Scene

From LookingAndSeeing.co.uk - a website about schools broadcasting

Scene
Company:BBC Television
First run:1968 - present
Episodes:373 episodes
20 - 28 minutes
Subject:General/Vocational
Audience:Age 14 - 16

Scene is the BBC's long-running and celebrated series of thought-provoking programmes for teenagers, featuring a mix of drama plays, generally 28 minutes each, and documentaries, generally 20-25 minutes each.

The series has tackled a huge range of social issues, such as racism, suicide, addiction, relationships, sexuality & all manner of family difficulties, and at various points has included scenes of violence[1], swearing[2], drug abuse[3], sex[4] and nudity[5].

Scene has attracted awards and prestige as well as various controversies over the years. It has been given tremendous exposure to mainstream audiences over the years, as dramas produced for Scene have regularly been rebroadcast for an adult audience, and this has happened from the very beginning as Scene's first play, Last Bus and its sequel Sentence of the Court were both repeated on BBC1 at 11:20pm in December 1968, a few months after they were first shown to a schools audience. Most recently, the 1971 Scene documentary Solo, about the adventurer Robin Knox-Johnston, was re-shown as a straight documentary to an adult audience on BBC4 in 2002.

Scene traditionally produced three complete, new plays every school year[6] and supplemented these with a wide array of documentary programmes, as well as repeats from previous years. In recent years the documentary content has been dropped and Scene is now considered a powerful drama series[7].

Scene continued as part of the daytime schools broadcasts on BBC2 until 1999, when programmes for secondary schools were moved to the overnight hours. However this was not the end, as occasional new dramas as still produced under the Scene title, and there are still repeats of the some popular recent programmes such as the dramatisation of the novel Stone Cold.

Contents

[edit] 25th Anniversary

In the summer terms of 1993 and 1994 Scene's 25th anniversary was celebrated with repeats of several classic plays covering the programme's entire history, including black & white episodes from the very early years.

Archive plays were also shown in the evening DEF II programmes on BBC2, along with the premiere of a new play called The Soldier before it was shown to schools.

[edit] Scene Scripts

Five books containing scripts from Scene plays and background material on the programmes have been published by Longman under the title Scene Scripts - these are detailed on the Scene Scripts page on this site.

[edit] Episodes

This site is also slowly building up details about as many of the individual programmes as possible. The table below lists every episode of Scene ever made, all 373 of them.

Titles shown in blue are links to a separate page about that episode, the ultimate aim of this site is to create a page for every episode (there are none yet!). If anybody would like to collaborate in this task and write about any of these episodes, the help would be greatly appreciated - please get in touch.

It is important to note that many episodes of Scene are produced "to provoke and stimulate discussion and investigation (and) may arouse strong feelings."[8] They are deliberately open to interpretation. In most cases I have viewed these programmes and written about them without any background knowledge and there will probably be a lot of my own interpretations based on what is on screen.

In this table, highlighted episodes are drama programmes or plays. The remainder are documentaries. Key symbols/formatting below the table.

[9]

