Over the last 40 years, technology has developed with dizzying speed.
But how has it changed us?
How has it transformed our homes and altered family life?
To find out, the Sullivan-Barneses are taking part in a unique experiment.
They have been stripped of all their modern technology,
including three games consoles, three DVD players,
five mobile phones, six televisions and seven computers.
It'll be fantastic at the end of it if we're slightly less hooked on all the techno stuff.
Their own home has been turned into a time machine.
What on earth have they done with our kitchen?
They've fast-forwarded through the years at the rate of one a day from the digital wilderness of the 1970s.
Black and white!
To the prehistoric electronics of the '80s.
Press... Wait! Why can't you be more patient?
Nothing ever works!
Now they're going to experience the communication revolution of the '90s.
Look, it works!
It just makes it look like we spend our entire time watching television!
But as the gadgets come thick and fast...
We've all got a new one then. Oh, blimey, not another one!
..what price family life?
Hamish won't speak to us again. He won't need to.
Shoot... Oh!
Has progress always been for the better?
And how has it changed our electric dreams?
# We'll always be together
# However far it seems Love never ends
# We'll always be together
# Together in electric dreams... #
# Back to life
# Back to reality... #
The Sullivan-Barnes family are having their last breakfast of the 1980s.
# Back to the here and now... #
After a decade of technological disappointments, gadget freak Adam is enthusiastic about the '90s.
There'll be more games, there'll be more computer stuff, there'll be better TV.
And we'll be back to the old world of hardly speaking to each other probably.
Mum Georgie is worried about the impact of ever more technology on her family.
There's bound to be more distractions that pull people further away.
Toddler Jude is too young to comment,
but Adam's daughter Steff and Georgie's children Ellie and Hamish will return to the decade
in which they were born. Not that they remember it.
I've had the experience of the '80s, I've had the experience of the 2000s, so, basically, it's just in between.
I do kind of know what it's gonna be like. Do you think?
But the '90s may hold surprises for them all.
Throughout their experience, the family have had their very own technical support team.
They've arrived to take the technology in the house from the '80s to the '90s.
And they've got their work cut out.
# So come on, let me entertain you... #
Sociologist Dr Ben Highmore specialises in the history of domestic technology.
It's the decade of the gadget.
An ever-increasing array of consumer technologies demanded more and more attention from families.
Tom Wrigglesworth is in charge of all their audio-visual devices.
In a decade where there were ever more possibilities for home entertainment, he will be busy.
This technology meant more reasons for kids to stay in their rooms,
playing with the world's biggest remote control.
Gia Milinovich is a lifelong computer geek and technology writer.
For me, this decade is going to be quite difficult keeping up with the pace of change with the computer
because software and hardware just changed constantly.
With the crucial kit in place, there is just time to add a few period flourishes.
The house is all set to relive the 1990s.
The family have been transformed too with dress-down '90s clobber.
But they have no idea what's now waiting for them behind their own front door.
Oh, wow! Oh, look!
I like this. There we go, look.
This is much nicer than the '80s.
The '80s chintz has been well and truly chucked.
Minimalist - that's the word I want.
Photographs of pebbles on the beach were very '90s.
There's a lot of new gadgets, a lot of technology. What a big telly!
Big, black telly as well.
But progress is still slower than the kids were hoping for.
Four channels. We had four in the '80s.
It's quite funny how only 19 years ago, there was only four channels
and now you can get like 600 or something.
The kitchen is no longer by Laura Ashley,
but there is something even more exciting than a style makeover.
Wow, it's bigger!
That's really weird. It's got bigger!
Over the years, the kitchen has evolved from a functional workspace
to a bigger and more sociable family hub.
Ha! Oh, wow!
The girls, of course, have no memory of the early '90s,
but are pleased to see that not everything changes.
Take That! Yes!
Let's see who I can recognise.
# It only takes a minute, girl... #
In a decade when technology was spreading into every corner of our homes... That's a remote!
..one object had become so cheap, it was multiplying.
Hey! Oh, blimey! Wow!
Far Eastern labour, cheaper parts and expanding global economies
meant TVs cost 95% less than the model the family had in the 1970s.
Can we have this one? Georgie and I will have this one.
Do we need a telly in our room... You've got a video player. ..just because we've got one?
We don't need one, do we? We've been saying how nice it's been to be together as a family.
Have I missed not having a telly?
Yes. Yeah, a little bit.
Yes. OK, fine, let's have it then.
OK. That's fine. Hamish, do you want this one?
By the end of the decade, TVs had moved into the rooms of two-thirds of British kids.
Bedroom culture had taken over,
but the shared experience of family viewing is something Georgie would love to hold on to.
I'm hoping the TV reception will be so poor with the aerials they've got
that they won't choose to sit up here and watch telly.
They'll want to come down for the bigger screen, so fingers crossed.
