After Dark (Channel 4)
Encyclopedia
After Dark was a British
late night live discussion programme which ran off and on Channel 4
television between 1987 and 1997, and on the BBC
in 2003. Roly Keating
of the BBC described it as "one of the great television talk formats of all time" and Mark Thompson
, then of Channel 4
, said in his MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival: "The channel reinvented and opened out talk on television with programmes like After Dark." In 2010 the television trade magazine Broadcast wrote "After Dark defined the first 10 years of Channel 4, just as Big Brother
did for the second".
Presenters included Prof. Anthony Clare
, Anthony Holden
, Stuart Hood
, Trevor Hyett, Henry Kelly
, Helena Kennedy QC, Prof. Sir Ian Kennedy, Sheena McDonald
, Matthew Parris
, John Underwood
and Tony Wilson
.
The show ended in 1991 but a number of one-off specials and a BBC revival followed.
, the founding Chief Executive of Channel 4
, wrote an account of the network's early years in his book Storm Over 4. In it he selects twenty-six programmes ('a very personal... choice'), including After Dark, which he describes as follows:
The programme
The online history Off The Telly describes the background: "(In 1987) Nighttime, a mixture of films and discussion-based programmes, extended C4's hours until 3am on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 23 April". Channel 4 launched After Dark as an open ended format broadcast on Friday nights (later Saturday nights) that would also be cheap to produce as original programming. There was no 'chair' but a 'host' and the discussion took place around a coffee table in a darkened studio. Due to its late-night scheduling the series was dubbed After Closing Time by one critic.
The producer described the programme in an interview in 2003: "Reality TV is artificial. After Dark is real in the sense that what you see is what you get, which isn't the case with something that's been edited to give the illusion of being real. Other shows wind people up with booze beforehand, then when they're actually on the programme they give them glasses of water. We give our guests nothing until they arrive on set and then they can drink orange juice, or have a bottle of wine. And we let them go to the loo."
wrote: "After Dark, the closest Britain gets to an unstructured talk show, is already finding that the more serious the chat, the smaller the audience... Channel 4's market research executive Sue Clench... says that around three million saw some of After Dark in its first slot."
The audience survey conducted later by Channel 4 reported that After Dark was watched by 13% of all adults, rising to what the research company referred to as a "staggering figure" of 28% amongst young men. One viewer is quoted in the academic study Talk on Television as follows:
was quoted as saying: "I went on a programme called After Dark on Channel 4 once with a prostitute, a psychiatrist and a gay man. Afterwards they all started coming to see me.".
Journalist Peter Hillmore described appearing on After Dark as follows:
Nancy Banks-Smith
wrote in The Guardian
:
The programme finished with the Beatles
singing "Do You Want To Know A Secret?
". Credits for this programme are listed here and an excerpt can be viewed here.
, Peter Tatchell
, Victoria Gillick
, the man who started the Profumo scandal and a Private Eye
journalist. A week later After Dark broadcast the following correction in relation to the British Member of Parliament Simon Hughes
: "Mr Hughes has asked us to say that he is not a homosexual, has never been a homosexual and has no intention of becoming a homosexual in the future."
described a discussion about the Mafia:
There were "spectacular corruption allegations from author David Yallop
", described by The Observer
as follows:
Chris Horrie and Peter Chippendale detail what followed: "the story had caused horror among the country's journalists, who waited breathlessly for a shower of writs to descend on the programme makers.... But although hacks who missed the show swapped videos and endlessly replayed extracts for snippets of information, nothing happened to the programme makers." Some years later David Mellor
and writer Gaia Servadio described how their friendship started on the programme.
, "the first day of the third term of Thatcherism - a show called "Is Britain Working?" brought together victorious Tory MP Teresa Gorman
; 'Red Wedge
' pop singer Billy Bragg
; Helen from the Stonehenge Convoy; old colonialist Colonel Hilary Hook
... and Adrian, one of the jobless. It was a perfect example of the chemistry you can get. There were unlikely alliances (Bragg and Hook) and Mrs Gorman" "stormed off the set, claiming she had been misled about the nature of the programme" "She told the leftist pop singer Billy Bragg: You and your kind are finished. We are the future now."
The Independent
said:
After Dark, "ending its ten-week trial run, has been a remarkable success" wrote The Independent
in July 1987. "The series has brought to television the rare acts of listening, thinking and thorough and subtle discussion.... In the small hours of Saturday morning, Maitre Jacques Vergès
, defence counsel to the Butcher of Lyons
, leaned back on a sofa with a half-glass of something pale and put his case. A journalist and a canon
and a Resistance
fighter and a concentration camp
survivor listened and put theirs.". Vergès said "... the reason people were still prosecuted for massacring Jews was because the Jews were white; if they had not been, the crimes would have been swept under the carpet long ago."
The Guardian
described what happened:
reported ("Masons pull out of TV debate with policeman") that "Chief Inspector Brian Woollard, the Metropolitan Police officer at the centre of the Freemasonry
controversy, will go on national television tonight to state his case." Woollard "completed 33 years in the force, earned seven commendations, and was responsible for tracking down the Angry Brigade." The Listener' magazine described the programme:
wrote in The Independent
:
The Evening Standard described this as "totally compelling viewing":
said the programme on 4 March 1988 "certainly remains lodged in many minds. Spider... was 'discovered' by a programme researcher ferreting out characters at London’s cardboard city. Spider duly came into the Channel 4 studios, cobweb tattooed on his forehead, to talk about drug addiction, being gay and living rough. (Host) Helena Kennedy recalls that homeless Spider, sitting on the plump sofas in the mock studio living room with fellow guests, did not take kindly to being lectured about fecklessness by John Heddle
, a Tory
MP"..
wrote of the programme on 18 March 1988:
described the programme broadcast on the evening after the 1988 Grand National
:
Among the other guests was the Duchess of Argyll
, appearing "so she said, to put the point of view of the horse", who later walked out of the programme "because she was so very sleepy".
wrote "A recent discussion on the Irish civil rights struggle
in 1968 provided one of the best nights' viewing in ages. Eamonn McCann
dominated the whole discussion, destroying anyone who dared to cross him." The television reviewer of the New Statesman
wrote that "The After Dark discussion, "Derry
68: Look Back in Anger?", was simply the most enlightening programme on Northern Ireland
I have ever seen."
described the 28 May 1988 edition of "my favourite chat show":
As the Radio Times
wrote later: "The most explosive argument was between Lord Hailsham and veteran trade unionist Jack Jones. There was... 50 years of hate between them.".
in The Listener magazine wrote about the edition broadcast on 4 June 1988:
And the Evening Standard
described "riveting television":
concert last summer, (After Dark) ran a discussion programme including Harry Belafonte
, Breyten Breytenbach
, Denis Worrall
and Ismail Ayob
(Mandela's lawyer)." The Guardian
described this as "the most civilised and stimulating of current TV programmes" (pictured here with a complete list of guests here) and later Victoria Brittain described the "extraordinary experience of debating with Worrall":
A year later it became public that there was "a revealing off-camera incident between Harry Belafonte and South Africa's ex-ambassador Denis Worrall. For the first three hours of the programme Worrall played Mr Nice Guy but in the closing 30 minutes the diplomatic layers peeled off. The noble Belafonte shook his head regretfully as Worrall's tone changed and he said he would pray for Worrall. Trying to regain lost ground after the programme, Worrall went up to Belafonte and, according to the production team, said: Well, Mr Belafonte, you're really quite intelligent, aren't you?"
wrote:
The Today
newspaper wrote:
reviewed the 25 June 1988 discussion:
The Guardian
added:
All editions of After Dark ended with music, more or less related to the subject of the week. The Evening Standard noted: "This intelligent (mostly), thought-provoking discussion was brought to an end by the song 'It's illegal, it's immoral, or it makes you fat'.".
in The Independent
newspaper as follows:
Bryans himself wrote:
The journalist Paul Foot
described it as "one magnificent edition of After Dark in which Robin Ramsay excelled himself." During the discussion, another guest, retired GCHQ employee Jock Kane, claimed "that the new procedures recommended by the Security Commission
regarding the removal of documents from GCHQ had not been implemented four years later.".
The following week The Guardian
newspaper reported:
wrote of the programme broadcast on 6 August 1988: "I recall hosting an edition of... After Dark' 'in which (Bianca Jagger
) intellectually crushed Dr John Silber
, a senior adviser to Ronald Reagan
, and Roberto Ferrey, an apologist for the Contras
. Furthermore, she left Sir Alfred Sherman
lost for words, a feat rarely achieved before or since."
the writer Sean French
described "the best moment of my week" occurring at the end of the 3 September 1988 edition:
president Gerry Adams
"to appear on its late night talk show After Dark, after protests from other contributors. The Independent Broadcasting Authority
said then that it would have banned Mr Adams on the grounds that his views were offensive to public feeling. Channel 4 avoided a dispute with the IBA by dropping the programme, saying it had only wanted Mr Adams to appear if a suitable context could be found and that, at such short notice, it had been impossible to achieve that."
The Guardian
wrote:
The Daily Telegraph wrote:
The row was placed in context by the academic study The Media and Northern Ireland:
An alternative view is provided by Laura K. Donohue (writing in the Cardozo Law Review ), who summarises Professor Keith Ewing
and Conor Gearty
as follows:
Following a debate in the House of Commons Liz Forgan
of Channel 4 challenged this account in a letter to The Times
:
The producer later commented in an article in Lobster
magazine:
The Financial Times
wrote:
Tony Benn
wrote in his diary, later published as The End of an Era:
The Listener magazine described the programme:
Richard Norton-Taylor
reported on guests who did not appear because of concerns about contempt of court
: "Michael Randle and Pat Pottle, who admitted helping the spy, George Blake
, escape from prison in 1966... have been dropped from the... programme... Mr Randle and Mr Pottle were arrested and released on police bail last week after admitting in a book that they had helped Blake escape." Michael Randle eventually appeared on After Dark, fourteen years later, on 22 March 2003.
, After Dark invited bereaved parents to participate, which became a testament to their grief:
wrote:
] contemptuously rejected the possibility posed by the former American Defence Secretary Richard Perle
that the political map of Europe was about to be transformed: 'Does anyone seriously believe that these satellite countries
are going to become free democracies and does anyone really believe that Moscow is going to see the disintegration of the Soviet empire?'"
This was the first time a former Prime Minister appeared on After Dark. Edward Heath was to be a guest again, on 2 March 1991, discussing the Persian Gulf
with Lord Weidenfeld and Adnan Khashoggi
.
Albert Friedlander
describes his participation in the After Dark discussion held on the 50th anniversary of the start of the Second World War:
said "After Dark 'provided us with the best talk, entertainment and drama of the weekend, when a group sat down to discuss the Body Beautiful. On one seat sat Mandy Mudd, representing the London Fat Woman's Group.... Strategically seated next to her on the sofa was the exquisite Suzanne Younger, Miss United Kingdom.... The most impressive guests were Molly Parkin
, who asked all the right questions; ex-body builder Zoe Warwick, whose perceptiveness and incisive comments kept opening up new areas of discussion; and Professor Arthur Marwick
, who had to bear the brunt of everyone's criticism and abuse.... Ms Mudd and disabled actor Nabil Shaban
shouted him down.".
characterised the opening discussion of the new series in January 1991 as follows:
Oliver Reed
appeared on an edition discussing militarism, masculine stereotypes and violence to women. Reed drank alcohol during the broadcast, leading him to become drunk, aggressive and incoherent. He referred to another member of the panel, who had a moustache, as 'tache' and used offensive language. After one hour Reed returned from the toilet and, getting more to drink, rolled on top of the noted feminist author Kate Millett
, who then complained (though she later asked for a tape of the show to entertain her friends).
Another guest on the programme, author Neil Lyndon
, wrote an article in The Independent
about the experience, subsequently criticised as follows:
The producer wrote later to the British television trade magazine Broadcast
:
In his column in the Daily Mirror, Victor Lewis-Smith
boasted of his hoax call: "The show was taken off air not by C4, but by... little-old-wine-drinking-me, sitting at home, far from the TV studio.... Once connected, I shouted: 'Michael Grade is furious about this. Take the bloody programme off... now!'"
Channel 4's Deputy Programme Director, John Willis, wrote an internal memo: "Oliver Reed got drunk and a hoaxer caused the programme briefly to be taken off air. I view the latter with a great deal more seriousness than the former... 1,000 calls from an audience estimated at just 300,000. Remarkable."
"Croall... was suspended by Nottinghamshire county council at a time when the authority was at the centre of a row over so-called ritual child abuse
. Britain's first alleged case of 'satanic' abuse was handled by his staff, and led to a debate on national television. On Channel Four's After Dark programme.... Mr Croall said that abortion was the 'greatest form of child abuse' and claimed that Christians could help abused children better than social workers. He was suspended from his... post for four months."
The Daily Telegraph reported what happened next: "More than 100 Christians gathered outside County Hall
to demonstrate their support for Mr Andrew Croall.... Members of the National and Local Government Officers Association, meanwhile, held a protest backing the suspension. His supporters rallied before a meeting of the county social services committee. Mr Croall's remarks... had outraged members of NALGO, who called for his resignation.". Mr Croall was "reinstated in August (1991), subject to restrictions that denied him direct responsibility for child care.". He resigned in 1992 and took a full-time job with a born-again Christian organisation.
The New Statesman
described the programme broadcast on 23 March 1991:
described the programme broadcast on 6 April 1991:
The Daily Star added:
Mr Sutcliffe also said his son was "a lovely lad" a description with which Michael Winner very much disagreed.
, and was described by the Mail On Sunday as "something died when After Dark was quietly killed off in the shadows last week":
The Independent
newspaper noted: "Grade's programming is confused: he axed the talk show... allegedly to make way for even more innovative programmes, yet replaced it with a series of Seventies repeats. He praised After Dark lavishly in public but, in a letter to Edward Heath
, said it 'promised more than it delivered'." The producer wrote later in an article in Lobster
magazine:
An open letter was published, signed by Professor Sir Ian Kennedy, Buzz Aldrin
, Billy Bragg
, Beatrix Campbell
, Lord Dacre, Gerald Kaufman
, Mary Midgley
, Richard Perle
, Merlyn Rees, Richard Shepherd
, Ralph Steadman
, Peter Ustinov
, Lord Weidenfeld and many others:
Angela Lambert
wrote later in The Independent
:
wrote:
In 1997 a Channel 4 executive was said by The Guardian
to be "insistent that 'it's a popular misconception that we killed it off. In fact we never lost it. We haven't done another series, but we did a one-off After Dark recently in our abortion season'. Bizarrely, Channel 4 cited After Dark as a model of the kind of cerebral programme it wanted when inviting (independent production company) submissions in May.... 'I can't think of any ideas that would make better late-night programming than After Dark,' , he said, echoing the words of the original commissioning executive of After Dark, Seamus Cassidy.", who in an interview to the Irish News in 2005 said, "I'm probably most proud of After Dark'."
magazine wrote of the first After Dark special, broadcast as part of the Channel 4 season Bloody Bosnia:
In January 1995 "Sinéad O'Connor
was so interested in a discussion about abuse and the Catholic church that she rang in to ask if she could appear. They sent a taxi to her home." The Evening Standard
wrote that "After Dark made a brief reappearance last Saturday night when, true to its unpredictable form, Sinéad O'Connor walked on to the set 10 minutes before closedown." Host Helena Kennedy described the event:
in 2003:
wrote:
described the show:
channel, billing it as "Anthony Wilson
hosts a discussion concerning secrets - both secrets of the State and the personal secrets we keep from one another."
announced that After Dark programmes are available online through its InView project. This web-based learning resource is free but accessible only to UK Higher Education/Further Education institutions, in partnership with The National Archives, the Parliamentary Broadcasting Unit, the BBC
, FremantleMedia
and the After Dark production company Open Media
. The BFI said InView offers examples of how some of the UK's key social, political and economic issues have been represented and debated.
