Scroll down for video . A new BBC2 television series has challenged one British family to dine through the decades, lifting the cooking pot lid on how eating habits for UK households have changed dramatically since World War II. For two-and-a-half months last summer, the Robshaw family rolled back the years to find out exactly how they would have eaten as a family living in each of the post-war decades in the 20th century. The results, to be screened later this month on BBC2's Back in Time for Dinner programme, were fascinating - if not occasionally stomach churning. Stepping into a different dining room for each decade, the Robshaws - dad Brandon, mum Rochelle and children Miranda, 17; Rosalind, 15 and Fred 10 - lived through how menus have changed. Writing in The Independent, Brandon said the family's normal, 21st century diet was a 'fusion of the functional and the foodie' with easy-to-cook recipes dominating week days and more 'ambitious' dishes being tried at the weekend. Bread and dripping for breakfast, cow-heel pie for dinner... The Robshaw family took on a brave culinary challenge to eat as a family would have in every decade from the 1950s to the 1990s. Pictured, from left to right, Rosalind, 15, mum Rochelle, Fred, 10, dad Brandon and Miranda, 17, in the 1950s episode . Forty years later, the Robshaws found themselves eating in the Nineties, sampling such delights as homemade pasta. 'Within living memory, the way we eat has been utterly transformed, not once but several times, and is still changing,' remarked Brandon . Like most modern kids, Miranda, Rosalind and Fred are in possession of a wide-ranging palate and enjoyed dishes from a global menu, says their dad. So, what was their reaction when they were plunged into the immediate post-war period, when rationing dominated the diets of the early 1950s? Brandon says the family felt 'hungry' all of the time with ten-year-old Fred finding it particularly hard to sate his sweet tooth without the biscuits and snacks that are readily available today. Faced with an 'of-the-time' dining room for each decade; the 1960s kitchen had 'luminous sky-blue walls' and 'radioactive yellow walls', while the 1970s saw a move towards open-plan dining, something which made the kitchen much more of a social hub for families. The Hairy Bikers' Dave Myers pictured with the Robshaw family as they sample the food of the Sixties . Sampling the Good Life... although the Robshaws found that food in the 1970s was more brightly coloured - but perhaps less enticing - than ever before. After all, this was the decade that gave us the Pot Noodle. The rise of the TV dinner: The Robshaw family, pictured above in their 1980s-style kitchen found the decade to be all about convenience, with gadgets aplenty helping them to make meals . The arrival of multiple television sets per household in the eighties stifled mealtime communication however, with TV dinners - effectively a meal on a tray in front of the box - becoming commonplace. 'It brought home to us all how British food has been revolutionised in an incredibly short time,' says Brandon. 'Within living memory, the way we eat has been utterly transformed, not once but several times, and is still changing.' The series looks too at how technology made a difference; a 1950s housewife would be forced to do a daily shop without the luxury of a fridge. While a stay-at-home mum in the eighties would lay out an afternoon tea that might have been made using a Magimix machine for the cake and coffee from a filter machine. The family said there were highs and lows to each decade with particularly dismal offerings including the 'national loaf' that was rationed out to families after World War II. The bread was filled out with potato starch and, according to Brandon, was a one-way ticket to indigestion. Highs included a vegan bean casserole, fresh from the seventies which was 'lipsmackingly good' and a trip to famed restaurateur Anton Mosimann's London eatery, where very eighties nouvelle cuisine and lashings of champagne were served. Here, we take a through-the-decades look at what the Bradshaws experienced. Stepping back in time for a Mary masterclass: Baking supremo Mary Berry teaches the Robshaws how to make a cake as it would have been done in the 1950s . The Fifties . Easily the starkest decade for dining in the last sixty years, the fall-out from World War II meant that families were still using ration books for almost half of the 1950s. Even cups of tea would have to be apportioned out. Bread came in the form of the 'National Loaf' and because flour was scarce, it was often padded out with potato starch, making for an indigestion-inducing crust. How a family might have started the day in the early 1950s, with bread - often the rationed 'National loaf' - and left-over roasted meat fat aka 'dripping' Snacks that modern-day children take for granted were nowhere to be seen and hunger was an all-too-familar feeling. And when mealtimes came, small portions were the order of the day. Bread and dripping (often left-over fat from the Sunday roast), now largely consigned to the history books, was a reality at breakfast time. Vegetables were often taken from community allotments. With