The fax machine had also become cheap enough to spread from the office into the home.
PHONE RINGS
Wait, don't answer it. It might be the fax machine.
Now a home phone line could be used to tele-work,
a popular '90s concept that promised we could all work from home.
Here it goes. Stand back.
Their first fax is from the Tech Team.
"We look forward to celebrating the new millennium with you at the end of the decade
"and suggest you use all the '90s technology at your disposal to plan your own millennium party."
What's a millennium party?
It's like the biggest ever New Year's Eve party.
People spent a lot of money making it a really exciting night.
'90s consumer culture was driven more than ever before by exhaustive market research.
In the spirit of the times, the Tech Team turn the family into a focus group.
They're being asked what gadgets they'd like delivered to their door.
The thing to do is shout out things that you think, technology-wise, we should be having in the '90s.
Remote-control cars, boats and planes. Roller blades.
Games consoles. Electric scooters.
What about computers? Mobiles. Satellite TV!
Though the children can barely remember the decade, they know exactly what they want.
MACHINE BEEPS
Hamish attempts to fax their list to the Tech Team.
I've never sent a fax before.
Thanks to the explosive growth of e-mail, it's something he probably won't ever have to do again.
On the other side of Reading, the Tech Team are in their workshop.
Here it comes. It's from the house.
On the list is mobile phones, satellite TV,
the internet and a request for hand-held games from gaming fan Hamish.
The '90s was the point at which the games industry massively took off.
Now it's overtaken music sales and it certainly gives Hollywood a run for its money.
The Tech Team get a first taste of just how demanding the family is going to be in the coming decade.
"Please... Remember, we know where you live." Slightly sinister end to a facsimile there.
Early evening and time to settle down to watch some television.
Or rather some televisions.
'Good evening and welcome. Tonight...'
'Margaret Thatcher left 10 Downing Street for the last time.'
Mad old witch!
She was brilliant, this woman.
'After 11 and a half wonderful years, we leave the United Kingdom in a very, very much better state
'than when we came here...'
As 1990 draws to a close, the family has mixed feelings about their higher tech home.
We've all got like tellies in our rooms and stuff,
which...I think is quite nice,
but then in some ways, it's probably a bad thing.
I don't know.
I think I'm going to enjoy the '90s a lot more than I did the '70s or the '80s.
Now that I have a TV and a video player, I think I will be spending more time in my bedroom.
MUSIC: "Step On" - Happy Mondays
A new day and for the Sullivan-Barnes family, it's 1991.
I think you have to write "win".
OK.
Oh. Nice one.
JOHN MAJOR: '..attacked military targets in Iraq and Baghdad last night.'
Britain is at war, but escape from the grim news came from an altogether more harmless conflict.
'Species like these fluffy bunnies face a new threat.
'The predator disturbing their dreams is an electronic hedgehog.'
This was the year Sonic the Hedgehog was born
to combat the market dominance of an Italian plumber called Mario.
They were the number one video game characters of Sega and Nintendo
who were cashing in on Britain's insatiable appetite for electronic imports from the Far East.
Kids, it's parcels!
The Japanese giants were battling for control of the hand-held gaming market.
Game Boy! That's yours, I believe. They're both mine.
Both now offered cartridge-based portable consoles.
Who remembers Sonic the Hedgehog? Me! Me!
Sega's Game Gear was in colour, but it was a pricey £200 in today's money,
twice the price of rivals Game Boy. I don't want to do that.
Nintendo's knock-out punch was to include the notoriously habit-forming Tetris.
This will keep me entertained for many a day.
The nation agreed and by the end of 1991,
800,000 Britons had one.
We had never known technology so portable, addictive and anti-social.
I think it is pretty sad, don't you?
I don't know. I'm only just noticing. Hamish won't speak to us again cos he won't need to.
Apart from when he needs to eat or drink.
Isn't that what you've been hoping for? It is quite pleasant sometimes.
But it's been quite nice talking to him.
MUSIC: "Connected" - Stereo MCs
It's 1992 and even more home entertainment is on the way.
# Gonna get myself connected... #
This was the year BSkyB bought up the Premiership.
And for the first time, Britain started signing up to satellite TV in significant numbers.
1992 and I've got you a satellite dish. Wow, look at the size of that!
Yeah. It's huge. Where shall we put it?
You want to make a statement, don't you? No, I don't want it on the side of the house. Really? No.
It's a bit "council house". That's the problem. Are you worried about the neighbours? Yeah.
Adam's concerns were very typical of the time.
We call them architectural acne down here.
And when they sprout out as acne does, they are very unattractive.
In the 1980s, technology was a status symbol and showing it off told the world you were rich.
But '90s hi-tech was increasingly affordable for everyone
and suddenly, your choices could tell a different story.
