Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:56 am Post subject: Duncan Campbell on UK TV censorship
R for Restricted
The fuss about the uncovering of the Zircon sattellite (I lied I did it in my youth - ha! ha!) Actually, it was journalist Duncan Campbell, shown here. Also, some more banned documentaries.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:28 am Post subject:
BBC2 Anniversary: Secret Society - Zircon
Duncan Campbell film in 1986 had unearthed some details on a secret spy-satellite project, code name Zircon. The government demanded that the programme be shelved, on the grounds of national security, and the BBC complied.
Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 296 Location: Halifax, West Yorkshire
Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:14 pm Post subject:
Thanks for those videos, Tony. Brings back vague memories of happenings before I had a clue as to what was going on. Now I know why I didn't have a clue as to what was going on!
I found a document describing the affair, and the following caught my eye:
Quote:
But another programme Campbell made for the series was – and remains - unshown: his investigation into secret Cabinet committees that make crucial government decisions. It was considered too sensitive as the 1987 election approached. In 1991 Channel 4 and Campbell tried to feature it in a series about banned programmes. The BBC rejected their offer, and Channel 4 had to have it remade using Campbell’s scripts.
In June 1989 the Scottish Labour MP Alastair Darling, now a Cabinet minister, offered a different perspective of the Zircon programme during a Commons debate. Speaking from the Opposition benches, he accused the Conservatives of using it to divert attention away from their real target: the edition about Cabinet committees.
“That programme was about the election campaign of 1983, and the fact that the Government sought to undermine and spy on the citizens of this country. Their object was to prevent the programme from being shown, and the Zircon affair was a blind,” Darling said.
It's not just the cabinet, either. I came into all this from the bottom. I could relate to most of what Clare Short had written from my own experiences in a tiny membership association that posed no threat to national security. I was at first incredulous at what was going on. I can recommend Clare Short's book to anyone interested in how any association can by undermined.
But back to the cabinet. I'm just wondering whether that programme still exists.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 11:23 pm Post subject:
Thanks for digging this out Ian.
Here is what many believe to be the most controversial programme in the series. Viewable on the web for the first time. Quite an eye opener. It's been available for a while on Bit-Torrent.
Author Peter Hennessy is in flying form.
"Mrs. Thatcher has syringed the collective marrow from cabinet and cabinet committee work into informal ad-hoc groups she can 'stack' to get the results that she desires."
Thanks for those videos, Tony. Brings back vague memories of happenings before I had a clue as to what was going on. Now I know why I didn't have a clue as to what was going on!
I found a document describing the affair, and the following caught my eye:
Quote:
But another programme Campbell made for the series was – and remains - unshown: his investigation into secret Cabinet committees that make crucial government decisions. It was considered too sensitive as the 1987 election approached. In 1991 Channel 4 and Campbell tried to feature it in a series about banned programmes. The BBC rejected their offer, and Channel 4 had to have it remade using Campbell’s scripts.
In June 1989 the Scottish Labour MP Alastair Darling, now a Cabinet minister, offered a different perspective of the Zircon programme during a Commons debate. Speaking from the Opposition benches, he accused the Conservatives of using it to divert attention away from their real target: the edition about Cabinet committees.
“That programme was about the election campaign of 1983, and the fact that the Government sought to undermine and spy on the citizens of this country. Their object was to prevent the programme from being shown, and the Zircon affair was a blind,” Darling said.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:48 pm Post subject:
Excellent looking documentary was censored tonight, This documentary was withdrawn at the last minute. Replaced with a deceptively similar epsode about Insurance investigators. Probably an injunction.
I don't suppose anyone ever told a careers adviser that they dreamt of being a bailiff. The repo men in Barney Snow's Cutting Edge film have a disappointed air: they see a lot of lives gone wrong, and when they arrive to repossess a car for a finance company, they knock their victims one notch lower. "That's failure knocking at your door," reflects one debtor here. The film feels topical, but it's also slyly observed. Beefy repo men Danny and Chris, of the wonderfully named Integrity Ethical Ltd, take the film over with their talk of "toe-rags" and their nostalgia for Mrs Thatcher. In one telling scene they declare their love for the flag of St George over a game of darts: the spirit of Al Murray's Pub Landlord is alive and well.
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