{"id":49204,"date":"2024-04-09T11:00:25","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T09:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2019106"},"modified":"2024-04-09T12:08:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T10:08:26","slug":"shoulder-to-shoulder-the-tv-classic-about-the-suffragettes-is-50-years-old-we-speak-to-dame-sian-phillips-waris-hussein-and-moira-armstrong","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/shoulder-to-shoulder-the-tv-classic-about-the-suffragettes-is-50-years-old-we-speak-to-dame-sian-phillips-waris-hussein-and-moira-armstrong\/","title":{"rendered":"Shoulder to Shoulder, the TV classic about the suffragettes, is 50 years old \u2013 we speak to Dame Si\u00e2n Phillips, Waris Hussein and Moira Armstrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

We celebrate the making of Shoulder to Shoulder with its star and directors – plus rare photos from the Radio Times archive. <\/p>

By Patrick Mulkern\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 09 April 2024 at 09:00 AM<\/p>

\n\n

Shoulder to Shoulder was a landmark BBC drama series in 1974 \u2013 six 75-minute plays about the struggles of the Women\u2019s Suffrage Movement in their fight for equality and to win the right to vote.<\/p>\n

Radio Times<\/strong> even published a special magazine on the subject 50 years ago.<\/p>\n

The series is now being repeated on BBC Four for its 50th anniversary \u2013 and to mark the 90th birthday of its star, Dame Si\u00e2n Phillips.<\/p>\n

We speak to her and to the programme\u2019s two directors, Waris Hussein and Moira Armstrong.<\/p>\n

Dame Si\u00e2n Phillips<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Dame Si\u00e2n has had a long and illustrious acting career, taking in theatre, film, TV and radio, as well as writing her two-volume autobiography<\/a>. She won a BAFTA in 1977 for playing Empress Livia in I, Claudius, and is soon to guest star in the 2024 season of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the 1970s, she was even an occasional Radio Times<\/strong> columnist. Now she shares her memories of 1974\u2019s Shoulder to Shoulder with RadioTimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an important series and a very good one. It was also highly unusual because there were lots of women in the cast and the producers were all women too \u2013 Midge Mackenzie, Georgia Brown and, of course, Verity Lambert. She was a very distinguished person.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d never been in a play in my life that had nearly all women in it. At first I was doubtful, because I thought, \u2018It\u2019s going to be all rows and complaining about make-up and hair and who\u2019s doing what\u2026 but never mind, it\u2019s going to be worth doing.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there was not one disagreement from beginning to end. I\u2019ve never known such camaraderie. It was a life-changing show to be on because it just showed what we women could do left to ourselves. I enjoyed it so much. I really loved it.<\/p>\n

\"Emmeline\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Emmeline Pankhurst (Si\u00e2n Phillips) and her daughters Christabel (Patricia Quinn) and Sylvia (Angela Down) in Shoulder to Shoulder, 1974. Radio Times Archive<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cQuite honestly, I was very pleased to get the part of Mrs Pankhurst. We all started reading up on the suffragettes and became experts on the subject. They laid all the textbooks out in the rehearsal rooms so everybody could read them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted script changes. We would say, \u2018Well, what about the scene where they did this? And why haven\u2019t you put in this in?\u2019 The poor writers were going mad! And it had very good scriptwriters \u2013 Ken Taylor, who was the chief one, and Alan Plater.<\/p>\n

\"Sian\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Si\u00e2n Phillips as Emmeline Pankhurst in Shoulder to Shoulder. Photographed by Don Smith (\u00a9 Radio Times Archive)<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cIt took seven months in all. There was a huge cast of women and even a woman camera person at one point. Moira Armstrong was one of the directors, and Waris Hussein was brought in, according to all accounts, by Verity, who was a friend of his, to address the balance of all women doing the whole thing. He was a wonderful director with women, actually.<\/p>\n

\"Sian\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Si\u00e2n Phillips and Waris Hussein in 2023. Photographed by Patrick Mulkern<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cVery often we were filming on the run. We had to film all the speeches at dawn when nobody was about. I remember climbing onto the plinth of Nelson\u2019s Column to deliver one speech when there was no traffic. We had to fit shots in between buses and modern taxis, which happened to be about.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, a lot of it was not enjoyable, because the suffragettes had a pretty bad time \u2013 all the arrests, the police brutality, the force-feeding.<\/p>\n