It's totally out of place. I really don't believe it should be there
in full frontal of a period building.
What's going on then?
It just says "couch potato" to me.
I'm slightly embarrassed that it's in full view of the road.
It's a lot bigger and uglier than I actually remember.
I think this is definitely the slippery slope.
Satellite telly is just such a mind drain...waste of time.
Georgie needn't worry.
The giant dish has changed the house on the outside,
but it won't change their viewing habits on the inside much just yet.
In 1992, it would deliver a meagre five extra channels.
DOORBELL RINGS I'll get it.
The family's fax to the Tech Team also requested mobile phones,
but in 1992, mobiles were still far too expensive for the non-business user,
so they've been sent a cheaper alternative - the pager.
What are pagers? What are they? HIGH-PITCHED BEEP
Already a workplace success, this messaging technology looked like it might catch on for personal use too.
It's quite neat, isn't it? It makes me feel like a drug dealer.
The family need to go shopping for their millennium party.
They pile into their family-friendly '90s People Carrier, taking their pagers with them.
Most of Britain's pager network was turned off in 2004,
so Tom has set up his own inside the Tech Team van which is parked next to the local shopping centre.
We've a list of things to do. Shall we split up, divide and conquer?
When we've found something, we'll let you know... Quick!
Each group has the same shopping list and they'll page each other whenever they find something.
Pens, pens, pens. The dot ones are quite '90s.
Right, we need to find a phone, guys.
To page, the family have to phone Tom and dictate their message to him
but there's a limit on how much they can say.
We've got 20 characters, then we have to send another message to tell him what else we've got.
Got - space - napkins - space - balloons.
It says "invalid".
But modern 12-year-olds aren't au fait with pay phones.
Put the other 20 back in. Good. Go.
0799...
Hello. Can I send a message to pager number one?
Of course. It sounds like Georgie.
'Got - space - napkins - space - balloons.'
Got napkins balloons.
Tom acts as operator, sending the message on.
It's a one-way radio, so when you type in the message and the pager number here, you press "send"
and it just sends radio one way to the pager. All the pagers are little radio receivers.
PAGER BEEPS
# Things that make you go hmm... #
Napkins, balloons, and they got ribbons.
Find a phone and tell them we got the Blu-Tack and stuff, otherwise they'll go and buy it again.
Ohh!
It won't take the... Wait, wait. No, no.
I just used a credit card.
Piece of junk!
Let's go and find another pay phone.
In the '90s, there would've been a whole bank of phones there.
MOBILE PHONE JINGLE Gone communication-mad in here!
Got - space - Blu-Tack - space - scissors.
The girls are having no problem with the system.
They got Blu-Tack and scissors which is what we've got.
They say, "Please buy crepe paper and pipe cleaners."
Where are we gonna get those from?
I've got credit. Hooray! Can I send a page, please?
Adam! Hello. What's your message?
Got Sellotape. Thanks for your message. That's winging its way over immediately. Thanks, Tom.
# Things that make you go hmm... #
It just reminds me that when we didn't have mobiles, we were a bit more organised.
Pagers did grow in popularity throughout the '90s,
but they were pretty much killed off as far as Joe Public was concerned
when the GSM network got extremely reliable,
a lot cheaper, then ultimately, text messaging kicked off.
GEORGIE: Hi! Where have you been?
You said "pipe cleaners". We got... Martini glass times two.
You said "crepe paper". We got...
Shot glass times two.
But the piece de resistance is still to come. We got...a cocktail shaker!
None of that's on the list. Why have you got all that junk?
We don't need any of that. You can take that back. All afternoon and you've got beer glasses!
You complete twits! If you haven't got a phone accessible...
You're meant to go to the high street. We couldn't find one. There was eight on the high street.
We've discovered it's not a very good system. We've discovered that you're not very good at paging.
This way.
'90s technology gave us more and more choices for entertainment at home.
And '90s families spent more and more time indoors.
One advantage seemed to be that parents could keep a watchful eye on their children.
It just makes me feel sad that we don't let them out more, we don't make them go out more.
But they're in the home, we know they're safe. That's not how I was brought up.
With screen time for kids at an all-time high,
tragic events in 1993 called into question exactly what they were watching
and how it was affecting them.
Good evening. An angry crowd gathered this morning outside the courtroom on Merseyside
where two ten-year-old boys were formally charged with the murder of the toddler James Bulger.
'The idea that Jon Venables may have been influenced by violent videos was fuelled by the judge's remarks.
'He said that exposure to violent video films may in part be an explanation.
'Neil Venables, his father, did rent out Child's Play 3 which shows a demonic doll being killed,
'but denies the boy ever saw any violent videos.
'The horror of the murder has triggered paroxysms of moral panic and national self-doubt.'
It wasn't just movies that got drawn into the debate. Now video nasties could be interactive.
