In the mid-1920s, Claude Friese-Greene drove from Land's End to John O' Groats making a series of films en route. These remarkable films captured the life and people on his journey in colour, at a time when a world was filmed in black and white. This pioneering use of colour was to be the culmination of the work he had carried out with his father, the cinematographer William Friese-Greene.

This unique archive of Friese-Greene's footage, preserved and restored by the bfi, reveals many things in the UK that have changed in 80 years, as well as, surprisingly, what has remained. 

In The Lost World of Friese-Greene, presenter Dan Cruickshank traces the original route in a vintage car, tracking relatives of the people who appear in the films. He shows footage to people who appeared in the films as children and are seeing themselves on film for the first time 80 years later.

Episode 1 starts in the West Country as Cruickshank uncovers radical changes in rural traditions from cider-making to stag hunting and takes a look back at holiday fun at the seaside. Episode 2 picks up his journey in Cirencester, travels onwards to Wales through the Midlands and North to Lancashire and the Lakes. In the final episode, he journeys through Scotland, meeting local historians and descendants of people in the films, with breathtaking scenery all the way.

DVD Extras:

Extended interviews with some of the people Dan Cruickshank encounters on his journey. Interview with cinematographer Jack Cardiff (DOP for Michael Powell's The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus and A Matter of Life and Death)

Produced by - BFI/BBC
Running time - 177 Minutes
DVD only