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Eyes Down! The Story of Bingo

It is one of Britain's most popular leisure pursuits, but high street bingo came about almost by accident as the result of a loophole in an obscure piece of gambling legislation. Almost overnight, in January 1961 what had been a quiet parlour game or occasional seaside flutter was turned into a brash multi-million pound business. As Timeshift affectionately recalls in this documentary, soon nearly a quarter of the population were playing and becoming fluent in the rhyming slang of 'bingo lingo' - from 'Legs Eleven' to 'Clickety Click, Sixty Six'. This explosion of interest quickly led to a moral panic about the dangers of easy prize money, but bingo was defiantly here to stay - and not just as the preserve of older women, as today's mega-halls full of hen-night parties show.

English
  • Originally Aired January 30, 2013
  • Runtime 60 minutes
  • Content Rating United States of America TV-PG
  • Production Code b01q6xh6
  • Network BBC Four
  • Created January 31, 2013 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified January 31, 2013 by
    Administrator admin
Name Type Role
Rebecca Whyte Director