Gory games were seen as a new hi-tech culprit for juvenile delinquency.
Some children are having difficulty in telling the difference between fact and fiction.
Playing computer games can lead to addiction, to heightened aggression immediately after playing.
It may provide an adrenaline rush for people who like punching buttons
but it's no more sophisticated than a game of ping-pong, it seems to me.
DOORBELL RINGS
# La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la... #
Just... Just, just...
Although this morning's delivery of gaming consoles may seem harmless...
Look, we've got a video.
We have a Sega. 16-bit.
Can I have one of my own? Possibly.
The Tech Team have felt the need to send in a parental advisory note.
"We feel that it's our responsibility in 1993
"to ask you to take a look at the games we've included
"and make sure you are happy with their content before you give them to the children."
Check out Mortal Kombat. That doesn't sound great.
It's not got guns or knives or anything like that in it,
so you could argue that it is just cartoon violence which has been around for ever.
It pales in comparison to a modern computer game
which is so real that it's almost cinema quality.
I'm actually not worried about this, to be honest.
The graphics are almost comical whereas in the games now,
there's blood flying and bruises and cuts and whatever.
It does look very real.
So we'll pass that, shall we? Yeah, I'm happy with that. OK.
Though the games look tame now,
in 1993, violent videos and video games were discussed in Parliament.
The following year, age ratings were applied to games.
Kids! Kids!
You can have all the games in your rooms,
but you need to decide which room you want to go in.
There's a console for each bedroom, but they're completely incompatible.
Sonic and Mario were once again battling for children's hearts
and a share of a market that would sell over two million consoles in 1993.
You both want the Nintendo? Yes. Yeah.
In this family, the plumber is clearly winning.
I don't know how we're going to decide which console goes in whose room.
Why not have one in Hamish's room and one down here?
We're not having one down here. Why not? Because I say we're not. Why not?
If you don't want them, fine. Just give them to Hamish. Why don't you want them, Ellie?
When other people come in our room, they'll just want to play on the games.
Have one each, then you can decide if it's working or not and change it around if it's not.
We'll have to do a fair draw, flip a coin for who gets it. We're not gonna flip a coin. We are.
Heads, please. It's a 50/50 chance. Are you gonna call?
Flipping a coin is rubbish. If you're gonna be difficult, I'll just give it to the girls. You can't.
I can. You're sounding like a little brat. Now stop it. Well, don't flip a coin then!
We are flipping a coin. Call. Heads.
Heads. It's a head. It's not letting you have it. That's the decision, so you don't have a choice. You can't.
You need a hand setting it up? Yes, please. OK.
Hamish, don't start fighting over it.
I'm sure if you ask the girls, they'll let you use it. No, they won't. Yes, they will.
I don't like it... MUTTERS ANGRILY TO HIMSELF
Bye then. Goodbye.
THEY GIGGLE This is the sort of trouble these things cause.
More choice doesn't necessarily make for a happier family,
but it can create a more possessive one.
He's very bad-tempered sometimes. I think he needs some anger management classes.
Shall we use the video player for this?
'If the doorbell rings and there's a parcel and it's something we haven't had for ages, you can just tell,'
Oh, no, there's a whole new argument coming.
People get more argumentative, people get more possessive, people start splitting up more.
He can't live without a games console really.
Although he got a bit tizzy about which one he was gonna have,
as soon as he gets one, he'll be quite happy, especially when he gets his friends round.
You're not supposed to go in there. I know.
You've got me trapped against a wall. It's cheating. Yeah.
Whah! Tch-tcha! Oh!
It's nice to just be with my friends and do...
just something that we enjoy, which is nice.
Yes! Instant random head-butt!
Oh... Yes!
Work for 1993 still isn't over for the Tech Team.
# He's on the phone... #
Tom is sorting out yet another delivery.
It's time to give the family their first genuine, proper mobile phone.
And we've picked this beauty.
These would've been the toy of the execs and yuppies and flashy people.
# It's time to go... #
In the era of pre-digital mobile phones, owning a brick
was as much about looking the business as making business sense.
The phones were expensive, heavy and offered limited coverage.
Great for showing off, rubbish for reception.
In 1993, Britain's mobile network went digital, but calls remained costly -
up to 50 pence per minute in today's money.
DOORBELL RINGS
So high-end business users still dominated.
As Georgie is a senior manager, she gets the first digital mobile phone.
Look, we've got a gift. Wow!
"Georgie, as you're the high flyer of the family, you can have the first mobile phone."
Look!
Wow, look at that phone! I think you'll find that's mine. Thank you.
That's your user manual. > Wow, look at that!
Does it have an aerial...? Oh, yes.
"The Motorola 3200 cost £1,400."
£1,400?!
PHONE RINGS
It works!
Oh, wow!
How scary! How much do you think that cost?
