Description
KEN LOACH at the BBC
6-DVD Box Set
The Big Flame • Three Clear Sundays • Days of Hope • The End of Arthur’s Marriage • In Two Minds • Up the Junction • The Price of Coal • Cathy Come Home • The Rank and File
OPTIONAL SUBTITLES. 6 discs. Drama. Black & White. Years: 1965-1977.
Running time approx 18hrs 30mins.
Stars include: Carol White, Ray Brooks, Wally Patch, Rita Webb, Tony Selby and more.
Extras: Cathy Come Home Commentary with Ken Loach; Housing Problems documentary; Exclusive interview with Ken Loach.
Ken Loach, one of the most admired and respected UK filmmakers of his generation, began directing for the BBC in 1964. His contributions to the BBC series The Wednesday Play from 1965-69 established his reputation for making realistic social issue dramas. After feature film success in the late sixties, he returned to television, directing the acclaimed series Days of Hope (1975) and the two-part The Price of Coal (1977). Loach took filming out of the studio, introducing a documentary-style approach, tackling controversial subjects from a radical perspective.
The Big Flame (1969) by Jim Allen. Stars: Ken Jones, Godfrey Quigley, Peter Kerrigan, Norman Rossington and more. Liverpool dockworkers stage a “work-in”.
Three Clear Sundays (1965) by James O’Connor. Stars: Tony Selby, Rita Webb, Glynn Edwards, George Sewell and more. Events leading to the imprisonment of a young man after being convicted of murder.
Days of Hope (1975) by Jim Allen. Four part series. Stars: Paul Copley,Pamela Brighton, Nikolas Simmonds, Alun Armstrong and more. The lives of a working-class family from the First World War to the General Strike in 1926.
The End of Arthur’s Marriage (1965) by
Christopher Logue. Stars: Ken Jones, Charles Lamb, Maureen Ampleford, Winifred Dennis and more. A couple receive the life savings of the wife’s father.
In Two Minds (1965) by David Mercer. Stars: Anna Cropper, Brian Phelan, George A. Cooper, Helen Booth and more. A young woman with schizophrenia, is treated by medical professionals in a mental hospital.
Up the Junction (1965) by Nell Dunn. Stars: Carol White, Geraldine Sherman, Vickery Turner, Tony Selby and more. The stories of three young London women.
The Price of Coal (1977) by Barry Hines. Stars: Bobby Knutt, Paul Chappell, Jayne Waddington, Rita May and more. Two episodes contrast a royal visit to a colliery with safety shortcuts that cause an accident.
Cathy Come Home (1966) by Jeremy Sandford. Stars: Carol White, Ray Brooks, Winifred Dennis, Wally Patch and more. The story of a young couple and their descent into poverty and homelessness.
The Rank and File (1971) by Jim Allen. Stars: Peter Kerrigan, Billy Dean, Tommy Summers, Joan Flood and more. A pay discrepancy results in a bitter strike.
