The film didn't get across the main draw for many.. Kids could roam all over the camp without their parents all day long doing what the hell they liked. It was gloriously feral. I went to Butlins Minehead with school aged 9 in 1978 and we never saw the teachers apart from they would appear hungover at breakfast and take the register. One boy found a stinky skeleton of a dog on the beach and dragged it round in a carrier bag all week and they only noticed when we were lined up to get the coach home.😂
@Mothball Wonderful story!.. I'm not from England. But when I was a kid it was much the same. We ran wild. On afternoon I was walking along with a sick pigeon in a shoe box. An old man with a wad of bills came up to me and offered me a tenner for whatever was in the box....money meant nothing to me at the time, so he was denied with prejudice. My friends questioned my sanity. Next time I opened the box the poor thing was dead. I had a great childhood with regards to freedom. We kids lived in a society of our own.
I ran across this video while searching for monorail videos and I was instantly captivated. Truly ahead of it's time with soundtrack and cinematography.
My parents took us to butlins Minehead through the 60s and 70s. Since I have been holidaying all over the world. I always say my Butlins holidays were the best. Thank you for this nostalgic treat. X
Met a fantastic Yorkshire girl in 66 at Clacton so my one and only visit was pure magic plus England won the world cup the day we arrived, never to be forgotten holiday.
I met a Yorkshire lass in 1977 at Butlins Filey .caught up with her on friends re United and now FB .So still in touch . Loved Butlins ,I went to most of the camps including Clacton ,bognor , Minehead,Filey , Yarmouth My folks live in Clacton and the camp is long gone ,a housing estate sits on the old site .You can still see parts of the old fence here and there though ,and the beach gate I believe is still there
Cheers for uploading this.I'm really enjoying it. The music, the opening credits, the hair and clothes and just the general atmosphere all point to this being made in 1974, or thereabouts.
@@MikeKleinsteuberThank you Mike. Do you happen to have any of the other five episodes from this series?Do they still exist? I might be wrong but I get a sense TonyP. is not exactly proud to have this series on his C.V...just an observation.
@@PeasGravenySadly I don't. I had this one digitized quite early on as I loved it so much. I'm not certain what happened to the film library at HTV where all the others would have been stored in. However, none of the others (I think there were 4 or 5) were a patch on this one. Tony was a good documentary maker when he was angry with the subject or had a personal involvement. I think he really liked this doc. If you like this one try finding his 'All You Need is Love', a series about the Beatles which is great. His 'Miss World' was tremendous too. He went totally off the rails however when he moved over to drama. He just couldn't hack it imo and fell foul of 'the Peter principle'. He should have stayed doing docs. I think he started out as an assistant to Ken Russell at the Beeb and in some ways tried to emulate him but there was only ever going to be one Ken Russell.
@@MikeKleinsteuberI agree, his 'pop' music series were mostly very good .I always wanted to chin him,however,for the mess he made of filming the final Cream shows in '68, and also for his appearance in the clip linked below wherin Tony can be seen directing a TV show whilst simultaneously trying,and succeeding in being a massive a-hole (at the request of the documentary director,no doubt!) ruclips.net/video/kDgWRppfVZQ/видео.html
Fantastic documentary. Brought back lots of memories for me. It captured Butlins in the 70's as it really was. And what a great ending, as good as any other horror movie ;)
Never seen this before! For sure it has been cleverly filmed and edited to get a definate point of view across. I am sure Butlins would have hated this when it was broadcast, as they also probably also hated Jimmy Perry's 'Hi-De-Hi" comedy ! That wide angle lens right up against the faces really works to create a claustrophobic atmosphere. However, desipite this documentary, Butlins was a magic place for so many people who went there on holiday every year. And of course this is a timepiece of attitudes that prevailed in the 70's - enough said on that topic. It being shot on 16mm real film also adds greatly to the atmosphere - would not nearly be as as effective if shot on video tape. Thanks for sharing this with us!
This is both a refreshingly honest and at times somewhat unsettling look at a peculiar aspect of 70s British culture. The seedy jokes and games are an essential part of the regimented fun of the holiday camp experience. The superb lighting and camerawork emphasises this dissonance.
During the early 90s my parents would take us to Butlins Skegness, once a year. The strongest and most vivid memories I have are of redcoat interactions; when she was taken aback by the comment that some visitors just want to interact with a redcoat, that made me smile. I miss those days and as much as I have fond memories, a kind of sadness washes over me, knowing that I may never have such experiences again.
it's a shame what's happened to the great british holiday park, they're on their knees now. Walk With Me Tim did a great series where he visited all the Pontins parks and honestly they look as though the business has already packed up and moved on. it's sad because these places were always supposed to be accessible for working class families and give a good value for money, but they can't balance the costs with the experience anymore. international travel is a lot cheaper than it used to be as well, partly because the airline companies have been dead in the water since 2008 and are just trying to keep passenger numbers up. you can get coupons and deals and find a weekend in amsterdam/vienna/perpignan/barcelona for like 100 euros, it's hard to compete with that. on the other hand if you just want to spend a week sitting in the sun drinking whilst your kids entertain themselves, you don't have to go to spain for that!
I'm a 16mm film fanatic and this one is absolutely superb. The camera work and editing is trully excellent - wish I'd been involved with making it but I wasn't born at the time!
@@lawrencel1668 All on-location work was shot on film back then and 16mm was the standard film format used by all the broadcast companies. It has a look all of its own, quite different from 35mm cinema film.
No adopted children or children of mixed race in the Happy Family competition??? That sounded absolutely nuts! And the worker stated those requirements with such conviction. Geez Louise! Unbelievable.
