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Cathy Come Home - 40 Years on.
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Cathy Come Home was a pioneering drama made by acclaimed director Ken Loach in
1966. It sent shockwaves through British society, changing the way people
thought about homelessness.
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The television play was watched by 12 million
people and influenced the way television dramas were made.
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This week, Inside Out on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ ONE West Midlands looks back on the 40 years since Cathy Come Home was broadcast to investigate why it was so influential and whether the problem of homelessness remains the same.
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The drama was essentially a Birmingham project. Partly filmed on location in
Birmingham and using the region's people as extras, it highlighted the issue of
homelessness in the Midlands and highlighted the fact that the problem was not
just a London issue.
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Inside Out presenter Ashley Blake meets the people who made the drama possible,
including world-renowned director, Ken Loach, actor Ray Brooks, now in
EastEnders, and producer Tony Garnett.
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Tony tells Ashley that it was the
support from local people that made the drama a success and how the crew would
listen to the views and suggestions of the local people, and change the
production accordingly.
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Keen to find out what a young audience now makes of Cathy Come Home, Ashley
takes a group of teenagers from St Basils - an organisation that works with
young people to help prevent homelessness - to meet Ken Loach, who takes time
out from work on his latest film to talk to them about their impressions of the
play.
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Speaking on Inside Out, Ken Loach says: "Our aims were modest. We were saying
'this happens and it shouldn't'.
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"It [the film] achieved something, in that
there was a change in the law that fathers wouldn't be refused accommodation
with their families, but that was quite a small victory."
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The teenagers are convinced that the documentary changed the government's
approach to tackling the problem of homelessness.
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But, 40 years on, Ken Loach is
still concerned about the lack of homes available to people on low incomes and
remains unconvinced about the lasting effect of the broadcast of Cathy Come
Home.
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Inside Out, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ ONE West Midlands, Monday 23 October 2006,
7.30pm
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