What's it like having a mobile again? It looks different, it feels different.
And it feels exciting because we've had nothing equivalent to a mobile at all.
So it feels really exciting.
But do you know what I most love? What? Having something that you're a little bit jealous of.
LAUGHTER No.
The early '90s mobile is living up to its reputation as a status symbol.
You most like being called a high flyer, don't you?
You really resent that, don't you? You totally resent it. No, I don't.
But Adam has got his own gadget to gloat over -
one of the first ever consumer digital cameras.
Nothing like a digital camera of today.
And he's about to get the perfect opportunity to use it.
Tomorrow is 1994,
the year Britain was connected to France.
And the family are going to Paris.
Yes!
I'm really, really, really excited. We're going to Paris tomorrow.
Parlez-vous francais?
The Channel Tunnel was one of the most ambitious engineering projects Europe has ever seen,
opening in a blaze of glory and huge optimism about European integration.
A really lovely atmosphere. Fantastic festival feeling. I've just had a really nice chocolate croissant.
# Get on, get on, get on, get on Get on the groovy train... #
Adam and Georgie now possess early versions of modern must-haves.
"Select service."
But they are a far cry from today's slim, slick and ubiquitous camera phones.
No-one's phoned me.
Maybe that big metal thing is interfering with it. We might get better reception somewhere else.
Actually, she won't. The Tech Team have made sure of that
because in 1994, no-one could automatically make calls from abroad.
Will Adam fare better with the camera? No, you have to go that way. You have to go that way.
It's hard to believe, but just 15 years ago, the digital camera was almost unheard of.
# Step one, one, one We can have lots of fun... #
There, done.
Though it's easier to understand
when you realise that mid-'90s models like this Apple QuickTake can store a total of eight pictures.
I've only got seven left.
# Step two, two, two There's so much we can do... #
There's no preview screen. We need the wine in the background.
The resolution is half a megapixel, a tenth of the picture quality of an average modern camera.
Lovely. Yes, beautiful.
All this for a whopping 740 quid in today's money.
It's really hard to tell if you've taken a picture.
It's very hard to see and you can't preview it. The camera's rubbish.
He looks quite French. Excusez-moi!
Cheese! Cheese! Fromage!
That's it now. All eight gone. Really? That's eight taken. Wow! All done.
At home, there's a replacement computer waiting for them,
so they can take a look at Adam's handiwork.
Hmm... Oh, here we go!
Look at that! It could be us even!
As 1994 draws to a close,
it's clear that the pace of change is becoming pretty exhausting.
Wake me up when it's finished.
And there's no letting up in 1995.
I thought we'd run out of new stuff to get.
Before Georgie and Adam can leave for the office, the office has come to them.
Look at the size of that! Feeding the dream of flexible working.
Business technology was becoming portable. It was hoped that you could work anywhere.
It's got a proper aerial as well.
Look at that, a real aerial that you have to pull up and sort of...
With real intent. I've got to make a call. I've got to pull the aerial up!
But Adam's aerial is just for show because it was thought consumers wouldn't buy a phone without one.
I'll look cool at work with this.
But did laptops and mobiles mean Britons worked more flexibly or did they just work more?
By 1995, we worked longer hours than anyone else in Europe.
DOORBELL RINGS Someone at the door!
That night, there's another delivery to add to the four computers they've received since 1990.
It's really heavy. Adam! There's a parcel for me, Steff and Hamish, but it's very heavy. Can you help us?
This is the decade of unending upgrades.
Computing power was growing exponentially,
the only certainty being that your new machine would fall in price a few months after you had bought it,
and need replacing fairly soon after that.
It's working! The Sullivan-Barnes's latest pride and joy has new software.
But it's still not what they want.
Has it got the internet? "Internet tools." It's got internet!
It won't have the internet because it's not connected to a phone line.
The girls make do with interactive CD-ROMs for their homework.
Search "How to survive in the desert?" I'm doing a leaflet on it.
Once hailed as the future of reference materials,
for kids who are used to the web, they're not that impressive.
It's got six pages of deserts.
Boring!
How can you say that is boring?
Georgie is also finding the lack of the internet frustrating.
It has forced her to stay late at work.
I needed to finish something that I could otherwise have e-mailed to myself.
At a quarter to six, I was still at work and I was glaring at the clock,
thinking, "This is when I should be home now. It's almost six o'clock and I should be with my family."
In a way, it was almost better to have nothing at home like in the '70s
than feel like there's a bit of technology, but it doesn't do what I want it to yet.
It's annoying really.
Technology is changing fast and moving closer to what they're used to.
But it's also making the family more aware of what they're missing.
It would be great to get the internet. It would be so great to get the internet.
It would make life so much easier.
I'm looking forward to the end of the whole thing when I get my phone back.
Can I have the internet quite soon, please? Thank you very much. Good night.
