VE Day 75 VE Day: Remembering Victory (2020)

On the 8th May 1945, Churchill broadcast the long-awaited announcement that the war in Europe was over. Seventy-five years on, some of Britain's best-loved entertainers and broadcasters recall the jubilation of that unforgettable day. To celebrate, Britain threw the biggest street party the country had ever seen. The extraordinary archive of celebrations all over Britain helps bring back the memories. Britain's celebrities - including Patrick Stewart, Anne Reid, Miriam Margolyes, Leslie Phillips and Dame Cleo Laine - share their memories of the tea parties, bonfires, joyful tears and dancing in the streets. The programme also includes interviews with Sir Bruce Forsyth, Dame June Whitfield, Honor Blackman, and Kenny Lynch who have died since the programme was first shown. After the heady days of celebration, it was back to the realities of food rationing and troops slowly returning home at last, with the nation gradually getting back on its feet. The gloom of austerity was replaced a new era of optimism and prosperity. This is the story of the Victory Generation. Interviewees: Sir David Attenborough, Johnny Ball, Honor Blackman, Jilly Cooper CBE, John Craven OBE, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Dame Cleo Laine, Kenny Lynch OBE, Miriam Margolyes OBE, Sir Michael Parkinson, Leslie Phillips CBE, Anne Reid MBE, Dame Esther Rantzen, Sir Patrick Stewart, Una Stubbs, Dame June Whitfield.