This is radio butlin calling all 2nd sitting guests the time is 9 o clock & breakfast will be served at 9.30..... never forget that sentence as long as i live, happy memories
I worked at mine head in 81 for a month end of summer I was a Porter cleaner there was a love ly red coat who I liked very much but I didn’t have the nerve to ask her out I think she new because when I left at the end of my time there she was stood by the coach as we pulled out and she blew me a kiss I was gutted 🥲
I looked this up in the newspapers. It was one of a series of 6 programmes featuring Harriet Crawley, the others were "at the circus", "at the fete", "at sea", "at the opera" and "at war". The "at play'" episode first aired on HTV on 3 July 1976. I've not been able to find any sign of any controversy over it.
However, I found a news item in "The Stage" of 25 July 1974, saying that the series had started being made. So filming probably started in 1974 but the series definitely wasn't aired until 1976.
@@dannynosdetectiveinstinct9170 Correct. I think Patrick Dromgoole (the then MD of HTV) had to wait to get a slot in the national ITV schedule, rather than just tx it locally. ITV was generally carved up by the big boys and local stations like HTV just picked up the crumbs when they could. As you can see, in this case it took two years.
@@MikeKleinsteuber Not all the local ITV franchises seem to have shown it. HTV had the first broadcast in this case, and some of the others picked it up too, but not all of them. They didn't show it at the same time or on the same day.
@@dannynosdetectiveinstinct9170 Thanks for the info. Interesting. It was a great series, though Tony Palmer was a much better director when he didn't like the subject, like in this, Harriet At Play prog. The others didn't quite have the same 'bite'....
@@MikeKleinsteuber Are any of those others available Mike? I also wonder if there is any kind of HTV archive as I would like to find out more about this film.
Great memories. I was 'Radio Butlins' in 1969 at Minehead. My day 6.30am wake up call at my Chalet by Security Staff, shifts shared between two of us (should have been three,) till 11.00pm. Staff accommodation very basic, pay minimal and at the end of the season represented Butlins in a Red Coat group at the Horse of the Year Show at the "Butlins Cup" award. Being a Red Coat was a great way to spend a Summer.
How times have changed, long gone are the camp & corny hol parks & competitions, the goal now seems to be centre parc style family holidays, they've already begun the transition, not sure if it will pan out tho, Butlin veterans & their families love tradition & don't like change, that began when Sir Billys wife sold out, Good video thanks for sharing.
Used to go Skegness Butlins with my parents and sis back in the seventies. How I would love to go back to that time again. Watching this is actually quite sad as you see a time now long gone.
Fantastic Video . The ending I suppose is a real juxtaposition position of what Butlins was really like back in the day. Highly regimented entertainment is almost dictated at you . After being awoken by the tannoy announcement instructing you to attend breakfast whilst you depart your glorified barracks. But the irony is as a child of the seventies, I absolutely loved Butlins. Skegness, Barry Island , Clacton on Sea , Minehead, Pwllheli, Bognor Regis and Filey. Glorious Summers . A Swimming pool , A Monorail that one could spend all day going round and round and round and endless Spotted Dick and Custard. The feature did make me think about how cringe worthy awkward it sometimes was . But those were some of the best holidays I ever had.
I went to Pwllheli Butlins a couple of times when I was about 5 and 6. 1974/75…Can’t really remember much, but after watching this I’m glad. I have never seen so many ugly and weird looking people. My anxiety levels have just gone through the roof 🫣
that was a lovely half hour , finely photographed wide angle lens gave the feeling of being there , and what a lovely host Harriet was then. is there a recorded history of the shows Harriet did?
Harriet Crawley did six of these films, the others being Harriet At War, Harriet At Sea, Harriet At The Circus, Harriet At The Opera and Harriet In A Balloon.They were filmed in 1974 and 1975 and screened on TV in 1976. I can't find uploads of any of the other episodes so far.Maybe they no longer exist.
@@TheInnacityI've hunted around but the only thing I managed to find was a reference by the B.F.I. to the various episodes and a similar mention in a Tony Palmer 'filmography'. Strangely Harriet is not credited anywhere (not even in the closing credits of the show) and I only found out what her surname was from the uploader. I did find out that by the 1980's Harry had become an MP and had transformed into the stereotypical aristocratic Tory Lady!
Have been to minehead a few times in the last few years. On the surface its unrecognisable from those days but I suspect if you know where to look there are still traces of the old camp.
Did you notice that??? 9:25 ..Happy family contest .. Interviewer ... "How do you decide what makes a happy family" Red Coat .... " We obviously don't want a mother and father that's got a white and a black child"...lol ..."and we can't have foster children or adopted children "
Shows our changing attitudes but unlike the BBC, I think you need to be able to see stuff like that in order to learn from the past. Something many activists don't understand. You can't re-write history.
Great times, I was a child of the 70s and I remember it being a wonderful time compared with life now. The only thing I have noticed watching this is that people seemed to be very ugly back then😬
Scruffy men's hair and sideburns, generally dreadful poorly tailored scruffy fashion(with some exceptions), not anyway near as much attention to grooming and designer accessories made people appear uglier in the 1970's than in the 1960's and later decades (although they were not immune from fashion disasters like man perms and shell suits). But if you met face to face or superimposed today's fashions and grooming back then or did 70's fashion plus grooming now people weren't worse looking than now - I was age ten through nineteen in the 1970's so experienced it all. Then again you had nowhere near as many overweight or obese people.