, a crocodile, a hangman and a grandmother'." 'There's nobody I wouldn't have on the programme'.
Mark Lawson
wrote in The Independent
:
The Times
wrote: "Some of the juxtapositions have been inspired." "After the Nelson Mandela
concert last summer it ran a discussion programme including Harry Belafonte
, Breyten Breytenbach
, Denis Worrall
and Ismail Ayob
, Mandela's lawyer. Belafonte came directly from Wembley with a police escort for his only British TV appearance. Programme hired a private plane to fly in Breytenbach. Worrall came from South Africa at After Dark expense. But this largesse is apparently unusual."
wrote:
and the TV trade magazine Televisual commented:
The producer described the working method:
Jay Rayner
described the backstage atmosphere in Arena
magazine:
City Limits wrote:
Q
magazine quoted the producer: "We're actually trying to break down the barriers that divide people...Jeremy Isaacs
told us it was the best proposal for a live show he'd ever seen." "I really don't know what's going to happen.". The Listener magazine said After Dark has taken the format towards the realm of psychodrama
, peeling away its participants layers of restraint and front.'"
The producer wrote: "the production team was looking for presenters with more than the usual mechanical hack audience appeal... a facilitator rather than a celebrity figure. Not many people with the intelligence, experience, skill and nerve to take this on came to mind."
City Limits quoted the senior director: ”Coutts
says their role will be minimal. 'They interrupt if everyone is shouting at each other and generally just keep things going.... Getting (the hosts) to shut up is the most difficult thing', so used are they to their usual despotic position.'. "Tony Wilson
, a familiar face to programme watchers in Granadaland, understands that he will not be the host next week. Indeed he knows he will not be asked again if he attempts to direct the discussion.".
ran the first recruitment advertisement for programme staff:
The producer wrote:
A gameshow producer got his break into television by writing to After Dark: "They eventually put me on a very short contract cutting articles out of the papers. It was the most junior job I'd ever had and I was extremely happy! Over the next two series of After Dark, I read and cut 10 newspapers a day, 10 magazines a week, plus monthly digests of foreign press - a fantastic introduction to current affairs. I enjoyed the intellectual cut-and-thrust of the office, the thrill of live broadcasting, and the diversity of the subjects we covered."
A senior member of staff described her working week:
said "We used big close-ups, pulled focus or used a panning system. The camera work was radical...The idea was to use very low light conditions, and an atmosphere that was supposed to be dark and moody". Coutts is still pleased with the way viewers could turn the television on and within seconds know that what they were watching couldn't be anything other than After Dark.".
lawyer wrote:
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
late night live discussion programme which ran off and on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
television between 1987 and 1997, and on the BBC
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
in 2003. Roly Keating
Roly Keating
Roland "Roly" Keating is the current Director of Archive Content for the BBC.-Education:Keating was educated at Westminster School, an independent school for boys in London, followed by Balliol College at the University of Oxford, where he read Classics.-Life and career:Keating joined the BBC in...
of the BBC described it as "one of the great television talk formats of all time" and Mark Thompson
Mark Thompson
Mark John Thompson is Director-General of the BBC, a post he has held since 2004, and a former chief executive of Channel 4...
, then of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, said in his MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival: "The channel reinvented and opened out talk on television with programmes like After Dark." In 2010 the television trade magazine Broadcast wrote "After Dark defined the first 10 years of Channel 4, just as Big Brother
Big Brother (TV series)
Big Brother is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash...
did for the second".
Presenters included Prof. Anthony Clare
Anthony Clare
Anthony Ward Clare was an Irish psychiatrist well known in the UK and Ireland as a presenter of radio and TV programmes.-Career:...
, Anthony Holden
Anthony Holden
Anthony Holden is an English writer, broadcaster and critic, particularly known as a biographer of artists including Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky, Leigh Hunt, Lorenzo da Ponte and Laurence Olivier, and of members of the British Royal family, notably Charles, Prince of Wales...
, Stuart Hood
Stuart Hood
Stuart Hood is a Scottish novelist, translator and a former British television producer and Controller of the BBC's most popular television network, BBC One. He was born in Edzell, Angus, Scotland.-Life:...
, Trevor Hyett, Henry Kelly
Henry Kelly
Patrick Henry Kelly is an Irish television presenter and radio DJ.Henry Kelly was born in Athlone, Co Westmeath, Ireland. He was educated at Belvedere College SJ, and at University College Dublin where he was Auditor of the Literary and Historical Society...
, Helena Kennedy QC, Prof. Sir Ian Kennedy, Sheena McDonald
Sheena McDonald
Sheena Elizabeth McDonald is a British journalist and broadcaster.- Education :She graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1976 before gaining a postgraduate certificate in radio, film and television studies from the University of Bristol. Whilst at university in Edinburgh, she had a...
, Matthew Parris
Matthew Parris
Matthew Francis Parris is a UK-based journalist and former Conservative politician.-Early life and family:...
, John Underwood
John Underwood (PR adviser)
John Underwood is a PR adviser, now executive director of Freshwater UK PLC. He founded the Clear consultancy in 1991 after work as a reporter and presenter for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, including many editions of After Dark...
and Tony Wilson
Tony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson , was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC....
.
The show ended in 1991 but a number of one-off specials and a BBC revival followed.
Start on Channel 4
Jeremy IsaacsJeremy Isaacs
Sir Jeremy Isaacs is a British television producer and executive, winner of many BAFTA awards and international Emmy Awards. He was also General Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden .-Early life:...
, the founding Chief Executive of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, wrote an account of the network's early years in his book Storm Over 4. In it he selects twenty-six programmes ('a very personal... choice'), including After Dark, which he describes as follows:
- "Open-ended talk. Lifted by an astute producer... from Austria's Club 2, it began at midnight and went on till it finished. The aim, discussion between people with burning experience of the subject; e.g., the murderer and the judge. A participant might wait long to utter but in the end his turn came. Viewers could fall asleep in front of it, wake up and find the discussion just hotting up."
The programme
- "... allowed Isaacs to realise one of his longest-held ambitions. 'When I first started in television at Granada... Sidney Bernstein said to me that the worst words ever uttered on TV were, I'm sorry, that's all we have time for. Especially since they were always uttered just as someone was about to say something really interesting.' By carrying on until the participants ran out of things to say, After Dark became the first programme to banish the need even to think of uttering the dread words."
The online history Off The Telly describes the background: "(In 1987) Nighttime, a mixture of films and discussion-based programmes, extended C4's hours until 3am on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 23 April". Channel 4 launched After Dark as an open ended format broadcast on Friday nights (later Saturday nights) that would also be cheap to produce as original programming. There was no 'chair' but a 'host' and the discussion took place around a coffee table in a darkened studio. Due to its late-night scheduling the series was dubbed After Closing Time by one critic.
The producer described the programme in an interview in 2003: "Reality TV is artificial. After Dark is real in the sense that what you see is what you get, which isn't the case with something that's been edited to give the illusion of being real. Other shows wind people up with booze beforehand, then when they're actually on the programme they give them glasses of water. We give our guests nothing until they arrive on set and then they can drink orange juice, or have a bottle of wine. And we let them go to the loo."
Viewer response
In 1987, The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
wrote: "After Dark, the closest Britain gets to an unstructured talk show, is already finding that the more serious the chat, the smaller the audience... Channel 4's market research executive Sue Clench... says that around three million saw some of After Dark in its first slot."
The audience survey conducted later by Channel 4 reported that After Dark was watched by 13% of all adults, rising to what the research company referred to as a "staggering figure" of 28% amongst young men. One viewer is quoted in the academic study Talk on Television as follows:
- "After Dark is far better because it allows people to go over all sorts of stages in a discussion and they are not shut off. Well I suppose they are on for three or four hours, but I think that is a really good idea, that you can really work everything out for yourself."
Guest response
Author James Rusbridger wrote in The Listener magazine: "When I appeared on a Channel 4 After Dark programme recently my postman, milkman and more than two dozen strangers stopped me in the street and said how much they'd enjoyed it and quoted verbatim extracts from the discussion." Catholic priest Father Michael SeedMichael Seed
Father Michael Seed is a Latin Rite Catholic, a Franciscan Friar and former Ecumenical Advisor to the Archbishop of Westminster. Seed is known for his involvement in helping several British celebrities and politicians in their journey to embrace Catholicism.- Early life :Michael Seed was born as...
was quoted as saying: "I went on a programme called After Dark on Channel 4 once with a prostitute, a psychiatrist and a gay man. Afterwards they all started coming to see me.".
Journalist Peter Hillmore described appearing on After Dark as follows:
- "In the age of the glib, packaged sound-bite, a discussion programme that is long and open-ended, lasting as long as the talk is remotely interesting, occasionally longer, seems a necessity. For all its faults, as when Oliver ReedOliver ReedOliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough guy" roles...
appeared tired and emotional as a newt, the programme fulfilled its purpose and filled a gap. I appeared on it once. It was a strange feeling to realise that if you had failed to make your point properly, you had more time a short while later. So Channel 4's decision to axe it seems incomprehensible and wrong.... In his book on the channel, its founder Jeremy IsaacsJeremy IsaacsSir Jeremy Isaacs is a British television producer and executive, winner of many BAFTA awards and international Emmy Awards. He was also General Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden .-Early life:...
gave a long list of programmes that he felt summed up its ethos. With the ending of After Dark, not a single programme from the list remains. That is not a coincidence."
Peter Hain, Clive Ponting, Peter Utley, Colin Wallace and "Secrets"
The first ever After Dark programme (1 May 1987) was described in The Listener:- "After Dark made a historic breakthrough by rediscovering the structure of adult conversation: the ingredients are intelligence, candour and courage, and the absence of impeding structures such as television time barriers. Seven people talked live, from midnight to the early hours of the morning, on a subject dear to our hearts - and at the moment costly to our nerves - secrets. Clive PontingClive PontingClive Ponting is a British writer, former academic and former senior civil servant. He is the author of a number of revisionist books on British and world history...
, ex MOD; Anne-Marie Sandler, French psychiatrist; Peter HainPeter HainPeter Gerald Hain is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for the Welsh constituency of Neath since 1991, and has served in the Cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, firstly as Leader of the House of Commons under Blair and both Secretary of State for...
, former anti-apartheid campaigner; Colin WallaceColin WallaceJohn Colin Wallace is a former British soldier and psychological warfare operative who was one of the members of the 'Clockwork Orange' project, which is alleged to have been an attempt to smear a number of British politicians in the early 1970s.-Early life:...
, former army 'information officer' engaged in psychological warfare in Northern Ireland in the Seventies; Mrs Margaret Moore, widow of one of the computer scientists who have died recently in mysterious circumstances; Isaac Evans, a farmer who campaigns against bureaucratic secrecy, and T. E. UtleyT. E. UtleyThomas Edwin 'Peter' Utley CBE was an English High Tory journalist.Utley, blind since his childhood, went to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he achieved a double first in History. During the Second World War, he was a Times leader writer and then worked for the Observer and the Sunday Times...
, Times political columnist, who still believes Section 2 of the Official Secrets ActOfficial Secrets Act 1911The Official Secrets Act 1911 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaces the Official Secrets Act 1889....
'has a point' - all these discussed frankly their experiences and their perception of the consequences of excessive secrecy."
Nancy Banks-Smith
Nancy Banks-Smith
Nancy Banks-Smith is a British television critic; she began writing for The Guardian in 1969. In 1970 she was recommended for the Order of the British Empire, which she declined.*1951- 1955: Northern Daily Telegraph, reporter...
wrote in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
:
- "A bit of fun, a bit of excitement, and, quite the best idea for a television programme since men sat around the camp fire talking while, in the darkness, watching eyes glowed red.... It will be many a midnight before Channel 4 comes up with the subject so on the ball as Secrets and such an enthralling group of guests. Who, you may reasonably ask, is Isaac Evans? He described himself as "a peasant up from the country".... In old age he has, with great simplicity, taken up the cause of small people ruined by secret files.... Peter HainPeter HainPeter Gerald Hain is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for the Welsh constituency of Neath since 1991, and has served in the Cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, firstly as Leader of the House of Commons under Blair and both Secretary of State for...
and Clive PontingClive PontingClive Ponting is a British writer, former academic and former senior civil servant. He is the author of a number of revisionist books on British and world history...
(were) referred to affectionately by the chairman, Tony WilsonTony WilsonAnthony Howard Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson , was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC....
, as "You two gaolbirds".... It was suggested that only half a dozen MI5 men were watching After Dark. "On double time," said (Colin) WallaceColin WallaceJohn Colin Wallace is a former British soldier and psychological warfare operative who was one of the members of the 'Clockwork Orange' project, which is alleged to have been an attempt to smear a number of British politicians in the early 1970s.-Early life:...
and gave them a wave."
The programme finished with the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
singing "Do You Want To Know A Secret?
Do You Want to Know a Secret?
"Do You Want to Know a Secret" is a song by The Beatles from the 1963 album Please Please Me, sung by George Harrison. In the United States, it was the first top ten song to feature Harrison as a lead singer, reaching #2 on the Billboard chart in 1964 as a single released by Vee-Jay, VJ 587...
". Credits for this programme are listed here and an excerpt can be viewed here.
Simon Hughes
The second programme of the first series - transmitted on 8 May 1987 - centered on press ethics and featured, among others, Tony BlackburnTony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....
, Peter Tatchell
Peter Tatchell
Peter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British political campaigner best known for his work with LGBT social movements...
, Victoria Gillick
Victoria Gillick
Victoria D.M. Gillick is a British campaigner best known for the eponymous 1985 UK House of Lords ruling that considered whether contraception could be prescribed to under-16s without parental consent or knowledge...
, the man who started the Profumo scandal and a Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
journalist. A week later After Dark broadcast the following correction in relation to the British Member of Parliament Simon Hughes
Simon Hughes
Simon Henry Ward Hughes is a British politician and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. He is Member of Parliament for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark. Until 2008 he was President of the Liberal Democrats...
: "Mr Hughes has asked us to say that he is not a homosexual, has never been a homosexual and has no intention of becoming a homosexual in the future."
David Mellor, David Yallop and "The Mafia"
Later in May 1987 the Financial TimesFinancial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
described a discussion about the Mafia:
- "After Dark may well be cheap but is one of the most interesting innovations for years.... Two factors give the programme a special character: its length, which allows time for both personal reminiscence and discussion of theory or principle without that "I must stop you there" malarkey; and the camera arrangements with the participants set in a pool of light within a darkened studio, producing a peculiarly powerful sense of intimacy for late night.... The combination of Home Office minister David MellorDavid MellorDavid John Mellor, QC is a British politician, non-practising barrister, broadcaster, journalist and football pundit. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister John Major as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Secretary of State for National Heritage , before...
, former Cosa Nostra "bagman" Bob Dick, former Scotland Yard intelligence officer Frank Pulley (who made particularly astute political and social comments), New York undercover policeman Douglas le Vien and several journalists who write about organised crime, proved highly productive. After Dark bears out what has long been said: that ordinary discussion programmes have the time only to establish the participants' credentials before going off the air. This programme establishes credentials, moves on to discussion of the principles, and sometimes even manages some interesting conclusions. The points made in the final 15 minutes last Friday, about the differences between Britain and the US in attitudes towards wealth, and the way in which this might explain the puzzling (albeit pleasing) failure, so far, of organised crime in Britain, were the most interesting of the entire discussion. Do not switch on for a "taste" telling yourself that you will go to bed at 1.00. You will still be there at 3.00."
