Carol White – Working Class Hero Remembered

On Wednesday nights, households across the UK would tune in to watch BBC's The Wednesday Play, an anthology drama that ran for six series, October 1964 to May 1970. The Wednesday Play was popular, as the plots often reflected contemporary life; therefore, the viewer could relate to the production.

Furthermore, The Wednesday Play launched the dramatist and screenwriter Dennis Potter and filmmaker Ken Loach who called himself Kenneth back in the 1960s. Many actors whose careers were at the start or in development, like Glenda Jackson, Brian Cox, and David Hemmings, would grace the small screen on a Wednesday in Old Blighty. As time has passed, it is apparent that participation in The Wednesday Play, be it writing, directing or acting, would prove to be a stepping stone for a career in drama and giving the artist credibility later on in their profession. In addition, the self-assured, beautiful, and young actress Carol White (1st April 1943 – 16th September 1991) would make a significant impact after her lead role in Cathy Come Home, aired Wednesday night 16th November 1966.

While the UK was amid the Swinging Sixties, the BBC viewing public on that November Wednesday evening were saddened and shocked to see the plight of Cathy (Carol White) and Reg (Ray Brooks, The Knack ...and How to Get It, Big Deal). A recently wedded couple from London, with two small boys, forced into destitution, through no fault of their own. Furthermore, as they spiral towards homelessness, Cathy and Reg are not aided by the authorities. Those who are better off view Cathy and her family, and those in similar circumstances, as delinquents. Filmed in a documentary style, Cathy Come Home revealed the slums that existed in the UK cities, the hardship faced by people, and how the establishment was brutal in their treatment towards them, who could not step up the rent ladder let alone the property ladder.

As Cathy Come Home was being filmed around Battersea, Bruce Kenrick and Des Wilson were founding Shelter, the charity that still exists today in assisting the homeless or people trying to avoid being homeless. Cathy Come Home helped establish Shelter's profile, and contrary to belief, Shelter was not created after Cathy Come Home; it was already established. The majority of the British public, who didn't live in city centres, had no idea that so many were 'not having it so good’. Yet sadly, this drama didn't wake up the government of 1966.

As for Cathy from Cathy Come Home, Carol White, she may not have been born into poverty, yet she did come from a working-class family. Born in Hammersmith, to a father Carol White described as ' a scrap metal merchant, and a spieler in a fairground, and a door-to-door salesman in elixir of life.' Carol White's mother's occupation is unknown, yet as Carol came from a humble family, it would probably have been remedial and low-paid; however, that is a guess, not a fact.

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