the summer of

What it was like to be 15 in 2003 in Britain

To be fifteen in Britain in 2003 was to have “Where Is the Love?” by The Black Eyed Peas everywhere, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King on every screen, and Pop Idol on after school. That year, gas cost 77.9p/L and the London congestion charge was the new thing. Born in 1988? You turned 15 in 2003 — a teenager from 2001 to 2007, right in the window a soundtrack bonds to you for life.

Compiled by the Original Lore archive from period charts, box-office and price records. How we build these · sources noted throughout.

▶ Play your 2003 reel with sounda 30-second video of your year — the song, the screen, the turn.

the mixtape of 2003

Where Is the Love? — The Black Eyed Peas

  1. Where Is the Love? — The Black Eyed PeasWill.i.am's plea drifting over a jittery, post-Iraq summer that suddenly felt older than the last.
  2. Crazy in Love — Beyoncé ft. Jay-ZThose uh-oh horns and Beyoncé arriving fully formed, the undisputed anthem of a scorching August.
  3. Bring Me to Life — EvanescenceNu-metal angst pouring through dial-up and MSN, the song for feeling misunderstood at fourteen.
  4. Ignition (Remix) — R. KellyThe half-mumbled hook everyone sang wrong, hot-and-the-Sunday-and-the-toot-toot on endless summer loop.
  5. Never Gonna Leave Your Side — Daniel BedingfieldBedingfield's breathless devotion, the slow dance you swayed to convinced this one would last forever.

▶ Play your 2003 reel

why this one mattered

The best-seller of 2003, and impossible to separate from the year Britain marched against the Iraq war. That Justin Timberlake hook and the 'what's wrong with the world' plea was everywhere — on the radio, in the common room, the sound of being 15 while the news felt genuinely frightening.

the year-end #1 was the best-selling single of 2003 in the UK.

the movies you are watching in 2003

  • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  • Finding Nemo
  • Love Actually
  • The Matrix Reloaded

the tv shows you are binging in 2003

  • Pop Idol
  • Little Britain
  • I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!
  • Fame Academy
  • Wife Swap

the games you are playing in 2003

  • Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
  • Need for Speed: Underground
  • The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
  • Tony Hawk's Underground
  • Pro Evolution Soccer 3
  • Call of Duty

what things cost in 2003

What things cost in 2003
a pint of lager£2.40
a cinema ticket£4.50
the national minimum wage (adult)£4.50/hr
a gallon of gas77.9p/L
a first-class stamp28p
the average income£26,150

trending this year

the London congestion charge
Photo by Mark Ahsmann (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Congestion_Charge_entry_road_sign_behind_black_barrier.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
the London congestion charge
the Oyster card
Three's 3G video phones
Little Britain
Photo by Dersachse95 (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Andy_%26_Lou_from_Little_Britain_at_Madame_Tussauds.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
Little Britain
the iPod
HereToHelp, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
the iPod

the gadgets you just got

the third-generation iPod
Photo by re-ality (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IPod_3G_grass-2005-05-01.jpg · CC BY 2.0
the third-generation iPod
the Nokia 3510i
Photo by Santeri Viinamäki (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nokia_3510i_(2002).jpg · CC BY 4.0
the Nokia 3510i
the flip phone
Photo by Carlos Rosas (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Motorola_V300.jpg · CC BY 2.0
the flip phone
the DVD recorder
Photo by Vogler (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Philips_DVDR3320V.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
the DVD recorder
the USB memory stick
Photo by Dori (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USB_flash_drive.jpg · Public domain
the USB memory stick

what everyone is snacking on

Dairylea Lunchables
AI-generated illustration
Dairylea Lunchables
Wham bars
AI-generated illustration
Wham bars
Skips
AI-generated illustration
Skips
Cadbury Boost
Photo by Edward Hart (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boost_halves.JPG · CC BY 4.0
Cadbury Boost
Drifter
AI-generated illustration
Drifter

what everyone is drinking

WKD
AI-generated illustration
WKD
Lucozade Sport
AI-generated illustration
Lucozade Sport
Robinsons Fruit Shoot
AI-generated illustration
Robinsons Fruit Shoot
Dr Pepper
Photo by Oren Rozen (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dr_Pepper_Israeli_6Pack.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
Dr Pepper
Frijj milkshake
Photo by Jaggery (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M%C3%BCller_Frijj_advert,_Malpas,_Newport_-_geograph.org.uk_-_8303245.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0
Frijj milkshake

what made the news in 2003

  • Britain joins the US-led invasion of Iraq after a million march against the war in London
  • The BBC-Government 'sexed-up dossier' row leads to the death of Dr David Kelly
  • England's rugby team win the World Cup with Jonny Wilkinson's last-minute drop goal
  • Beckham leaves Manchester United for Real Madrid in a summer transfer saga
Britain joins the invasion of Iraq after a million march in protest
Photo by Simon Rutherford (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:London_Anti_Iraq_War_march,_15Feb_2003.jpg · CC BY 2.0
Britain joins the invasion of Iraq after a million march in protest
Death of Dr David Kelly amid the 'dodgy dossier' row
AI-generated illustration
Death of Dr David Kelly amid the 'dodgy dossier' row
England win the Rugby World Cup with Wilkinson's drop goal
Photo by Wt is this (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jonny_Wilkinson_conversion.jpg · CC BY 3.0
England win the Rugby World Cup with Wilkinson's drop goal
David Beckham signs for Real Madrid
Photo by hywell (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beckham_zidane.jpg · CC BY 2.0
David Beckham signs for Real Madrid
The August heatwave sends temperatures above 38C for the first time
AI-generated illustration
The August heatwave sends temperatures above 38C for the first time

what everyone is saying

  • "Yeah but no but"Vicky Pollard's motormouth catchphrase from Little Britain
  • "Computer says no"Little Britain's Carol Beer, the phrase of jobsworth Britain
  • "The only gay in the village"Little Britain's Daffyd, endlessly quoted in 2003
  • "Peng"meaning attractive, rising in urban teenage slang
  • "Random"the all-purpose teenage word for anything odd or funny

the summer of 2003.

you can't wait to be older.

…and then it cools. Play the reel to feel where 2003 goes.

Turn 2003 into a 30-second reel →

▶ Play your 2003 reel with sound