Num Title 1st Broadcast Archive
1. The Dark Immigrants Programme 1: Sorry No Coloureds! 27 Sep 1968 Infax
2. The Dark Immigrants Programme 2: Asian Communities 03 Oct 1968 Infax
3. Last Bus 10 Oct 1968 Infax
4. The Sentence of the Court 17 Oct 1968 Infax
5. The American Scene 1968 Programme 1: Electing A President 24 Oct 1968 Infax
6. The American Scene 1968 Programme 2: The Buck Stops Here 07 Nov 1968
7. It's Me, Eileen 14 Nov 1968
8. Children in Care 21 Nov 1968 Infax
9. Community Service 28 Nov 1968 Infax
10. War Minus The Shooting ("A Topical Programme") 05 Dec 1968 Infax
11. Flashpoint Middle East Programme 1: The Promised Land 16 Jan 1969 Infax
12. Flashpoint Middle East Programme 2: The Arab States 23 Jan 1969
13. Terry 30 Jan 1969 Infax
14. Being Happy, That's What Counts 06 Feb 1969
15. Out Beyond Earth Programme 1 13 Feb 1969
16. Out Beyond Earth Programme 2 20 Feb 1969
17. Time Hurries On 06 Mar 1969
18. Getting Married 13 Mar 1969
19. The Beauty Business 20 Mar 1969
20. The Handicapped Child 27 Mar 1969 Infax
21. (unknown documentary, might be in the list later as a repeat) 25 Sep 1969
22. Which Way Forward? 02 Oct 1969
23. Money in Your Pocket 23 Oct 1969
24. Money in the Bank 06 Nov 1969 Infax
25. Two-Way Traffic 13 Nov 1969
26. What's It Like To Be Old? 20 Nov 1969
27. Personal View: Jimmy Savile 27 Nov 1969 Infax
28. (a topical programme, might be in the list later as a repeat) 15 Jan 1970
29. Let There Be Light 22 Jan 1970
30. The March Issue 12 Feb 1970 Infax
31. Coffee Campaign 19 Feb 1970 Infax
32. Hero In The Dust 26 Feb 1970
33. Because There's Nothing Else to Do 05 Mar 1970 Infax
34. Being Welsh 12 Mar 1970
35. One Man's Meat - Factory Farming 24 Sep 1970 Infax
36. Member of Parliament 01 Oct 1970 NFA
37. Not Our Custom 22 Oct 1970 Infax
38. "£60 Single, £100 Return" 05 Nov 1970 Infax
39. Men Against Mountains 12 Nov 1970 Infax
40. United Nations At Work 19 Nov 1970 Infax
41. Ours To Save 03 Dec 1970
42. What Sort Of Radio? 14 Jan 1971 Infax
43. Los Angeles, USA Programme 1 11 Feb 1971 Infax
44. Los Angeles, USA Programme 2 18 Feb 1971 Infax
45. Clean Sweep 04 Mar 1971 Infax
46. Hi-Jack 11 Mar 1971 Infax
47. Solo 25 Mar 1971 Infax
48. A Woman's Place 23 Sep 1971 Infax
49. Shop Around 30 Sep 1971 Infax
50. Are You Certain? 07 Oct 1971 Infax
51. Mates 11 Nov 1971 Infax
52. What Do I Like About Tommy? 18 Nov 1971 Infax
53. Just Love 25 Nov 1971 Infax
54. It's a Tough Life Programme 1: Apprentice Footballers 13 Jan 1972 Infax
55. It's a Tough Life Programme 2: Every Day We Dance 20 Jan 1972 Infax
56. The Monarchy 03 Feb 1972
57. A Grim Job 10 Feb 1972 Infax
58. Sent Away From Home 24 Feb 1972 Infax
59. Bank Holiday 02 Mar 1972 Infax
60. The Police and You 09 Mar 1972 Infax
61. What Shall I Wear? 23 Mar 1972 Infax
62. On The Right Tracks 21 Sep 1972 Infax
63. There's a Motorway at the Bottom of the Garden 28 Sep 1972 Infax
64. Quiet Afternoon 05 Oct 1972 Infax
65. The More We Are Together Programme 1: Thamesmead 12 Oct 1972 Infax
66. The More We Are Together Programme 2: The Isle of Scalpay 19 Oct 1972 Infax
