strikes and electricity cuts, but the family enjoyed having a laugh together. Advancements in technology meant women weren't chained to the kitchen, but gadgets hadn't overtaken our lives to such an extent that mobiles were banned from the dinner table.

Trite though it sounds, the future looks bright if we can use technology to spend more time with each other. As mother Steph said, it's the memories that we take to our grave. Not reaching level 1550 on Candy Crush.

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