'We're not creative enough, we're not positive enough.'
# It's coming home... #
It's 1996. Britain's reaching fever pitch. # Football's coming home... #
And laddish behaviour wasn't confined to football. It was all over popular culture.
Hello. Hi, Adam.
Today's delivery was the favourite gadget of the '90s new lad and it comes with its own expert -
technology journalist Keith Stuart.
So I've brought with me a Sony PlayStation. Wow!
And lots of games. It's about time the adults got some fun as well.
I don't know how to work your ancient television.
The little grey box wasn't cheap, costing over £500 in today's money.
But 20-somethings in the mid-'90s were marrying and having kids later than ever before,
leaving them with more money and more time to play.
Tomb Raider was a really important game. It's a female lead character.
She's a well-proportioned girl.
What Lara Croft was doing was tapping into this idea of "kidulthood".
20-something lads who were reading Loaded and FHM
weren't really interested in plumbers with moustaches or blue hedgehogs.
Though Sony were complete newcomers to the games industry,
by marketing the console as a lifestyle accessory to adults,
they soon outsold Sega and Nintendo.
The PlayStation now makes more money for the electronics giant
than all their other consumer products combined.
Hamish, what do you think?
It's better than the Sega. This is my console though.
You're all right with it, aren't you, if this is mine? No. What? No.
It's not fair. Why isn't it fair? You have to share.
Adam won't share with Hamish, but he does want to show off his retro toy to some other boys.
Some games for us to play? You start and I'll get you some beer. We don't have to be Man United.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on. That's me doing that.
I'm not doing anything. Or am I?
Well, just try to actually kick the ball...
It slowly dawns on them that they're not playing the game. It's still in demo mode.
Hamish...! Hamish!
Hamish was just a year old in 1996, but he knows how to sort out the problem.
Ah! So your answer is switch it on and off?
Now you. OK, now you go over there.
Yes. OK? "Loading game." Bring it on!
I vill be ze Germans!
I'll lose. Wunderbar!
Ohh! Ohh!
Hamish, it's lads' night now, so you can clear off. Haven't you got homework to do?
Life in the '70s, '80s and '90s has given the family something they don't normally have in modern life -
a shared living room.
We're having pizzas, so we'll see you later.
But Adam seems to be reintroducing 21st century protocol
where the living room is an adults-only space in which he keeps his own games console.
This isn't an adults' room. It is tonight cos it's for me and my mates.
Goodness me! What happened there? Thank you. Goodbye. I was trying not to save...
I definitely don't want to have a games console in the sitting room.
And it does feel quite exclusive, Adam being in there with his mates, having a good time.
I guess to a degree this is what I've been dreading -
lots of different entertainment media choices around the house and everybody off doing their own thing.
Because we've got loads and loads of new technology and loads of different things,
everyone's going to their own rooms and they're not mixing with everyone.
LAUGHTER
# Things can only get better... #
It's 1997 and a wave of optimism is sweeping the nation.
A new dawn has broken. CHEERING
# Things can only get better... #
The UK has its youngest Prime Minister.
And while Tony is entertaining Cool Britannia,
the family are entertaining themselves.
The house is becoming saturated with technology.
But for them, it's still not enough.
PHONE RINGS
Hello, Tech Team? 'Hi, it's Ellie.' Hello, Ellie.
'Hi, I'm calling to say...'
..that I would like to get a mobile phone before the end of the '90s.
You need to know, Ellie, that even by the year 2000, only 17% of youngsters had mobile phones.
If we gave you a mobile phone now, people would just think you'd mugged a yuppie.
The kids are impatient for the technology just around the corner.
PHONE RINGS
Hello? Ellie and me would really like the internet.
Are you really missing it?
Yes, I had some homework and I really needed the internet and I couldn't use it.
What year do you reckon we'll get it in? I might spring it on you.
Steff has asked for the internet,
but what she really wants is the websites that make up the world wide web.
In 1997, the number of Britons online was gathering pace
and six million were already surfing.
Although that's a far cry from the 45 million internet users today,
Gia thinks it's time for the Sullivan-Barnes family to get connected.
So she heads to CERN in Geneva.
The world-famous research centre for physics is also where the world wide web was born.
This is the corridor in which it all happened.
Robert Cailliau worked here with British scientist Tim Berners-Lee. Tim's office was here.
They developed a system that would allow everyone to use the internet.
I see the plaque there - "where the web was born".
Very few people who visit CERN ever come here. Exactly. But it's here. But it's here. We know it's here.
The internet was born in the 1960s in America
out of a military plan to link up computers in order to withstand a nuclear attack.
E-mail began in the 1970s, but until the '90s,
it was used almost exclusively by the academic community.
Berners-Lee had a vision for a service
that would hide the underlying complexity of the internet, so that anyone could use it.