There were "spectacular corruption allegations from author David Yallop
David Yallop
David Anthony Yallop is an agnostic British author who writes chiefly about unsolved crimes. In the 1970s he also contributed scripts for a number of BBC comedy shows...
", described by The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
as follows:
- "Perched in the gallery above, a Channel 4 lawyer nervously watches in case the stew bubbles over. His worst moment came at 1.30 yesterday morning when David YallopDavid YallopDavid Anthony Yallop is an agnostic British author who writes chiefly about unsolved crimes. In the 1970s he also contributed scripts for a number of BBC comedy shows...
... cut short some coy evasions about who heads PIIPropaganda DuePropaganda Due , or P2, was a Masonic lodge operating under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of Italy from 1945 to 1976 , and a pseudo-Masonic or "black" or "covert" lodge operating illegally from 1976 to...
, the Italian variety of freemasonry, by naming him. The lawyer was quietly told that Mr Yallop had just named a senior minister in the Italian Government. Mr Yallop had not gone so far in his book. He also suggested that a member of the British Cabinet was on the board of the same company as some members of PII. Since After Dark, unlike most radio phone-ins, boasts no tape delay, the alleged defamation could not be prevented."
Chris Horrie and Peter Chippendale detail what followed: "the story had caused horror among the country's journalists, who waited breathlessly for a shower of writs to descend on the programme makers.... But although hacks who missed the show swapped videos and endlessly replayed extracts for snippets of information, nothing happened to the programme makers." Some years later David Mellor
David Mellor
David John Mellor, QC is a British politician, non-practising barrister, broadcaster, journalist and football pundit. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister John Major as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Secretary of State for National Heritage , before...
and writer Gaia Servadio described how their friendship started on the programme.
Teresa Gorman and "Is Britain Working?"
On 12 June 1987, the night after the British General ElectionUnited Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
, "the first day of the third term of Thatcherism - a show called "Is Britain Working?" brought together victorious Tory MP Teresa Gorman
Teresa Gorman
Teresa Ellen Gorman is a British politician, and was Conservative Member of Parliament for Billericay, in the county of Essex in England until 2001 when she stood down...
; 'Red Wedge
Red Wedge
Red Wedge was a collective of musicians who attempted to engage young people with politics in general, and the policies of the Labour Party in particular, during the period leading up to the 1987 general election, in the hope of ousting the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.Fronted by...
' pop singer Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
; Helen from the Stonehenge Convoy; old colonialist Colonel Hilary Hook
Hilary Hook
Lieutenant-Colonel Hilary Hook was a soldier in armies of the British Empire in India and later in Africa.Hook was educated at Canford School, Dorset and after the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst he was commissioned into the Royal Tank Corps in 1938. He joined a cavalry regiment in India and...
... and Adrian, one of the jobless. It was a perfect example of the chemistry you can get. There were unlikely alliances (Bragg and Hook) and Mrs Gorman" "stormed off the set, claiming she had been misled about the nature of the programme" "She told the leftist pop singer Billy Bragg: You and your kind are finished. We are the future now."
The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
said:
- "... the wonderful open-ended discussion show mused through the early hours of Saturday... someone took umbrage.... It was Mrs Gorman, marching away beyond the table lamps into the outer darkness.... 'Now we'll have a civilised discussion', said Billy Bragg."
Jacques Vergès and "Klaus Barbie"
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
in July 1987. "The series has brought to television the rare acts of listening, thinking and thorough and subtle discussion.... In the small hours of Saturday morning, Maitre Jacques Vergès
Jacques Vergès
Jacques Vergès, born 5 March 1925 in Ubon Ratchathani, Siam , is a French-Vietnamese lawyer who has earned fame continually since the 1950s, first as an anticolonialist communist figure and then for defending a long string of well-known clients from anticolonialist Algerian militant Djamila...
, defence counsel to the Butcher of Lyons
Klaus Barbie
Nikolaus 'Klaus' Barbie was an SS-Hauptsturmführer , Gestapo member and war criminal. He was known as the Butcher of Lyon.- Early life :...
, leaned back on a sofa with a half-glass of something pale and put his case. A journalist and a canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
and a Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
fighter and a concentration camp
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
survivor listened and put theirs.". Vergès said "... the reason people were still prosecuted for massacring Jews was because the Jews were white; if they had not been, the crimes would have been swept under the carpet long ago."
The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
described what happened:
- "(After Dark) had Maitre Vergès on a panel that discussed whether it was ever desirable, or even possible, to forgive (Klaus) BarbieKlaus BarbieNikolaus 'Klaus' Barbie was an SS-Hauptsturmführer , Gestapo member and war criminal. He was known as the Butcher of Lyon.- Early life :...
43 years after his crimes.... Vergès attempted to indict French crimes in Africa, imperial crimes everywhere...It was canon Paul OestreicherPaul OestreicherPaul Oestreicher is an Anglican priest.-Life and work:In 1938, shortly after he began school, his family had to leave Germany due to the Jewish ancestry of his father, the paediatrician Paul Oestreicher . They moved to New Zealand, where he grew up...
who isolated from the trial the real distinction between Barbie and the Nazi regime (and) the imperial brutality Vergès wanted to expose: the unique evil was that the Nazis built a system and a policy for the extermination of whole peoples."
- ""Vergès is clearly a man who knows how not to lose an argument even when he cannot win it," wrote The Sunday TimesThe Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
"but there was a moment when his mind-boggling calm was almost shattered. It came when a young American lawyer (Eli RosenbaumEli RosenbaumEli M. Rosenbaum was the director of the U.S. DOJ Office of Special Investigations , which was primarily responsible for identifying and deporting Nazi war criminals, from 1995 to 2010, when OSI was merged into the new Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section...
) announced that he had flown in for the programme specifically to confront Vergès with evidence of his anti-Semitic, right-wing connections and general moral corruption. It was a moment of high drama, but it was the outraged American who cracked first. "You're losing your temper," the old maitre instructed him. "That is no way for a good lawyer to make his case." Game and set, if not match, to Vergès."
"Freemasonry"
At the start of the second series The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
reported ("Masons pull out of TV debate with policeman") that "Chief Inspector Brian Woollard, the Metropolitan Police officer at the centre of the Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
controversy, will go on national television tonight to state his case." Woollard "completed 33 years in the force, earned seven commendations, and was responsible for tracking down the Angry Brigade." The Listener' magazine described the programme:
- "After Dark turned its attention, with some daring, to the issue of Masonic influence in the police force. Daring because a truly unfettered programme - live, under virtually no constraints of length - it chose to deal with matters both potentially libellous and believed by some to be bound by sub judiceSub judiceIn law, sub judice, Latin for "under judgment", means that a particular case or matter is currently under trial or being considered by a judge or court...
limitations. The central figure was a police officer who alleges he was suspended because his investigations into fraud came up against corrupt Masonic loyalties.... There were two ex-Masons, a clergyman who abandoned the brotherhood on religious grounds and a solicitor, Sir David NapleyDavid NapleySir David Napley was a famous and influential solicitor in England.-Background:Sir David Napley was born in London of Jewish ancestry. He began his articles in 1935 at the age of only 16...
, who had briefly flirted with it in the old days.... Former Deputy Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Colin Woods spoke unofficially for the police. A journalist, Martin Short, gave a run-down of the history of the Masonic movement and T. Dan SmithT. Dan SmithThomas Daniel Smith was a British politician who was Leader of Newcastle upon Tyne City Council from 1960 to 1965. He was a prominent figure in the Labour Party in the north east of England, such that he was nicknamed 'Mr Newcastle'...
told how in jail he got the Masonic knuckle squeeze from both wardens and prisoners... many an insight into the kind of society we inhabit, its anxieties and preoccupations."
Shere Hite and "Marriage"
Mark LawsonMark Lawson
Mark Gerard Lawson is an English journalist, broadcaster and author.-Life and career:Born in Hendon, London, Lawson was raised in Yorkshire and is a Leeds United fan. He was educated at St Columba's College in St Albans and took a degree in English at University College London, where his lecturers...
wrote in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
:
- "...where else would James Dearden, screenwriter of Fatal AttractionFatal AttractionFatal Attraction is a 1987 American thriller blended with horror, directed by Adrian Lyne and stars Michael Douglas, Glenn Close and Anne Archer. The film centers around a married man who has a weekend affair with a woman who refuses to allow it to end, resulting in emotional blackmail, stalking...
, be required to sit while sexpert Shere HiteShere HiteShere Hite is an American-born German sex educator and feminist. Her sexological work has focused primarily on female sexuality. Hite builds upon biological studies of sex by Masters and Johnson and by Alfred Kinsey...
gave the ending of the film away and demolished his characterisation? In a discussion of what women really wanted, Dearden and Ms Hite were joined by Mary WhitehouseMary WhitehouseMary Whitehouse, CBE was a British campaigner against the permissive society particularly as the media portrayed and reflected it...
, Naim AttallahNaim AttallahNaim Attallah is a businessman and writer. He was born in the former British Mandate of Palestine in 1931 and is the publisher of Quartet Books and backer of the Literary Review and The Oldie....
and proponents of career motherhood, lesbianism and open marriage... the advantage of the length is the opportunity to see positions crumbling and being constructed. We began with a rough consensus and Mary Whitehouse designated the runt of the discussion. People sighed and shifted their eyes when she spoke. A couple of hours on, we had the unlikely alliance of Dearden and Whitehouse against Hite."
The Evening Standard described this as "totally compelling viewing":
- "It is not simply what is said that is important. Equally fascinating are small gestures and expressions, beautifully caught at significant moments by some astute camerawork; the group's physical and verbal interaction with each other; and above all, the ways in which we are able to see how and why an individual might have arrived at his/her set of ideas and beliefs."
William "Spider" Wilson
The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
said the programme on 4 March 1988 "certainly remains lodged in many minds. Spider... was 'discovered' by a programme researcher ferreting out characters at London’s cardboard city. Spider duly came into the Channel 4 studios, cobweb tattooed on his forehead, to talk about drug addiction, being gay and living rough. (Host) Helena Kennedy recalls that homeless Spider, sitting on the plump sofas in the mock studio living room with fellow guests, did not take kindly to being lectured about fecklessness by John Heddle
John Heddle
Bentley John Heddle , known as John Heddle, was a British Conservative Party politician.Heddle was Member of Parliament for Lichfield and Tamworth from 1979 to 1983, and for Mid Staffordshire from 1983 until his death in 1989 at the age of 46...
, a Tory
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP"..
-
- She described the confrontation:
- "'Spider' Wilson's argument with John Heddle, who at that time was chairman of the Tory backbench housing committee, was a perfect example of what could happen. Heddle's tactic was to lecture the feckless Spider, and tell him to pull up his socks. The argument actually felt quite menacing. Ironically, Heddle later committed suicide, while Spider went into rehab, sobered up and now has both a home and a job.
Bernadette McAliskey
The Financial TimesFinancial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
wrote of the programme on 18 March 1988:
- "Bernadette McAliskey (formerly Devlin) was allowed to talk throughout as though the British Army were waging war against 'her' people. Those who remember the Army going in to protect 'her' people in 1968 will find this odd."
"Horse Racing"
The Racing PostRacing Post
The Racing Post is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting newspaper, appearing in print form and online.From 30 May 2011 - 3 July 2011 it had a circulation of 56,507.-History:...
described the programme broadcast on the evening after the 1988 Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
:
- [Jockey Frankie] DettoriFrankie DettoriLanfranco "Frankie" Dettori, MBE is an Italian horse racing jockey and celebrity. Dettori has been Champion Jockey on three occasions and has ridden the winners of more than 500 Group races.. He has had many successes in his role of stable jockey to Godolphin Racing...
recalls: "Many years ago, when I was 17 or 18, there was a programme on Channel 4 at about midnight called After Dark, a discussion show for people who couldn't sleep! I came in from a night out and there was McCririckJohn McCririckJohn McCririck is an English television horse racing pundit. He is notable not only for his racing opinions but also for his old-fashioned style of dress and mannerisms...
and a couple of others sitting there on the TV talking a load of rubbish. But there was this guy, sitting there quietly, who would chip in every now and again and say something which was quite outstanding. That was Barney Curley and I was drawn to him like a magnet."
Among the other guests was the Duchess of Argyll
Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll
Margaret, sometime Duchess of Argyll , was a notorious British Socialite, best remembered for her 1963 divorce case against her second husband, the 11th Duke of Argyll, which featured salacious photographs and scandalous stories.-Birth and youth:Margaret was the only child of Helen Mann Hannay and...
, appearing "so she said, to put the point of view of the horse", who later walked out of the programme "because she was so very sleepy".
"Derry ’68"
Socialist WorkerSocialist Worker
Socialist Worker is the name of several socialist/communist newspapers associated with the International Socialist Tendency...
wrote "A recent discussion on the Irish civil rights struggle
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was an organisation which campaigned for equal civil rights for the all the people in Northern Ireland during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
in 1968 provided one of the best nights' viewing in ages. Eamonn McCann
Eamonn McCann
Eamonn McCann is an Irish journalist, author and political activist.-Life:McCann was born and has lived most of his life in Derry. He was educated at St. Columb's College in the city. He is prominently featured in the documentary film The Boys of St...
dominated the whole discussion, destroying anyone who dared to cross him." The television reviewer of the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
wrote that "The After Dark discussion, "Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
68: Look Back in Anger?", was simply the most enlightening programme on Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
I have ever seen."
"Israel: 40 Years On"
On 14 May 1988, the Daily Telegraph wrote:- "Tonight's edition of After Dark... will mark the 40th anniversary of IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. The programme is likely to cause controversy, as the Shadow Foreign Secretary Gerald KaufmanGerald KaufmanSir Gerald Bernard Kaufman is a British Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 1970, first for Manchester Ardwick, and then subsequently for Manchester Gorton...
and a number of Israelis will appear alongside Faisal Aweidah, the hardine PLOPalestine Liberation OrganizationThe Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
representative in London. For Kaufman, the appearance will not be without a political risk, mainly of a backlash from British Jews who are unlikely to be happy about him appearing alongside Aweidah, a supporter of Yasser ArafatYasser ArafatMohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
. However for the Israelis involved in the programme there are even greater dangers. They will brave the wrath of the government of their country - where it is illegal for citizens to share a platform with the PLO. One participant...has already backed out after being told she would face arrest when returning home after the broadcast."
"Winston Churchill"
The Socialist WorkerSocialist Worker
Socialist Worker is the name of several socialist/communist newspapers associated with the International Socialist Tendency...
described the 28 May 1988 edition of "my favourite chat show":
- "'Winston ChurchillWinston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
: Hero or Madman?'.... Unfortunately the character arguing this was none other than the 'historian' David IrvingDavid IrvingDavid John Cawdell Irving is an English writer,best known for his denial of the Holocaust, who specialises in the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany...
.... Here sat a man who was pro-Hitler, who was insulting the legendary Churchill. Facing him was a guy... who had been Churchill's private secretary for ten or so years. And there was Lord Hailsham, who as Quintin Hogg had been a Tory MP at the time. But it was not Irving they reserved their contempt and anger for. Occasionally they got a bit annoyed by him, but it was the left representative they despised... dear old respectable Jack JonesJack Jones (trade union leader)James Larkin Jones, CH, MBE , known as Jack Jones, was a British trade union leader and General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union.-Early life:...