\"The\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
The composer Dr Ethel Smyth (Maureen Pryor) showing Emmeline Pankhurst (Si\u00e2n Phillips) how to throw a stone. Shoulder to Shoulder, 1974. \u00a9 Radio Times Archive<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cWhat was amazing, after the programme finished, I went off to the west of Ireland and somebody said, \u2018You know, there\u2019s a suffragette living in this neighbourhood. A Miss Robinson. Would you like to meet her?\u2019 I said, \u2018I certainly would!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cMargaret Robinson was nearly 100 and almost blind but had baked a cake for me. She\u2019d been a headmistress and chair of the Irish Countrywomen\u2019s Association. One day she\u2019d received a message from Mrs Pankhurst \u2013 my character \u2013 to go to London with a brick and, on a certain cue, smash a window. That was the day all the glass on Regent Street was broken.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut she wouldn\u2019t have dreamt of not coming on Mrs Pankhurst\u2019s request. How wonderful to make that connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Director Waris Hussein<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Well-known to RadioTimes.com<\/strong> readers as one of the founding fathers of Doctor Who, Waris Hussein, 85, has had a wide-ranging career: directing prestigious BBC Plays of the Month including A Passage to India; working with Bette Davis, Shirley MacLaine and Barry Manilow in Hollywood; and winning a BAFTA for Edward and Mrs Simpson (1978). In 1973 and \u201974, he directed episodes one, two, three and six of Shoulder to Shoulder.<\/p>\n

\"Director\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Director Waris Hussein reminiscing on BBC Four in 2024. BBC<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019d just had a disaster with Divorce His \u2013 Divorce Hers, a movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and the phones went silent in America. Nobody wanted to employ me, and I was literally hiding in the hills with a friend when I got a phone call from Verity.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018I want you to stop hiding, Waris, because I\u2019ve got a job for you. It\u2019s about the Pankhursts, the suffragettes.\u2019 I said I hadn\u2019t a clue about them, but she said, \u2018Get on a plane to England and we\u2019ll talk about it.\u2019 That was Verity. She was persistent, thank God.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe went to the BBC\u2019s head of drama, Christopher Morahan, who was a formidable snob, and told him, \u2018I\u2019m thinking of Waris for the suffragettes.\u2019 And he said, \u2018Oh dear, really? Do you think he knows enough about our history?\u2019 And Verity said, \u2018Christopher, he\u2019s been here since he was nine.\u2019 \u2018Oh, well, in that case it should be all right\u2026\u2019 That was the kind of dialogue I used to get, questioning my ability. It was very loaded.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I joined the show. Si\u00e2n was already cast and was perfect for the role of Emmeline Pankhurst, because she really does look rather like her, though she\u2019s a taller version of her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cast Angela Down as her daughter Sylvia. She was perfect as the socially conscious artist who is dedicated to a cause, and Angela gave it that kind of depth I really respect. I believed in Angela totally as a woman who becomes a suffragette.<\/p>\n

\"Sylvia\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Sylvia (Angela Down) and Emmeline Pankhurst (Si\u00e2n Phillips) in Shoulder to Shoulder, 1974. Photographed by Don Smith (\u00a9 Radio Times Archive)<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
\"Christabel\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Christabel Pankhurst (Patricia Quinn) and Annie Kenney (Georgia Brown) in Shoulder to Shoulder, 1974. Photographed by Don Smith (\u00a9 Radio Times Archive)<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
\"Si\u00e2n\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Si\u00e2n Phillips with Angela Down, and Patricia Quinn with Waris Hussein, at a Shoulder to Shoulder reunion at Riverside Studios in 2022. Photographed by Patrick Mulkern<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cFor her sister Christabel, Verity originally wanted Helen Mirren, and Helen desperately wanted to do it but was working in America and couldn\u2019t be released. So we cast Patricia Quinn, who had just done The Rocky Horror Show at the Royal Court. She became a very apt addition. In her later years, Christabel ended up in Los Angeles surrounded by adoring movie stars and became this mystical figure who would lead women to freedom.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Mr Pankhurst, I had Michael Gough, who I loved working with. A very good actor. And I cast Pam St Clement, who ended up in EastEnders as Pat Butcher \u2013 she played a big butch wardress in Holloway Prison, going, \u2018All right then, love\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Michael\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Michael Gough and Si\u00e2n Phillips as Mr and Mrs Pankhurst in Shoulder to Shoulder, 1974. Photographed by Don Smith (\u00a9 Radio Times Archive)<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cIn episode three, Judy Parfitt became Lady Constance Lytton, who was sent to Holloway Prison. She went on hunger strike and was force-fed. That script was all about social discrimination \u2013 if you were an aristocrat, you\u2019d be treated very softly in Holloway, but they thought she was a working-class woman and she was treated like s**t. She had a heart condition and later she died from it. That\u2019s part of the cruelty of it all.<\/p>\n