Great days,Iv seen Sir Billy Butlin,At clacton on sea ,Camp,In a nice jag car,Was there hot summer of 76,,Killer heat,I was at skegness when ballroom Went up in smoke,It was me who raised the alam,The escorlator was on fire,and the windows were filling up with smoke,i had a instant kodak camra,took pics,still was a great time,
i went to north wales butlins in 83 waiting for jim Saville to pop up adults saying lets see your muscles to a child whos topless couldn't do that today that's wrong then and now :)
'for the time' is an interesting phrase cos in reality, other than a few notable exceptions I think editing and documentary film making has actually gone backwards. We're generally much less sophisticated today. If you like editing like this try Julien Temple's doc on The Glastonbury Festival. It's a brilliant piece of work and looks at the history of it. But the structure is very interesting. And to change the context somewhat, watch the movie '21 grams' as that has probably the best structure of any movie I've seen. Completely different to this of course but if you like one, I think you'd probably like the other....
@@MikeKleinsteuber What I was going to say. Lots of 'for its time' comments here yet this just a great film for any time! The camerawork, editing and use of music is outstanding. And it draws on a lineage of such experiments going right back to the 30s.Sadly TV documentaries now would not dare do what is done here because they are too reverent of the subject matter, and would never be as inventive or make a point about the seediness (I am reminded of Andersons 'O Dreamland' about Margate). We have undoubtedly gone backwards with tedious talking heads, commentary and a totally formulaic way of presenting just about anything..Though as you say there is the odd theatrical gem. Can't think of when I last saw a documentary as good as this on TV.
Something very Biden about him. How could the parents let their children take part?! Its quite alarming that parents couldn't see the potential dangerous situations they allowed their children to be in back then? While some were building lovely memories, some where having just the worse time! 😕
What exact year was this made? I am interested in the "Butlinland is Freedomland" advert at the beginning and I want to watch it on its own, so I want to know when this interesting documentuary (and the advert) was made.
I think she was the daughter of possibly the LWT, or similar, ceo. It was a bit of a flattery project for her. Hence cutting to a shot of her when Lennon sings 'dispise a fool' !!
@crazyclive I'll see what I can do. I'm not certain what has happened to the HTV library where the film was stored. I telecined this episode for myself around 30 years ago !!
@@MikeKleinsteuber Harriet Crawley. She did quite a few presenting and other jobs in the 1970s and 1980s. Daughter of Aidan Crawley: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aidan_Crawley
It's amazing how things have moved on. It was another world back then but in many ways a lot nicer. For starters Trump wasn't president of the US. The world is gonna look back on the last 4 years and say exactly the same thing as as you 😁
The 70's were far from grim. It was a decade of unforgettable music, much of which is still replayed today. Fashion was as important for the teens as it was in the 60's. There was in fact an air of optimism in the mid 70's (although that was when I emigrated to Canada by myself at the age of 18 in 1975). More people were driving cars and homeownership was becoming possible for many newlyweds and increased numbers of school leavers were going on to university. And let's not forget that the 70's was possibly the golden era of British tv, with an amazing variety of shows and programmes which were seen by most people on their newly acquired colour tv sets. And in the 70's going abroad was becoming increasingly popular for family holidays. A lot different from today, but hardly grim.
@2:14 - "A Redcoat's life starts at 8.30 in the morning and it ends at quarter to twelve." So WTF is her point ?? I wish I only had to work 3.15 hours every day !
Very interesting and a wonderful host commentating and working hard being a redcoat. I don't know what the awful music was at the end. It seems to be trying to say something but not saying it. A bit creepy.
I don’t think the happy families comment was against mixed race families, she said one white and one black child, therefore meaning step siblings, adopted and fostered children don’t constitute a “real” happy family 🤣🤣🤣
@@independentpuppy7520 I'm becoming less certain about this. I know Tony was a great Shostakovich fan and used his music a lot but I might be wrong here.
i love the drinking allowed rule not sure about the rule no black and whites, no addopted children must be blood line that was the british 70s for you. its no where like that now i think we have learned since then
Good video, it did make it seem kind of creepy and kind of glum. I wonder if that was intentional editing, the limitations of 70s color TV cameras inside, or if that was just how Butlins was at the time. Allowing your kids to be judged on their appearance, especially in their swimwear, shudder.
It was shot on 16mm film and of course the atmosphere was intentionally created by the use of very wide lenses and extremely creative cutting. A skill many newcomers to video have lost. Film makers had a point of view in those days and were skillful in getting it across. These days they prefer to be politically correct and sit on the fence or simply use a presenter and commentary to tell the audience what to think. Sadly the execs in terrestrial TV companies, and particularly the BBC, have decided that opinionated film makers are too hot to handle and just employ politically correct kids who aren't allowed to express themselves. That's why 99% of TV docs are unwatchable and boring.
I found the same thing especially the creepy music at the end. I wonder what they were trying to say. I enjoyed it as history. I think the original Butlins were healthier though somehow. None of the mind numbing bingo and slot machines.
@@MikeKleinsteuber I think you are correct. The audience now have to be told explicitly what point the show is trying to make, rather than being encouraged to make up their own mind based on the situation presented. I guess they figure that some of the audience won't get it which I equate to dumbing down and I believe this is having a negative societal impact.
@@MikeKleinsteuber And they owned HTV I assume. There's something familiar about her... I suppose Harriet At Play was a local feature. Do you know her surname?
@@smithofsmiths1872 No, LWT didn't own HTV. They were separate companies. Crawley was her surname. The series was shown on the ITV national network and caused quite a stir in the press at the time.
