I'm On The Train

Synopsis

Does the daily experience of the embattled commuter define the British national character almost better than anything else? Consider the need for endurance and stoicism, the acceptance of the ritual of the queue and the ability to completely blank out one's neighbours?

As part of the London season this is the starting point for writer and broadcaster Ian Marchant as he eavesdrops upon the experiences of generations of hapless commuters. Acknowledging the first commuter line which was built in the 1830s, this feature documentary bears testimony to the cumulative toll exacted by that daily dose of suspended animation, tepid coffees and half-completed crosswords. Ian reflects on the way in which mobiles and laptops have transformed our experience of public and private space. Addressing the daily round of anxious clock-watching, dashed hopes, and frequently failed expectations, Ian shares his theories on the existence of a new time zone to describe the experience of wasted hours: British Nothing Time. BNT, he convincingly demonstrates, is intricately woven through the best years of our lives

He will look at how generations have dealt with the need for diversion looking at the heydayof the crossword, its recent eclipse by Sudoku, the tonnage of newspapers glanced at and discarded, and the onward march of gadgets, from transistor radios to iPods. With these changes have come a renegotiation of what is private and public, as people loudly regale a whole carriage with the intimacies of their supposedly private lives. He'll also find out about the relationships that have formed and foundered on the train, and about the train as a creative space - an astonishing number of first novels were not only drafted but also completed on the 07.48 and the 17.55.

And, as we'll hear, the commute is no innocent activity: its existence has fuelled the disappearance of the clear lines between town and country.

Producer: Mark Smalley.