Very British Futures

Nineteen Eighty-Four

In the history of BBC drama there are landmark productions which changed the way British television would be made afterwards. Nigel Kneale can lay claim to being in two such productions: The Quatermass Experiment and 1984.

George Orwell's parable about the methods of tyranny was known in literary circles but it was this television play in 1954 which really brought Big Brother into the mainstream. Peter Cushing was already something of a household name on television but 1984 put him on another level, shortly before Hammer Films made him internationally famous. Rudolph Cartier's boldness in producing this play, made it the yardstick against which other television dramas were measured. Many futuristic dystopias were to come, and you can find something of 1984 in many of them. Just look at "The Way Back" the opening of Blake's 7 for example.

The plot is well known to most of us from school. Winston Smith (a name combining the great wartime leader with the everyman) is party member of IngSoc, who rule a third of the world with remorseless efficiency and constant surveillance. But in his heart Winston is a rebel and when he meets Julia, another party member who feels the same, the two embark on a love affair. They even dream of escape, but the Thought Police have been watching them for months and after arresting them, a frightening process of torture and re-education begins.

This was an interesting challenge to host. I wanted to focus on this specific TV production, whilst one of my guests, Andrew Scott Roe-Crines, wanted to discuss 1984 in a broader sense. John Isles was in the middle. The result is one of the more distinctive episodes of the podcast, but I think some interesting talking points came out of it.

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