f

2. DOES CATHY COME HOME
(KENLOACH, 1966) STATUS AS A
DOCU-DRAMA MEAN THAT IT IS
LESS POWERFUL AS A PIECE OF
CINEMA?

3. BACKGROUND
• CATHY COME HOME SCRIPTWRITER JEREMY SANDFORD CAME FROM A JOURNALISM
BACKGROUND.
• FOLLOWING THE EVICTION OF HIS NEIGHBOURS IN 1961, HE WAS SO APPALLED BY THEIR
SUBSEQUENT LIVING CONDITIONS THAT HE WROTE AN EXPOSE IN THE OBSERVER
• THIS ARTICLE WAS THEN FOLLOWED BY AN ITEM ON THE BBCS PANORAMA BEFORE
BEING DEVELOPED INTO A RADIO DOCUMENTARY ENTITLED HOMELESS FAMILIES (1961)
• THIS METICULOUS RESEARCH IS WHAT FORMED THE BACKBONE OF HIS TELEVISION
DOCUDRAMA

4. AUDIENCE REACTION AND SOCIAL CHANGE
• CATHY COME HOME HAS BEEN CREDITED WITH BOTH CHANGING THE LAW GOVERNING
HOSTEL ACCOMMODATION AND LAUNCHING THE HOUSING CHARITY “SHELTER”
• AFTER ITS FIRST BROADCAST IN NOVEMBER 1966, CATHY COME HOME PROVOKED A
PUBLIC OUTCRY.
• THE BBC'S SWITCHBOARD CRASHED BECAUSE SO MANY VIEWERS CALLED IN TO ASK
WHAT THEY COULD DO TO HELP.
• THE HOUSING CHARITY SHELTER RELEASED A POSTER THE DAY AFTER THE JANUARY
REPEAT SCREENING STATING THERE ARE “LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF CATHY'S IN BRITAIN
AT THIS MOMENT”
• THE CAMPAIGN RECEIVED £50,000 IN THE FIRST MONTH.
• LOACH AND SANDFORD WERE ALSO INVITED TO THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING TO
DISCUSS THE HOUSING CRISIS.

5. SCENE ANALYSIS: CARAVAN SCENE
• HOW DOES THIS SCENE PROVOKE AUDIENCE REACTION?

6. SCENE ANALYSIS: ENDING
• HOW DOES THIS SCENE PROVOKE AN AUDIENCE REACTION?
• ARE THERE ANY SIMILARITIES THAT CAN BE DRAWN TO THE BEGINNING OF THE FILM?

7. ESSAY
• HOW FAR IS THE SPECTATOR CHALLENGED BY ISSUES OF MANIPULATION IN
DOCUMENTARY FILM? REFER TO THE FILMS YOU HAVE STUDIED FOR THIS TOPIC.
• YOUR ANSWER SHOULD INCLUDE AT LEAST 2 DETAILED SCENE ANALYSIS, THEORY AND
TERMINOLOGY THROUGHOUT.