Millions pinned their hopes on the luck of the draw when the National Lottery started in 1994, and even watching ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ had its attractions. Children’s crazes ranged from Tamagotchi (virtual pets) to dinosaurs and yo-yos (yet again). There was animated entertainment to suite every taste – kids loved ‘Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles’, ‘The Lion King’ and ‘Toy Story’; everyone enjoyed ‘Wallace & Gromit’; and ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘ South Park’ earned a cult following with grownups.

Britain had a wave of cinema successes with ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’, ‘The Full Monty’ and ‘Shakespear in Love’. But the big blockbusters still came from Hollywood: ‘ Jurassic Park’, ‘Titanic’, and ‘The Phantom Menace’. Many ordinary people were made real-life docudramas, including ‘Airport’, ‘Pet Rescue’, ‘Vets in Practice’ and ‘The Cruise’. The most sensational of these was without doubt the trial-by-television of American football star O.J. Simpson. Reality TV was born with ‘Big Brother’, this was followed by many more.

Britain drew closer to Europe when the Channel Tunnel rail service began in 1995, but opted not to adopt the Euro currency. New labour ended 18 years of Conservative rule in 1997, and Hong Kong, a British colony since 1842, was returned to China.

War was again in the headlines when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and the atrocities in Yugoslavia appeared to know no bounds. But the possibility of peace in the Middle East and Northern Ireland came closer. Tragic deaths shocked the nation: in 1996 schoolchildren and teachers were gunned down in Dunblane, Scotland, and in 1999 the television presenter Jill Dando was shot outside her home. The biggest shock of all, however, was undoubtedly the news that Princess Diana had been killed in a car accident on 1st September 1997.

By the end of the 20th Century a mass market service economy for all had replaced the use of servants by the few; the advance of the information superhighway and the World Wide Web seemed to offer unlimited human advancement - and yet ‘Men Behaving Badly’ was a popular new sitcom. Debate focussed on cloning, genetically modified food and Internet censorship.