The foundations of Stevenage’s new town will be examined in a new BBC One documentary which will air next month.

Iconic 1960s model Twiggy will present the programme looking at how the new town came to be built after the end of the Second World War.

Filming will be taking place at Stevenage Museum this week, and the programme will also feature the voices and memories of people who watched the new town rise and who lived there in the early years after a call was put out by producers.

BBC producer Roy Hough told the Comet: “The programme is about what the country did after the war, what happened after the celebrations stopped, what was the reality?

“Each region will focus on a different subject and my team are concentrating on London and the eastern region.

“One of the biggest issues here was how to house people after the Blitz and one of the things the government did was to build new towns, and Stevenage was the first.

“We will look at the people who first moved to the town, and I don’t think many people know you could only buy a house if you already lived or worked in Stevenage.

“So a lot of the people who first moved in were builders who helped build the houses and brought their families to live here.”

He said Twiggy has been picked to present the programme because she grew up in the immediate postwar years, even though she has no connections to the town.

Roy added that he was no longer searching for people to take part in the filming because he had been inundated with townsfolk willing to take a trip down memory lane.

The series is being made to celebrate the 70th anniversary of VE Day on May 8, and will be aired as a regional BBC One programme soon afterwards, but there are also hopes that it will be screened to a national audience on BBC Four at a later date.

Cameras will be rolling at the museum tomorrow for filming.