We called it "world wide web" before the first line of code was written.
As a service on the internet, it was either going to take off
and become world wide de facto or be a complete flop.
Cailliau saw the potential in Berners-Lee's original proposal, but others at CERN weren't so sure.
This was Tim Berners-Lee's first proposal.
Yes. Tim's boss Mike Sendall had quite some difficulty understanding what it was about, you know.
There is even one part here where he says, "I don't understand what this interface is."
Here's another note, "I'm not convinced." He summed it up with the comment, "Vague, but exciting."
There were alternatives to the world wide web, but you had to pay to use them.
If we had patented this and asked for royalties,
it would have become just yet another network system
alongside all the other unsuccessful network systems,
but precisely because it was not just completely free,
but also published and open, everybody could join.
Everybody could look at the code, try it out, modify it, add to it.
We put the entire web technology into the public domain for the whole world to use.
And I think that was crucial.
DOORBELL RINGS
Hello. Hello. What are you doing here? How lovely to see you!
Nice to see you. I've got a present for everyone.
It mightn't look like much...
Cables! Internet!
Oh, yeah!
In there. OK...
God! MODEM BEEPS
Perfect. What does that noise sound like?
The fax.
We are giving you the internet circa 1997.
And we've slowed it down, so it's not gonna be fast like your normal broadband.
There are now over 230 million websites on the internet.
In 1997, there were barely one and a half million.
I've just searched on "Bebo" which is like a social networking site.
It's come up with some weird stuff, very weird stuff.
You're not as excited as you were.
Was the internet rubbish, do you think? Yes.
While commerce seized on the web and dot.com millionaires were made overnight,
it allowed everyday users to express themselves in a way the whole world could share.
Whatever you type on to the screen, it will turn it into a web page.
This is really, really easy to use. It is really easy to use. Good luck and have fun.
# Future's made of
# Virtual insanity... #
It's time for this fax machine to be consigned to the garage because we don't need it any more.
E-mail has arrived.
# Our new technology
# Oh, now there is no sound... #
The arrival of the internet has brought them one step closer to modern life,
but Georgie doesn't want them totally sucked back to where they were in 2009.
There's technology all over the house. There's a game console in the sitting room.
I thought that was our final bastion of no technology.
There wasn't gonna be a games console in here.
You know how I feel about it. I feel really let down. Yeah, but this isn't just a games console.
This is a PS1.
# Libraries gave us power... #
1998 is here and the Tech Team have taken pity on the children.
DOORBELL RINGS I'll get it. I'll get it.
# What price now... #
Oh, yeah, we've got loads of phones.
Even in the late '90s, few pre-teens got their hands on a mobile.
I'm guessing we've all got a new one then.
But the arrival of Pay As You Go meant that under-18s could go upwardly mobile.
This is a very exciting moment. I'm sending the family their first text.
"Look what you can do."
The text was originally just a free bonus feature.
Now more texts are sent per day than there are people on the planet.
The popularity of SMS took the mobile phone industry by surprise,
but the nation's children would take it to their hearts.
Oh, I have a message from the Tech Team. "Look what you can do now." What does that mean?
Oh, we can text now. That's what they mean. That clears it up.
DOORBELL RINGS Oh, someone at the door! Who's that?
The Tech Team want to give the family a taste of the consumerist boom years of the late 1990s.
Is it a smoothie maker?
When imported technology grew more abundant and everything that came into our homes now had a microchip.
Can we just get it inside?
That means delivery after delivery.
DOORBELL RINGS CONTINUOUSLY
Oh, blimey, not another one!
Have you got the instructions? Yeah.
Three-quarters of a cup. Isn't it important to get the ingredients just right in bread? Twist it in.
Then I think we just go "start".
But the boom in cheap electronics had its downside.
I've got smoothie makers, I've got steamers, I've got little chopping things.
It's horrendous. What advantage is that then?
Apart from me having to do more blasted washing-up!
And now it can go. Thanks very much. Off to the garage with it!
The family's garage has become a museum of obsolete technology.
With the biggest contribution coming from the most recent decades.
During the '90s, electronics plummeted in price.
Even computers were getting cheaper by 25% every year.
Britain may have stopped making much in the way of electronics,
but it became great at chucking them away.
Now the average modern gadget has a life span of just over a year.
In the knife block behind you. Where?
That looks all right actually.
With only two days left in the 1990s, the children are keen to know
whether they'll be allowed to use the adults-only living room when they return to normal life.
You've got your own room with your own TV and your own Sky. Why do you want to come into the adult room?
You've been saying it's nice to do things together. No, Mum's been saying that.
So have you.
All those in favour of family in the previously known as adult room, so when there are adults around?
Four. Four. Four in favour.
The only condition I'd attach is that Georgie and I decide what we're watching in there
if there is something on TV we want to see. I won't back down from that.
