This week's pick demonstrates how the effects of State persecution lingers on through the generations with a portrayal of the reactions of the children of Holocaust survivors to this dreadful legacy.
Windrush arrivals
Other highlights concern the damaging effects of war on troops, the impact of West Indian immigration on Britain, the trangressing of class-based sexual taboos in Victorian Britain and teen violence aimed at members of harmless sub-cultures.
Saturday 21 June - 9pm - 12.30am - More4 - Warriors
Continuing the Kosminsky season and made in 1999, this Bafta-winning drama about a group of British soldiers assigned to peace-keeping duties in Bosnia won plaudits for its accurate portrayal of the injustices and horrors of this conflict and the effect it had on the troops. The script is directly lifted from the real-life experiences and perspectives of the soldiers and no stone is left unturned in the portrayal in particular of the fate of Muslim women and children forced to flee their homes as a consequence of this false cause.
Monday 23 June - 8 - 8.30pm - ITV1 - Tonight: Fixing Broken Britain
Teenager Sophie Lancaster was murdered earlier this year by a mob of other teens in a park in Lancashire purely because she was a goth. In this edition, Sophie's determined mother Sylvia travels to other countries in Europe to see if any other nations are faring any better in how they respond to such violent teen crime.
Monday 23 June - 9 - 10pm - Channel 4 - Upstairs Downstairs Love
Shown as the final part of Channel 4's "Victorian Passions" season, this edition consists of a drama documentary based on diaries kept by a wealthy Victorian "gentleman" and the servant with whom he conducted a clandestine affair that lasted for an amazing 50 years. Whilst it was not uncommon, sadly, for wealthy men to take advantage of their position to bed their servants, the longevity and mutual loyalty in this union marks it out for distinction. So strict were the sexual taboos exerted by the class system, that the transgressing of them in order to conduct a long-term affair with a servant could, if revealed, lead to the gentleman being disgraced and losing everything. It is a mark of the sexual hypocrisy and unedifying values of the age that casual, uncaring, momentary encounters were considered forgivable but not long-term loving or loyalty.
Monday 23 June - 8 - 9pm - BBC4 - Windrush - 1/4 - Arrival
First aired in 1998, this four part documentary was made to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the arrival of the first wave of West Indian immigrants into Britain. This first part examines their reactions as they arrive and the initial responses of their fellow community members.
Tuesday 24 June - 8 - 9pm - BBC4 - Windrush - 2/4 - Intolerance
This edition addresses how black immigrants developed communities in Britain and explores the difficulties they faced in acclimatising.
Wednesday 25 June - 8 - 9pm - BBC4 - Windrush - 3/4 - A New Generation
This episode tells the story of the angry reaction of the progeny of the initial wave of immigrants to racist attitudes and experiences culminating in the famed race riots of the 1970's.
Pick of the Week :rb:
Wednesday 25 June - 9 - 10pm - BBC4 - Jews - 2/3 - The Next Generation
Either by fortune or design on the part of BBC4, this next programme also concerns the reactions of the children of those who suffered oppression. The second and most hard-hitting of this three-part exploration of Jewish cultural expression in Britain concerns the depth of the collective trauma of the Holocaust among second-generation British Jews. The interviewees are some of the children whose parents fled the Nazi persecution and came to Britain; some 85,000 found refuge on these shores. Whilst these adult children did not experience the Holocaust directly, it still governed their lives. Some parents were extremely over-protective, some completely emotionally distant and others understandably obsessed with their dreadful past. Many were still too afraid to own their heritage and some children did not find out their true origins until decades later. This programme has been chosen as the week's top selection for highlighting how the effects of State persecution and oppression live on in forthcoming generations, strengthening still further the case for liberation.
Thursday 26 June - 8 - 9pm - BBC4 - Windrush - 4/4 - A British Story
In this final part, social commentators reflect on how and in what ways reactions to immigration in Britain have changed over the last 50 years or so.
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