\"Judy\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Judy Parfitt as Lady Lytton in Shoulder to Shoulder, 1974. Photographed by Don Smith (\u00a9 Radio Times Archive)<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cWhen we were rehearsing, I found out the mechanics of force-feeding and realised it\u2019s not very pleasant \u2013 tubes down the nose \u2013 and had to be careful how we showed it. I chose to shoot it from above, looking down, so you weren\u2019t in proximity to the instruments of torture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only had five minutes left in the studio at Television Centre \u2013 the crew were going to close down at 10pm because of the union rules. I was panicking and Judy was lying on her back with this tube being put into her nose. Everyone in the studio and control room was in absolute panic. But we managed to get it done. When you look at it now, because there was such tension setting into the studio and beyond, it works really well \u2013 and is pretty horrifying.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fascinating for me to do this. As an example, we were supposed to be shooting in Manchester 1904, whereas we actually shot in Hebden Bridge, which resembled Manchester at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were all these Bengali immigrants who had recently arrived. Here am I, this little brown number calling \u2018Action!\u2019 and \u2018Stop!\u2019, being watched by lots of little brown numbers who\u2019d climbed the tops of trees, looking down at me, wondering, \u2018Who the f**k is this guy!?\u2019 ordering about the middle-class Pankhurst family with their horses and carriages, and long dresses and hats. It was quite a funny sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe very last image in episode six is of two women \u2013 Sylvia Pankhurst and a friend \u2013 discussing their achievement. They are walking away from us, and I was determined to shoot the Houses of Parliament in the background, but this was a period drama, we were terrified we might not be able to do it because of the traffic.<\/p>\n

\u201cFunnily enough, the season was with us. It was a grey day, there was a mist, and these two women are walking away from camera, tiny dots on the landscape. It was almost surreal as they walk away into the future. To me it was a significant ending, and said everything about the achievement of these two women and where they had come from. And that was the end of the series.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sylvia\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Sylvia (Angela Down) in Shoulder to Shoulder, 1974. Photographed by Don Smith. (\u00a9 Radio Times Archive)<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Director Moira Armstrong<\/strong><\/p>\n

Moira Armstrong directed episodes four and five of Shoulder to Shoulder in 1974. She had a remarkable TV career, with credits ranging from the mid 1960s (Z Cars and Dr Finlay\u2019s Casebook) to the acclaimed Sunset Song in 1971. She directed the creepy Armchair Thriller serial Quiet as a Nun in 1978, and won a BAFTA for Testament of Youth (1979). She was still working well into her 70s in 2010 on Lark Rise to Candleford. Now 94, she lives in West London, close to the offices of Radio Times<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Director\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Director Moira Armstrong reminiscing on BBC Four in 2024. BBC<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cI was very pleased to be asked to direct Shoulder to Shoulder. I knew Verity Lambert very well because she produced Adam Adamant Lives! [1966\u201367] and I\u2019d directed a few of those. I respected her and thought she was a very good producer. I liked her work. She was clever and good at getting on with people and making everyone work together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking on Shoulder to Shoulder was very enjoyable altogether. We all got on with each other well, which I suppose isn\u2019t a surprise, but it was unusual to have so many women around in positions of influence. Back then, they would usually be helping other people but, in this case, were actually doing the job.<\/p>\n

\"A\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
A rare glimpse behind the scenes at TV Centre during the recording of episode five of Shoulder to Shoulder, 1974. Photographed by Don Smith (\u00a9 Radio Times Archive)<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cI remember complaining to Verity that if you read about the funeral of Emily Davison \u2013 the woman who threw herself in front of the king\u2019s horse \u2013 there were a thousand people in Piccadilly Circus that day, but I had only 36 extras. \u2018How do I make them like a thousand people?\u2019 Verity said, \u2018That\u2019s your problem.\u2019 So I thought, \u2018OK then, I\u2019ll have to solve it somehow\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cMy AFM [assistant floor manager] was a very industrious girl, and she said, \u2018I want to research what actually happened at the funeral.\u2019 We covered up the fact that we didn\u2019t have a lot of people by choosing a lot of colours \u2013 the peonies they were carrying and the velvet of the coffin. We solved it by concentrating on colour.<\/p>\n

\"Mary\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Mary Richardson attacking a Vel\u00e1zquez nude painting in the National Gallery in episode five of Shoulder to Shoulder, 1974. Photographed by Don Smith (\u00a9 Radio Times Archive)<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cIn those days I didn\u2019t find any difficulties as a woman director. I suppose what helped was I\u2019d been a PA [production assistant] for Jim McTaggart \u2013 a very good director \u2013 for quite some time before I became a director myself. I got to know all the camera crews, so they knew I knew what I was doing on the studio floor, which was a great help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m amazed and very pleased that Shoulder to Shoulder is being repeated, because the present generation probably doesn\u2019t know what actually went on with the suffragettes. And it\u2019s very good, I think, looking back on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Christabel\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Christabel Pankhurst (Patricia Quinn) in Shoulder to Shoulder, 1974. Photographed by Don Smith (\u00a9 Radio Times Archive)<\/em><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Shoulder to Shoulder episode guide<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A series of six plays created by Midge Mackenzie, Verity Lambert and Georgia Brown.<\/p>\n

Principal cast<\/strong><\/p>\n