Blitz Street: Channel 4 looks at the impact of the Blitz

Blitz Street: To mark the 70th anniversary of the Blitz, Channel 4 has built – and then blown up – a terraced street to show what it must have been like to live through it. The houses are made using materials and methods from the 1940s Photograph: Murdo MacLeod Photograph: guardian.co.uk The show is presented by Tony Robinson, shown here on the street, which was built on a remote military base. Throughout the four programmes the street is subject to bombing raids similar to those experienced during the Blitz Photograph: Murdo MacLeod Photograph: guardian.co.uk The first episode looks at the beginning of the Blitz in 1940. The first bombs dropped on Blitz Street are the SC50, which have around 25kg of TNT Photograph: Murdo MacLeod Photograph: guardian.co.uk The SC50 bombs - which cause damage like this - were the most common bomb dropped on the first day of bombing of London Photograph: Murdo MacLeod Photograph: guardian.co.uk Bigger bombs soon followed. The SC500 bombs dropped here contain 250kg of TNT … Photograph: Channel 4 Photograph: guardian.co.uk Residents had to shelter the best they could. For some that was under the stairs, or – as here – in an Anderson shelter Photograph: Murdo MacLeod Photograph: guardian.co.uk In the show's second programme, Blitz Street finds itself on the receiving end of one of the largest bombs the Luftwaffe ever dropped on Britain: the SC1000 Photograph: Channel 4 Photograph: guardian.co.uk The bomb was nicknamed 'The Herman' – and was intended to inflict massive damage to the UK's infrastructure and industry Photograph: Channel 4 Photograph: guardian.co.uk In the summer of 1944 British hopes were raised by the D-Day landings. A few days later the Germans launched the V1 – nicknamed 'the doodlebug' – a jet-powered, winged weapon packed with explosive. Here is its impact on Blitz Street Photograph: Channel 4 Photograph: guardian.co.uk After the V1 came the V2 missile, which travelled at 3,500mph and had a range of more than 200 miles. Because it was travelling so fast, by the time the rocket detonated it was well below the surface of the ground. It caused massive devastation Photograph: Channel 4 Photograph: guardian.co.uk Blitz Street begins tonight (April 19) on Channel 4 at 9pm; it continues for a further three weeks Photograph: Murdo MacLeod Photograph: guardian.co.uk