1984: The Countryside is Rubbish | One Pair of Eyes: Laurie Taylor | BBC Archive

Laurie Taylor - Country Blues. A confirmed nature-hater since childhood, broadcaster and sociologist Laurie Taylor sets out from his weekend cottage in Battersea to try to find his "true self" in the country. Armed with Ordnance Survey and Collected Wordsworth he is quickly lost - "a townie in the wheat field" - and soon falls foul of the giant machines which have been unleashed on the new factory farms of England. Retiring to the Lake District he peers at packed beauty spots, walks the ramblers' M4, and follows the crowds to a Visitors' Centre, where one can learn about the countryside without the bother of actually going there. Baffled, he retreats to the peace and order of Hyde Park. "You don't have to feel anything about a city park. No one asks you - 'how was the park?' " Clip taken from One Pair of Eyes, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 1 April, 1984. You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of TV to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic clips from the BBC vaults. Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a single stop on our amazing journey through the BBC Archive - https://www.youtube.com/c/BBCArchive?sub_confirmation=1 You can also dive into plenty more BBC Archive on our website - https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive