INGRID'S FIRST MOCK 'O'

Half drama, half documentary, 'Cathy Come Home' caused a sensation and prompted the launch of the charity Crisis

W E D N E S D A Y,   1 1  J A N

At quarter to two we had to go to the Hall – my first mock (Eng. Lang.), and the most important one at that. All the desks were set in six rows, I was in the middle of the fifth row – desk no.0305. There was an awful draught so I couldn’t stop shivering. I did the compo (about a journey on a sailing ship) quite well, but the rest of it was pretty ghastly - everyone thought so. We put our chairs and desks away, all in silence, and then we left.

All I did in the evening was look through Anya's two mags and read about French pop stars. Hugues Aufray is 34 but has a daughter of 10 (I can't quite believe it!). Michel Polnareff is very fragile and an utter weed. Jacques Dutronc sounds a bit of a show-off, and darling Adamo sounds as sweet as ever.  

“Adamo reminds me of Mr Finkelstein (especially the sideboards)”

Then we watched a terribly good ‘Wednesday Play’ which showed the horrifying state of homeless people in this country. It was called 'Cathy Come Home.' Quite frankly, how can Britain call itself civilised when all these people aren’t even homed? Some parents even had to have their children taken away from them. Surely, surely, housing should come first?

French TV magazine Tilt promises an hour long pop fest of French singers on Channel 1

“Cathy Come Home”

Half drama, half documentary, the best known of all the 'Wednesday Plays' was the story of a young couple who slid into debt, lost their home and, eventually, Cathy’s children. I missed the original broadcast of November 1966 (after which the BBC’s switchboard crashed). This short film, directed by Ken Loach, precipitated a public outcry.

Soon after, Crisis, the charity for single homeless people, was formed.