Cathy Come Home
Cathy Come Home: Key Stage 3 lesson plans (PDF, 92kb)
Cathy Come Home: Key Stage 4 lesson plans (PDF, 98kb)
Background
Cathy Come Home is a landmark play in British television drama. It was first broadcast in 1966, and again in 1967, both times watched by 25% of the British population. The drama was so powerful it provoked questions in the Houses of Parliament. It coincided with the launch of the housing charity, Shelter, giving it a huge boost in publicity.
The play follows young lovers Cathy (Carol White) and Reg ( Ray Brooks) from the optimism of their early married days through a spiral of misfortune that follows Reg's work accident, leading to eviction and separation, and culminating, in what remains one of TV's most memorable scenes, in a hysterical Cathy having her children forcibly taken away by Social Services. (From bfi Screenonline)
The play was written by Jeremy Sandford, who had previously written a radio documentary on homeless families. Disappointed by the reaction to this, he wrote a television play, which was taken up by Tony Garnett, producer of The Wednesday Play, a series that had a reputation for topical drama. Garrett asked Ken Loach to direct Cathy Come Home. They wanted to show the 'reality' of homelessness, in what was thought at the time to be an affluent society.
For information on homeless issues visit the Shelter website
For more information about Sandford's work visit Television Heaven.
For more information on Ken Loach visit the bfi's Ken Loach Gallery.
The impact of Cathy Come Home also came from the unique way in which it was made. Up until then TV drama was usually made in a studio. With Cathy Come Home, Loach took the filming onto the streets of London and Birmingham, and combined techniques of drama and documentary, with handheld cameras, observational camerawork and a voice-over.
At first Cathy Come Home seems very old-fashioned, but the quality of the drama soon grabs you. The disintegration of the family in the face of indifferent officialdom is fascinating, while it is frustrating that 40 years on the same problems still exist. In February 2005 the BBC's Motion Gallery conducted a poll of classic television moments, which placed 'the fireside scene' from Cathy Come Home fifth: not bad after forty years!
For more information about Cathy Come Home go to bfi Screenonline and the TV100 feature.
