Shockwaves of the Sixties That Changed Nation; BOOK REVIEWS

Beginning of article

IN November 1966 the BBC sent shockwaves through the nation by broadcasting a play called Cathy Come Home. Television would never be quite the same again.

Produced by Brummie Tony Garnett and directed by Nuneaton's Ken Loach, it was a gritty, dirty and a realistic portrayal of a young mother's journey into homelessness, despair, deprivation and the loss of her children.

The ensuing storm stirred the nation's social conscience, led to the foundation of the charity Shelter and epitomised a new kind of television that was a punch to the solar plexus of a stuffy, conservative country that was in the throes of an unexpected revolution.

And that is why it is a prime example of what the 1960s were all about.