Strike: An Uncivil War

The makers of this documentary have missed an opportunity to present a balanced view of the 1984 strike. The perspective of the miners is powerfully told, bringing to life the feelings of the miners and their communities, and the divisions between Nottinghamshire and other mining areas. The footage and eye witness accounts of the events at Orgreave tell a powerful story of politicized policing. What is skimmed over is that this strike was called without a ballot. Its aim was paralyze the electricity supply and steel industries, and inflict damage on a democratically elected government with no thought to the impact on other vulnerable citizens through power cuts etc. We needed to hear from the other side of the dispute. Also useful would have been some portrayal of the damage the trade union movement in general was inflicting on the prosperity of the country through the 70's and early 80's. This was a hugely important factor in the decision of the Thatcher government to "bend the rules" to defeat this strike.

Powerful viewing, worth watching, but flawed by it's lack of balance.

Some really good interviews with ex miners and great footage, however it is very one sided in its politics ignoring the fact general strikes and flying pickets had been made illegal, it doesn't really go into how the country was being paralysed by mass striking, doesn't mention the 3 day week and the investigative journalists insinuate military tactics were being used by police in disorder such as baton guns which werent used, and state a change in police tactics needs to be voted on in parliment which is also incorrect

Scargill's role in the strikes was mainly over looked.

A shame as there is some really good stuff and is still definitely worth a watch purely for the eye witness accounts and footage.

Why were the miner's strikes of 1984 and 1985 so divisive, so violent, why did a generation of voters despise and loathe The Tory party, and why did friends and families fall apart.

This very well made and interesting documentary goes some way to answering some of those questions, but sadly not all of them.

I don't get how this one passed me by, was it poorly advertised, or was the subject material just not enough for people?

Fascinating first hand evidence from miners up and down the country. Great use of stock footage, but if you're educated on events, you'll see how much was omitted, some of the scenes were truly staggering, violence of the highest order, perhaps they wanted to make this suitable for all?

It focuses, perhaps quite rightly on the miners, and its affect on them and their families, it just lacks a bit of content on the political side of things, what was going on behind the scenes.

I don't want to get too political, but I'd say the way they depicted both Thatcher and Scargill was interesting to say the least.

There was one particularly fascinating piece of info given, the chap that talked about 21 houses on his street, and all 21 houses being supported by people working in the mines.

Anyone that doesn't know these events should definitely check if out, it's a turbulent, but very interesting piece of history.

8/10.

Couldn't help but compare this documentary to modern Britain. Forty years on and it's seems the government are using the same formula that Margaret Thatcher used all those years ago.

The documentary is told by the miners who are still waiting for answers. I found it incredibly raw and quite harrowing at times. Hearing how communities were ripped apart and how families lives have never been the same since made it difficult to watch at times.

The documentary made me think that the agenda back then is very, very similar to what's happening in our country now. The government Vs the working class.

No attempt made to provide any objectivity other than a couple of disgruntled ex police officers wheeled out to support the general tenor of the documentary. One might suppose from the content that the 5000 striking miners descending on Orgreave were there , in their' jeans and T shirts ' for a lovely nature ramble and were then set on by the thuggish lacky's of Mrs Thatcher's fascist state for no good reason . In fact the 5000 were there ( illegally as secondary pickets) to bring the rest of the country ( old and ill included) to its knees by disrupting power supplies and were out thought and out muscled by a ( thankfully) well organised police force. Did the police occasionally use too much force? Inevitability in such a large scale confrontation although nothing like the force that would have been brought to bear in any other country at that time.