, former leader of the transport workers' union."
As the Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
wrote later: "The most explosive argument was between Lord Hailsham and veteran trade unionist Jack Jones. There was... 50 years of hate between them.".
Harvey Proctor and "Open To Exposure?"
Milton ShulmanMilton Shulman
Milton Shulman was a Canadian author, film and theatre critic.-Early life:He was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of a successful shopkeeper. His parents were born in Ukraine and were driven out of the Russian Empire by poverty and the pogroms against the Jews...
in The Listener magazine wrote about the edition broadcast on 4 June 1988:
- "I never plan to watch After Dark and usually am surprised to see that it is on when I return from some social occasion on Saturday night and switch on the box at one o'clock.... My own favourite evening was involved with the subject of ethics and journalism. At first Harvey ProctorHarvey ProctorHarvey Proctor was a British Conservative Member of Parliament. He represented Basildon from 1979 to 1983 and Billericay from 1983 to 1987. Proctor became known for his right-wing views and for the manner in which scandal forced the end of his Parliamentary career.- Background :Proctor's father...
was the main focus of our concern as he claimed he was hounded out of public life, not because of his sexual predilections but because of his right-wing political views. But his complaints, as well as Christine KeelerChristine KeelerChristine Margaret Keeler is an English former model and showgirl. Her involvement with a British government minister discredited the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan in 1963, in what is known as the Profumo Affair....
's grievance... about her treatment during the Profumo affairProfumo AffairThe Profumo Affair was a 1963 British political scandal named after John Profumo, Secretary of State for War. His affair with Christine Keeler, the reputed mistress of an alleged Russian spy, followed by lying in the House of Commons when he was questioned about it, forced the resignation of...
, soon faded into insignificance compared to the weird admissions of the journalists about what they got up to to get a story. Nina MyskowNina MyskowNina Myskow is a British journalist and TV celebrity who appeared on New Faces and was also a columnist for The Sun and The News of the World under the byline "The Bitch on the box" in the 1980s...
admitted she had jumped into bed with a hunk of masculine beefcake after she had seen him in a male beauty contest she had been judging. Annette Witheridge of the News of the WorldNews of the WorldThe News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
told how she had sent a rent boy, wired for sound, around to the home of the late Russell HartyRussell HartyRussell Harty was an English television presenter of arts programmes and chat shows.-Early life:Born Frederick Russell Harty in Blackburn, Lancashire, he was the son of a fruit and vegetable stallholder on the local market...
."
And the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
described "riveting television":
- "Harvey Proctor - the Spanking MP of tabloid legend, now resigned from his BillericayBillericayBillericay is a town and civil parish in the Basildon borough of Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, has a population of 40,000, and constitutes a commuter town east of central London. The town has three secondary schools and a variety of open spaces...
constituency and running a shirt shop in Richmond - in debate round a studio table with a cross-section of his tormentors.... Proctor turned on (reporter Annette Witheridge). He drew from his pocket a story she'd written, headlined 'Spank Row MP Urged to Take AIDSAIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
Test', linking him allegedly to 'a former male lover believed to have the killer disease AIDS'. Had she checked this out? Had she attempted to contact the 'former male lover'? No... Annette Witheridge's admission that she'd left this story to others to check out, hadn't discovered for four months that it was false, and hadn't apologised because nobody had asked her to, marked a turning point in the debate."
Harry Belafonte, Denis Worrall and "South Africa"
"After the Nelson MandelaNelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
concert last summer, (After Dark) ran a discussion programme including Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
, Breyten Breytenbach
Breyten Breytenbach
Breyten Breytenbach is a South African writer and painter with French citizenship.-Biography:Breyten Breytenbach was born in Bonnievale, Western Cape, approximately 180 km from Cape Town and 100 km from the southernmost tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas...
, Denis Worrall
Denis Worrall
Denis John Worrall is an academic, businessman, and former politician and diplomat. He was South African ambassador to Australia from 1982 to 1984 and then Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1984 to 1987. He resigned his post in order to return to South Africa and form the liberal...
and Ismail Ayob
Ismail Ayob
Ismail Mahomed Ayob is a South African lawyer. Ayob practiced law in South Africa and for much of his career; the bulk of his work was with anti-apartheid cases...
(Mandela's lawyer)." The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
described this as "the most civilised and stimulating of current TV programmes" (pictured here with a complete list of guests here) and later Victoria Brittain described the "extraordinary experience of debating with Worrall":
- "Every letter I received from viewers focussed on how the programme had changed their perception of him.... Harry Belafonte said how much he looked forward to meeting him because of his image in the US as 'an enlightened voice'... After Dark was probably the first television programme accurately to reflect the real balance of forces on the South African political scene.... The significance of the programme... was how it shifted the debate from the white political agenda followed so assiduously by South Africa-based correspondents, and gave due weight to the real opponents of the regime."
A year later it became public that there was "a revealing off-camera incident between Harry Belafonte and South Africa's ex-ambassador Denis Worrall. For the first three hours of the programme Worrall played Mr Nice Guy but in the closing 30 minutes the diplomatic layers peeled off. The noble Belafonte shook his head regretfully as Worrall's tone changed and he said he would pray for Worrall. Trying to regain lost ground after the programme, Worrall went up to Belafonte and, according to the production team, said: Well, Mr Belafonte, you're really quite intelligent, aren't you?"
Patricia Highsmith
Following the programme broadcast on 18 June 1988 The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
wrote:
- "After Dark, a three hour discussion on subjects which will not always bear the light of day, was about... murder. There was Patricia HighsmithPatricia HighsmithPatricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short-story writer most widely known for her psychological thrillers, which led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, has been adapted for stage and screen numerous times, notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951...
, the thriller writer, inquisitive as a monkey, Georgina Lawton, Ruth EllisRuth EllisRuth Ellis , née Neilson, was the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom. She was convicted of the murder of her lover, David Blakely, and hanged at Holloway Prison, London, by Albert Pierrepoint.-Biography:...
's daughter... Lord Longford... the Rev James Nelson... (and) David Howden, the father of a girl who was murdered in her bedroom two years ago... 'I don't know if you can imagine the scene of my daughter's bedoom. Friends and neighbours had to go and clean that bedroom up. The stains and fingerprints. They had to take the carpet up, sandpaper the floor and get rid of the marks, buy a new carpet and put it down'. 'What kind of marks?' asked Patricia Highsmith, who will be slaughtered herself some day."
The Today
Today (UK newspaper)
Today was a national newspaper in the United Kingdom, which was published between 1986 and 1995.-History:Today, with the American newspaper USA Today as inspiration, launched on Tuesday, 4 March 1986, with the front page headline, "Second Spy Inside GCHQ". At 18 pence, it was a middle-market...
newspaper wrote:
- "There have been some very peculiar people on After Dark.... There was the skinhead who left mid-show to look for fresh supplies of lager. And two weeks ago journalist Peter Hillmore sweated so much I thought I would have to throw him a rubber ring. But for sheer oddness, none has outmatched crime writer-cum-New York bag lady lookalike Patricia Highsmith... asking a series of staggeringly daft and insensitive questions to poor David Howden, whose daughter was strangled by a maniac as she slept."
Bill Margold and "Pornography"
The Evening StandardEvening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
reviewed the 25 June 1988 discussion:
-
- "In the business, they call him Poppa Bear (or is it Bare?)... Bill Margold, a large American with the vocabulary of a peanut, and one of the guests appearing on this week's After Dark. The subject was pornographyPornographyPornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
and a well balanced mixture of perversion, puritanism and prurience combined to entertain and enlighten insomniacs."
- "In the business, they call him Poppa Bear (or is it Bare?)... Bill Margold, a large American with the vocabulary of a peanut, and one of the guests appearing on this week's After Dark. The subject was pornography
The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
added:
- "Margold's breezy definition of hard core - "up, in, out, off" - belies his ambition to give the public genuine artistic storylines.... I was waiting for someone, preferably a woman, to hang one on big, burly Poppa Bear, who is about the most arrogant, bullying, bulldozer loudmouth this sleep-cheating series has so far brought us."
All editions of After Dark ended with music, more or less related to the subject of the week. The Evening Standard noted: "This intelligent (mostly), thought-provoking discussion was brought to an end by the song 'It's illegal, it's immoral, or it makes you fat'.".
"British Intelligence"
In a discussion titled "British Intelligence" and broadcast on 16 July 1988, the guests included Merlyn Rees, H. Montgomery Hyde and a man called Robert Harbinson, described by Francis WheenFrancis Wheen
Francis James Baird Wheen is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster.-Early life and education:Wheen was born into an army family and educated at two independent schools: Copthorne Preparatory School near Crawley, West Sussex and Harrow School in north west London.-Life and career:Running...
in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
newspaper as follows:
- "Robin Bryans, a... travel writer and sometime music teacher who also goes under the names Robert Harbinson and Christopher Graham. (His opponent) is Kenneth de Courcy... who likes to be known as the Duc de Grantmesnil.... Though both are Irish by birth, both have intelligence connections (Bryans was a friend of BluntAnthony BluntAnthony Frederick Blunt , was a British art historian who was exposed as a Soviet spy late in his life.Blunt was Professor of the History of Art at the University of London, director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, Surveyor of the King's Pictures and London...
), both are ex- jailbirds and both are - how shall we say? - quite eccentric... (Bryans) denounced de Courcy on the Channel 4 programme After Dark. His allegations are too confused (and too libellous) to be summarised here, but names such as MountbattenLouis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of BurmaAdmiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS , was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
, ShackletonErnest ShackletonSir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE was a notable explorer from County Kildare, Ireland, who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration...
, ChurchillWinston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, BluntAnthony BluntAnthony Frederick Blunt , was a British art historian who was exposed as a Soviet spy late in his life.Blunt was Professor of the History of Art at the University of London, director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, Surveyor of the King's Pictures and London...
seem to pop up often."
Bryans himself wrote:
- "Before the cameras, we delighted to talk about Adeline de la Feld's family upsetting MussoliniBenito MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
with their writings. I was then asked by Robin Ramsay of the LobsterLobster (magazine)Lobster is a twice yearly British magazine focusing on parapolitics. The last issue to appear in printed form, was published in June 2009 - two more issues have appeared online since then in December 2009 and June 2010....
magazine about my own early writing which he knew about from his co-editor Stephen Dorril who had interviewed me for his book Honeytrap, the sad story of my friend Stephen WardStephen WardStephen Thomas Ward was an osteopath and artist who became notorious as one of the central figures in the 1963 Profumo affair, a British public scandal which profoundly affected the ruling Conservative Party government...
hounded by the Establishment to suicide in 1963. But the Channel Four masterminds wanted to know about my war activities and the following day Montgomery Hyde, a barrister, phoned me to warn me that a High Court writ was on its way."
The journalist Paul Foot
Paul Foot
Paul Mackintosh Foot was a British investigative journalist, political campaigner, author, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party...
described it as "one magnificent edition of After Dark in which Robin Ramsay excelled himself." During the discussion, another guest, retired GCHQ employee Jock Kane, claimed "that the new procedures recommended by the Security Commission
Security Commission
The Security Commission is a UK non-departmental public body established in 1964 to investigate breaches of security in the public sector.Current members are:*The Rt Hon Lady Justice Butler-Sloss, DBE...
regarding the removal of documents from GCHQ had not been implemented four years later.".
The following week The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper reported:
- "Thirty LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
s yesterday called for a judicial inquiry into claims that the Government has used private security companies to carry out undercover operations on its behalf. A motion, drawn up by Mr Ken LivingstoneKen LivingstoneKenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
(Brent E), refers to statements made by Mr Gary Murray - a private investigator, who says he has been employed by the Government - on Channel 4's After Dark programme."
Bianca Jagger and "Nicaragua"
John UnderwoodJohn Underwood (PR adviser)
John Underwood is a PR adviser, now executive director of Freshwater UK PLC. He founded the Clear consultancy in 1991 after work as a reporter and presenter for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, including many editions of After Dark...
wrote of the programme broadcast on 6 August 1988: "I recall hosting an edition of... After Dark' 'in which (Bianca Jagger
Bianca Jagger
Bianca Jagger is a Nicaraguan-born social and human rights advocate and a former actress and model...
) intellectually crushed Dr John Silber
John Silber
John Robert Silber is an American academician and former candidate for public office. From 1971 to 1996 he was President of Boston University and from 1996 to 2003 Chancellor of the University. Since 2003 he has been its President Emeritus. In 1990, Silber took a leave of absence from the...
, a senior adviser to Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, and Roberto Ferrey, an apologist for the Contras
Contras
The contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
. Furthermore, she left Sir Alfred Sherman
Alfred Sherman
Sir Alfred Sherman, KBE, was a writer, journalist, and political analyst. Described by a long-time associate as "a brilliant polymath, a consummate homo politicus, and one of the last true witnesses to the 20th century", he began life as a Communist soldier in the Spanish Civil War but later...
lost for words, a feat rarely achieved before or since."
Jonathan Miller and "Alternative Medicine"
In the New StatesmanNew Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
the writer Sean French
Nicci French
Nicci French is the pseudonym of English husband-and-wife team Nicci Gerrard and Sean French, who write psychological thrillers together.-Personal life:...
described "the best moment of my week" occurring at the end of the 3 September 1988 edition:
- "After Dark had been debating the problems of alternative medicineAlternative medicineAlternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....
. After a few hours of acrimonious debate, each of the participants was asked to say a few words on what they hoped for the future of medicine. The last comment of all was made by Dr Jonathan MillerJonathan MillerSir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE is a British theatre and opera director, author, physician, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the 1960s with his role in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with fellow writers and...
. Since he had been the evening's most vociferous opponent of fringe medicine I expected him to deliver a final diatribe. Instead of this, he said he wanted to speak of something which was more important than any kind of medicine delivered on a one to one basis:
- "The main welfare which was ever conferred on the human community was actually by social administration. They were the improvement of drainage, the rationalisation of diet and a humane society, administered by a just and equitable government which actually sees human welfare as being something which has to be honoured according to principles of distributive justice."
- "Therefore, he concluded, he thought the most pressing need was 'the ousting of this appalling government'."
Gerry Adams
The following week Channel 4 dropped plans to invite the Sinn FéinSinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
president Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
"to appear on its late night talk show After Dark, after protests from other contributors. The Independent Broadcasting Authority
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
said then that it would have banned Mr Adams on the grounds that his views were offensive to public feeling. Channel 4 avoided a dispute with the IBA by dropping the programme, saying it had only wanted Mr Adams to appear if a suitable context could be found and that, at such short notice, it had been impossible to achieve that."
The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
wrote:
- "On Thursday 8 September, Channel 4 took a decision which has serious implications for freedom of speech on British television.... The arguments used - including what appears to be an unprecedented threat to use the 1981 Broadcasting Act - and the way the decision was taken, were as significant as the decision itself. The invitation to Adams was made public... by Paul Wilkinson, professor of international relationsInternational relationsInternational relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
at Aberdeen UniversityUniversity of AberdeenThe University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
and chairman of the Research Foundation for the Study of Terrorism. The programme makers asked him for advice and contacts - they did not invite him to appear. Wilkinson publicly attacked the proposal to have Adams on the programme. ToryConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MPs, including Neil HamiltonNeil Hamilton (politician)Mostyn Neil Hamilton is a former British barrister, teacher and Conservative MP. Since losing his seat in 1997 and leaving politics, Hamilton and his wife Christine have become media celebrities...
