May 21, 2025 | Stories
It’s not often that a TV sitcom changes the habits of millions. But ‘The Good Life’ was unusual in having a very positive effect. Most sitcoms reflect the period in which they’re made. As times and attitudes move on, many of them don’t age well. Some 1970s shows are...
Mar 10, 2025 | Stories
Arguments against the death penalty had been advanced in the 1950s, with a particular boost for abolition resulting from the case of Ruth Ellis, a young mother who had murdered her unfaithful lover in 1955. The Tories reduced the number of offences carrying the death...
Feb 24, 2025 | Stories
In the 2025 film Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy the much-loved lead character is still portrayed as a wine drinker, as she was in the original Bridget Jones’s Diary book of 1996 and the 2001 film. Back then her liking was for chardonnay, usually in a large glass....
Jan 16, 2024 | Stories
With a general election likely to take place in 2024 it is worth looking back at lessons to be learned from the past. The value of the Archive of Market and Social Research lies in its providing us with the longer-term view, and in particular it is exactly 50 years...
Dec 7, 2023 | Stories
An October 2020 poll by YouGov found that 67% of the British public wanted Britain to be a world leader on environmental issues. In February 2021, YouGov also found that 75% thought climate change was the result of human activity. Meanwhile, a report by Opinium in...
