The Spongers (TEFC)

United Kingdom, 1977

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A play written by Jim Allen and set during the 1977 Silver Jubilee. Britain seems to be in a state of rejoicing, and there seems to be plenty of money to spend on the festivities, but Pauline has nothing to cheer about. She has four children, the eldest is a Downs Syndrome child, she has no income and because of the family cannot go out to work. In theory the social service exists to help those in such situations. In practice there are tribunals, councils and welfare departments to be faced.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Roland Joffe

producer

Tony Garnett

production company

British Broadcasting Corporation

Duration

01:47:47:00

Production places

United Kingdom

Production dates

1977

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

300871

Language

English

Subject categories

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Family - Great Britain

Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Victims

Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Victims

Documentary

Documentary → Docudrama

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Culture - Social aspects - Great Britain

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Family - Social aspects

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Great Britain - Politics and government

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Great Britain - Social conditions

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Poverty

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social conflict

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social groups

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social justice

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social policy

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social problems

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social sciences

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social service

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Victims

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Welfare recipients

Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Family - Great Britain

Television

Television → Television programs

Television → Television programs → Television programs - Great Britain

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

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If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/79891--the-spongers-tefc/ |title=The Spongers (TEFC) |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=21 May 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}