, Mrs ThatcherMargaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
's parliamentary private secretaryParliamentary Private SecretaryA Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
, and Tony Marlow, joined what was likely to lead to a chorus of protest. C4 was under pressure to react. Initially, it said that Adams would only appear if a 'suitable context' could be found. A second statement, announcing the decision that the programme had been abandoned, said that it was impossible, at such short notice, to achieve that 'satisfactory context'... C4 thereby successfully avoided a dispute with the IBA... (which) announced later that day that, if necessary, it would have used Section 4 of the Broadcasting Act to stop Adams appearing....
- "After Dark in the past has included Roberto Ferrey, a member of the ContrasContrasThe contras is a label given to the various rebel groups opposing Nicaragua's FSLN Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction government following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle's dictatorship...
seven-man directorate, Klaus BarbieKlaus BarbieNikolaus 'Klaus' Barbie was an SS-Hauptsturmführer , Gestapo member and war criminal. He was known as the Butcher of Lyon.- Early life :...
's defence counsel, and a man who admitted having molested 200 schoolchildren.... The decision to drop the programme was taken as the programme makers - who often do not finalise the show until Friday midday - were trying to get a Tory spokesman from the mainland... Ian GowIan GowIan Reginald Edward Gow TD was a British Conservative politician and solicitor. While serving as Member of Parliament for Eastbourne, he was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army who exploded a bomb under his car outside his home in East Sussex.-Life:Ian Gow was born at 3 Upper...
, who left the government over its Irish policy, initially said he had no objection in principle to appearing, but then changed his mind."
The Daily Telegraph wrote:
- "A spokesman for the IBA said: '... The fact that it is a live programme also means that there is no editorial control over remarks Mr Adams may make.' The issue comes a month after an appeal from the Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
to the British media... to withhold publicity from IRAProvisional Irish Republican ArmyThe Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
sympathisers."
The row was placed in context by the academic study The Media and Northern Ireland:
- "There were a few straws in the wind in the autumn of 1988 which, with hindsight, suggested what was on the way. In September Channel Four pulled an After Dark programme which was to feature Gerry Adams.... Most journalists though saw this as an isolated case of self-censorship brought on by the post-BallygawleyThe Troubles in BallygawleyThe Troubles in Ballygawley recounts incidents during The Troubles in Ballygawley, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.Incidents in Ballygawley during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities:1983...
atmosphere."
An alternative view is provided by Laura K. Donohue (writing in the Cardozo Law Review ), who summarises Professor Keith Ewing
Keith Ewing
Keith D. Ewing is Professor of Public Law at King's College London and co-author of two of Britain's leading textbooks in constitutional and administrative law, and labour law.-Biography:...
and Conor Gearty
Conor Gearty
Conor A. Gearty is the Rausling Professor of Human Rights Law and Director, Centre for the Study of Human Rights at the London School of Economics.-Background:...
as follows:
- "... at the urging of the British Government, Channel 4 eliminated one of the After Dark programs, in which Gerry Adams was scheduled to appear."
Following a debate in the House of Commons Liz Forgan
Liz Forgan
Dame Elizabeth "Liz" Anne Lucy Forgan, DBE is an English journalist and executive for radio and television.-Early life:Forgan was educated at the independent Benenden School in Kent, a girls's boarding school, and at St Hugh's College, Oxford, then an all-female college.She initially worked on...
of Channel 4 challenged this account in a letter to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
:
- "After Dark considered inviting Gerry Adams on to the programme, not simply for him to express his views but to hold him to account for his apology for vile acts of terrorism against the vigorous challenge of five other participants. Michael MatesMichael MatesMichael John Mates is a Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for the constituency of East Hampshire from 1974 to 2010.He has been a member of the Privy Council since February 2004.-Education:...
cites this as an example of the media failing to put its house in order. He omits to mention that in fact the invitation was never issued and programme was never made or transmitted because I... decided that we could not gather enough other participants on that date of sufficient authority to ensure that the programme did not turn into a free run for Mr Adams and flout the normal standards of due impartiality."
The producer later commented in an article in Lobster
Lobster (magazine)
Lobster is a twice yearly British magazine focusing on parapolitics. The last issue to appear in printed form, was published in June 2009 - two more issues have appeared online since then in December 2009 and June 2010....
magazine:
- "Adams had apparently agreed to what was at the time quite a coup: he would sit down with sworn political enemies.... Finally the C4 Director of Programmes Liz Forgan and I agreed a deal: if a former British prime minister would come on the programme, Adams could appear. WilsonHarold WilsonJames Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
had AlzheimersAlzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
; CallaghanJames CallaghanLeonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC , was a British Labour politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980...
never liked us; and Edward HeathEdward HeathSir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
, who later appeared twice on After Dark, couldn’t make it. So that was the end of it... I was subsequently told our (unmade) programme was the straw which broke Downing StreetDowning StreetDowning Street in London, England has for over two hundred years housed the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers: the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now synonymous with that of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the Second Lord of the Treasury, an...
’s back. I cannot confirm this, but the timing is eloquent: our programme with Adams was to be on 10 September. On 19 October, Douglas HurdDouglas HurdDouglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, CH, CBE, PC , is a British Conservative politician and novelist, who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major between 1979 and his retirement in 1995....
, then Home SecretaryHome SecretaryThe Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, introduced broadcasting restrictions (the ‘broadcasting ban’) on organisations proscribed in Northern Ireland and Britain, including direct statements by members of Sinn FéinSinn FéinSinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
. From November 1988 to September 1994, the voices of Irish republicanIrish RepublicanismIrish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
and Loyalist paramilitariesUlster loyalismUlster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
were barred by the government from British television and radio."
Tony Benn and "Out of Bounds"
The first programme of the third series was titled Out of Bounds: "1988 was the year of the tri-centenary of the Bill of Rights, yet in May 1989, in the shadowy studio of Channel 4's After Dark programme, a group of former British and US intelligence agents discussed the merits and evils of new legislation on official secrets. When this legislation completes its processes through Parliament such a gathering is likely to become illegal."The Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
wrote:
- "Channel 4's After Dark triumphantly broke all the rules from the beginning.... The first of the new series on Saturday proved that the formula is still working extremely well. The subject was official secrecy, and during the course of the night remarks included: 'I was in Egypt at the time, plotting the assassination of Nasser' and 'WilsonHarold WilsonJames Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
and HeathEdward HeathSir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
were destroyed in part by the action of intelligence agents' and (spoken with incredulity) 'You mean we shouldn't have got rid of AllendeSalvador AllendeSalvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
?' The hostility between just two of the participants, which often brings most life to the programme, occurred this time between Tony BennTony BennAnthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
and ex-CIACentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
man Miles CopelandMiles Copeland, Jr.Miles Axe Copeland, Jr. was an American musician, businessman, and CIA officer who was closely involved in major foreign-policy operations from the 1950s to the 1980s...
, and it was the fundamental difference in political outlook between these two which informed the entire discussion. Anyone who regarded Benn as a dangerous 'loony leftie' but watched right through until 2.00 may have been astonished at his thoroughly conservative British attitudes."
Tony Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
wrote in his diary, later published as The End of an Era:
- "Saturday 13 May - In the evening I went to take part in this live television programme After Dark with John UnderwoodJohn Underwood (PR adviser)John Underwood is a PR adviser, now executive director of Freshwater UK PLC. He founded the Clear consultancy in 1991 after work as a reporter and presenter for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, including many editions of After Dark...
in the chair. It was an open-ended discussion which started at about midnight and went on till the early hours. The other participants were the historian Lord Dacre, Eddie ChapmanEddie ChapmanEdward Arnold "Eddie" Chapman was an English pre-war criminal and wartime spy. During the Second World War he offered his services to Nazi Germany as a spy and a traitor whilst intending all along to become a British double agent. His British Secret Service handlers code named him 'ZIGZAG' in...
, who had been a double agent during the war, Anthony Cavendish, who is a former MI6 and MI5 officer, Miles CopelandMiles Copeland, Jr.Miles Axe Copeland, Jr. was an American musician, businessman, and CIA officer who was closely involved in major foreign-policy operations from the 1950s to the 1980s...
(an ex-CIA man), James Rusbridger, who has worked with MI5 at one stage, and Adela Gooch, a defence journalist from the Daily Telegraph. Every one of them made admissions or came out with most helpful information. I was terribly pleased with it."
The Listener magazine described the programme:
- "The new Official Secrets ActOfficial Secrets Act 1989The Official Secrets Act 1989 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It repeals and replaces section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911. It is said to have removed the public interest defence created by that section....
has just received the Queen's assent. This may be the last time for some years that any disclosures can be made on such matters.... After Dark exists for mysterious reasons, probably something to do with a necessary safety-valve in a climate of increasing pressure on the media.... Its strength is that it has rescued that endangered species, genuinely spontaneous conversation, and presented it absolutely without frills. It does not have to rely on a presenter or on the glamour of its guests, as other talk shows do. Its force is its unique lack of inhibition in dealing with very controversial issues without exhibitionism...an invaluable programme."
Richard Norton-Taylor
Richard Norton-Taylor
Richard Norton-Taylor is a British editor, journalist and playwright.He is a security-affairs editor of the British newspaper The Guardian.-Early life and education:...
reported on guests who did not appear because of concerns about contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
: "Michael Randle and Pat Pottle, who admitted helping the spy, George Blake
George Blake
George Blake is a former British spy known for having been a double agent in the service of the Soviet Union. Discovered in 1961 and sentenced to 42 years in prison, he escaped from Wormwood Scrubs prison in 1966 and fled to the USSR...
, escape from prison in 1966... have been dropped from the... programme... Mr Randle and Mr Pottle were arrested and released on police bail last week after admitting in a book that they had helped Blake escape." Michael Randle eventually appeared on After Dark, fourteen years later, on 22 March 2003.
Hillsborough and "Football – The Final Whistle?"
On 20 May 1989, five days after the Hillsborough disasterHillsborough disaster
The Hillsborough disaster was a human crush that occurred on 15 April 1989 at Hillsborough, a football stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in Sheffield, England, resulting in the deaths of 96 people, and 766 being injured, all fans of Liverpool F.C....
, After Dark invited bereaved parents to participate, which became a testament to their grief:
- "... they didn't give the poor people who were killed any dignity...I bent down to kiss and talk to [my son] and as we stood up there was a policeman who came from behind me... trying to usher me and my husband out.... I had to scream at the police officer to allow us privacy... the total attitude was, you've identified number 33 so go!"
'Blue' and "Drugs"
A week later The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
wrote:
- "The sexiest show of the week by far is After Dark.... Saturday night's talking point was the demon drug crackCrack cocaineCrack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
, a subject which would normally leave this viewer in a state of lacquered composure. Again, however, one's hackles soon rose and one was up there, punching the air, taking sides. Unfortunately the debate was hijacked by a black musician called 'Blue', who shouted everyone down with non-sequiturs. Eventually he got up and left."
Edward Heath
On 10 June 1989 "in the course of a bad-tempered late-night television discussion programme during the European election campaign in June, [former Prime Minister Edward HeathEdward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
] contemptuously rejected the possibility posed by the former American Defence Secretary Richard Perle
Richard Perle
Richard Norman Perle is an American political advisor, consultant, and lobbyist who began his career in government, a senior staff member to Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson on the Senate Armed Services Committee in the 1970’s...
that the political map of Europe was about to be transformed: 'Does anyone seriously believe that these satellite countries
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
are going to become free democracies and does anyone really believe that Moscow is going to see the disintegration of the Soviet empire?'"
This was the first time a former Prime Minister appeared on After Dark. Edward Heath was to be a guest again, on 2 March 1991, discussing the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
with Lord Weidenfeld and Adnan Khashoggi
Adnan Khashoggi
Adnan Khashoggi is a Saudi Arabian arms-dealer and businessman. He is also noted for his engagements with high society in both the Occident and Arabic-speaking worlds, and for his involvement in the Iran–Contra and Lockheed bribery scandals, and numerous other affairs...
.
"Germany – 50 Years On"
In his book A Thread of Gold the RabbiRabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Albert Friedlander
Albert Friedlander
Albert Hoschander Friedlander was a rabbi and teacher.Friedlander, born on 10 May 1927 in Berlin was the son of a textile broker, Alex Friedlander and Sali Friedlander...
describes his participation in the After Dark discussion held on the 50th anniversary of the start of the Second World War:
- "I had a strange and almost traumatic encounter with some Germans of the type I had basically avoided.... I was asked to join Christof Wackernagel, a former Baader-Meinhof actor and poet... a Herr Spitzi from Austria who was a 'revisionist' historian and questioned whether a HolocaustThe HolocaustThe Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
had in fact happened; a camp survivor; a Wall Street Journal writer; a psychiatrist; and Franz Schoenhuber, head of the new Republican party in Germany.... At least three times during the long night I excused myself and marched out of the TV studio, into the street, to breathe fresh air."
"Body Beautiful"
Later in September 1989, the Evening StandardEvening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
said "After Dark 'provided us with the best talk, entertainment and drama of the weekend, when a group sat down to discuss the Body Beautiful. On one seat sat Mandy Mudd, representing the London Fat Woman's Group.... Strategically seated next to her on the sofa was the exquisite Suzanne Younger, Miss United Kingdom.... The most impressive guests were Molly Parkin
Molly Parkin
Molly Parkin , is a Welsh painter, novelist and journalist, who became most famous for exploits in the 1960s.Parkin was the second of two daughters, born and raised in Pontycymer in the Garw Valley, Wales...
, who asked all the right questions; ex-body builder Zoe Warwick, whose perceptiveness and incisive comments kept opening up new areas of discussion; and Professor Arthur Marwick
Arthur Marwick
Arthur John Brereton Marwick was a professor in history. Born in Edinburgh, he was a graduate of Edinburgh University and Balliol College, Oxford. - Career :...
, who had to bear the brunt of everyone's criticism and abuse.... Ms Mudd and disabled actor Nabil Shaban
Nabil Shaban
Nabil Shaban is a British actor and writer. He founded The Graeae - a theatre group which promotes performers with disabilities. He has a son named Zenyel....
shouted him down.".
"Arms and the Gulf"
The British Film InstituteBritish Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
characterised the opening discussion of the new series in January 1991 as follows:
- "Discussion on the West's role in supplying arms to the Middle East. The speakers included: Adel DarwishAdel DarwishAdel Darwish is a British journalist, author, historian, broadcaster and political commentator, specialising on Middle Eastern politics.Darwish is a veteran Fleet Street foreign correspondent and has written for The Daily Telegraph and The Independent, as well as maintaining his online blog and...
(Egyptian journalist, author of Holy Babylon), Tam DalyellTam DalyellSir Thomas Dalyell Loch, 11th Baronet , known as Tam Dalyell, is a British Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005, first for West Lothian and then for Linlithgow.-Early life:...
MP, Bruce Hemmings (ex-CIACentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
), Major-General James Lunt (former commander of Arab LegionArab LegionThe Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th century.-Creation:...
), Rana Kabbani (author of "A Letter To Christendom" and daughter of Syrian Ambassador to Washington), Colonel Robert Jarman (ex-Minister of Defence), Joey Martyn-Martin (former arms dealer)."
Oliver Reed and Kate Millett: "Do Men Have To Be Violent?"
At the height of the Gulf WarGulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
Oliver Reed
Oliver Reed
Oliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough guy" roles...
appeared on an edition discussing militarism, masculine stereotypes and violence to women. Reed drank alcohol during the broadcast, leading him to become drunk, aggressive and incoherent. He referred to another member of the panel, who had a moustache, as 'tache' and used offensive language. After one hour Reed returned from the toilet and, getting more to drink, rolled on top of the noted feminist author Kate Millett
Kate Millett
Kate Millett is an American lesbian feminist writer and activist. A seminal influence on second-wave feminism, Millet is best known for her 1970 book Sexual Politics.-Career:...
