Up the Junction

A kaleidoscopic look at the lives of three working class women in south London.

On a night out in a London pub, three carefree young women meet and start relationships with three men. After a fun-filled night spent breaking into a swimming pool, the three couples unknowingly embark on separate trajectories, each moving towards a tragic end.

Nell Dunn adapted her collection of short stories into a fragmented jigsaw puzzle of vignettes, each offering a glimpse at life in 1960s London – be it of the women's social, working, family or romantic lives. At the time it was broadcast, audiences rarely saw the sex lives of the working class on screen, and such an honest depiction was almost a revolutionary act.

Up the Junction shocked viewers with its abrasive depiction of an illegal back-alley abortion and is credited for its part in propelling the abortion debate. Abortion was legalised in the UK two years later.

– Reece Goodwin, Curator, TV & Special Events