Give Us This Day - ACE120.6

Commentary says that 1906 election brought 29 Labour MPs to Parliament, but this enabled the ruling classes to control working class independence. Bill introduces a slide show trip around Britain, with Noonan at the lantern, contrasting images of rich and poor. Noonan addressing the audience on the need for Socialism and for nationalisation of industries. Noonan arrives home drenched by a storm. VO quotes passage on the illness of the book’s protagonist. Noonan and Kathleen moving out. Bill visits their new rooms. Noonan, in bed, suggests he and Bill should set up a moving picture theatre on the pier. Kathleen shows them a banner she’s made for the Social Democratic Party. Bill refuses to leave the building trade. VO "The story of the future was to be much the same as the story of the past." Commentary says that Noonan continued writing while out of work because of his illness. To avoid being prosecuted or black-listed by people portrayed in the book, Noonan used the name Tressell. Noonan and Kathleen discussing the book. The manuscript sent off; rejected by the publisher because it was not typewritten. Noonan and Kathleen on the beach. They decide to go to Canada. Commentary relates that Noonan died in Liverpool in 1911, and gives history of the eventual publication of the book, Britain’s "one real, working class classic". Credits.