Drama that made us care
MARION McMULLEN looks at how ground-breaking drama Cathy Come Home exposed the plight of homeless Britain 55 years ago
A HARROWING scene of an anguished mother being torn apart from her two young children left its mark on TV viewers 55 years ago. Cathy Come Home exposed the chronic housing shortage in Britain and the problem of homelessness and led to the formation of the charity Crisis. Then Housing minister Anthony Greenwood also said: “I would like it to be compulsory viewing once a month for the next five years.”
The gritty drama was broadcast on November 16, 1966 as part of the BBC’s Wednesday Play series and was shot in documentary-style as it told the story of Cathy Ward, played by Carol White, and her husband Ray (Ray Brooks) who marry and start a family only to see their lives descend into poverty and homelessness.
The sight of Cathy’s children being forcibly taken into care as they waited with their mum at a railway platform tugged at viewers’ heartstrings.
“You don’t care. You only pretend to care,” wailed Cathy.
It was a television play which changed the views of a nation and it has gone on to be called one of the most influential TV programmes of all time.
Twelve million people watched the drama written by Jeremy Sandford and it was so realistic that actress Carol White would often be stopped in the street years later by people who wanted to give her cash because they believed she really was homeless and in need of help.
Her real-life sons, Sean and Steve, played Cathy’s sons in the TV drama.
The caption at the end of the broadcast pushed home the message as it read: “All the events in this television play took place in Britain within the last eighteen months. 4,000 children are separated from their parents and taken into care each year because their parents are homeless.”