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The Toilet: An Unspoken History

We each spend three years of our lives on the toilet, but how happy are we talking about this essential part of our lives? This film challenges that mindset by uncovering its role in our culture and exploring the social history of the toilet in Britain and abroad - as well as exploring many of our cultural toilet taboos. Starting in Merida, Spain with some of the the earliest surviving Roman toilets, we journey around the world - from the UK to China, Japan and Bangladesh - visiting toilets, ranging from the historically significant to the beautiful, from the functional and sometimes not-so-functional to the downright bizarre. Leading our journey is Everyman figure, Welsh poet and presenter Ifor ap Glyn, who has a passionate interest in the toilet, its history and how it has evolved over the centuries, right up to the development of the current design. Finally, there's a glimpse of the future and a possible solution to the global sanitation issues we now face.

English
  • Originally Aired July 16, 2012
  • Runtime 60 minutes
  • Content Rating United States of America TV-PG
  • Production Code b01kxyhd
  • Network BBC
  • Created January 18, 2015 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified January 18, 2015 by
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Name Type Role
Nick Watts Director