Great documentary on a British institution. All those that went to Butlins between the war and the 1980s would probably say nothing bad against it. This is brilliant and reeks of the 1970s good and bad. Happy families competition would not allow mixed race or fostered kids. God seems like it was Butlitz not Butlins. But Minehead was one of the better camps too. I went to them all in the UK just did not go to the one outside Dublin. Don't know why as my family were Irish immigrants. Probably didn't want to go 'home.' People like to be 'ordered about ... they want to be told what to do and when to do it,' oh my God she was so right. Yet the 1970s were supposed to the really radical with the trade unions in charge ... weren't they? Seems like the English liked to show what they could do as well. Some of those compares are a bid dodgy. They would be prosecuted today for some of those comments and their jokes are terrible.
Mike, this is a fantastic film, many thanks for uploading. The way the use of cinematography, editing and especially music transforms it into something really telling and profound is something that modern documentary filmmakers could take note of the next time they produce yet another production-line borefest. Do you happen to know any more about the film as there is virtually no info online. Is any of the rest of the series around and as good as this? The 'Sieg Heils' at the end are a bit much mind, ha ha. I realised also that I was at this Minehead Butlins around this time - I went with the cub scouts out of season and stayed in one of those 'prison camp' chalets. Not sure where it comes from but there is a slightly better quality upload of 'Harriet at Play' here: ruclips.net/video/bFmlT52b2ho/видео.html&ab_channel=TheYesterdayMachine
i remember going to minehead around 1970 when i was 4 and all the kids chased captain blood around the camp and i was scared ,i needed the toilet and my older brother took me ,goes in then out the cubicle comes captain blood and i screamed and literally s**t myself, best place i suppose 😂
The whole series of 'Harriet' is now available as a DVD for just £10 by emailing isolde@btinternet.com
The film didn't get across the main draw for many.. Kids could roam all over the camp without their parents all day long doing what the hell they liked. It was gloriously feral. I went to Butlins Minehead with school aged 9 in 1978 and we never saw the teachers apart from they would appear hungover at breakfast and take the register. One boy found a stinky skeleton of a dog on the beach and dragged it round in a carrier bag all week and they only noticed when we were lined up to get the coach home.😂
Sounds like fun...
This is the sort of post I come here for. Thanks for posting, Sarah.
😂😂😂
@Mothball
Wonderful story!.. I'm not from England.
But when I was a kid it was much the same. We ran wild.
On afternoon I was walking along with a sick pigeon in a shoe box.
An old man with a wad of bills came up to me and offered me a tenner for whatever was in the box....money meant nothing to me at the time, so he was denied with prejudice.
My friends questioned my sanity.
Next time I opened the box the poor thing was dead.
I had a great childhood with regards to freedom.
We kids lived in a society of our own.
Those were the days
What a brilliant documentary. Shot in a way very ahead of its time!
For it’s time the editing and camera work is amazing. I also love how the colour to the film gives an undertone to the film
Love this, love the eerie undertone with the editing, it's powerful!
I ran across this video while searching for monorail videos and I was instantly captivated. Truly ahead of it's time with soundtrack and cinematography.
My parents took us to butlins Minehead through the 60s and 70s. Since I have been holidaying all over the world. I always say my Butlins holidays were the best. Thank you for this nostalgic treat. X
Worked there Xmas 1991, nothing like this buzz
This film was amazing, and your friend was a brilliant editor (and so right to be proud of this). Thank you *so* much for posting it!!
Absolute CLASSIC! Puts you in the Time and Place so vividly.
thanks for sharing , a fantastic documentary , a rreal eye opener about the period and marvelously edited and filmed.
Met a fantastic Yorkshire girl in 66 at Clacton so my one and only visit was pure magic plus England won the world cup the day we arrived, never to be forgotten holiday.
A double whammy then.
I met a Yorkshire lass in 1977 at Butlins Filey .caught up with her on friends re United and now FB .So still in touch .
Loved Butlins ,I went to most of the camps including Clacton ,bognor , Minehead,Filey , Yarmouth
My folks live in Clacton and the camp is long gone ,a housing estate sits on the old site .You can still see parts of the old fence here and there though ,and the beach gate I believe is still there
Cheers for uploading this.I'm really enjoying it.
The music, the opening credits, the hair and clothes and just the general atmosphere all point to this being made in 1974, or thereabouts.
Spot on...
@@MikeKleinsteuberThank you Mike.
Do you happen to have any of the other five episodes from this series?Do they still exist?
I might be wrong but I get a sense TonyP. is not exactly proud to have this series on his C.V...just an observation.
@@PeasGravenySadly I don't. I had this one digitized quite early on as I loved it so much. I'm not certain what happened to the film library at HTV where all the others would have been stored in. However, none of the others (I think there were 4 or 5) were a patch on this one. Tony was a good documentary maker when he was angry with the subject or had a personal involvement. I think he really liked this doc. If you like this one try finding his 'All You Need is Love', a series about the Beatles which is great. His 'Miss World' was tremendous too. He went totally off the rails however when he moved over to drama. He just couldn't hack it imo and fell foul of 'the Peter principle'. He should have stayed doing docs. I think he started out as an assistant to Ken Russell at the Beeb and in some ways tried to emulate him but there was only ever going to be one Ken Russell.
@@MikeKleinsteuberI agree, his 'pop' music series were mostly very good .I always wanted to chin him,however,for the mess he made of filming the final Cream shows in '68, and also for his appearance in the clip linked below wherin Tony can be seen directing a TV show whilst simultaneously trying,and succeeding in being a massive a-hole (at the request of the documentary director,no doubt!)
ruclips.net/video/kDgWRppfVZQ/видео.html
@@MikeKleinsteuber Filming likely started in 1974, but the series wasn't shown until 1976.
