There are memorable moments in our history when knowing something changes something. 'Cathy Come Home' was one such a moment. This searing TV docudrama was broadcast in 1966. It engaged the viewer as witness to a piece of reportage. Its innovative style and its relentless story of a family's descent into homelessness was so powerful that it prompted the creation of the housing charity, Shelter, and provoked a great national debate.
Such was the power of television. But it also said something about Britain: it shocked itself. 'Cathy Come Home' depicted a scandal we thought could not be happening in Britain any more - children on the streets, in halfway houses, in hostel dormitories.
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