CATHY COME HOME, 1966
© BBC PHOTO LIBRARY
Hard-hitting British television play Cathy Come Home followed a young family’s descent into homelessness, forced to move between squats and homeless shelters, desperately waiting to be allocated council housing. At a time when homelessness was not shown on TV, the show’s 12 million viewers were shocked and outraged as, in the final scene, Cathy’s children were forcibly taken into care. The realities of homelessness and the shortage of affordable housing portrayed in Cathy Come Home prompted a huge public outcry as well as a debate in parliament; just three months later, the homelessness charity Crisis was founded. Coincidentally, the screening came a few days before another homelessness charity – Shelter – was launched.