Fantastic documentary. Brought back lots of memories for me. It captured Butlins in the 70's as it really was. And what a great ending, as good as any other horror movie ;)
Never seen this before! For sure it has been cleverly filmed and edited to get a definate point of view across. I am sure Butlins would have hated this when it was broadcast, as they also probably also hated Jimmy Perry's 'Hi-De-Hi" comedy ! That wide angle lens right up against the faces really works to create a claustrophobic atmosphere. However, desipite this documentary, Butlins was a magic place for so many people who went there on holiday every year. And of course this is a timepiece of attitudes that prevailed in the 70's - enough said on that topic. It being shot on 16mm real film also adds greatly to the atmosphere - would not nearly be as as effective if shot on video tape. Thanks for sharing this with us!
This is both a refreshingly honest and at times somewhat unsettling look at a peculiar aspect of 70s British culture.
The seedy jokes and games are an essential part of the regimented fun of the holiday camp experience.
The superb lighting and camerawork emphasises this dissonance.
regimented fun - hahaha - love the contradiction in terms necessary to describe it
During the early 90s my parents would take us to Butlins Skegness, once a year.
The strongest and most vivid memories I have are of redcoat interactions; when she was taken aback by the comment that some visitors just want to interact with a redcoat, that made me smile.
I miss those days and as much as I have fond memories, a kind of sadness washes over me, knowing that I may never have such experiences again.
it's a shame what's happened to the great british holiday park, they're on their knees now. Walk With Me Tim did a great series where he visited all the Pontins parks and honestly they look as though the business has already packed up and moved on. it's sad because these places were always supposed to be accessible for working class families and give a good value for money, but they can't balance the costs with the experience anymore. international travel is a lot cheaper than it used to be as well, partly because the airline companies have been dead in the water since 2008 and are just trying to keep passenger numbers up. you can get coupons and deals and find a weekend in amsterdam/vienna/perpignan/barcelona for like 100 euros, it's hard to compete with that. on the other hand if you just want to spend a week sitting in the sun drinking whilst your kids entertain themselves, you don't have to go to spain for that!
I'm a 16mm film fanatic and this one is absolutely superb. The camera work and editing is trully excellent - wish I'd been involved with making it but I wasn't born at the time!
Out of interest, how can you tell its 16mm film?
@@lawrencel1668 All on-location work was shot on film back then and 16mm was the standard film format used by all the broadcast companies. It has a look all of its own, quite different from 35mm cinema film.
@Frank De Ruiter absolutely Frank. The extensive use of a wideangle lens gives this film an unusual / pioneering style for the time. I like it..
That was amazing. Thank you so much for sharing.
No adopted children or children of mixed race in the Happy Family competition??? That sounded absolutely nuts! And the worker stated those requirements with such conviction. Geez Louise! Unbelievable.
Never judge history by moder standards.. as hard as that may be. The world moved along and will further. That's what my mum Brian tells me.
Sparks and Butlins... wonderful.
Butlins Hitler lookalike competition 1974.
Ahhh I was a redcoat in the 1998 and it was hard work 8-midnight! Dancing singing, smiling, signing postcards!!!!!! Competitions so fun! I loved it x
Woh - profound ending. I wasn't expecting such immense gravitas. Superb.
Yes, it knocked me for 6 when I first saw it in 1974...Glad you liked it...
Excellent camera work.
This is radio butlin calling all 2nd sitting guests the time is 9 o clock & breakfast will be served at 9.30..... never forget that sentence as long as i live, happy memories
I worked at mine head in 81 for a month end of summer I was a Porter cleaner there was a love ly red coat who I liked very much but I didn’t have the nerve to ask her out I think she new because when I left at the end of my time there she was stood by the coach as we pulled out and she blew me a kiss I was gutted 🥲
Lol
How terrible that families with adopted children couldn’t participate in the Happy Family competition
That broke my heart. Thankfully, things have changed.
That’d never happen today. Imagine it being 2 mums or 2 dads back then?😂
I looked this up in the newspapers. It was one of a series of 6 programmes featuring Harriet Crawley, the others were "at the circus", "at the fete", "at sea", "at the opera" and "at war". The "at play'" episode first aired on HTV on 3 July 1976. I've not been able to find any sign of any controversy over it.
However, I found a news item in "The Stage" of 25 July 1974, saying that the series had started being made. So filming probably started in 1974 but the series definitely wasn't aired until 1976.
@@dannynosdetectiveinstinct9170 Correct. I think Patrick Dromgoole (the then MD of HTV) had to wait to get a slot in the national ITV schedule, rather than just tx it locally. ITV was generally carved up by the big boys and local stations like HTV just picked up the crumbs when they could. As you can see, in this case it took two years.
@@MikeKleinsteuber Not all the local ITV franchises seem to have shown it. HTV had the first broadcast in this case, and some of the others picked it up too, but not all of them. They didn't show it at the same time or on the same day.
@@dannynosdetectiveinstinct9170 Thanks for the info. Interesting. It was a great series, though Tony Palmer was a much better director when he didn't like the subject, like in this, Harriet At Play prog. The others didn't quite have the same 'bite'....
@@MikeKleinsteuber Are any of those others available Mike? I also wonder if there is any kind of HTV archive as I would like to find out more about this film.
So strange seeing my nan on there judging on the panel
Of the happy families!? WOW!
