film

The emotional and brutal story of the year-long Miners’ Strike of 1984/85 – the most violent and divisive industrial dispute that Britain has ever witnessed.

The Miners’ Strike of 1984/85 was the most divisive and violent industrial dispute that Britain has ever witnessed. Using powerful personal testimony, previously hidden government documents and a treasure trove of never-before-seen archive, STRIKE: AN UNCIVIL WAR also tells the full story of the Battle of Orgreave, which took place on 18th June 1984. 

The Strike cut right to the heart of Britain’s social and political consciousness. It was about more than the economics of coal mines. This was a clash that encompassed class, community, masculinity, the role of women, relationships, marriage and family. The conflict would spread across the land – from Southeast England, the Midlands and the North, to coalfields in Wales and Scotland. 

At stake was nothing less than the kind of country Britain should become – expressed in two opposing visions. A socialist, regulated one, where the unions held power and sway? Or a privatised, capitalist economy, where business and enterprise came first, and workers would submit to ‘the market’?