67. Sonia And The Olympic Games 26 Oct 1972 Infax
68. Morecambe And Wise 18 Jan 1973 Infax
69. The Lawbreakers 08 Feb 1973 Infax
70. The French Scene 15 Feb 1973
71. Europe and You 01 Mar 1973
72. "A Mug's Game?" 08 Mar 1973 Infax
73. I Don't Know Where to Turn 22 Mar 1973 Infax
74. Getaway - Maps and Compasses 29 Mar 1973 Infax
75. Blackout 04 Oct 1973
76. Member of the Union 11 Oct 1973 Infax
77. The Ballad of Ben Bagot 08 Nov 1973 Infax
78. That's Life, I Suppose... 15 Nov 1973 Infax
79. How Good a Parent...? 22 Nov 1973 Infax
80. Ugandan Asians, British Asians? 29 Nov 1973 Infax
81. A Child of the Jago Programme 1 07 Feb 1974 Infax
82. A Child of the Jago Programme 2 14 Feb 1974 Infax
83. All That Glitters Programme 1: The Sweet 28 Feb 1974 Infax
84. All That Glitters Programme 2: Renia 07 Mar 1974 Infax
85. They Don't All Open Men's Boutiques # 21 Mar 1974
86. Sportsmen or Politicians 28 Mar 1974
87. A First Class Friend 03 Oct 1974 Infax
88. What Does Money Matter? 17 Oct 1974 Infax
89. The Disappearing Act 24 Oct 1974 Infax
90. What They Did Then 05 Dec 1974 Infax
91. Looking for a Fight 16 Jan 1975 Infax
92. Mum - Where Are You? 30 Jan 1975 Infax
93. A Different Sort of Family 06 Feb 1975 Infax
94. To Stand and Stare 13 Feb 1975 Infax
95. James Is Our Brother - Mental Handicap 20 Feb 1975 Infax
96. Because I Say So 25 Sep 1975 Infax
97. The Hospital 02 Oct 1975 Infax
98. Break In 06 Nov 1975 Infax
99. A Sober and Industrious Life 13 Nov 1975 Infax
100. Access To Television (We're Not Blind, But...; Young, Black and British) 20 Nov 1975 Infax
101. It's Not Like This Where I Come From 27 Nov 1975 Infax
102. Alone on the Moors 04 Dec 1975 Infax
103. Gulpin 29 Jan 1976 Infax
104. Why Don't You Remember? 26 Feb 1976 Infax
105. Let's Do It Ourselves! 25 Mar 1976 Infax
106. Motorcycle Man 29 Apr 1976 Infax
107. Hello!...And What Then? 06 May 1976 Infax
108. I Want to be Like You 13 May 1976 Infax
109. What a Waste 20 May 1976 Infax
110. Choices # 17 Jun 1976 Infax
111. It's Only Rock 'n' Roll 24 Jun 1976 Infax
112. A Collier's Friday Night Part 1 30 Sep 1976 Infax
113. A Collier's Friday Night Part 2 07 Oct 1976 Infax
114. Changing Roles For Women? 14 Oct 1976 Infax
115. Personal View: John Curry, OBE 04 Nov 1976 Infax
116. Rights and Responsibilities 11 Nov 1976 Infax
117. Newsworthy - The Girl Who Saw A Tiger 18 Nov 1976 Infax
118. The Story of the News 25 Nov 1976 Infax
119. And They All Lived Happily Together 13 Jan 1977 Infax
120. Wanted, Work 27 Jan 1977 Infax
121. Teenage Magazines 10 Feb 1977 Infax
122. The Law of Life 03 Mar 1977 Infax
123. The Life of a Social Worker 05 May 1977 Infax
124. Anatomy of a Gang 02 Jun 1977 Infax
125. In Spite of Their Deafness 03 Jun 1977 Infax
126. Laura # 16 Jun 1977 Infax
127. The Elastic Human Body 29 Sep 1977 Infax
128. Violence in Entertainment 20 Oct 1977 Infax
129. Crime and Punishment 27 Oct 1977 Infax
130. Consequences Part 1 10 Nov 1977 Infax
131. Consequences Part 2 17 Nov 1977 Infax
132. A Village in Africa 19 Jan 1978 Infax
133. Young Marriage 26 Jan 1978 Infax
134. Diver 02 Feb 1978 Infax
