Fathers at War

Three-part series which tells the story of the revolution in modern fatherhood in Britain during the last hundred years. Using intimate testimony, rare archive and the latest historical research it reveals the very important, and often misunderstood, role played by fathers.

The Second World War took a generation of fathers away from home to serve in the war effort. They returned home strangers to their own families, some of them disabled and broken men. But in time many did adjust, and the deprivations of war made the simple pleasures of family life and fatherhood all the sweeter.

With the growing affluence of the 50s and 60s, some dads felt they were in paradise. Yet fathers soon found themselves fighting a new war - with their teenage sons and daughters, who wanted more freedom from parental control. Now, 50 years on, some of those teenagers desperately wish they had enjoyed a closer relationship with their fathers, but for most it is too late.