8:49 - "To be spoken to by a Red Coat for some people is a great achievment"
An absolutly serious statement by a Red Coat to a trainee Red Coat!!!
Great memories. I was 'Radio Butlins' in 1969 at Minehead. My day 6.30am wake up call at my Chalet by Security Staff, shifts shared between two of us (should have been three,) till 11.00pm. Staff accommodation very basic, pay minimal and at the end of the season represented Butlins in a Red Coat group at the Horse of the Year Show at the "Butlins Cup" award. Being a Red Coat was a great way to spend a Summer.
Was watching this a few years ago and realised Im in it!!!
Great stuff. Hope you enjoyed it lol
9:32. How times have changed. Shame the prejudice is still there today.
How times have changed, long gone are the camp & corny hol parks & competitions, the goal now seems to be centre parc style family holidays, they've already begun the transition, not sure if it will pan out tho, Butlin veterans & their families love tradition & don't like change, that began when Sir Billys wife sold out, Good video thanks for sharing.
Fab video thanks for posting but now its my idea of holiday from hell yet loved going to Butlins back in the sixties/seventies how times have changed
Used to go Skegness Butlins with my parents and sis back in the seventies. How I would love to go back to that time again. Watching this is actually quite sad as you see a time now long gone.
@ 0:11 That’s a 2 second footage of Schiff’s Wild Mouse.
Fantastic Video .
The ending I suppose is a real juxtaposition position of what Butlins was really like back in the day.
Highly regimented entertainment is almost dictated at you .
After being awoken by the tannoy announcement instructing you to attend breakfast whilst you depart your glorified barracks.
But the irony is as a child of the seventies, I absolutely loved Butlins.
Skegness, Barry Island , Clacton on Sea , Minehead, Pwllheli, Bognor Regis and Filey.
Glorious Summers .
A Swimming pool , A Monorail that one could spend all day going round and round and round and endless Spotted Dick and Custard.
The feature did make me think about how cringe worthy awkward it sometimes was .
But those were some of the best holidays I ever had.
I went to Pwllheli Butlins a couple of times when I was about 5 and 6. 1974/75…Can’t really remember much, but after watching this I’m glad. I have never seen so many ugly and weird looking people. My anxiety levels have just gone through the roof 🫣
same. is it butlins or the buttfugly munch bunch asylum?
Excellent camera work by the camera man.
that was a lovely half hour , finely photographed wide angle lens gave the feeling of being there , and what a lovely host Harriet was then. is there a recorded history of the shows Harriet did?
Harriet Crawley did six of these films, the others being Harriet At War, Harriet At Sea, Harriet At The Circus, Harriet At The Opera and Harriet In A Balloon.They were filmed in 1974 and 1975 and screened on TV in 1976. I can't find uploads of any of the other episodes so far.Maybe they no longer exist.
@@PeasGraveny can't find them ?
@@TheInnacityI've hunted around but the only thing I managed to find was a reference by the B.F.I. to the various episodes and a similar mention in a Tony Palmer 'filmography'. Strangely Harriet is not credited anywhere (not even in the closing credits of the show) and I only found out what her surname was from the uploader. I did find out that by the 1980's Harry had become an MP and had transformed into the stereotypical aristocratic Tory Lady!
Great film, Harriet was lovely.
Very interesting, although I don't get all the sinister music.
Me neither.
that wasnt sinister music that was The Who brilliant punk music i was still a small baby then harriet was married to the lead singer
I stayed there in the mid sixties when I was 12. Nothing much has changed in this film.
I don't think there were any significant changes to Minehead until 1986
Love this stuff, still going to Minehead now, 30 years later 😂
Me too. 50 yrs later for me though...
Fear and loathing in Minehead the retro film by Terry Gilliam
Have been to minehead a few times in the last few years. On the surface its unrecognisable from those days but I suspect if you know where to look there are still traces of the old camp.
"What made you come ?" "Well it certainly wasn't a picture of you..."
Always good to hear 'Wheezy Anna' (at 14:18). Arf!
Is that Arthur Smith at 2:45?
Wonderful film
Did you notice that??? 9:25 ..Happy family contest ..
Interviewer ... "How do you decide what makes a happy family"
Red Coat .... " We obviously don't want a mother and father that's got a white and a black child"...lol ..."and we can't have foster children or adopted children "
Shows our changing attitudes but unlike the BBC, I think you need to be able to see stuff like that in order to learn from the past. Something many activists don't understand. You can't re-write history.
Brilliant 👏 🤣🤣🤣
Great times, I was a child of the 70s and I remember it being a wonderful time compared with life now. The only thing I have noticed watching this is that people seemed to be very ugly back then😬
🤣🤣🤣
It's the lighting I think. The host was smashing though.
Scruffy men's hair and sideburns, generally dreadful poorly tailored scruffy fashion(with some exceptions), not anyway near as much attention to grooming and designer accessories made people appear uglier in the 1970's than in the 1960's and later decades (although they were not immune from fashion disasters like man perms and shell suits). But if you met face to face or superimposed today's fashions and grooming back then or did 70's fashion plus grooming now people weren't worse looking than now - I was age ten through nineteen in the 1970's so experienced it all. Then again you had nowhere near as many overweight or obese people.
