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THE ENEMY WITHIN is the story of Britain's longest strike, the 1984-85 miners' strike, when Margaret Thatcher declared war on the unions, as told by those who lived through it.
THE ENEMY WITHIN provides unique insight into one of the most dramatic events in British history: the 1984-85 Miners' Strike. No experts. No politicians. Thirty years on, this is the raw first-hand experience of those who lived through Britain's longest strike. Follow the highs and lows of that life-changing year.
In 1984, a Conservative government under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher declared war on Britain's unions, taking on the strongest in the country, the National Union of Mineworkers. Following a secret plan, the government began announcing the closure of coal mines, threatening not just an industry but whole communities and a way of life.
Against all the forces the government could throw at them, 160,000 coal miners took up the fight. THE ENEMY WITHIN tells the story of a group of miners and supporters who were on the frontline of that strike for an entire year. These were people that Margaret Thatcher labelled "the enemy within".
Using interviews and a wealth of rare and never before seen archival footage, THE ENEMY WITHIN draws together personal experiences - whether they're tragic, funny or terrifying - to take the audience on an emotionally powerful journey through the dramatic events of that year.
Contains strong language.
The feature film PRIDE is based on the LGBT community's participation in the strike.
112 minutes
DVD can be played in two 56-minute parts
SDH Captioning for the Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing
Directed by Owen Gower
Produced by Sinead Kirwan, Mark Lacey, Owen Gower
Executive Producers: Christopher Hird, Mike Simons
Edit Producer: Amelia Lavington
Archive Producer: Gerard Wilkinson
Director of Photography: Malcolm Hadley
Editor: Paul Edmunds
Composer: Rael Jones
Produced by Bad Bonobo
Presented by Dartmouth Films
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"Heartfelt, stirring and still urgent account of a historic struggle."
Mark Kermode, The Observer
"Lovingly made, beautifully shot and wonderfully soundtracked – this is timely, important and truthful cinema, at once bitter, nostalgic and unexpectedly uplifting."
Tom Huddlestone, Time Out
"I can't express enough my admiration for Owen Gower's remarkable film. It moved and inspired me. Everyone – not only in Britain – should see this superb film."
John Pilger, Journalist
"Finally, a documentary as sweeping and dramatic as the momentous strike it chronicles. Narrated by the rank-and-file miners, wives, and supporters who waged it, replete with vivid historical footage, and informed by recently uncovered documentary evidence, this film recounts a turning point defeat for trade unionism that helped usher an era of growing inequality not only in Great Britain but across the West. The struggle between Margaret Thatcher and the miners resonates down to the present day."
Joseph McCartin, Professor of History, Director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, Georgetown University
"Vital and valuable...Students and community activists alike can only benefit from revisiting this prolonged clash between a trade union committed to social justice and a government prepared to use excessive force to permanently weaken the voice of labor. The unfinished agenda left to us by those battling miners is one that deserves to be renewed and pursued by a new generation of progressive activists. The Enemy Within can be an effective trigger to that renewal."
David Coates, Professor & Chair, Anglo-American Studies, Wake Forest University, Author, Prolonged Labour: the Slow Birth of New Labour Britain