Days of Hope

this was a great bbc tv series by ken loach directing ,jim allen writing and tony garnett producing but I can`t find a copy anywhere ,has anyone got one ,please? It seems the bbc are not going to rebroadcast which is a shame as it was a classic like so many Ken Loach films,so it`s a faint hope that someone videod it in 1974/5 slim but worth a try

TV doesn't get any better than this. During the 1970's there was a golden age of TV drama which produced some magnificent series. I Claudius, Fall of Eagles, the Glittering Prizes and the very naturalistic Days of Hope which was more of a fly-on-the wall style of drama. For the first time regional accents were not confined to the lower working class, simpletons, maids, char ladies and criminals, but were spoken by real people. The class struggle of the working class to obtain a better life and not be used as cheap labor and serfs by the upper classes, who seemed to think that they had a right to superiority and that the underclass should be grateful for their guidance, and the ultimate betrayal of their struggle is shown in this drama which begins in WWI where the poor were cannon fodder, and ends with the general strike of 1926. It may seem shocking to modern audiences, but the men returning from WWI faced wage cuts combined with longer hours as their wages were tied to the commodity price of their production. For many there was only unemployment. There was no national health care. Wages were subsistence. Housing was tied to employment, lose your job and out on the street you go. There was no further education for the children of the poor, in fact at 12 they went on half time, half the day at school and the other half in the mine or the mill.

It would not be until after the second world war that they would begin to rise above poverty and inferiority and be treated as individuals. Just as the returning soldiers from WWI were betrayed by the politicians, as were the countries of the middle east and far east which were divided up as spoils of war, the working men and their families were treated as a disposable commodity by the ruling class. Even in the 60's a regional accent was a barrier to advancement in employment or society, and the class system definitely still existed.

The sad thing today is seeing how the descendants and beneficiaries of the labor movement have abused and taken for granted the fruits of the struggle.

I was an extra in the Days of Hope as a school child in Langley Park where it was filmed and would dearly love to see a copy of the drama, which is only available now to schools and colleges.Being so young at the time I have very fond memories of taking part, queuing up to be kitted out in the period costume at the make shift costume department on location at the local youth centre. Waiting around in the rain for the weather to clear for shooting, enjoying the black leather boots and scruffy brown dress and shawl.I would love to see it now and follow the plot, which I was too young to appreciate at the time and to try to recognise fellow school mates who sadly I have now lost touch with.

Kenneth Loach's story of three people living through the period between the world wars covers the recovery from the slaughter after 1918, the conflict in Ireland, the Depression and the general strike. Though the overall outcome is a betrayal of the hopes of ordinary people, it is not depressing or preachy. The director's point of view is always overt, but the great impressions are of compassion and of complete truthfulness in the representation of characters. After seeing and hearing one of the group scenes, of conversations in a pub, for example, you realise that every similar scene you've experienced before in film or on television was quite artificial. The rather drawn face of the (then young) Paul Copley in the leading role is unforgettable. This is at the top of my great experiences on television.

Okay, let's give credit where it's due: As in other Loach productions, the actors in this grim, earnest series look and sound relatively real. And as for one of the issues raised in the first installment -- whether Britain was wise to have entered the Great War -- I'd probably side, thanks to 20-20 hindsight, with those who wanted to stay out... which is certainly the point of view Loach is advocating.

But throughout his career, every film he's made is meant to convey some sort of heavy-duty left-wing political message - in this case, a numbingly predictable one about how the working class has been duped, screwed, and exploited. And because his movies are less interested in entertaining us than they are about Teaching Us a Lesson, I find myself tuning out. Granted, some lefty friends of mine revere Loach, because his films reflect and confirm their political beliefs. But for me, they're just skillfully made propaganda.