, who then complained (though she later asked for a tape of the show to entertain her friends).
Another guest on the programme, author Neil Lyndon
Neil Lyndon
Neil Alexander Lyndon is a British journalist and writer who has written for every "quality" newspaper in Britain. Lyndon's 1992 book, "No More Sex War: The Failures of Feminism" was the world's first radical, egalitarian, and progressive critique of the subject...
, wrote an article in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
about the experience, subsequently criticised as follows:
- "In contrast to Mr Reed, who at least could be described as Rabelaisian, Mr Lyndon comes across as a rather nannified person aghast at the great actor's grotesquerie, at his explosive comments.... I myself was under the influence of a cheeky little BordeauxBordeaux wineA Bordeaux wine is any wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France. Average vintages produce over 700 million bottles of Bordeaux wine, ranging from large quantities of everyday table wine, to some of the most expensive and prestigious wines in the world...
for the large part of the programme and, scandalised as Mr Lyndon will be to hear, I, too, share Ollie's problem: I thought it was all a bit of a 'hoot'. It's a pity the media as a whole is too hypocritical to appreciate a bit of clowning; in my humble opinion just what the wine-merchant ordered at this time of international crisis."
The producer wrote later to the British television trade magazine Broadcast
Broadcast
Broadcast or Broadcasting may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program* Broadcast , an English electronic music band...
:
- "The team responsible for After Dark were naturally pleased that Broadcast chose our programme as one of the most significant in Channel 4's history in your anniversary issue. Since you referred to the edition in which the late Oliver Reed took part, this seems a good time to correct some of the myths which have surrounded the programme since it was transmitted on 26 January 1991.
- "Although Reed was not the only disruptive guest in the history of After Dark, what put this particular show into the headlines was not so much Reed's behaviour as C4's. It took the show off the air for 20 minutes, filling the space with an old documentary about coal mining. When our programme returned, Reed was still on set and still disruptive.
- "That night Reed's behaviour was certainly causing concern. But neither the production team nor host Helena Kennedy felt the situation was out of control. Kennedy told us the guests could themselves decide whether and when to ask Reed to leave the set.
- "That night, while the then commissioning editor of After Dark, Michael Atwell, was watching the show, he was phoned by someone representing himself as the 'duty officer' of the Independent Broadcasting AuthorityIndependent Broadcasting AuthorityThe Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
. This individual said an angry Michael GradeMichael GradeMichael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...
, then Chief Executive of C4, had demanded the programme be stopped. We sought to reassure Atwell, explaining that After Dark often received hoax calls and urged him to check further with his C4 superiors. We could not help reflecting that if Grade were truly upset it would have been more sensible for him to call either the studio or C4, rather than the regulator. However Michael Atwell, without further consultation, decided to stop transmission. We let the guests continue their discussions, though live broadcasting was obviously no longer possible.
- "But why did live transmission then resume after 20 minutes? Because further enquries by Atwell revealed that Grade was away on his boat. In fact it was Liz ForganLiz ForganDame Elizabeth "Liz" Anne Lucy Forgan, DBE is an English journalist and executive for radio and television.-Early life:Forgan was educated at the independent Benenden School in Kent, a girls's boarding school, and at St Hugh's College, Oxford, then an all-female college.She initially worked on...
, awoken at home, who said the programme should be put back on air. The curious event of the disappearance of a live programme provided Fleet StreetFleet StreetFleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
with some funny stories, not all of them true (but many are still recycled). We at Open Media were asked by C4 to issue a joint statement which would have absolved C4 from responsibility. This we refused to do. Six days later Atwell quietly admitted on C4's Right to ReplyRight to ReplyRight to Reply was a British television series shown on Channel 4 from 1982 until 2001, which allowed viewers to voice their complaints or concerns about TV programmes...
that After Dark was not implicated in the screw-up.
- "Viewers with long memories may recall that Reed was asked to leave by the other guests some while after the show resumed transmission. Atwell kept his job at C4 and axed the show at the end of that run."
In his column in the Daily Mirror, Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith is a British satirist, producer, critic and prankster. He is known for his sarcasm and biting criticism.-Radio and recordings:...
boasted of his hoax call: "The show was taken off air not by C4, but by... little-old-wine-drinking-me, sitting at home, far from the TV studio.... Once connected, I shouted: 'Michael Grade is furious about this. Take the bloody programme off... now!'"
Channel 4's Deputy Programme Director, John Willis, wrote an internal memo: "Oliver Reed got drunk and a hoaxer caused the programme briefly to be taken off air. I view the latter with a great deal more seriousness than the former... 1,000 calls from an audience estimated at just 300,000. Remarkable."
Andy Croall and "Satanic Ritual Abuse"
Following the discussion on 9 March 1991, "After Rochdale", the Mail On Sunday reported:"Croall... was suspended by Nottinghamshire county council at a time when the authority was at the centre of a row over so-called ritual child abuse
Satanic ritual abuse
Satanic ritual abuse refers to the abuse of a person or animal in a ritual setting or manner...
. Britain's first alleged case of 'satanic' abuse was handled by his staff, and led to a debate on national television. On Channel Four's After Dark programme.... Mr Croall said that abortion was the 'greatest form of child abuse' and claimed that Christians could help abused children better than social workers. He was suspended from his... post for four months."
The Daily Telegraph reported what happened next: "More than 100 Christians gathered outside County Hall
County Hall, London
County Hall is a building in Lambeth, London, which was the headquarters of London County Council and later the Greater London Council . The building is on the bank of the River Thames, just north of Westminster Bridge, facing west toward the City of Westminster, and close to the Palace of...
to demonstrate their support for Mr Andrew Croall.... Members of the National and Local Government Officers Association, meanwhile, held a protest backing the suspension. His supporters rallied before a meeting of the county social services committee. Mr Croall's remarks... had outraged members of NALGO, who called for his resignation.". Mr Croall was "reinstated in August (1991), subject to restrictions that denied him direct responsibility for child care.". He resigned in 1992 and took a full-time job with a born-again Christian organisation.
James Harries and "Teachers"
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
described the programme broadcast on 23 March 1991:
- "James Harries, aged 12, sat perched forward on the edge of his seat, dwarfed by the upholstery that threatened to devour both him and his blonde mop of frizzy curls. Annis (Garfield) was too busy pouring wine to notice anything more than where the next bottle was coming from. And when Peter (Davies) was not receiving a refill, he was lighting up another cigarette and attacking anything that smacked of tolerance. This bizarre trio transformed a potentially tedious After Dark into the most extraordinary three hours of television all week.... Anthony ClareAnthony ClareAnthony Ward Clare was an Irish psychiatrist well known in the UK and Ireland as a presenter of radio and TV programmes.-Career:...
in the chair had an enormously difficult job. 'I've chaired many After Dark discussions,' he said, 'and we've had politicians, sexologists... but I've never seen any group of people less willing to listen to each other's point of view.' Thank heaven, in all this, for Russell Profitt (deputy director of education in Southwark) and Zoe Readhead (daughter of A.S. Neill, and head teacher at SummerhillSummerhill SchoolSummerhill School is an independent British boarding school that was founded in 1921 by Alexander Sutherland Neill with the belief that the school should be made to fit the child, rather than the other way around...
)."
The Yorkshire Ripper
TodayToday (UK newspaper)
Today was a national newspaper in the United Kingdom, which was published between 1986 and 1995.-History:Today, with the American newspaper USA Today as inspiration, launched on Tuesday, 4 March 1986, with the front page headline, "Second Spy Inside GCHQ". At 18 pence, it was a middle-market...
described the programme broadcast on 6 April 1991:
- "The Yorkshire Ripper may have turned killer because he was forced to wear short trousers as a child, his father claimed yesterday. Young Peter SutcliffePeter SutcliffePeter William Sutcliffe is a British serial killer who was dubbed "The Yorkshire Ripper". In 1981 Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attacking seven others. He is currently serving 20 sentences of life imprisonment in Broadmoor Hospital...
was humiliated by being the only boy in his school wearing them, John Sutcliffe said on television. 'Looking back, it was terrible we made the poor devil wait all that time,' Mr Sutcliffe said.... 'We were very unjust to him'. Mr Sutcliffe... admitted he had never visited his son since his transfer to top security Broadmoor hospitalBroadmoor HospitalBroadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital at Crowthorne in the Borough of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It is the best known of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth and Rampton...
- on the orders of the Ripper's wife Sonia Sutcliffe.... He said Sonia was "extremely strange" but added: "There's nothing I would do to come between them if they feel that way."
The Daily Star added:
- "Mr Sutcliffe also blamed a teenage motorcycle accident for turning his son into a killer. 'Apparently he damaged his head in the pile-up. From that moment on, from being a pretty introverted young man, he was just the opposite and became very, very extrovert. There was an absolute personality change".... Mr Sutcliffe... also claimed his son was not a 'monster'. 'I believe some people are born evil, but my son wasn't one of them. There's nothing now evil about him. I wish you could all meet him. You'd be amazed how sensitive, kind he is."
Mr Sutcliffe also said his son was "a lovely lad" a description with which Michael Winner very much disagreed.
Channel 4 axing
In August 1991, Channel 4 announced the end of the series, an action which became the subject of an editorial in The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, and was described by the Mail On Sunday as "something died when After Dark was quietly killed off in the shadows last week":
- "Something deeply symbolic happened last week as the important players in British television were travelling to EdinburghEdinburgh International Television FestivalThe Edinburgh International Television Festival, founded in 1976, is held annually over the British August bank holiday weekend at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre....
to discuss the crisis in their industry. A small low-budget programme called After Dark was axed by Channel 4... it has the raw, dangerous edge which only truly live television can achieve...Last week After Dark's independent producers... were called in by Channel 4 to be told their contract was not to be renewed. No explanation was given at the time. But the true reason has now emerged. Its slot is to be filled by something called TV Heaven, repeats of popular light entertainment hits of the past such as Please Sir, Upstairs Downstairs, The PrisonerThe PrisonerThe Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...
and The AvengersThe Avengers (TV series)The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
....
- "A list of recent participants gives some idea of what After Dark was about:... Jessica MitfordJessica MitfordJessica Lucy Freeman-Mitford was an English author, journalist and political campaigner, who was one of the Mitford sisters...
and Derek NimmoDerek NimmoDerek Robert Nimmo was an English character actor. He was particularly associated with upper-class "silly-ass" roles, and clerical roles.-Career:...
's chauffeur on Servants. Archduke Karl Habsburg and Peregrine WorsthornePeregrine WorsthorneSir Peregrine Gerard Worsthorne is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster. He was educated at Stowe School, Peterhouse, Cambridge and Magdalen College, Oxford. Worsthorne spent the largest part of his career at the Telegraph newspaper titles, eventually becoming editor of The Sunday Telegraph...
on Royalty and Hans EysenckHans EysenckHans Jürgen Eysenck was a German-British psychologist who spent most of his career in Britain, best remembered for his work on intelligence and personality, though he worked in a wide range of areas...
and Xaviera Hollander on Bodies. At its best After Dark revived the forgotten art of intelligent conversation.... The truth is that Channel 4 became nervous of After Dark. The fact that it went out live, one of the very last programmes to do so, added to its dangers. There were some uncomfortable rows - Teresa GormanTeresa GormanTeresa Ellen Gorman is a British politician, and was Conservative Member of Parliament for Billericay, in the county of Essex in England until 2001 when she stood down...
storming off the set, a crack addict losing all self-control, a resident of Cardboard City called Spider howling with rage.... Michael GradeMichael GradeMichael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...
feels he must get the ratings up and the costs down. And the cheapest form of television available is the library shelf."
The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
newspaper noted: "Grade's programming is confused: he axed the talk show... allegedly to make way for even more innovative programmes, yet replaced it with a series of Seventies repeats. He praised After Dark lavishly in public but, in a letter to Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
, said it 'promised more than it delivered'." The producer wrote later in an article in Lobster
Lobster (magazine)
Lobster is a twice yearly British magazine focusing on parapolitics. The last issue to appear in printed form, was published in June 2009 - two more issues have appeared online since then in December 2009 and June 2010....
magazine:
- "Much to everyone’s surprise, the programme survived the novelty of its form and remained a great event for some years, even to the extent that the head of the network, Jeremy IsaacsJeremy IsaacsSir Jeremy Isaacs is a British television producer and executive, winner of many BAFTA awards and international Emmy Awards. He was also General Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden .-Early life:...
, selected it as one of his all-time favourite programmes when he left C4 and wrote a book. Not everyone was wholly supportive, however. Although launched by Isaacs, most of the ninety After Dark programmes were made under the reign of Michael GradeMichael GradeMichael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...
, who we were never sure actually watched the show. And Grade, always more of an aspiring EstablishmentThe EstablishmentThe Establishment is a term used to refer to a visible dominant group or elite that holds power or authority in a nation. The term suggests a closed social group which selects its own members...
man than his time at C4 suggested, had concerns. Interviewed some years after he axed After Dark for uncertain reasons, Grade said: 'It (After Dark) was an interesting idea and well worth pursuing. I thought it was very badly produced, editorially.'"
An open letter was published, signed by Professor Sir Ian Kennedy, Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
, Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
, Beatrix Campbell
Beatrix Campbell
Mary Lorimer Beatrix Campbell, OBE is a British campaigning journalist and author.Since the mid 1970s, she has published numerous articles and book reviews in such publications as Marxism Today, Red Rag, Time Out, Feminist Review, New Statesman, New Socialist, The Guardian, The Independent,...
, Lord Dacre, Gerald Kaufman
Gerald Kaufman
Sir Gerald Bernard Kaufman is a British Labour Party politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 1970, first for Manchester Ardwick, and then subsequently for Manchester Gorton...
, Mary Midgley
Mary Midgley
Mary Midgley, née Scrutton , is an English moral philosopher. She was a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Newcastle University and is known for her work on science, ethics and animal rights. She wrote her first book, Beast And Man: The Roots of Human Nature , when she was in her fifties...
, Richard Perle
Richard Perle
Richard Norman Perle is an American political advisor, consultant, and lobbyist who began his career in government, a senior staff member to Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson on the Senate Armed Services Committee in the 1970’s...
, Merlyn Rees, Richard Shepherd
Richard Shepherd
Richard Charles Scrimgeour Shepherd is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. He is currently a Member of Parliament, having represented the constituency of Aldridge-Brownhills since 1979....
, Ralph Steadman
Ralph Steadman
Ralph Steadman is a British cartoonist and caricaturist who is perhaps best known for his work with American author Hunter S. Thompson.-Personal life:Steadman was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, and brought up in Towyn, North Wales...
, Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
, Lord Weidenfeld and many others:
- "We have learnt with great concern of Channel 4's decision not to continue with the television discussion programme After Dark. Some of us have worked on and with this production, others have been its on-screen guests, still others have no professional connection with the programme but as viewers have found After Dark uniquely entertaining, instructive and informative. We do not want to see it disappear."
