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The Wilderness Years

Documentary

Documentary showing the many travails of the UK Labour Party during its long period in opposition from 1979 and through the 1980s and 1990s.

Dec 3, 19951 seasons4 episodesEndedEN

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James Callaghan

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Tony Benn

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Michael Foot

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Neil Kinnock

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Roy Jenkins

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Tony Blair

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Jeremy Corbyn

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Peter Tatchell

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Denis Healey

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David Owen

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John Smith

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Gordon Brown

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Peter Mandelson

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Shirley Williams

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Roy Hattersley

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Margaret Beckett

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John Prescott

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Gerald Kaufman

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Seasons

Season 1

4 episodes

Premiered Dec 3, 1995

Episodes

1–4 of 4

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Ep 1

Cast into the Wilderness

Dec 3, 1995

59m

Out of power and riven with strife, this programme tells the inside story of the Labour Party's bitter civil war with leading players speaking with devastating frankness about the time from 1979-81.

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Ep 2

Comrades of War

Dec 10, 1995

60m

In the early 80s Michael Foot was leader of a divided Labour Party. The 1981 deputy leadership battle between Denis Healey and Tony Benn split party loyalties and Labour sank to its lowest popularity ever.

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Ep 3

Enter the Rose

Dec 17, 1995

59m

Senior Labour politicians explore the Labour Party's long years in opposition. In 1983 after a humiliating defeat by Margaret Thatcher, Labour elected Neil Kinnock as its new leader in the hope that he can modernise the party.

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Ep 4

The Pursuit of Power

Dec 18, 1995

60m

Key political figures from the Labour Party tell the story of the struggle to modernise the party, culminating in the rise to power of Tony Blair and the arrival of a new breed of Labour politician.