The best documentaries about British politics, name them

I've watched a few great ones lately, found them fascinating and wondering if anyone can recommend more.

There are plenty docs about the Tories, esp Thatcher, unsurprisingly. I rewatched 'The Making of the Iron Lady' (2008, BBC4) recently, some brilliant footage of her rise from the mid 60s up to 1979. An interview with her Carol & Mark sat on the sofa from the mid 60s was esp weird. 'Tory! Tory! Tory!' (2006, BBC4) is also great: an in depth look at the philosophy and party. There's also 'Alan Clark's History Of The Tory Party' (1997, BBC), which I haven't watched yet but I've heard good things about. Plus 'Thatcher - The Downing Street Years' (1993, BBC).

But I'm more interested in the Labour and left-leaning documentaries. After years of hunting I finally tracked down 'Labour: The Wilderness Years' (1995, BBC), a four-part documentary following the history of the labour party from 1979 to 1995. Found this captivating, so much I never knew about the early 80s in-fighting - genuinely exciting to see footage of the time, plus interviews with the main players 10-15 years later.

Guttingly, I've only got a couple of crappy VHS rips of the first two episodes of this, and the last 5 mins of ep2 is missing. Eye-opening interviews with Foot, Benn, Healy etc. Clips of the 1980 Labour conference with people casually throwing the word 'comrades' around, the whole thing ending with a "Three cheers for international socialism, hip hip...". Seems mental when you think what the Labour party is now. I'm tempted to go through it and put all the more wtf/wow clips up on Youtube. Benn comes out really badly, Hattersley in particular rips him to shreds, plenty of people blaming him for giving Thatcher a decade in power. Great clip of a Benn speech where he says "The word Socialism terrfies people but it's just Social... Ism. It's a philosophy based around people working together to better society." Superb speaker. If anyone has this full series, or knows how to get hold of it please do let me know. Would do anything to see these final 2 episodes. More info here: http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/25671 Is it worth mailing the BBC and asking them to screen it again? It's certainly something that would fit on BBC4 at the moment.

Other left-wing docs: 'Cutting Edge: Comrades' (1992, Ch4). About Liverpool's Militant Tendency. Again not seen this but had it recommended. It's actually on Youtube if anyone's interested. 'Lefties' (2007, BBC) which looks at the extreme Left in the 70s and 80s. Plus 'Labour's Old Romantic - A Film Portrait of Michael Foot' (1997, BBC) which was shown again earlier this year.

Haven't come across anything about the Lib Dems/SDP, which surprises me.

I found all the above on the torrent site theb*x.bz, but if anyone wants them I could upload them to megaupload or something. And if there are any great ones out there, say here!

Here's part 1 of the 1992 Comrades documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD-ZHkfodOY

Pretty excited about seeing this next month:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/15/revealing-documentary-unguarded-side-lord-mandelson

Mostly for the Osborne/Mandelson clash. The two most evil-looking guys in politics having a dust-up, WWF-worthy.

dope thread NI

is much of this torrented or is it all on the youtubes?

i've seen a very small amount by this bro

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-marc-karlin-1076691.html

would like to see more

Cheers man, yeah these are all on thebox dot bz, though I'm finding the odd thing on Youtube that isn't on torrent sites, like this 25 min doc called 'Thatcher vs the Unions'. I'd recommend signing up to thebox though, it's dirt cheap and there's a wealth of this kind of thing, plus hugely rare stuff from the 60s/70s. It's precisely the kind of thing the BBC should set up, a massive archive of TV from the past 50 odd years.

If you want to mail me (n1che1an @ g mail, change the 1s to is) I'm willing to post out a dvd-r with a bunch of these on it. Or if it's just the odd one I can upload it to Megaupload. I want as many people as possible to see the Wilderness Years documentaries as it's so good. Just hoping someone somewhere has those other two episodes.

The Karlin stuff sounds great. That 'Between Times' from 1993 sounds like exactly the kind of thing I'd like to see. Nothing out there on the torrent sites sadly.

Just finished watching the Cutting Edge Comrades documentary this morning. Mindblowing stuff, the world of politics seems a completely different place from then (the world of poverty? not so much). Genuinely inspiring speech by Terry Fields at the end where he addresses the militants after losing in the 1992 election: "Douglas McCarthy 1942: I will return, or if not me.. SOMEBODY LIKE ME - AND YOU! AND YOU! AND YOU! AND YOU!" jabbing his finger at everyone in the audience while they go crazy cheering and applauding him.

Really telling/poignant moment just before the vote, Fields talking to his volunteers in some smokey club, camera shot zoomed in tight on his face, he thanks everyone, waits a bit, then out of nowhere starts belting out 'Dreamin'' by Johnny Burnette. "Dreamin', I'm always dreamin'... Searching, I'm always searching'..."

Have to wonder what happened to the 'Tiny Trots' creche, those kids must be in their early 20s now. Also the very sweet Julie McCann who hands out the Militant newspaper on weekends before reading her copy of Cosmopolitan and going out nightclubbing: "After the revolution there'll be a cure for AIDS, everlasting lightbulbs and cars that run on water, things like that."

Fantastic documentary full of tender/mental moments like that, can't recommend it enough.

Also keen to see the 1996 documentary about Derek Hatton: 'My Brilliant Career: Derek Hatton a very different man' http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/543440

Know little about him but for someone to switch from hardcore socialism to THIS just a few years, leaves a nasty taste. He was a prize tosser on, uh, Come Dine With Me a few months back too.

Baffled by this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0tLFbA1PdE&

My beloved thread died a death, sadly, but I might as well update with this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00w4k2d (tomorrow night, 9pm)

Documentary following Peter Mandelson in the run-up to the 2010 general election. Hannah Rothschild's film shows Mandelson at his ministry, masterminding the election campaign and dealing with colleagues such as Gordon Brown and Alastair Campbell. With unprecedented access to key events and conversations, this is a fascinating behind-the-scenes exploration of British politics.

Very excited about seeing footage of Mandelson dealing one-on-one with Campbell and Brown. Just hope it gives an unbiased portrayal but uh what are the odds?

Some awesome guy, who has read this thread and supports Rotherham, has uploaded the entire Wilderness Years series to thebox. Pleased as punch about this, downloading now - if you've got a vague interest in things like this I can't recommend it enough.

I haven't been able to find anything but "Cast into the Wilderness" on the internet. Can you tell me where I can find the other parts you have? I'm super keen to see them. Thanks!

hi luke, if you're still around reply here. i can upload them to megaupload. or you could just sign up to thebox.bz, i got them from there.

back to the op, i've been out of the loop re: tv for about 6 months now. have there been any good political documentaries you good people of ilx would recommend i catch up on?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXi6TMG8hTE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd8LZ-E42AQ

theb0x d0t bz is closing tomorrow so grab this stuff while you can :(