135. Religion Today 09 Feb 1978 Infax
136. Try Again 16 Feb 1978 Infax
137. Loyalties 23 Feb 1978 Infax
138. The Travellers 20 Apr 1978 Infax
139. Access To Television (1978) 27 Apr 1978 Infax
140. Jackie Mccafferty's Romance 05 Oct 1978 Infax
141. The Future 12 Oct 1978 Infax
142. Lies Part 1 09 Nov 1978 Infax
143. Lies Part 2 16 Nov 1978 Infax
144. Reggae Roots 23 Nov 1978 Infax
145. A Chinese Family 18 Jan 1979 Infax
146. The Story of the News 25 Jan 1979 Infax
147. Justice - Uncle Sangi 01 Feb 1979 Infax
148. Sonia Lannaman 15 Feb 1979 Infax
149. Two's Company 22 Mar 1979 Infax
150. The Daily Express: A Newspaper At Work 24 May 1979 Infax
151. The Police 07 Jun 1979 Infax
152. The Life of a Stand-Up Comic 21 Jun 1979 Infax
153. This Sporting Life 11 Oct 1979 Infax
154. Victim 18 Oct 1979 Infax
155. Personal View: Claire Rayner 22 Nov 1979 Infax
156. Fact, Myth or Superstition? 29 Nov 1979 Infax
157. The 'Sally Ann' 17 Jan 1980 Infax
158. Coins Against The Wall 07 Feb 1980 Infax
159. Why Prejudice? 06 Mar 1980 Infax
160. Fan Phenomenon 13 Mar 1980 Infax
161. If Only 20 Mar 1980 Infax
162. Scene In Northern Ireland 27 Mar 1980 Infax
163. The Kids are Okay Part 1 24 Apr 1980 Infax
164. The Kids are Okay Part 2 01 May 1980 Infax
165. After The Gold Rush # 22 May 1980 Infax
166. Access To Television (1980) 05 Jun 1980 Infax
167. And Mum Came Too 09 Oct 1980 Infax
168. Booze 16 Oct 1980 Infax
169. Faulty Towers 29 Jan 1981 Infax
170. On Yer Bike! 05 Feb 1981 Infax
171. Friends and Friendship 12 Feb 1981 Infax
172. Consumer Rights 19 Feb 1981 Infax
173. Fido: Friend or Foe? 19 Mar 1981 Infax
174. What a Way to Run a School! 26 Mar 1981 Infax
175. On Holiday 02 Apr 1981 Infax
176. Personal View: Ian Dury 07 May 1981 Infax
177. Judo Champ 14 May 1981 Infax
178. Food, Glorious Food 24 Sep 1981 Infax
179. Patty Fatty 01 Oct 1981 Infax
180. Girl in Brazil 08 Oct 1981 Infax
181. Funny People 03 Dec 1981 Infax
182. May All Your Troubles Be Little Ones 28 Jan 1982 Infax
183. Ties 11 Feb 1982 Infax
184. Britain's Nuclear Defence 18 Feb 1982 Infax
185. Troubled Minds? That's a Lousy Title! 18 Mar 1982 Infax
186. Don't Shoot the Ref 25 Mar 1982 Infax
187. To Turn a Blind Eye 29 Apr 1982 Infax
188. A Question of Class 06 May 1982 Infax
189. Access To Television (1982) 13 May 1982 Infax
190. Enrico - An Unsolved Killing 11 Nov 1982 Infax
191. Simulation Exercise 18 Nov 1982 Infax
192. We are Jewish 25 Nov 1982 Infax
193. Who Are You Looking At? 27 Jan 1983 Infax
194. The Cage 03 Feb 1983 Infax
195. How Did You Learn About It? 17 Mar 1983 Infax
196. Andy Capp: Fact or Fiction? 24 Mar 1983 Infax
197. A Visitor From Outer Space 28 Apr 1983 Infax
198. The Biggest Epidemic of Our Time # 05 May 1983 Infax
199. The National Health 12 May 1983 Infax
200. The Fort George Volunteers 26 May 1983 Infax
201. I Am Libra, What Are You? 29 Sep 1983 Infax
202. Time for a Commercial 03 Nov 1983 Infax
203. The Gang, Where Are They Now? 10 Nov 1983 Infax
204. The Breakaway 01 Dec 1983 Infax
205. Scene In New York 01 Mar 1984 Infax
206. Wide Games 08 Mar 1984 Infax
207. Name, Rank and Number 15 Mar 1984 Infax
