| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (25 min. 42 sec.) ; 155507234 bytes |
| Summary |
It's home to a movie studio that helped shape the world's enduring image of the British. In the years following WW2, Ealing produced quaint, loveable comedies and stout, rousing dramas which defined the Brits as mannered, enterprising, stoic and quick witted. Then one night, earlier this month, Ealing produced something very different - a shocking, real-life horror show. The quiet, comfortable London suburb was suddenly under siege from hoards of rampaging hoodies. Who were they, what drove the madness and will Ealing and other trashed neighbourhoods ever be the same again?There was a time when Ealing could be relied upon to cheer people up. Post-war audiences flocked to see acting great Sir Alec Guinness in comedy romps like Kind Hearts and Coronets which lampooned the upper classes or The Lady Killers and the Lavender Hill Mob in which unlikely crims hatch harebrained heists. The films became so loved and successful they helped shape a lasting stoic, stiff-upper-lip image of the British as the nation rebuilt after war-time. But there was nothing funny or appealing about Ealing's latest, real-life caper flick and nothing endearing about its stars. Young gangs running amok in Ealing's commercial heart, smashing everything in sight, breaking into supermarkets and electronics stores and stealing everything from TVs to soft drink, storming into restaurants and threatening diners and staff."I've lived in London 40 years and I have never experienced the level of hate, anger, violence that took place. It was unbelievable mayhem across the whole of this area." - Adrian Mills, Restaurant OwnerLong term residents like filmmaker and writer Peter Firstbrook couldn't believe their eyes and ventured into the melee to try to understand what was driving this wanton rampage. Vey quickly Firstbrook would be catapulted to the epicentre of the riots to attend to another local who lay bleeding an unconscious in the gutter. Firstbrook tried but was unable to save the man."The Ealing comedies and great dramas were the archetypal stiff upper lip films and the gentleman who died (that) night was very much from that period. He was a public schoolboy, he was really quite formal, really very proper, but a true gentleman." - Richard Firstbrook, Filmmaker and WriterAs the dust clears from the riots that exploded in Tottenham and rolled like a juggernaut through other major centres, reporter Andrew Fowler goes looking for answers to questions that perplex and puzzle stunned locals and astonished onlookers around the world.What drove the violence? Was it - as some suggest - class comeuppance, the actions of deprived and disaffected youth venting their anger and looking to even the ledger between haves and have nots? Or was it - as others see it - simply a chilling, wanton rampage of smash and grab by young opportunists from all walks of life.And has Britain's faith in itself and its own been shaken to the core and changed irrevocably? |
| Event |
Broadcast 2011-08-30 at 20:00:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: NC |
| Subject |
Political and social views.
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Riots.
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Sabotage.
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Unemployment -- Law and legislation.
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England -- Ealing.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Bell, Julian, contributor
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Ben-Galim, Dalia, contributor
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Corcoran, Mark, host
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Firstbrook, P. L, contributor
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Fowler, Andrew, reporter
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Halliburton, Wayne, contributor
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Howe, Darcus, contributor
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Mills, Adrian, contributor
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Soares, Daniel, contributor
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Willmott, Gerry, contributor
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