File on Four | Miners' Strike

Reporter Roger Wilkes follows picketers to the picket line, interviews their families (expertly capturing the changing role of wives in the community) and investigates the financial pressures on the NUM. The programme includes an eyewitness account of seemingly aggressive police tactics and shows how riot gear could hide identification numbers. Arthur Scargill is also interviewed.

The miners' strike began in 1984 and turned into a bitter dispute lasting over a year. Miners who returned to work faced fierce opposition from picketers. Police and picketers also clashed violently. The strike was triggered by a government announcement to close a pit in Yorkshire - the first of many. Today, some former pits are ski slopes, while another is the site of a wind-turbine manufacturer. Goldthorpe closed in 1994.