208. What Is It Like To Be Old? 29 Mar 1984 Infax
209. Keep Your Cool 10 May 1984 Infax
210. What Are You Afraid Of? 17 May 1984 Infax
211. What Does Money Matter? 24 May 1984 Infax
212. The Hunt Saboteurs # 07 Jun 1984 Infax
213. Good Neighbours 14 Jun 1984 Infax
214. A Guide To Armageddon 21 Jun 1984 Infax
215. Somewhere To Call My Own 18 Oct 1984 Infax
216. Not To Be Sniffed At 15 Nov 1984 Infax
217. Just Deserts 22 Nov 1984 Infax
218. Your Place or Mine? 17 Jan 1985 Infax
219. Sexual Harassment 14 Feb 1985 Infax
220. Death in the Family 07 Mar 1985 Infax
221. Take Away Family 14 Mar 1985 Infax
222. Boxing on the Ropes 28 Mar 1985 Infax
223. Baby I Love You 02 May 1985 Infax
224. Personal View: Victoria Wood 09 May 1985 Infax
225. Teenagers Make Their Own Films 06 Jun 1985 Infax
226. Football Fans Abroad 13 Jun 1985 Infax
227. After Brussels: Football Fans Abroad? 20 Jun 1985 Infax
228. Stunts and Daredevils 02 Oct 1985 Infax
229. Salt on a Snake's Tail # 09 Oct 1985 Infax
230. Every Night We Draw The Shutters 16 Oct 1985 Infax
231. Why Are You So Shy? 04 Dec 1985 Infax
232. Ungentlemanly Conduct? 29 Jan 1986 Infax
233. The Roadie's Tale 05 Feb 1986 Infax
234. It's a Wheelchair Not A Pram 26 Feb 1986 Infax
235. Too Young To Have A Baby? 12 Mar 1986 Infax
236. Who Will My Parents Be? 19 Mar 1986 Infax
237. Another Little Drink Won't Do Us Any Harm # 30 Apr 1986 Infax
238. Too Nice By Half! 07 May 1986 Infax
239. Juvenile Court 14 May 1986 Infax
240. School Trip To The Trenches 21 May 1986 Infax
241. Mad About Motors 23 Oct 1986 Infax
242. Nobody Here Knows 13 Nov 1986 Infax
243. Nuclear Power - Do We Have A Choice? 20 Nov 1986 Infax
244. A Mixed Experience 12 Mar 1987 Infax
245. Why Can't We Live Together? 26 Mar 1987 Infax
246. Janna, Where Are You? 14 May 1987 Infax
247. New Age Gypsies 21 May 1987 Infax
248. Personal View: Paul Gambaccini 04 Jun 1987 Infax
249. AIDS Special 08 Oct 1987 Infax
250. Girls' Gang 22 Oct 1987 Infax
251. Dreams and Nightmares 05 Nov 1987 Infax
252. This Year's Model 03 Dec 1987 Infax
253. Sentence of the Court 28 Jan 1988 Infax
254. Getting In Part 1 04 Feb 1988 Infax
255. Getting In Part 2 11 Feb 1988 Infax
256. Fame 18 Feb 1988 Infax
257. Kick Boxer 17 Mar 1988 Infax
258. Competition 24 Mar 1988 Infax
259. QPR Askey is Dead 28 Apr 1988 Infax
260. Young Police 12 May 1988 Infax
261. The Crossing 22 Sep 1988 Infax
262. South Africa Special 29 Sep 1988 Infax
263. For Glory and Gold? 06 Oct 1988 Infax
264. Young Vietnam 17 Nov 1988 Infax
265. Refugees - You Leave Because You Have To 24 Nov 1988 Infax
266. Love Is...? 01 Dec 1988 Infax
267. Young Hungarians 12 Jan 1989 Infax
268. Grandad's Gone Daft 19 Jan 1989 Infax
269. Other People's Families 09 Feb 1989 Infax
270. Believe It Or Not 23 Feb 1989 Infax
271. My Brother David 02 Mar 1989 Infax
272. British Youth Today 18 May 1989 Infax
273. Mother's Day 25 May 1989 Infax
274. Together Forever 29 Sep 1989 Infax
275. I Like It Here 06 Oct 1989 Infax
276. Arguments 03 Nov 1989 Infax
277. Fitting Images 17 Nov 1989 Infax
278. Truants 24 Nov 1989 Infax
