A Licence to be Different: The story of Channel 4

In A Licence to be Different, Maggie Brown traces the development of Channel 4 from its founding in the days of Thatcher's Conservative government to the present. Key events include innovative programmes such as The Tube, Brookside, The Big Breakfast and Brass Eye; the rise and fall of Film on Four and its rebirth as digital channel FilmFour; the short-lived plan to merge with Channel Five; successes with lifestyle programming (from Location, Location, Location to Wife Swap) and US imports (Cheers, Friends, Dawson's Creek); the Big Brother phomenon. First-hand accounts from key figures such as Jeremy Isaacs, Richard Attenborough, Liz Forgan, Michael Jackson and Mark Thompson and access to the Channel 4 archives inform the story.

Part of the Bill Douglas and Peter Jewell Collection