-
Information and Support
Have you, or someone you know, been affected by the issues raised in this programme?
Get information and support -
The legal protocol
Protecting Our Children was only possible because of a legal protocol drawn up by Bristol City Council and the BBC, and ratified by the Family courts in the city. It's purpose was to ensure that the welfare of children was paramount and obliged the programme makers to go further than the requirements of the legislation in the filming and broadcasting of cases which were subject to care proceedings.
Filming could only proceed when the court had been informed (and given the opportunity to order a halt), and broadcasting could only take place with the court's formal approval. In both cases, the court required the support of all parties to the proceedings - the guardian to the child, the local authority, the parents (or anyone else with parental responsibility), and all the lawyers representing these parties.
It often resulted in long negotiations, numerous visits to the courts, and some nail-biting waits for the necessary permissions to come through. But the protocol was there to protect children and that essential safeguard helped enormously in winning the necessary access to tell these stories.
(Julian Mercer, BBC Executive Producer) -
The making of Protecting Our Children
"It took months of hard work to try and persuade people to take part to show the real nitty gritty of the actual cases with families."
Read series producer Sacha Mirzoeff's post on the BBC TV blog
Credits
- Series Producer
- Sacha Mirzoeff
- Narrator
- Lesley Sharp
- Director
- Sacha Mirzoeff
- Assistant Producer
- Sam Gibson