no fridges except in the most west-heeled family homes, food was largely eaten fresh and shopping was a daily occurrence. The decade did get better though and the Sixties loomed...with the promise of the first ready-meal. On the dinnerplate: Cow-heel pie and home-grown vegetables . The Sixties . On every level, the 1960s were about liberation. Gastronomically, the country began to breathe easier with rationing a distant memory and plenty of new-fangled ideas hitting the kitchen cupboards. Packets of cereal still familiar to us today - Rice Crispies, Frosties and Corn Flakes - all found themselves on the breakfast table for the first time. The breakfast cereal, now an essential item on most UK families' dining table in the mornings made their first appearance back in the 1960s . Curry but not as we'd recognise it now: Families began to get a taste for spicier food and  Vesta introduced an early ready meal in the shape of a beef curry . The beginning of a tomato-based love affair: Spaghetti bolognese arrived in the UK from our Italian friends...and hasn't left British dining tables since . Fridges became more commonplace, introducing the weekly shop to households. The tin-opener became a big ally in the kitchen as tins of Spam and corned beef were popular dinnertime treats. The Italians gave us our first garlic-infused sample of spaghetti bolognese and we liked it. On the downside, families began to get their first taste of processed food as sugar, salt and preservatives began to enter the equation. On the dinnerplate: One of the first meals in a packet, the Vesta beef curry . The Seventies . Three layers of sweetness! The Fab ice lolly proved a huge hit with youngsters in the 1970s . Dining rooms went open plan for the first time, making them a real social hub of the household for the first time. A freezer added further longevity to food in the family home. It wasn't all sophistication though, power cuts were a frequent event and dad would be found holding a candle as mum tried to concoct dinner in the dark. In an attempt to tantalise British palates, food packaging became brighter and more exciting...and often the bright colours would extend to the products inside. Children would go to the cinema and find such icy treats as Fabs and Sky Rays sold at the half-time interval. Spice came into the cupboards too, as curries became popular. Convenience food arrived in earnest, with the Pot Noodle stocked on supermarket shelves for the first time...much to the delight of students everywhere. Even cookbooks were dominated by making life easier, with casseroles and one-pots a big foodie trend. No self-respecting dinner party host would not think of serving fondue. On the dinnerplate: Curry and chips . Rise of the Pop Tart? Put it in the toaster or just eat it plain...kids went crazy for Kellogg's easy-to-eat snack . The Eighties . This decade saw the family cook look to appliances to make favourites with a more professional finish. Bakers fell in love with the Magimix and coffee tasted better in the filter machine. Working mums would rely on the ping of the microwave to feed their family quickly. The French sent over Nouvelle Cuisine and aspiring chefs went crazy for pretty, tiny portions...fancy food was all the rage in restaurants. Takeaways became a regular family treat. The number of televisions per household rose which saw the rise of the TV dinner, sidelining the dining table in favour of a tray on your lap. In between meals, kids would reach for one of the many snacks that were heavily advertised on television: Skips, Quavers and other high-salt, low nutrition foods were devoured. A more healthier backlash was on its way though... On the dinnerplate: Takeaway pizza . Just like mama used to make: Britons in the 1990s began to try their hand at making pasta at home...cue lots of families buying pasta machines . The Nineties . Health concerns for the first time began to make people think twice when supermarket shopping. A trend towards ditching processed food in favour of organic produce saw people conscious of their 'five-a-day' for the first time. Compared to the stark rationing of the Fifties, shopping was now all about variety with 10 types of apple, 20 types of bread laid before us. Although lots of food still clocked up plenty of air miles to get to our kitchen table, there was an awareness that eating locally was important. We discovered how to make our own pasta. The biggest vice? Booze! Meals would readily be accompanied by a nice bottle of Shiraz and supermarket shelves creaked with bottles of plonk, often at cut-down prices. On the restaurant scene, the gastropub arrived, reinventing old boozers by putting a chef with ambition in the kitchen. On the dinnerplate: Home-made pasta...with a nice bottle of red . 'Back in Time for Dinner' begins on BBC2 on 17th March at 8pm .
The Robshaw family spent ten weeks eating in different decades . TV challenge saw them experience post-war rationing and nouvelle cuisine . Arrival of fridges and other kitchen gadgets changed the lives of families . A typical breakfast in the 1950s might have included bread and dripping . By the nineties, families were starting to kick back against processed food .