| "The Big Flame" | |
|---|---|
| The Wednesday Play episode | |
 | |
| Episodeno. | Season 8 Episode 19 |
| Directed by | Ken Loach |
| Written by | Jim Allen |
| Editing by | Roy Watts |
| Original air date | 19 February 1969 (1969-2-19) |
| Running time | 85 mins |
"The Big Flame" is a 1969BBCtelevision play by socialist playwrightJim Allen, produced byTony Garnett and directed byKen Loach.[1] The play tells the story of 10,000 dockworkers occupying theLiverpool docks in a "work-in".[2] Filmed in a gritty,realisticdrama documentary style, it was first broadcast on 19 February 1969 onBBC1, at a time when unemployment was rising in Britain. The play was shown in the BBC'sThe Wednesday Play anthology strand, which was noted for tackling social issues.
Following its broadcast,Mary Whitehouse, president of theNational Viewers' and Listeners' Association, wrote to both Prime MinisterHarold Wilson and Leader of the OppositionEdward Heath, demanding that they review the charter of the BBC in light of its transmission of "a blueprint for the communist takeover of the docks."[3]Unofficial strikes were the subject of political debate at the time, and the government had proposed a ban on unofficial strikes the previous month in the paperIn Place of Strife. The last broadcast was on 26 August 1971.
The name of the play was later used by arevolutionary socialist organisation founded in Liverpool in 1970.[4]
Jim Allen and Ken Loach, along with many of the same cast, also collaborated on the 1971 filmThe Rank and File. The two films have been noted as being similar in many ways.[5][6]
In September 2011, the play was released on DVD as part of the 6-disc box set,Ken Loach at the BBC.[7]
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