By James KnightPhotos By Ben Rayner
Play for TodayPlay for TodayPlay for TodayScumBrimstone and TreaclePlay for TodayCathy Come HomePlay for TodayGuardian
Ray Winstone as Carlin, Stewart Harwood as Greaves and Davidson Knight on their way to having a not-very-good time in 1977’s Scum.RAY WINSTONEScumPlay for TodayScumVice: Had you done much acting prior to your role as Carlin in the Play for Today version of Scum?Ray Winstone:The SweeneyScumCarlin maintains a strong sense of what’s fair and what’s not and that ends up getting him in trouble. That sounds a little like the tale of what you went through at drama school. Is there any truth behind the story of you getting kicked out?So you went from being thrown out of drama school to working with Alan Clarke?While you were shooting Scum, did you feel you were making something that would be banned, have Mary Whitehouse up in arms, see the country drawing up sides and, finally, prompt serious questioning of the borstal system?ScumLaw and OrderScumLaw and OrderDid you have any actual run-ins with Whitehouse yourself?Do you feel there is anything being made today that compares to Play for Today in terms of portraying that level of social realism they achieved in films like Scum?Carlin kind of set the mould for a lot of characters that you’ve ended up playing since. Do you ever get bored of playing the hard nut with a heart?Did you ever imagine when you were playing Carlin that you’d end up working with Scorsese, Spielberg and Jack Nicholson?You came up with English actors such as Gary Oldman and Tim Roth? Did you ever feel like you were a little gang who came out of the Play for Today era drama to take on Hollywood?Nil by MouthThe War Zone
TONY GARNETTPlay for TodayPlay for TodayCathy Come HomeVice: You came to producing from an acting background, but weren’t you also studying psychology at UCL while treading the boards?Tony Garnett:How did you make the transition from prancing around in front of the camera to making decisions behind it?The Wednesday PlayPlay for TodayThat is some work rate.That ability to reflect contemporary reality so vividly was probably Play for Today’s most resonant suit. Was it something you were conscious of at the time?
Sean King as Sean, Ray Brooks as Reg, Stephen King as Stephen and Carol White as Cathy in the landmark production of Cathy Come Home, which was broadcast in 1969.If not the world, then Cathy Come Home certainly had an effect on the public consciousness in England.Is it true there was a degree of improvisation on Cathy Come Home?Was it inevitable that you and Loach ended up making a film like Kes together?Play for TodayKesWhat moved you to publicly criticise the current state of BBC drama?Play for Today
KENITH TRODDPlay for TodayVice: How did you find yourself entering the world of making films of plays on television?Kenith Trodd:The Wednesday PlayWhat was the climate like at the BBC when you began work at The Wednesday Play?In what sense?The Wednesday PlayVote, Vote, Vote for Nigel BartonHow about the other cases of censorship? Brimstone and Treacle springs to mind.Leeds UnitedBrimstone and TreacleBrimstone and TreacleDouble DareBrimstone and Treacle
Michelle Newell playing Patricia Bates in Dennis Potter’s Brimstone and Treacle from 1976. Left comatose after a hit-and-run accident, Newell’s character remains this way until she is raped by the devil, played by Michael Kitchen, and then miraculously regains consciousness. The original transmission was banned and not shown until 1987. Sting played the devil character in the 1982 remake. True story.Play for Today’s consistent ability to reflect, comment and influence contemporary society certainly seems retrospectively pretty remarkable.How would you compare the British TV climate as it was when the Play for Today brand thrived and how it feels now?
MARGARET MATHESONPlay for TodayScumVice: You were a victim of censorship, particularly with Scum. Did it feel during the later period that you were involved with Play for Today that things were less free?Margaret Matheson:Did you face opposition being a woman in what was, essentially, a big old boys’ club?The Wednesday PlayPlay for TodayHow did Scum not get called up at any point in the checks and balances process?Cathy Come HomeSo when did the trouble start?Radio TimesWhat was their problem with it?Radio TimesWhat did you have to cut?
Joolia Cappleman, Sam Kelly, and Richard Kane in Mike Leigh’s Who’s Who from 1979. The play satirised contemporary class attitudes and snobbery. All fair game for Play for Today.How did you react when you knew that it was beyond saving?It must have been a bitter pill knowing that no one would see what you had worked so hard to create.Which directors did you most enjoy working with on Play for Today?Play for TodayWhat made you leave Play for Today?ScumYou went on to work on Made in Britain, Oi for England and Birth of a Nation (all from 1982). Would you have made those pictures without your background in Play for Today?
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