with John Pitman
Eight films which go behind the scenes of places which are part of the British way of life.
1: The Hospital for Sick Children
The motto of GOSH-London's Great Ormond Street Hospital -is 'Children First and Always'.
Nearly all the children referred here are seriously ill. There is an underlying feeling of tension, but overall it's a happy place. A place for hope. Sunjeev is recovering from an operation. He thinks it's his 19th. Claire, who is 11, has just had a blockage removed. 'Now I'll be able to grow,' she says. 'It'll cost my mum a lot of money in new clothes.'
Upstairs there's a party for Andrew who is one today; downstairs there's a party for Princess Michael of Kent who is opening a new ward this afternoon. As night draws in, the children are tucked up. Mothers sit with them until they fall asleep. Doctors start to go home.
'But you can't just disappear and forget,' says consultant surgeon Edward Kiely. 'At least, I can't.'
Photography JOHN MCGLASHAN Film editor DAVID LEE
Series producer EDWARD MIRZOEFF Director ANNE WEBBER
• FEATURE: page 82