Battersea Dogs' Home

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01

A little old lady living alone is seeking a small white dog to keep her company. A young married man gives up his old English sheepdog because he takes up too much room. Today, as always, the home is full - 450 dogs either lost or kicked out by their owners, waiting to be taken away from it all. "People ask how I can work in such a place," says one kennel maid. "But if I don't work here, who's going to care for them? Who's going to look after them until, hopefully, we find them a new home?"

3/15/1983

Traffic Wardens

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02

They are the people we love to hate-traffic wardens. Also known as "Wasps", "Yellow Perils" and, even less politely, "Little Hitlers" This film reflects a typical day for the 100 Wardens who operate from a centre in the West End of London. In Soho a lorry driver is getting irate. "I'm just trying to do my job," he says. "So am I love," replies Joyce, slapping a ticket on his windscreen. Another warden gets sworn at. She swears back. That's not done. It could lead to an attack. Which is why wardens wear shatter-proof spectacles and clip-on ties which can't be used to throttle them. Back at headquarters, new wardens are being coached. "Always walk away from trouble," they are told. "But what if someone gets us down on the ground?" asks one trainee. "Get your prayer mat out," says the instructor. And everybody laughs. Nervously.

3/22/1983

Selfridges

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03

The scene: Selfridges, the biggest shop in the West End of London. The players: 3,000 employees who are briefed to "entertain the public, not just take their money". Maurice, the postman, is doing his Norman Wisdom act; Colin, the designer, is trying to get a camel to chew sideways, not up and down; and Karen is waylaying unsuspecting men to spray them with a product she has to promote. Prowling, around the store are Bron and Olive, who look like a couple of housewives on a day out: they're after shoplifters and Bron has a reputation for always getting her man or woman, unless they're bigger than me. Backstage, as always, is Stan; the goods liftman who says of customers: "They're all right. I mean we have to have them. It's as simple as that."

3/29/1983

Waterloo Station

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04

4/5/1983

Sotheby's

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05

4/12/1983

The Seaside

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06

Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex is a traditional little seaside town. It's got a sandy beach and a pier and not much else. But despite the age of the jet and the cheap package tour, Walton's population still doubles during the season. This film reflects a typical day at the sea with the people who have been coming here for years and the people whose job it is, to entertain them and keep them happy. It begins early in the morning when Eileen Fowler, the 'First Lady of Keep Fit' can be found on the beach, still practising what she started preaching back in the 50s. She-first visited there as a child in 1921 and returned to retire. We meet the Punch and Judy man, the family who run a Wild West show at the back of the car park and Brian and Charlie, resident entertainers, who love doing the season "because we get just as much enjoyment here as we would at the Palladium or Las Vegas".

4/19/1983