I think it's a family decision. I won't back down from that.
Because I'm not gonna want to watch Hannah Montana, am I? Neither are we!
If you're just watching things the rest of us don't want to watch, it'll just be an Adam Room.
Would you like some more pasta, Adam? I think we need to talk about it after we get through this.
Considering how much time and resources we actually dedicate to all the children,
it's nice for us to have somewhere that belongs to us really.
It's not a job. No, I know it's not a job, but it still happens.
Without wanting to sound selfish - maybe it does sound selfish -
I think it's important to have your own little space and time.
It's 1999. The family's experience is nearly at an end.
So was the world if some computer experts were to be believed.
'The millennium could be a disaster for all industrial societies.
'Every electronic device could act irrationally. It's been the computer industry's dirty little secret.
'The problem has arisen because, to save space,
'computers have always stored dates as two digits instead of four.
'It worked fine until now, but come the year 2000, computers may think it's 1900 and simply fail.'
If we don't act,
then the result will be loss of money, of power and influence,
perhaps on a disastrous scale.
We'd become so reliant on technology
that the thought of losing it all really did feel like the end of the world.
If the family got the millennium bug, it would be a bit like them going back to 1970.
Our family would actually be able to cope rather well as they've been able to cope without computers.
But, you know, it was a big deal at the time. A very, very big deal.
Of course, 2000 came along without all our computers crashing,
leading many to question what all the fuss was about.
The Sullivan-Barnes family know that their millennium party won't be spoiled
by global technological meltdown.
To entertain tonight's guests, they are cherry-picking from the 30 years of retro gizmos they've accumulated.
The widest choice clearly comes from the 1990s.
Getting into the '90s was just gadget after gadget,
but the technology of the '90s has not been a disappointment to me.
It's done what it was supposed to do. You know, accurate stuff, works reasonably well.
Some of the design was a little bit shonky by modern standards, but generally I thought it was OK.
Cheers, Adam. Happy New Year.
Hello?
It's amazing how it's all changed from the first mobile phone being about that big
to them now being about that big or smaller.
Technology moved through the house. It started off in one room
and then ferreted its way out to various other parts of the house
and people kind of moved with it.
All of a sudden, we like split up quite quickly, but still not as much as we did before.
It has become progressively more a question of territory and ownership
and, "This is my domain."
Hello. Hi.
The Tech Team don't just bring a bottle to the party.
They're making one final delivery - another toy for the grown-ups.
It's the ultimate '90s party accessory. Oh, no, it's a karaoke machine!
'The '90s was a time when there was this blurring between childhood and adulthood, work and home.'
It's not necessarily that there became more of a work/life balance.
It's just that work and life and family all came together.
# Let's all meet up in the year 2000
# Won't it be strange when we're all fully grown...? #
For the Sullivan-Barnes family, it's not just the end of the '90s.
It's the end of a truly unique journey through three decades of technological progress.
CHEERING
The Tech Team's work is done.
We've had a blast, haven't we? Thank you, Tom. It's been amazing. Thank you, Ben.
Have fun in the future. Thanks ever so much.
'Now that it's over, it's just like...'
Well, it's all gonna go and we're just gonna be a normal family again.
But when they wake up in 2009, will their technological journey have changed the Sullivan-Barnes family?
It's now been a month since the family and their home have returned to 2009.
It's great to have all my technology back.
I've always liked my gadgets. I still like my gadgets.
It's nice to be back in the 21st century.
The family's trip to lower tech times has shown them
that they actually like spending time together.
To preserve this spirit of togetherness,
they've hung on to something from the home's layout in those earlier decades.
I was saying that we should make the adult room into the family room and we've done that to see how it works.
I think we're gonna keep it like that.
I think that I'll go and spend more time downstairs doing things with everyone else.
Mainly that's because my mum wants me to do it and I think that I should.
What have you got? My hippo...
Georgie, despite herself, has come to see how integral technology is to modern childhood.
This whole experience has made me realise how important technology is to the kids
and, in particular, to Hamish.
I've seen how I've let the children evolve into children that need that technology.
Kids, are you coming? We're watching a film. Want to watch a film?
Seeing the impact of 40 years of technological change has brought the family together.
Even techno sceptic Georgie and gadget lover Adam have reached a new understanding.
I think Georgie and I have kind of got closer together in terms of our viewpoints of technology.
She's come a little bit closer to me in terms of realising that technology is quite...
I wouldn't say important, but it has a useful place in the world.
And I've come a bit closer to her viewpoint
which is that it's nice for us to spend time together doing stuff, even if it is technology-related.
And you can continue your journey through the decades online with the BBC and the Open University.
Visit:
# We'll always be together
# However far it seems Love never ends
# We'll always be together
# Together in electric dreams... #
Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd 2009
Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk