Miners' Strike: A Frontline Story | |
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Genre | Documentary |
Directed by | Ben Anthony |
Composer | Dominic de Grande |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Production | |
Running time | 88 minutes |
Production company | The Garden Productions |
Original release | |
Network | BBC Two |
Release | 2024 |
Miners' Strike: A Frontline Story is an 88-minute BBC Two documentary film about the 1984 UK miners' strike including the Battle of Orgreave. The film splices archive footage of the strikes, with stories from 15 individuals who were directly involved on the both sides of the events, including the miners and the police force. Several of the participants in the documentary were reciting their experiences for the first time in 40 years. [1] [2] [3]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Daily Telegraph | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Gazettely | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The documentary has received positive critical feedback. The Guardian awarded it 5 stars, and highlighted the impact of the film in particular how the voices of the miners had finally "been heard". [4] The Times newspaper also gave 5 stars. [5] Writing for the Daily Telegraph, Anita Singh gave the documentary 4 stars out of 5, and stated that "the raw, heartbreaking stories of families rendered helpless by the strike – and government – will stop you in your tracks". [6]
The 1984–1985 United Kingdom miners' strike was a major industrial action within the British coal industry in an attempt to prevent colliery closures. It was led by Arthur Scargill of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) against the National Coal Board (NCB), a government agency. Opposition to the strike was led by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who wanted to reduce the power of the trade unions.
The Battle of Orgreave was a violent confrontation on 18 June 1984 between pickets and officers of the South Yorkshire Police (SYP) and other police forces, including the Metropolitan Police, at a British Steel Corporation (BSC) coking plant at Orgreave, in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. It was a pivotal event in the 1984–1985 UK miners' strike, and one of the most violent clashes in British industrial history.
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