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Thought-provoking, stimulating and in some cases as poignant today as it was then: Vol 2 of BBC’s much acclaimed anthology series brought the works of some of Britain’s best writers and actors to the screen. Six plays (first transmitted between 1972 and 1979) address topics such as the inequality of the British education system, gangland wars, welfare cuts, immigration and miners strikes in rural areas.
Disc 1 features two stories written by Tom Clarke – the first one, ‘STOCKER’S COPPER’ (1972, dir, Jack Gold), is based on true events and takes place in Cornwall in 1913. Clay miner Manuel Stocker (Bryan Marshall) works hard day in day out to feed his wife Alice (Jane Lapotaire) and their two children. However, when the going gets really tough Stocker, along with some other miners, decide on an almighty strike for better working conditions, better pay and union recognition. Of course this gets the authorities worried and they dispatch a specially trained squad of Welsh policemen to the rural Cornish spot to nip things in the bud so to speak. Among them is copper Herbert Griffith (Gareth Thomas) – a sympathetic lad who takes up lodgings with the Stockers (initially Manuel isn’t too happy about the arrangement but extra money is always welcome) before befriending the family. Slowly but surely Herbert starts to gain Manuel’s trust but when a miners march on the very clay pit where ‘blackleggers’ work descends into bloody violence, Manuel comes to realise the hard way that Herbert is nothing more than a duty-bound copper after all. Superbly acted and photographed this is powerful stuff indeed.