279. Two of Us Part 1 02 Feb 1990 Infax
280. Two of Us Part 2 09 Feb 1990 Infax
281. Vandals 16 Feb 1990 Infax
282. Doing Your Own Thing 16 Mar 1990 Infax
283. Sweet Seventeen Part 1 23 Mar 1990 Infax
284. Sweet Seventeen Part 2 30 Mar 1990 Infax
285. Rose's Tree 04 May 1990 Infax
286. Party, Party 25 May 1990 Infax
287. Body Language 02 Nov 1990 Infax
288. That Green Stuff 09 Nov 1990 Infax
289. Bandit Disease 16 Nov 1990 Infax
290. Proud To Be Muslim 23 Nov 1990 Infax
291. Hype 30 Nov 1990 Infax
292. Money, Breeding... or What? 15 Mar 1991 Infax
293. Animal Rights 22 Mar 1991 Infax
294. Collision Course Part 1 24 May 1991 Infax
295. Collision Course Part 2 07 Jun 1991 Infax
296. Soweto 14 Jun 1991 Infax
297. War 21 Jun 1991 Infax
298. Kicks and Insults 08 Nov 1991 Infax
299. Grey Areas 15 Nov 1991 Infax
300. Heroes and Hero Worship 22 Nov 1991 Infax
301. Tell Them The Truth 29 Nov 1991 Infax
302. Examinations: The Stress Factor 06 Mar 1992 Infax
303. Bhangra Girls 20 Mar 1992 Infax
304. Partners 29 May 1992 Infax
305. The Journey 05 Jun 1992 Infax
306. Twin Peaks, Twin Piques 19 Jun 1992 Infax
307. That Burning Question # 18 Sep 1992 Infax
308. Written Off # 25 Sep 1992 Infax
309. Say Goodbye 02 Oct 1992 Infax
310. Terraces 15 Jan 1993 Infax
311. Thin Ice 22 Jan 1993 Infax
312. Mohammed's Daughter 29 Jan 1993 Infax
313. Fighting with Shadows 05 Feb 1993 Infax
314. Shakers 12 Feb 1993 Infax
315. The Hamster Wheel 26 Feb 1993 Infax
316. Test Flight # 05 Mar 1993 Infax
317. Last Breeze of Summer # 12 Mar 1993 Infax
318. Dear Life 19 Mar 1993 Infax
319. A Separate Peace 26 Mar 1993 Infax
320. Buddy Part 1: Raining in My Heart # 30 Apr 1993 Infax
321. Buddy Part 2: Crying, Waiting, Hoping # 07 May 1993 Infax
322. Buddy Part 3: Blue Suede Shoes # 14 May 1993 Infax
323. Buddy Part 4: That'll Be The Day # 21 May 1993 Infax
324. Buddy Part 5: Everyday It's A-Getting Closer # 28 May 1993 Infax
325. The Soldier 13 Sep 1993 Infax
326. Trafford Tanzi 24 Sep 1993 Infax
327. The Diary of Rita Patel # 08 Oct 1993 Infax
328. Pig Boy 22 Oct 1993 Infax
329. Alyce In Wonderland # 26 Nov 1993 Infax
330. Our Day Out Part 1 # 14 Jan 1994 Infax
331. Our Day Out Part 2 # 21 Jan 1994 Infax
332. Our Day Out Part 3 # 28 Jan 1994 Infax
333. Teaching Matthew 22 Mar 1994 Infax
334. The Blood That's In You 30 Sep 1994 Infax
335. The Bet # 14 Oct 1994 Infax
336. Young Jung 21 Oct 1994 Infax
337. Sab 04 Nov 1994 Infax
338. Pride 18 Nov 1994 Infax
339. Elysian Fields 25 Nov 1994 Infax
340. Family Snaps 02 Dec 1994 Infax
341. Montana Crossroads # 03 Feb 1995 Infax
342. Alison 24 Mar 1995 Infax
343. Loved Up Part 1 06 Oct 1995 Infax
344. Loved Up Part 2 13 Oct 1995 Infax
345. Career Opportunities 10 Nov 1995 Infax
346. Radio Waves 01 Dec 1995 Infax
347. Prisoners In Time Part 1 # 02 Feb 1996 Infax
348. Prisoners In Time Part 2 # 09 Feb 1996 Infax
349. A Figure of Eight 01 Mar 1996 Infax
350. Edward Nohands 08 Mar 1996 Infax
351. Spy in the Cab 15 Mar 1996 Infax
352. The People Are The Forest 22 Mar 1996 Infax
353. Stone Cold Part 1 10 Jan 1997 Infax
354. Stone Cold Part 2 17 Jan 1997