🤣🤣🤣
No hideous tats on women or tribal crap all over men`s arms, legs and necks
Great days,Iv seen Sir Billy Butlin,At clacton on sea ,Camp,In a nice jag car,Was there hot summer of 76,,Killer heat,I was at skegness when ballroom Went up in smoke,It was me who raised the alam,The escorlator was on fire,and the windows were filling up with smoke,i had a instant kodak camra,took pics,still was a great time,
i went to north wales butlins in 83 waiting for jim Saville to pop up adults saying lets see your muscles to a child whos topless couldn't do that today that's wrong then and now :)
I hope that's not Savile in the video talking to the kids taking part in the Great Picture of Health Competition.
research jimmy saville he was an occultist and not who you think he was/// into the darkside and followed alistor crowley//
Ugh Jimmy Savile turning up to that. Creepy.
The editing in this is amazing for the time A WORKING CLASS HERO IS SOMETHING TO BE 😊
'for the time' is an interesting phrase cos in reality, other than a few notable exceptions I think editing and documentary film making has actually gone backwards. We're generally much less sophisticated today. If you like editing like this try Julien Temple's doc on The Glastonbury Festival. It's a brilliant piece of work and looks at the history of it. But the structure is very interesting. And to change the context somewhat, watch the movie '21 grams' as that has probably the best structure of any movie I've seen. Completely different to this of course but if you like one, I think you'd probably like the other....
@@MikeKleinsteuber What I was going to say. Lots of 'for its time' comments here yet this just a great film for any time! The camerawork, editing and use of music is outstanding. And it draws on a lineage of such experiments going right back to the 30s.Sadly TV documentaries now would not dare do what is done here because they are too reverent of the subject matter, and would never be as inventive or make a point about the seediness (I am reminded of Andersons 'O Dreamland' about Margate). We have undoubtedly gone backwards with tedious talking heads, commentary and a totally formulaic way of presenting just about anything..Though as you say there is the odd theatrical gem. Can't think of when I last saw a documentary as good as this on TV.
The bit with the kids in swimming attire was creepy 😳
great film of minehead..best i've seen
Fantastic video, i always wanted to go when i was a kid , but our holidays was a day in Blackpool.
Lived in Bognor Regis not far from But,ins went a few times just to look around with my nieces.
I think this is at Minehead.
Well, that guy judging the kids Picture of Health contest was creepy af
Something very Biden about him. How could the parents let their children take part?! Its quite alarming that parents couldn't see the potential dangerous situations they allowed their children to be in back then? While some were building lovely memories, some where having just the worse time! 😕
Great film.....
Is this meant to have sound ?
The HTV ident is the only silent part
Mike, "Harriet" made a series of docs with Tony and HTV. Do you know her surname?
Crawley
@@MikeKleinsteuber Many thanks, Mike.
who is the presenter in this doc?
Harriet Crawley
This town ain't big enough for the both of us. And it ain't me who's gonna leave!
I was wanting to see inside the chalets
I know this was first broadcast around 1975, but when exactly in 1975 was it first broadcast?
LOL, absolutely no idea
If only we had every issue of the TV Times from 1975...
According to the BFI it was 1976.
21:35 on Sunday 14th March.
@@kingofpattaya4524 Thanks Nigel.Was that '75 or '76?
What exact year was this made? I am interested in the "Butlinland is Freedomland" advert at the beginning and I want to watch it on its own, so I want to know when this interesting documentuary (and the advert) was made.
I think it was shot in 1974 and txd in 1975
@@MikeKleinsteuber Thank you.
Kid sings ‘Seasons in the Sun’ a 1974 hit.
As noted in another reply, it was first transmitted on 3 July 1976
Eerie undertone? Why? Bizarre. Great days, wonderful memories. 😎
People actually spent time and money enduring this nightmare. Ghastly.
different times indeed, some of which would be taboo now, oh well that is progress i suppose!
Loved it. Who was Harriet the host? She is not mentioned in the credits.
I think she was the daughter of possibly the LWT, or similar, ceo. It was a bit of a flattery project for her. Hence cutting to a shot of her when Lennon sings 'dispise a fool' !!
@crazyclive Thanks for the info. Really interesting. Tony thought she was a bit of a prat but overall I think she did a great job in the series
@crazyclive I'll see what I can do. I'm not certain what has happened to the HTV library where the film was stored. I telecined this episode for myself around 30 years ago !!
@@MikeKleinsteuber Harriet Crawley. She did quite a few presenting and other jobs in the 1970s and 1980s. Daughter of Aidan Crawley: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aidan_Crawley
Fond memories of working at Butlins
9:33 oh what a lovely redcoatfull of love! Elitism in Skeggy gone nuts
Cannot believe the comments about Bi-racial and or foster children. - quite sad even for the time
i picked up on that aint like that now tho thank god
I was enjoying that until I got to 9:35
Perhaps it's the film stock used that made it look like this, but my god, the 70's looked grim.
It's amazing how things have moved on. It was another world back then but in many ways a lot nicer. For starters Trump wasn't president of the US. The world is gonna look back on the last 4 years and say exactly the same thing as as you 😁
@@MikeKleinsteuber In August 1974, Richard 'Tricky Dick' Nixon resigned from office. He jumped before he was pushed.
The 70's were far from grim. It was a decade of unforgettable music, much of which is still replayed today. Fashion was as important for the teens as it was in the 60's. There was in fact an air of optimism in the mid 70's (although that was when I emigrated to Canada by myself at the age of 18 in 1975). More people were driving cars and homeownership was becoming possible for many newlyweds and increased numbers of school leavers were going on to university. And let's not forget that the 70's was possibly the golden era of British tv, with an amazing variety of shows and programmes which were seen by most people on their newly acquired colour tv sets. And in the 70's going abroad was becoming increasingly popular for family holidays. A lot different from today, but hardly grim.
