Portraying The Poor

The first of two programmes about the image of poverty and of the working class that's been created by writers (Part 1) and by films and TV (Part 2).

Whether it's Friedrich Engels's report on the Salford slums in the 1840s through to George Orwell's account of his expeditions to Wigan and the hop-fields of Kent, our picture of the poor has been painted by members of the middle class.

Paul Mason asks whether this outsider's view gives us a full and fair account - or whether it says more about the attitudes of the literary class than about the poor themselves.

Interviewees include Orwell's biographer DJ Taylor; Polly Toynbee (author of "Hard Work: Life In Low-Pay Britain") and Michael Collins (author of "The Likes Of Us - A Biography Of The White Working Class").

Producer Peter Everett.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.

Paul Mason surveys the account of working-class life given by middle-class writers.

Paul Mason explores the image of the working class that has been created by writers

The first of two programmes about the image of poverty and of the working class that's been created by writers (Part 1) and by films and TV (Part 2).

Whether it's Friedrich Engels's report on the Salford slums in the 1840s through to George Orwell's account of his expeditions to Wigan and the hop-fields of Kent, our picture of the poor has been painted by members of the middle class.

Paul Mason asks whether this outsider's view gives us a full and fair account - or whether it says more about the attitudes of the literary class than about the poor themselves.

Interviewees include Orwell's biographer DJ Taylor; Polly Toynbee (author of "Hard Work: Life In Low-Pay Britain") and Michael Collins (author of "The Likes Of Us - A Biography Of The White Working Class").

Producer Peter Everett.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.

Paul Mason surveys the account of working-class life given by middle-class writers.

Paul Mason explores the image of the working class that has been created by writers

The second of two programmes about the image of poverty and of the working class that's been created by writers.

From 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' to 'Coronation Street' and from 'On The Buses' to 'Big Brother', British film and TV has had plenty to say about the working class. But precious little of it has been written, less of it directed and virtually none of it commissioned by people who have themselves grown up among the poor.

Paul Mason asks how the picture has changed over the decades - and whether we're now any closer to seeing real lives on screen than we were in the days of the Ealing comedies or the 'kitchen sink' dramas.

Interviewees include film director Ken Loach, whose career spans more than half a century from 'Cathy Come Home' (1966) to 'Looking For Eric' (2009); Donna Franceschild, California-born playwright whose 2003 TV series 'The Key' was the story of three generations of working-class Glasgow women; Anthony Wonke, director of the BAFTA-winning documentary series 'The Tower: A Tale Of Two Cities' (BBC TV 2007); John Jewell of Cardiff University who has studied the representation of class in comedy, and TV reality-show presenter Trisha Goddard..

Producer: Peter Everett

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.

Paul Mason surveys the account of working-class life given by films and TV.

Paul Mason explores the image of the working class that has been created by writers

The second of two programmes about the image of poverty and of the working class that's been created by writers.

From 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' to 'Coronation Street' and from 'On The Buses' to 'Big Brother', British film and TV has had plenty to say about the working class. But precious little of it has been written, less of it directed and virtually none of it commissioned by people who have themselves grown up among the poor.

Paul Mason asks how the picture has changed over the decades - and whether we're now any closer to seeing real lives on screen than we were in the days of the Ealing comedies or the 'kitchen sink' dramas.

Interviewees include film director Ken Loach, whose career spans more than half a century from 'Cathy Come Home' (1966) to 'Looking For Eric' (2009); Donna Franceschild, California-born playwright whose 2003 TV series 'The Key' was the story of three generations of working-class Glasgow women; Anthony Wonke, director of the BAFTA-winning documentary series 'The Tower: A Tale Of Two Cities' (BBC TV 2007); John Jewell of Cardiff University who has studied the representation of class in comedy, and TV reality-show presenter Trisha Goddard..

Producer: Peter Everett

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.

Paul Mason surveys the account of working-class life given by films and TV.

Paul Mason explores the image of the working class that has been created by writers