Season 10

1983 · 5 episodes

Episodes

1The Falklands ExperienceThe first of a new Tuesday Documentary series. What was it like to be summoned unexpectedly to war? What was it like, to cope with the problems of command in a hard intense campaign 8,000 What was it like to go into action at the controls of a Harrier fighter, to be a sitting target in 'Bomb Alley', to abandon ship and fight for your life in the water, to be in the middle of an infantry attack (whether as civilian or soldier) to be wounded in battle? What was it like to be doctor or a nurse coping with gravely injured men? Did men get a 'buzz' from going to war? What was the feeling among the troops and the Falklanders when the white flags appeared over Port Stanley - just one year ago today? This film is about the personal experience of some of the men and women involved in the Falklands conflict of 1982, not about its causes, politics or strategy
2ShoutsA Night with the Blue Watch at Brixton Fire Station A Tuesday Documentary Five-thirty pm and the 13 firemen on the Blue Watch start drifting into the baroque fire station. By six o'clock they're on parade, beginning a watch that will take them through until nine the following morning. Station Officer LOU GILL knows that his 12 firemen are a highly-trained Ã©lite, hand-picked to man one of London's busiest fire stations: Brixton. None of the firemen, even the seasoned ones like Lou and Mad Mick , will get much sleep. But Winkle and Milky are new to the job: for them each ' shout', when the bells ring all over the station and the fire appliances roar out into the night, will be a test. For arson, accidental fire and death are all part of the job as they go about an ordinary night.
3South Africa Sport And The BoycottWhile a United Nations Conference in London examines ways of lightening sports sanctions against South Africa, members of the MCC are currently being balloted on whether they should send a cricket team there, thus breaching those sanctions. In South Africa itself things have moved on from the 60s, when the Basil D'Oliveira affair brought racial inequalities in sport to the world's attention, today black and white play sport together and compete, for Springbok colours. As a result many people are questioning the justification for sanctions, and asking why pick on South Africa alone ?
4After The MassacreWhen we was in Ireland, I used to listen to the news and I thought - Christ, I hope I never go out to Lebanon (CORPORAL KEITH DICKEN, Beirut). Most of Lebanon is occupied by Israeli, Syrian and Palestinian forces. But in Beirut itself, 100 British soldiers are serving with the multinational peacekeeping force. Their task is to help the Lebanese Government end eight years of violence which reached a climax last summer with the massacre at Sabra and Chatila refugee camps. Last Saturday's, Q.E.D.- Before the Massacre looked at British volunteer medical staff. Tonight's programme follows the British soldiers on and off duty and explores their reactions to what they have seen and learned about the people they hope to protect.
5Black"The Negro: idleness, treachery, stealing, lying, nastiness ... the Negro is an awful example of the corruption of man left to himself." And that's from the Encyclopaedia Britannica - the 1810 edition! Griff Rhys Jones impersonates the author of this and other such remarkable writings of the 18th and 19th centuries. They might be funny if they weren't so appalling - and it is something of a tribute to human tolerance that young British blacks today can laugh together at the 1980s version: You know, you finish a football match, everyone is sweating, and you pass a bottle to your white mate, who says Oh, ta, mmm', and he tips it about four inches above his mouth, and you've been taking extra care to wipe the top. But behind the laughter, there's anger - and a growing movement of determined young activists who are saying NO to racism in white Britain.