Jesus, that bloke with the kids - alarm bells - “stop winking” - creepy dude.
@2:14 - "A Redcoat's life starts at 8.30 in the morning and it ends at quarter to twelve." So WTF is her point ?? I wish I only had to work 3.15 hours every day !
She means 11.45 pm at night. 23:45 to be precise.
would love to know what these "redcoats" are doing now etc
Goof grief. Brilliant film. Ghastly subject.
Very interesting and a wonderful host commentating and working hard being a redcoat. I don't know what the awful music was at the end. It seems to be trying to say something but not saying it. A bit creepy.
I don’t think the happy families comment was against mixed race families, she said one white and one black child, therefore meaning step siblings, adopted and fostered children don’t constitute a “real” happy family 🤣🤣🤣
"People are like sheep" sounds like the British Public now and then!
What is that piece of classical music at the end? It's beautiful.
I think it might be part of 1917 by Shostakovich
@@MikeKleinsteuber Thanks. Will check it out.
@@independentpuppy7520 I'm becoming less certain about this. I know Tony was a great Shostakovich fan and used his music a lot but I might be wrong here.
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony # 6 , the Pathétique, First movement - towards the end.
23.35 Today thru would all be playing on their phones.
i love the drinking allowed rule not sure about the rule no black and whites, no addopted children must be blood line that was the british 70s for you. its no where like that now i think we have learned since then
Good video, it did make it seem kind of creepy and kind of glum. I wonder if that was intentional editing, the limitations of 70s color TV cameras inside, or if that was just how Butlins was at the time. Allowing your kids to be judged on their appearance, especially in their swimwear, shudder.
It was shot on 16mm film and of course the atmosphere was intentionally created by the use of very wide lenses and extremely creative cutting. A skill many newcomers to video have lost. Film makers had a point of view in those days and were skillful in getting it across. These days they prefer to be politically correct and sit on the fence or simply use a presenter and commentary to tell the audience what to think. Sadly the execs in terrestrial TV companies, and particularly the BBC, have decided that opinionated film makers are too hot to handle and just employ politically correct kids who aren't allowed to express themselves. That's why 99% of TV docs are unwatchable and boring.
I found the same thing especially the creepy music at the end. I wonder what they were trying to say. I enjoyed it as history. I think the original Butlins were healthier though somehow. None of the mind numbing bingo and slot machines.
@@MikeKleinsteuber I think you are correct. The audience now have to be told explicitly what point the show is trying to make, rather than being encouraged to make up their own mind based on the situation presented. I guess they figure that some of the audience won't get it which I equate to dumbing down and I believe this is having a negative societal impact.
Oh my God did she just say you can't have a black child with a white mother. SHOCKING😮
This was the 70s. What IS shocking is that many Trump supporters would say say the same today....
I've never been to a butlins
This is my only way in
you and me both, kid. we're reaching for the stars thanks to the YT time machine
Idea - heaven turns out to be a seventies holiday camp.
Who is Harriet?
I believe she was the daughter of the md of LWT
It was shot at Minehead
Actually the daughter of the Chairman of LWT and not MD....
@@MikeKleinsteuber And they owned HTV I assume. There's something familiar about her... I suppose Harriet At Play was a local feature.
Do you know her surname?
@@smithofsmiths1872 No, LWT didn't own HTV. They were separate companies. Crawley was her surname. The series was shown on the ITV national network and caused quite a stir in the press at the time.
16.13. Kids singing a gary glitter song.
Great documentary on a British institution. All those that went to Butlins between the war and the 1980s would probably say nothing bad against it. This is brilliant and reeks of the 1970s good and bad. Happy families competition would not allow mixed race or fostered kids. God seems like it was Butlitz not Butlins. But Minehead was one of the better camps too. I went to them all in the UK just did not go to the one outside Dublin. Don't know why as my family were Irish immigrants. Probably didn't want to go 'home.'
People like to be 'ordered about ... they want to be told what to do and when to do it,' oh my God she was so right. Yet the 1970s were supposed to the really radical with the trade unions in charge ... weren't they? Seems like the English liked to show what they could do as well.
Some of those compares are a bid dodgy. They would be prosecuted today for some of those comments and their jokes are terrible.
If you had 9000 english at holiday camp now there would be one massive punch up and they would be slagging each other off
Mike, this is a fantastic film, many thanks for uploading. The way the use of cinematography, editing and especially music transforms it into something really telling and profound is something that modern documentary filmmakers could take note of the next time they produce yet another production-line borefest. Do you happen to know any more about the film as there is virtually no info online. Is any of the rest of the series around and as good as this? The 'Sieg Heils' at the end are a bit much mind, ha ha.
I realised also that I was at this Minehead Butlins around this time - I went with the cub scouts out of season and stayed in one of those 'prison camp' chalets.
Not sure where it comes from but there is a slightly better quality upload of 'Harriet at Play' here: ruclips.net/video/bFmlT52b2ho/видео.html&ab_channel=TheYesterdayMachine
i remember going to minehead around 1970 when i was 4 and all the kids chased captain blood around the camp and i was scared ,i needed the toilet and my older brother took me ,goes in then out the cubicle comes captain blood and i screamed and literally s**t myself, best place i suppose 😂
Sinister!
That's what I love about it !
@@MikeKleinsteuber yes I did, it reminded me of a clockwork orange!
@@gavinward1235 LOL
Harriet was quite a beauty
I don't think the documentary maker liked Butlins very much, that end was brutal🤣
LOL but true
I'm not to good at being ordered about so ,
This was proberly not my era