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Psychedelic Britannia

A trip through the most visionary period in British music history - five kaleidoscopic years between 1965 and 1970, when a handful of dreamers reimagined pop music.

Documentary exploring the rise and fall of the most visionary period in British music history: five kaleidoscopic years between 1965 and 1970 when a handful of dreamers reimagined pop music.

When a generation of British R&B bands discovered LSD, conventions were questioned. From out of the bohemian underground and into the pop mainstream, the psychedelic era produced some of the most groundbreaking music ever made, pioneered by young improvising bands like Soft Machine and Pink Floyd, then quickly taken to the charts by the likes of The Beatles, Procol Harum, The Small Faces and The Moody Blues, even while being reimagined in the country by bucolic, folk-based artists like The Incredible String Band and Vashti Bunyan.

The film is narrated by Nigel Planer, with contributions and performances from artists who lived and breathed the psych revolution - Paul McCartney, Ginger Baker, Robert Wyatt, Roy Wood, The Zombies, Mike Heron, Vashti Bunyan, Joe Boyd, Gary Brooker, Arthur Brown, Kenney Jones, Barry Miles, The Pretty Things and The Moody Blues.

1 hour

Last on

Sat 25 May 2019 00:40
BBC Four

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • Traffic

    Paper Sun

  • Joe Meek

    The Bublight

  • The Yardbirds

    I'm a Man

  • The Yardbirds

    Still I'm Sad

  • Cream

    I Feel Free

  • The Rolling Stones

    Paint It Black

  • The Beatles

    Tomorrow Never Knows

  • The Misunderstood

    I Can Take You To The Sun

  • Donovan

    Do You Hear Me Now?

  • Pink Floyd

    Interstellar Overdrive

  • Pink Floyd

    Matilda Mother

  • Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire

    Carnival of the Animals: Aquarium

  • Tomorrow

    My White Bicycle

  • Soft Machine

    Hope for Happiness

  • Kaleidoscope

    Kaleidoscope

  • The Accent

    Red Sky At Night

  • The Deviants

    Last Man

  • Donovan

    Sunshine Superman

  • The Beatles

    Strawberry Fields Forever

  • 00:05

    Cream

    I Feel Free (Album Version)

  • 00:13

    Pink Floyd

    Interstellar Overdrive

  • 00:25

    Donovan

    Sunshine Superman

  • 00:30

    The Beatles

    Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

  • Pink Floyd

    Arnold Layne

  • Pink Floyd

    See Emily Play

  • The Deviants

    Nothing Man

  • The Rolling Stones

    She's A Rainbow

  • The 23rd Turnoff

    Leave Me Here

  • Procol Harum

    A Whiter Shade Of Pale

  • The Zombies

    Time of the Season

  • 00:39

    Small Faces

    Itchycoo Park

  • 00:40

    The Zombies

    She's Not There

  • 00:41

    The Zombies

    Time Of The Season

  • The Move

    I Can Hear The Grass Grow

  • The Moody Blues

    The Day Begins

  • The Moody Blues

    Tuesday Afternoon

  • The Moody Blues

    Nights in White Satin

  • The Incredible String Band

    Koeeoaddi There

  • The Incredible String Band

    The Iron Stone

  • Mike Heron

    A Very Cellular Song

  • Vashti Bunyan

    Rainbow River

  • Vashti Bunyan

    Diamond Day

  • The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

    Fire

  • Edgar Broughton Band

    Love In The Rain

  • Pink Floyd

    The Great Gig In The Sky

  • 00:59

    Pink Floyd

    The Great Gig In The Sky

Credits

Narrator Nigel Planer
Producer Sam Bridger
Director Sam Bridger
Executive Producer Mark Cooper

Broadcasts

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