1981: Life of the EXTREMELY WEALTHY | Man Alive | Classic BBC Documentary | BBC Archive

Cigars at £120 a time. £2,000 a year on hairdos. Gold-plated baths costing £5,000 each. Handkerchiefs at £10 a blow. A yacht at a quarter of a million pounds. Who is buying them? And, more intriguingly, how?

Despite the worst recession since the 1930s, there still seems to be plenty of money about - in some pockets. Is it that a lucky few are simply born with a rare get-rich gene? Or is it that they have got themselves the advice of extra-sharp accountants? Can anyone get rich?

Man Alive looks at the lifestyle of some big spenders. And asks how they do it. Could it be that there are really two tax systems in Great Britain and that some people are always going to have it easier than others?

Following the programme, Jeremy James speaks to chartered accountant Philip Hardman about the ways that wealthy people can use the British tax system to their advantage. Jeremy James then hosts a studio discussion with author and former Conservative MP Jeffrey Archer and Labour MP Frank Fields about the growing financial inequality in Britain. What can be done about it? Indeed, should anything be done about it?

Presenter: Jeremy James

Reporter: Peter Bazalgette

Producer: Judi Conner

Editor: Tim Slessor

Clip taken from Man Alive: There's Still a Lot of It About, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 5 March, 1981.

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