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''Yesterday's Men'' is a British documentary shown in the ''24 Hours'' series (BBC 1) on 16 June 1971.〔(''Yesterday's Men'' ), BBC Parliament, 24 Hours, 2013. Sources vary as to whether the programme was shown on 16 or 17 June.〕 The programme is remembered for provoking a major clash between the Labour Party and the BBC. According to Anthony Smith, the editor of ''24 Hours'' at the time, the film led to "the biggest and most furious row that a television programme in the English language has ever provoked."〔Des Freedman (''Television Policies of the Labour Party, 1951-2001'' ), Routledge, 2003, p.77〕 ==The documentary== The History of the BBC section of their website asserts on its page on the ''Yesterday's Men'' controversy: "Straight-dealing is one of the principles of BBC programme making, but it has not always been followed."〔(''Yesterday's Men'' (1971) ), History of the BBC〕 The programme makers reversed the slogan the Labour Party had used in the 1970 general election against the Conservatives (who won) to apply to the members of the former Labour government now in opposition. The title of the programme was not disclosed to participants. Nor were they informed that it would feature a satirical song with this title commissioned from The Scaffold pop group along with similarly inclined cartoons by Gerald Scarfe.〔Nick Robinson (''Live from Downing Street: The Inside Story of Politics, Power and the Media'' ), London: Bantam Press, 2013, pp.204-5〕 Wilson and his colleagues "were effectively tricked into taking part in a programme that would ridicule them" according to the BBC's own account.〔 Normal procedure would have been to refer the matter of the song upwards in the management hierarchy, but this was not done.〔Asa Briggs (''The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume V: Competition'' ), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, p.895〕 The objective of the programme, the idea of David Dimbleby,〔David Wilby (Yesterday's Men 1971" ), BBC 2006〕 was to analyse the first year in opposition of the Labour Party after their six years in government under Harold Wilson. Jon Lawrence has commented though that "the programme was widely viewed as a deliberate attempt to undermine the folksy, down-to-earth image of Wilson and his fellow Labour ex-ministers by presenting them as driven above all by money and personal ambition."〔Jon Lawrence (''Electing Our Masters : The Hustings in British Politics from Hogarth to Blair: The Hustings in British Politics from Hogarth to Blair'' ), Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2009, p.217〕 The tone was found to be objectionable by Labour, particularly as a companion film on Edward Heath and his Conservative government broadcast the following evening ''Mr Heath's Quiet Revolution''〔Andrew Crisell (''An Introductory History of British Broadcasting'' ), Routledge, 2002, p.185〕 was thought to be much more positive.〔Mark Duguid ("Dimbleby, David (1938-)" ), BFI screenonline〕 During Wilson's interview in his room at the House of Commons,〔Leonard Miall (Obituary: John Crawley ), ''The Independent'', 22 March 2006〕 reporter David Dimbleby asked him to reveal the precise fee he had been paid by ''The Sunday Times'' for the serialisation rights of his memoirs of the government's period in office. This, plus the accusation that he might have profited from his access to secret government papers,〔Chris Henretty (''Public Broadcasting and Political Interference'' ), Abingdon: Routledge, 2011, pp.112-13〕 led to a heated exchange between them.〔John Simpson (''Unreliable Sources: How the 20th Century was Reported'' ), London: Macmillan, 2010, pp.441-42〕 According to press secretary Joe Haines, questions about Wilson's book were excluded from the agreement with the production team, although this detail was disputed at the time.〔 This portion of the interview was not transmitted, but despite threats from Wilson, the transcript was soon leaked.〔 In addition to Wilson, the documentary features interviews with former cabinet ministers such as James Callaghan, Roy Jenkins and Denis Healey, who are all depicted as potential future Labour leaders. Future prime minister (and Wilson's eventual successor) James Callaghan is thought to be already too old for the job at almost 60. Roy Jenkins tries to evade the question of whether — owing to his positive view of entry into the European Economic Community (later the European Union) — he might ultimately lead a party faction in a split over the issue. The political difficulties of being in opposition are discussed, including the problems implicit in opposing the Industrial Relations Bill when the Labour government had made its own attempt, with the "In Place of Strife" white paper, to change the legal framework under which industrial disputes should proceed. Callaghan, who had opposed "In Place of Strife", refuses to say whether it was appropriate for Castle to shadow her previous portfolio. Peter Jenkins, a journalist on ''The Guardian'', is interviewed about the political situation and comments about the leading figures. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Yesterday's Men (documentary)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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