24 Hours in the Past is a BBC One living history TV series first broadcast in 2015.
The four episodes were ostensibly filmed in direct sequence, and the participants lived, ate and slept in the often filthy conditions portrayed.
[2] Living history had become a popular theme in UK TV series at the time, usually involving Ruth Goodman and regular collaborators in a long-term series, filmed in intermittent episodes with a cast of historians.
This series took a different pitch, using a continuous filming technique without the respite of hotels between episodes[3][4] and cast with "the randomest collection of participants" to create an air of surprise at their conditions.
[5] The most best-known cast member was Ann Widdecombe, a cabinet minister in the Back to Basics government of John Major.