10 Most Controversial British TV Films

10. Cathy Come Home

Cathy Come Home was one of Ken Loach's earliest directorial efforts, blending documentary and drama to tell a devastating story of homelessness. Originally airing as part of the BBC's Wednesday Play strand, the film has subsequently come to be recognised as one of the best plays broadcast. Subsequent recognition of its quality, however, does not distract from its hard hitting content.

The play demonstrates how a typical young couple, Cathy (Carol White) and Reg (Ray Brooks), slip into poverty and eventual homelessness, powerfully depicting the inadequacy of the era's social security measures. So unfamiliar with the blend of documentary realism and drama were the British public at the time that, for years after, people would give actress Carol White money in the streets, assuming she was homeless still.

The raw deception of the circumstances that can lead people into homelessness, especially the final scene where the social services take Cathy's children from her, provoked a huge response at the time, even leading to the show being discussed in Parliament. One contemporary viewer described it as 'an ice pick in the brain.' Today, the drama is just as affecting.