Angela Lambert
Angela Lambert
Angela Lambert was a British journalist, art critic and author, best known for the novel A Rather English Marriage.Born as Angela Maria Helps to a civil servant and a German-born housewife...
wrote later in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
:
- "I am truly sorry to hear that the Saturday small hours talk show After Dark is to be dropped by Channel 4. It was the most original programme on television, and the only one in which the sound of the human voice - angry, boring, repetitive, excitable, but occasionally passionate, revealing and unforgettable - overcame the patina of artifice with which television habitually polishes and tidies up its speakers. Only on After Dark could we have heard the rolling Russian timbre of Tatyana TolstayaTatyana TolstayaTatyana Nikitichna Tolstaya is a Russian writer, TV host, publicist, novelist, and essayist from the Tolstoy family.- Family :She was born into a family of rich literary tradition. Her paternal grandfather was Aleksei Nikolaevich Tolstoi, an important Russian-Soviet writer known as 'the Red...
... or seen Clare ShortClare ShortClare Short is a British politician, and a member of the Labour Party. She was the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Ladywood from 1983 to 2010; for most of this period she was a Labour Party MP, but she resigned the party whip in 2006 and served the remainder of her term as an Independent. She...
squirm as Tony HowardAnthony Howard (journalist)Anthony Michell Howard, CBE was a prominent British journalist, broadcaster and writer. He was the editor of the New Statesman, The Listener and the deputy editor of The Observer...
wondered why, if she was so protective about her private life, she'd talked on radio to Anthony ClareAnthony ClareAnthony Ward Clare was an Irish psychiatrist well known in the UK and Ireland as a presenter of radio and TV programmes.-Career:...
.... Only After Dark had the leisurely pace that made possible the exchange between the Holocaust survivor Rabbi Hugo GrynHugo GrynHugo Gabriel Gryn was a British Reform rabbi who was a popular broadcaster and a leading voice in interfaith dialogue....
and Yasser Arafat's PR voice Karma Nabulsi, whose mutual desire for a world in which their grandchildren could play together was so moving; and allowed Wendy SavageWendy SavageProfessor Wendy Savage is a British gynaecologist, and advocate and campaigner of women's rights in childbirth and fertility....
to admit to her own continuing pain at performing abortions. Late as the show was (and being open-ended, it sometimes ran till 3am) it was the most compulsive and dangerous viewing on the air. That'll be why they dropped it."
Specials
From 1993 Channel 4 broadcast a number of After Dark one-off specials. In 1995 the Financial TimesFinancial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
wrote:
- "Channel 4 ended its remarkable season on capital punishmentCapital punishmentCapital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
, 'Lethal Justice', by reviving After Dark, the best studio discussion format ever created; why they do not run it 52 weeks a year is a mystery. Being live may mean enduring bores... but you can also come across amazing people - a former American prison governor in this instance - who, most unusually, have enough time to explain their ideas. As so often with After Dark I switched on to watch 10 minutes and stayed till the end."
In 1997 a Channel 4 executive was said by The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
to be "insistent that 'it's a popular misconception that we killed it off. In fact we never lost it. We haven't done another series, but we did a one-off After Dark recently in our abortion season'. Bizarrely, Channel 4 cited After Dark as a model of the kind of cerebral programme it wanted when inviting (independent production company) submissions in May.... 'I can't think of any ideas that would make better late-night programming than After Dark,' , he said, echoing the words of the original commissioning executive of After Dark, Seamus Cassidy.", who in an interview to the Irish News in 2005 said, "I'm probably most proud of After Dark'."
"Bloody Bosnia"
In 1993 The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
magazine wrote of the first After Dark special, broadcast as part of the Channel 4 season Bloody Bosnia:
- "Among those taking part was Nikola KoljevićNikola KoljevicNikola Koljević was a Serbian politician, university professor, translator and an essayist, one of the foremost Yugoslavian Shakespeare scholars.Koljević was born to a distinguished merchant family...
, the vice-president of the so-called Serbian Republic of Bosnia. Among those opposing him, and arguing for a multi-ethnic, non-nationalist Bosnia...were a Croatian historian, a Serb newspaper editor and a Muslim refugee".
Sinéad O'Connor and "Ireland: Sex & Celibacy"
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
was so interested in a discussion about abuse and the Catholic church that she rang in to ask if she could appear. They sent a taxi to her home." The Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
wrote that "After Dark made a brief reappearance last Saturday night when, true to its unpredictable form, Sinéad O'Connor walked on to the set 10 minutes before closedown." Host Helena Kennedy described the event:
- "On that occasion, former taoiseach, Garret FitzGeraldGarret FitzGeraldGarret FitzGerald was an Irish politician who was twice Taoiseach of Ireland, serving in office from July 1981 to February 1982 and again from December 1982 to March 1987. FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann in 1965 and was subsequently elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael TD in 1969. He...
, was sharing the sofas with a Dominican monk and a representative of the Catholic church. 'While we were on the air, Sinéad O’Connor called in,' says Kennedy. 'Then I got a message in my earpiece to say she had just turned up at the studio. Sinéad came on and argued that abuse in families was coded in by the church because it refused to accept the accounts of women and children,' says Kennedy.
- "But O’Connor’s intervention was not all that pleased her that night. For Kennedy, herself from Irish Catholic stock, the real merit of the programme was the way the abuse scandals led into a wider debate, and a bigger picture of the social changes taking place in Ireland at the time, which were challenging teaching on contraception and divorce, and the traditional deference to the church. 'It was more than a discussion of child sex abuse,' she says. 'You could see a new Ireland coming into being.'
"Lethal Justice"
The Glasgow Herald wrote of the After Dark special broadcast on 17 August 1995:- "The debate on judicial murder looked to be going nowhere. Positions were settled, opinions fixed. A defence lawyer, a policeman, a psychologist, a convicted murderer and a victim's widow were arrayed before us, each saying exactly what was expected of them. Then a fat, smiling American spoke. This was Don Cabana, a professor of Criminal Justice from Mississippi but once a prison governor and once, indeed, an executioner. Quietly, and with some effort, he described exactly what happens when cyanide is released into the chamber, when the gas touches the skin, when the convulsions and the soiling begins, and how it all affects those whose job it is to carry out the orders of the state.... It was a simple, unvarnished account, and the most riveting piece of television this week."
1988
- On 11 March fashion designer Bruce OldfieldBruce OldfieldBruce Oldfield OBE is a British fashion designer, best known for his couture occasionwear. He dresses Hollywood actresses, British and International royalty and European aristocracy; famous clients have included Sienna Miller, Barbra Streisand, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Diana Ross, Emmanuelle...
arrived well after the programme began, having decided to finish his meal in a West EndWest End of LondonThe West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
restaurant before joining the other guests.
- On 30 April - during a discussion between a witch, a psychiatrist, an exorcist and an alleged victim of Satanic abuse - After Dark became possibly the first UK TV programme to air claims that new born babies were ritually consumed.
- On 27 August one of the Oz trial defendants was reintroduced to the judge who sentenced him.
1989
- On 16 September, possibly the first discussion about paedophilia on British television featured a perpetrator, a victim and a psychiatrist who recommended castrationCastrationCastration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testicles or a female loses the functions of the ovaries.-Humans:...
.
- On 7 October, the UK's last hangman explained how he would have hanged another guest (a former Provisional Irish Republican ArmyProvisional Irish Republican ArmyThe Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
terrorist) after a third guest (a judge) said he would have liked to sentence him to death.
- On 18 November, Whitley StrieberWhitley StrieberLouis Whitley Strieber is an American writer best known for his horror novels The Wolfen and The Hunger and for Communion, a non-fiction account of his perceived experiences with non-human entities. Strieber also co-authored The Coming Global Superstorm with Art Bell, which inspired the film about...
, who said he was abducted by space aliens, met astronaut Buzz AldrinBuzz AldrinBuzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
.
- On 25 November, a man who proposed to take up the offer by the then government of South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
to emigrate to their country very cheaply, was introduced to South Africans who told him what to expect, including newspaper editor Donald WoodsDonald WoodsDonald James Woods, CBE was a white South African journalist and anti-apartheid activist.As editor of the Daily Dispatch from 1965 to 1977, he befriended Steve Biko, leader of the anti-apartheid Black Consciousness Movement, and was banned by the government soon after Biko's death, which had been...
and the musician Abdullah IbrahimAbdullah IbrahimAbdullah Ibrahim , born Adolph Johannes Brand, 9 October 1934 in Cape Town, South Africa, and formerly known as Dollar Brand, is a South African pianist and composer...
, who closed the programme with an extended jazz impro on piano.
Radio Times
Some other After Dark programmes were highlighted in an article in the Radio TimesRadio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
in 2003:
- "One show was plunged into darkness by a power cut. The guests carried on talking during the blackout."
- "Mary WhitehouseMary WhitehouseMary Whitehouse, CBE was a British campaigner against the permissive society particularly as the media portrayed and reflected it...
was told by a female pensioner: 'What women want is a Mars bar and a bottle of gin.'"
- "The guest who consumed the most alcohol was philosopher AJ Ayer. 'He had been through the best part of a bottle of Scotch, but he was still brilliant.'"
BBC series
In January 2003, The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
wrote:
- "After Dark, the open-ended discussion programme that gave its guests free rein to ruminate or ramble - depending on how much alcohol they had consumed - is to make a comeback on BBC FourBBC FourBBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
...." After Dark is one of the great television talk formats of all time - it was careless of Channel 4 to have let it go", said the BBCFour controller, Roly KeatingRoly KeatingRoland "Roly" Keating is the current Director of Archive Content for the BBC.-Education:Keating was educated at Westminster School, an independent school for boys in London, followed by Balliol College at the University of Oxford, where he read Classics.-Life and career:Keating joined the BBC in...
. The programme allowed its guests to talk entirely freely. They were allowed to drink, if they wanted, and the programme ended only when they ran out of things to say.
- "It produced some memorable television moments: John Sutcliffe, father of the Yorkshire Ripper, was able to give a considered view of his son's behaviour; General Sir Anthony Farrar-HockleyAnthony Farrar-HockleyGeneral Sir Anthony Heritage Farrar-Hockley GBE, KCB, DSO & Bar, MC , affectionately known as 'Farrar the Para' , was a British soldier and a military historian who distinguished himself in a number of British conflicts...
, a former commander of British forces in Northern Ireland, swapped anecdotes with Bernadette Devlin; and arms dealer Joey Martyn-Martin claimed Mark ThatcherMark ThatcherSir Mark Thatcher, 2nd Baronet is the son of Sir Denis Thatcher and Baroness Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister, and twin brother of Carol Thatcher...
was a beneficiary of the international weapons trade. However, the show was dropped from its regular Saturday night slot in 1991 by the then Channel 4 chief executive, Michael GradeMichael GradeMichael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...
. His decision prompted a campaign by more than 100 public figures, from an astronaut to a zoologist, to save the programme. It returned the following year for occasional specials until its final demise in 1997.
- "The BBC Four version will remain unchanged in format, and will be made by the original producer...: After Dark is a unique combination of a genuinely live programme, not on a delay of two hours like Question TimeQuestion Time (TV series)Question Time is a topical debate BBC television programme in the United Kingdom, based on Any Questions?. The show typically features politicians from at least the three major political parties as well as other public figures who answer questions put to them by the audience...
or five minutes like a radio programme. There is no studio audience, so the participants are under no obligation to exhibit themselves. There is no celebrity host who has to make himself look good. And, most important of all, it is open-ended, which shifts the power from the broadcaster and the producers to the participants.' He predicted that the programme could seem even more unusual now, in the age of slick and formatted television."
Tom O'Carroll
In March 2003 After Dark gave airtime to a self-confessed paedophile. The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
described the show:
- "Tom O'CarrollTom O'CarrollThomas Victor O'Carroll is a dual nationality Irish/British writer, activist for pedophilia and pedophilia advocacy, and a convicted distributor of child pornography...
... argues that sex with children is not harmful.... The 56-year-old is Ireland's most notorious paedophile. He moved to Leamington Spa in 1972 where he established the Paedophile Information ExchangePaedophile Information ExchangeThe Paedophile Information Exchange was a UK pro-paedophile activist group, founded in October 1974 and officially disbanded in 1984. In January 2006 the Paedophile Unit finally arrested the last of its members on child pornography charges, with David Joy warned by his sentencing judge that his...
. Since its formation, the organisation has called for the open discussion of paedophilia and the abolition of laws against consensual sexual acts between children and adults. And the 'boy lover' - as he calls himself - has addressed international conferences across the globe and written a book justifying the behaviour of those who prey on children. Mr O'Carroll and five other members of the exchange were convicted for 'conspiring to corrupt public morals' in the 1980s by publishing a magazine advocating sex with children. He joined the After Dark panel for a discussion on paedophilia and child protection. Also on the panel were high profile child protection campaigner Esther RantzenEsther RantzenEsther Louise Rantzen CBE is an English journalist and television presenter who is best known for presenting the BBC television series That's Life!, and for her work in various charitable causes. She is founder of the child protection charity ChildLine, and also advocates the work of the Burma...
, lawyer Helena Kennedy QC, a former abuse victim, a criminologist, a solicitor and two academics. The BBC defended the decision to give a platform to Mr O'Carroll, saying he was invited on as part of a legitimate discussion about a topical issue."
Channel 4 at 25
In October 2007, as part of its 25-year anniversary celebrations, Channel 4 repeated the first ever After Dark on their More4More4
More4 is a digital television channel, run by British broadcaster Channel 4, that launched on 10 October 2005. It is carried on Freeview, on satellite broadcasters Freesat and Sky, UK IPTV broadcaster TalkTalk TV and on UK cable network Virgin Media and in the Republic of Ireland cable networks...
channel, billing it as "Anthony Wilson
Tony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson , was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC....
hosts a discussion concerning secrets - both secrets of the State and the personal secrets we keep from one another."
BFI InView
In 2009 the British Film InstituteBritish Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
announced that After Dark programmes are available online through its InView project. This web-based learning resource is free but accessible only to UK Higher Education/Further Education institutions, in partnership with The National Archives, the Parliamentary Broadcasting Unit, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia, Ltd. is the content and production division of Bertelsmann's RTL Group, Europe's second largest TV, radio, and production company...
and the After Dark production company Open Media
Open Media
Open Media is a British television production company, best known for the discussion series After Dark, described by The Daily Mail as "the most intelligent, thought-provoking and interesting programme ever to have been on television"....
. The BFI said InView offers examples of how some of the UK's key social, political and economic issues have been represented and debated.
Editorial
The main themes of After Dark were listed in an internal memo in 1988:- "1. Lovelessness: the spaces in our society that for whatever reason are cold, empty, formulaic, unfeeling, systematised and filled only with empty rhetoric or silence.
- "2. Who owns your body? Do you? Does the State? Your doctor? Your lover? The police? Your parents? This theme covers a variety of apparently unrelated subjects: imprisonment, health care, capital punishment, mental illness, abortion, schooling…
- "3. What happens ‘after dark’? Sex, crime, astronomy…
- "4. Shining light into the shadows we find not only Ralf DahrendorfRalf DahrendorfRalf Gustav Dahrendorf, Baron Dahrendorf, KBE, FBA was a German-British sociologist, philosopher, political scientist and liberal politician....
’s underclass but also the invisible people. Some invisible people are so because they choose to be (criminals, spies, the hidden rich) but others are invisible because we do not want to see them (the homeless, the dispossessed, the mentally confused, the dying…). Among the invisible there is a new slave class: some of those were uncovered by Gunther Wallraff in his documentary ‘The Lowest of the Low’ (illegal immigrants who are used for clearing up nuclear accidents although the work is known to be fatal). - "5. Do you want to know a secret? Guests tell all, or their bit of it.
- "6. What is beyond the law? Who is beyond the law?
