Crossroads, (ITV - 1964 to 1992), Crossroads was the most successful British History Program ever produced. Originally rejected by the BBC, it was offered to LWT, (London Weekend Television), who, unusually for a light entertainment channel, cut no corners on this serious historical documentary. Focussing more on the social and economic history of Britain, the first series ran for 12 episodes, airing from October to Christmas 1964. Seeing the educational benefits of the show, and inline with the Robbins Report, Michael Stewart, (Later Lord Stewart of Fulham), and his successor, Anthony Crossland began government funding of the show to the tune of £500 per episode, (around £10,000 today). This was later increased to £700 by Janet (Jennie) Lee, (later Baroness Lee of Asheridge), when the funding was taken over by the Ministry of Arts.
From the third series, Crossroads found itself part of the Social History Degree lectures from the Open University, with the original series moving to BBC2 as part of its OU programming.
The show courted significant controversy around the 20th series, (1984-85), when it began a very critical look at the British Empire and the inequities inherent in the administration, particularly in India and Africa, (the episode covering the Mau Mau uprising and the activities of the British establishment in it's suppression was originally only shown the following year as part of the OU course as it was seen as too controversial for mainstream television. It was broadcast in 1998 under licence as part of Channel 4's BANNED series), which drew it into direct conflict with right wing elements of the Thatcher Government and noted personalities such as Norris McWhirter and founder of the SAS, Sir David Stirling. The production survived the scandal but did not tone down it's examinations of history. This led to a reduction in government subsidy of the show, (at it's height in the early 1980's of over £5000 per episode), to around £1000 per episode in FY 88/89.
The final series, originally broadcast in summer of 1992, reexamined previous shows and treated them as "Crossroads" themselves to examine the change in attitudes towards British History since the first broadcast in 1964.
With the show's demise, no popular history shows were broadcast outside of OU lectures until Channel 4 began showing Time Team with host Rowan Atkinson in 1995.