- "7. Not knowing is an act of choice. During a discussion on the HolocaustThe HolocaustThe Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
, an Austrian woman claimed ‘We did not know’; another participant countered by saying that not all knowing comes from reading newspapers. Looking, listening and drawing deductions are another way of knowing, so choosing not to look or listen or draw a deduction can be conscious ‘not knowing’. So: what things in our society are we choosing to look away from, choosing not to know? What will our grandchildren accuse us of?"
Guest selection
"After Dark is different: experts sit side by side with ordinary people - irrespective of age, race, gender or sexual orientation - whose experience happens to relate to the subject.... (The producer says) 'An average show should consist of Punch, JudyPunch and Judy
Punch and Judy is a traditional, popular puppet show featuring the characters of Mr. Punch and his wife, Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Punch and one other character...
, a crocodile, a hangman and a grandmother'." 'There's nobody I wouldn't have on the programme'.
Mark Lawson
Mark Lawson
Mark Gerard Lawson is an English journalist, broadcaster and author.-Life and career:Born in Hendon, London, Lawson was raised in Yorkshire and is a Leeds United fan. He was educated at St Columba's College in St Albans and took a degree in English at University College London, where his lecturers...
wrote in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
:
- "The Watergate conspirator John EhrlichmanJohn EhrlichmanJohn Daniel Ehrlichman was counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon. He was a key figure in events leading to the Watergate first break-in and the ensuing Watergate scandal, for which he was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury...
was at the dentist when the surgery phone rang. It was for him. A voice from London: how would he like to take part in an open-ended, very-late-night discussion on the nature of truth. If he was interested, he had four hours to get on the plane...Jeremy IsaacsJeremy IsaacsSir Jeremy Isaacs is a British television producer and executive, winner of many BAFTA awards and international Emmy Awards. He was also General Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden .-Early life:...
, in his farewell speech to the television industry, counted (After Dark) among the innovations of which he was most proud.... The key to the series... is the casting.... (The producer says) 'We start with one or two people without whom the discussion wouldn't take place, the catalysts. Then there are the people who are not known TV performers but who will bring personal testimony to issues which would otherwise be argued theoretically. Then there are the historians or journalists who provide a context.... In a documentary the meetings between these points of view would happen in a cutting room or, at best, around a table under bright lights with time running out. You don't, in any other programme, get the full nuances of a meeting between people.'".
The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
wrote: "Some of the juxtapositions have been inspired." "After the Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
concert last summer it ran a discussion programme including Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
, Breyten Breytenbach
Breyten Breytenbach
Breyten Breytenbach is a South African writer and painter with French citizenship.-Biography:Breyten Breytenbach was born in Bonnievale, Western Cape, approximately 180 km from Cape Town and 100 km from the southernmost tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas...
, Denis Worrall
Denis Worrall
Denis John Worrall is an academic, businessman, and former politician and diplomat. He was South African ambassador to Australia from 1982 to 1984 and then Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1984 to 1987. He resigned his post in order to return to South Africa and form the liberal...
and Ismail Ayob
Ismail Ayob
Ismail Mahomed Ayob is a South African lawyer. Ayob practiced law in South Africa and for much of his career; the bulk of his work was with anti-apartheid cases...
, Mandela's lawyer. Belafonte came directly from Wembley with a police escort for his only British TV appearance. Programme hired a private plane to fly in Breytenbach. Worrall came from South Africa at After Dark expense. But this largesse is apparently unusual."
Working method
The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
wrote:
- "After Dark has managed a genuinely fresh approach. It has done so by freeing itself of such conventions as a studio audience and a set running time, of carrying on through commercial breaks and of dealing with one subject instead of several."
and the TV trade magazine Televisual commented:
- "The show was successful in making its guests forget the cameras and the host. Edward TellerEdward TellerEdward Teller was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist, known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb," even though he did not care for the title. Teller made numerous contributions to nuclear and molecular physics, spectroscopy , and surface physics...
, inventor of the H-bomb, only agreed to appear on the show because it wasn't edited."
The producer described the working method:
- "... so designed as to empower the guests, rather than have them act out a preordained and inevitably limited agenda designed by others. In all the ways that matter the control of After Dark passed from the producer and the broadcaster to the participants. As a result it was never our show – it always belonged to the guests, which is only right, proper and as it should be but normally never is.... The special freedoms guaranteed by the programme were grabbed by the participants, who often said the apparently unsayable. Intelligent production kept us out of the law courts, if not out of hot water."
- "Presenter John UnderwoodJohn Underwood (PR adviser)John Underwood is a PR adviser, now executive director of Freshwater UK PLC. He founded the Clear consultancy in 1991 after work as a reporter and presenter for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, including many editions of After Dark...
reckons the first give-away is guests' choice of seats. 'Power figures, people used to being listened to, plump themselves down opposite the host. The seat on the presenters' right, a bit in the shadows, is chosen by dark horses whose contributions are few but deadly.' He also relishes the unexpected alliances that are formed and the genuine dialogue that becomes possible."
Jay Rayner
Jay Rayner
Jay Rayner is a British journalist, writer, broadcaster, and food critic.Rayner is the younger son of journalist Claire Rayner and Desmond Rayner, and attended the independent Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School. He joined The Observer newspaper after graduating from Leeds University in 1988 where...
described the backstage atmosphere in Arena
Arena (magazine)
Arena was a British monthly men's magazine. The magazine was created in 1986 by Nick Logan, who had started The Face in 1980, to focus on trends in fashion and entertainment. British graphic designer Neville Brody, who had designed The Face, designed Arena's launch appearance.The magazine featured...
magazine:
- "The situation is a little more controlled than the viewer might imagine...As the guests arrived they were shepherded off to individual dressing rooms. Such solitary confinement was to protect the guests from meeting each other and...talking themselves out before the television fun began.... The plush red furniture is positioned on a well-planned formation: two long couches on each side, two big armchairs at either end where, it is hoped, strong personalities might sit, and an outsider's chair on one corner, pushed back into the shadows... the seating plan was designed by an Austrian psychologist for the original programme, though none of the guests are told where to sit....
- "The researchers used their personal knowledge of each guest to help the discussion along. From a phone in the hospitality room they rang the TV gallery and asked the directors to urge Ian Kennedy, that evening's host, to call upon particular members of the party who were well-informed in the area under discussion. Using the radio link secreted in Kennedy's ear the directors passed the message to him. A few seconds later, as though the researchers were lip synching with Kennedy, the question came out of his mouth. It was an act of great skill... the guests had managed to relax in the usually intimidating environment of a TV studio.... They had been given a proper environment to talk in and they had done just that."
City Limits wrote:
- "As Don CouttsDon CouttsDon Coutts is a Scottish filmmaker best known as the director of the 2003 feature film American Cousins. He is also a documentary and music filmmaker who has worked on numerous current affairs and entertainment productions, including the late night discussion programme After Dark.-Biography:Don...
, director of the show, says 'the first half hour sounds like a NewsnightNewsnightNewsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
situation, but after a while people relax and get properly into the subject.... Given that it is a set-up situation and cast quite carefully, after that it's completely open'."
Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine quoted the producer: "We're actually trying to break down the barriers that divide people...Jeremy Isaacs
Jeremy Isaacs
Sir Jeremy Isaacs is a British television producer and executive, winner of many BAFTA awards and international Emmy Awards. He was also General Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden .-Early life:...
told us it was the best proposal for a live show he'd ever seen." "I really don't know what's going to happen.". The Listener magazine said After Dark has taken the format towards the realm of psychodrama
Psychodrama
Psychodrama is a method of psychotherapy in which clients utilize spontaneous dramatization, role playing and dramatic self-presentation to investigate and gain insight into their lives. Developed by Jacob L. Moreno, M.D. psychodrama includes elements of theater, often conducted on a stage where...
, peeling away its participants layers of restraint and front.'"
Hosts
City Limits quoted the senior director: ”Coutts
Don Coutts
Don Coutts is a Scottish filmmaker best known as the director of the 2003 feature film American Cousins. He is also a documentary and music filmmaker who has worked on numerous current affairs and entertainment productions, including the late night discussion programme After Dark.-Biography:Don...
says their role will be minimal. 'They interrupt if everyone is shouting at each other and generally just keep things going.... Getting (the hosts) to shut up is the most difficult thing', so used are they to their usual despotic position.'. "Tony Wilson
Tony Wilson
Anthony Howard Wilson, commonly known as Tony Wilson , was an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC....
, a familiar face to programme watchers in Granadaland, understands that he will not be the host next week. Indeed he knows he will not be asked again if he attempts to direct the discussion.".
Staffing
The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
ran the first recruitment advertisement for programme staff:
- "In May Channel 4 launch an extraordinary discussion programme.... Open MediaOpen MediaOpen Media is a British television production company, best known for the discussion series After Dark, described by The Daily Mail as "the most intelligent, thought-provoking and interesting programme ever to have been on television"....
are offering a number of short-term contracts on this remarkable series.... We need senior researchers with considerable experience of current affairs television, versatility, good humour, a limitless capacity for work and, above all, sympathy with and knowledge of many different viewpoints and people - not all of them sympathetic."
The producer wrote:
- "Diversity was anyway guaranteed by the colourful production teams who researched the programmes. It was the 1980s so we employed a member of MilitantMilitant TendencyThe Militant tendency was an entrist group within the British Labour Party based around the Militant newspaper that was first published in 1964...
(at least I think he used to get the newspaper) but also a member of a Roman Catholic sect, a retired rent boy and someone who was later splashed across the front page of The ObserverThe ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
as an SISSecret Intelligence ServiceThe Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
agent. We gave a break to a minicab driver who nonetheless carried on sending us abusive faxes for years. There was a troublesome former Private EyePrivate EyePrivate Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
man whose stories led me to discover that Peter CookPeter CookPeter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
was a serious and professional proprietor (Cook’s otherwise incessant comedy shtick vanished when he discussed the magazine’s personnel problems). There was no collective bias: the staff were a motley crew who fought hard to promote their individual interests."
A gameshow producer got his break into television by writing to After Dark: "They eventually put me on a very short contract cutting articles out of the papers. It was the most junior job I'd ever had and I was extremely happy! Over the next two series of After Dark, I read and cut 10 newspapers a day, 10 magazines a week, plus monthly digests of foreign press - a fantastic introduction to current affairs. I enjoyed the intellectual cut-and-thrust of the office, the thrill of live broadcasting, and the diversity of the subjects we covered."
A senior member of staff described her working week:
- "On Saturdays when the show goes out, I might be in the studio till 5 am. On a weekday, I might have a 10am start, kicking off with a production meeting. This includes everyone who works for Open Media, the production company - plus a couple of experts on topics we are considering for the future. We have a post mortem on the previous Saturday's programme. Then we move onto next week's show. We discuss possible guests and possible hosts. Later on, we break up into smaller units of one producer and two or three researchers. Within my team, I will draw up a shortlist of maybe 15 guests and 20 books to be read. I will allocate tasks, giving myself a slightly smaller workload so that I can keep a supervisory eye on the overall progress of the one or two projects in hand. I spend the rest of the day on the phone, liaising with my colleagues and meeting useful contacts."
Direction
About the look of the show director Don CouttsDon Coutts
Don Coutts is a Scottish filmmaker best known as the director of the 2003 feature film American Cousins. He is also a documentary and music filmmaker who has worked on numerous current affairs and entertainment productions, including the late night discussion programme After Dark.-Biography:Don...
said "We used big close-ups, pulled focus or used a panning system. The camera work was radical...The idea was to use very low light conditions, and an atmosphere that was supposed to be dark and moody". Coutts is still pleased with the way viewers could turn the television on and within seconds know that what they were watching couldn't be anything other than After Dark.".
Legal
A Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
lawyer wrote:
- "After Dark producers weighed the chances of the guest behaving naturally against becoming tongue-tied because of a frightening formal legal document and opted for the side of freer speech. A Channel 4 lawyer was always on hand to explain the handling of particularly sensitive areas to guests, informally warning them of dangers ahead. Particular problems encountered included contempt of courtContempt of courtContempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
or possible identification of minors during the debate on the Cleveland child abuseCleveland child abuse scandalThe Cleveland child abuse scandal occurred in Cleveland, England in 1987, where 121 cases of suspected child sexual abuse were diagnosed by Dr Marietta Higgs and Dr Geoffrey Wyatt, paediatricians at a Middlesbrough hospital...
cases. It was especially important to give guidance on contempt of court as guests risked a criminal offence if they committed contempt. The Channel 4 duty lawyer sat up in the gallery to spot problems as they happened. If disaster struck the lawyer would speak to the host at the earliest possible (commercial) break. If the host had not already responded by making it clear that a guest's libellous views were his or hers alone, that is."
Cultural references
- After Dark featured in Biff cartoonsBiff (cartoon)Biff are British cartoonists, perhaps best known for cartoon strips appearing in The Guardian from 1985 onwards . Also featured on many postcards, Biff cartoons have appeared in books, Viz and, since 2001, the magazine of the Rough Guides.-History:Chris Garratt and Mick Kidd are the creators of Biff...
, such as this one from The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in 1988. - After Dark was parodied on a regular basis by the BBC1 comedy series Alas Smith and JonesAlas Smith and JonesAlas Smith and Jones is a British comedy sketch television series featuring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. It was broadcast on the BBC from 1984 to 1998...
as After Closing Time. - The comic writer William DonaldsonWilliam DonaldsonCharles William Donaldson was an English satirist, writer, playboy and, under the pseudonym of Henry Root, author of The Henry Root Letters.-Life and career:...
ran a column in The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
newspaper about attempts made by After Dark staff to contact him (they "didn't know me from a hole in the road and merely wanted Janie JonesJanie JonesMarion Mitchell , better known by her stage name, Janie Jones, was an English singer. She became renowned for being a madame in London during the 1970s, and was jailed for her involvement in the BBC Radio One 'sex for airplay' payola scandal...
's number") - Following Oliver ReedOliver ReedOliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough guy" roles...
's appearance on After Dark, VizViz (comic)Viz is a popular British comic magazine which has been running since 1979.The comic's style parodies British comics of the post-war period, notably The Beano and The Dandy, but with incongruous language, crude toilet humour, black comedy, surreal humour and either sexual or violent storylines...
magazine ran a strip where Roger MellieRoger MellieRoger Mellie is a fictional character featured in Viz magazine. His catchphrase is "Hello, good evening and bollocks!", satirising David Frost's catchphrase "Hello, good evening, and welcome". The character is foul-mouthed, an obnoxious misogynist who manages to maintain a career as a television...
behaved in a similar fashion. - Simon Bell plays the part of an After Dark presenter in the 1989 film The Tall GuyThe Tall GuyThe Tall Guy is a 1989 romantic comedy and the feature film debut of screenwriter Richard Curtis and director Mel Smith. It was produced by London Weekend Television for theatrical release and stars Jeff Goldblum, Emma Thompson, and Rowan Atkinson...
.
External sources
- Production company's list of all guests, hosts, programme titles and dates
- Selected press comment
- Credits of the first After Dark programme, 1st May 1987 (from IMDB)
- TV listings showing the first After Dark
- A clip from the first After Dark (from YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
) - Article from The Guardian about Tony Wilson hosting After Dark
- Article from The Guardian on the 1991 axing of After Dark
- Article from The Guardian on the 2003 BBC revival
- Article by Helena Kennedy about hosting After Dark includes her account of the Oliver ReedOliver ReedOliver Reed was an English actor known for his burly screen presence. Reed exemplified his real-life macho image in "tough guy" roles...
show and other memorable programmes (The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 17 February 2003) - Interview with Helena Kennedy launching a new series of After Dark (The Sunday TimesThe Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, 23 February 2003)